What is being built in this passage about curtains and boards?

This passage describes the actual building of the tabernacle, the special tent where God chose to dwell among the people of Israel. Skilled workers made fine linen curtains with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, embroidered with cherubim. They added outer curtains of goats’ hair and coverings of rams’ skins dyed red and another layer above. They also made wooden boards, sockets, and bars to hold everything up, and veils and hangings for the inside and the entrance. It is a careful record of how God’s house in the wilderness was put together.

Why are there so many details about the curtains, loops, and taches?

The many details show that God cares about how His dwelling place is arranged and that nothing is random. The ten inner curtains of fine linen with cherubim were joined by blue loops and gold taches so that they formed one tabernacle. The goats’ hair curtains and brass taches held the outer tent together as one. This care in joining all the pieces pictures how different parts are brought together in unity. It also shows that obedience mattered, right down to the number of loops, the metals used, and the exact sizes.

What do the goats’ hair and rams’ skins coverings tell us about God’s people?

The goats’ hair curtains formed a tent over the tabernacle, and above them were coverings of rams’ skins dyed red and another layer on top. These layers picture the shelter and protection God gives His people. Those who live in His house are covered from heat, storm, and all kinds of trouble. The idea is that, though the tabernacle is only a tent, it is safely covered because God Himself provides the covering. It hints at the way God keeps His people safe from judgment and from all that would finally harm them.

What is the meaning of the boards, sockets, and bars of shittim wood?

The boards of shittim wood, standing up in silver sockets and joined by bars, held up the curtains and gave the tabernacle its shape. This shows that, although it was only a tent, it had real strength and stability. The boards were linked at the bottom and at the top, and the middle bar ran from one end to the other, tying everything together. This pictures how the strength of God’s people does not come from the world beneath them but from being joined and united together. When those who support the community of faith are in real agreement, the whole structure stands firm.

What was the veil between the holy place and the most holy place for?

The veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen with cherubim hung between the holy place and the most holy place. It marked a boundary. Behind it was the most holy place, where God’s presence was shown in a special way and where only the high priest could enter, and that only at set times. This veil pointed to a kind of distance and darkness in that time, compared with the clearer way to God that would come later. It also reminds us that, in this life, we do not yet see God fully, but we are kept at a respectful distance until we are with Him.

What was the hanging for the tabernacle door, and why was it important?

The hanging for the tabernacle door was a worked curtain of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, hung on five pillars with brass sockets. It formed the entrance from the outer court into the holy place. The people could not go inside, but they gathered at this door. It showed that God invited them to come near, but only in the way He appointed. While they remained outside, they still drew as close as they were allowed. It teaches us that, in this present life, we should come as near to God as we can, in the way He has opened, even if we do not yet enter into His full presence.

What does this passage teach about the nature of the church as God’s dwelling?

The tabernacle, made of curtains rather than stone, pictures the church in this world. It shows that God’s dwelling among His people is not founded on the earth like an ordinary house. The tent form reminds us that the church is on the move and in a kind of warfare, like shepherds and soldiers living in tents. Yet it is also beautiful, with embroidered cherubim and fine colors, hinting at the gifts and graces God gives His people. The way the separate curtains are joined into one tabernacle points to many gatherings of believers being united as one under one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.

How does this careful building work apply to believers today?

This passage shows that those who are wise-hearted use their skills for God’s house, doing their part in obedience and detail. The unity of the curtains, the strength of the joined boards, and the ordered veils all point to how God wants His people to be: joined together, not scattered, and standing firm through their shared faith. The coverings speak of His care and protection. So while we do not build the same kind of tent, we are called to value God’s presence among His people, to care about the unity and beauty of His worship, and to trust the shelter He provides.

Exod.36.8

Exodus 36:8

KJV

¶ And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.

The Ten Curtains for the Tabernacle

¶ And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.

The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: the curtains were all of one size.

And he coupled the five curtains one unto another: and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another.

And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling: likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.

Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second: the loops held one curtain to another.

And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the taches: so it became one tabernacle.

¶ And he made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them.

The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size.

And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.

And he made fifty loops upon the uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

And he made fifty taches of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one.

And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers’ skins above that.

¶ And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.

The length of a board was ten cubits, and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half.

One board had two tenons, equally distant one from another: thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

And he made boards for the tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward:

And forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

And for the other side of the tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards,

And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

And for the sides of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.

And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.

And they were coupled beneath, and coupled together at the head thereof, to one ring: thus he did to both of them in both the corners.

And there were eight boards; and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets.

¶ And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward.

And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other.

And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

¶ And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.

And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver.

¶ And he made an hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework;

And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets with gold: but their five sockets were of brass.

Cross References

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