What is the altar of burnt offering in this passage?

The altar of burnt offering is the large square altar made of acacia wood and covered with brass that stood in the courtyard of the tabernacle. Sacrifices were burned there. It had horns on its four corners, a brass grate inside about halfway up, rings and poles so it could be carried, and it was made hollow with boards. This altar was the place where the people’s offerings were laid, so it pictured coming to God through sacrifice and pointed ahead to the need for a better, final sacrifice for sin.

Why was the laver made from the women’s lookingglasses?

The laver was a large brass basin where the priests washed before serving. It was made from the polished metal mirrors that women brought who met at the entrance of the tent. By giving up their mirrors, these women laid aside tools of personal appearance for the sake of God’s house. Their gift became a vessel for cleansing, which fits the picture of turning from self-focus and uncleanness toward purity before God. The bright metal also suited a wash basin, reminding priests that they must be clean when they serve.

What does the court of the tabernacle show about worship?

The court was an open rectangle around the tabernacle, marked off by linen hangings, pillars, and brass sockets. It held the altar and the laver. The court shows that worship was not random but set apart. There was a clear boundary between common space and holy space. People could come near, but only in the way God set out, through sacrifice and cleansing. The fine linen and ordered layout point to purity and order in worship, and also hint that access to God, once limited, would one day be opened more widely.

Why are the amounts of gold, silver, and brass listed in detail?

The long list of weights shows careful accounting of all that was given and how it was used. Gold, silver, and brass were not handled loosely but counted and assigned to specific parts, like sockets, hooks, and the altar. This teaches that God’s people should be honest and orderly when they handle gifts for worship. It also shows how generous the people had been, even though they had once been slaves. Both freewill gifts and required silver from each man were gathered and then rightly used for God’s house.

Who are Bezaleel and Aholiab in this passage?

Bezaleel and Aholiab are the main craftsmen named in this chapter. Bezaleel, from the tribe of Judah, led the work and made what the Lord had commanded through Moses. Aholiab, from the tribe of Dan, worked with him as an engraver and skillful worker, doing carving and embroidery in blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. Their work shows that practical skills and art can be gifts from God, meant to be used in faithful service. They did not design their own worship, but carefully followed the pattern God had given.

What is the silver "half shekel" mentioned here for?

The silver came from a set amount each man over twenty years old paid when counted. Each gave a half shekel, also called a bekah, so everyone had the same share, rich or poor. That money was used mainly to cast the silver sockets for the boards of the holy place and for the veil. These sockets literally held up the tabernacle. This shows that each person in the community helped support God’s dwelling among them, and that the same price for each life pointed to equal worth before God and the need of all for atonement.

What does this passage teach about God’s character?

The care in this chapter shows that God is holy, orderly, and attentive to details. He did not leave worship to guesswork but gave clear measures, materials, and uses. The presence of an altar for sacrifice and a laver for washing shows that God makes a way for sinful people to draw near, but that way involves cleansing and cost. The record of gifts and workers shows that God uses the willing giving and skilled hands of His people, yet all under His command. He is both pure and gracious, both exact and patient.

How can a modern reader apply this passage about the tabernacle?

Even though we do not build a tabernacle today, the patterns here still speak. The altar and laver remind us that we need forgiveness and cleansing, not just outward religion. The careful building and counting of materials encourage us to handle church resources with honesty and care. The women giving their mirrors and the people giving gold, silver, and brass call us to hold our own possessions loosely and offer our best to God. The skilled work of Bezaleel and Aholiab shows that everyday talents can be used in God’s service.

Exod.38.1

Exodus 38:1

KJV

And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.

The Bronze Altar

1 And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.

2 And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.

3 And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.

4 And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.

5 And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.

6 And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.

7 And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.

The Bronze Basin

8 ¶ And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

The Courtyard

9 ¶ And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits:

10 Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.

11 And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

12 And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

13 And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.

14 The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

15 And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

16 All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.

17 And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.

18 And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.

19 And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver.

20 And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.

An Inventory of Materials

21 ¶ This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.

22 And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses.

23 And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

24 All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

25 And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

26 A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

27 And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.

28 And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.

29 And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.

30 And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,

31 And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.