The Second Book of Moses, Called Exodus

Chapter 38

The altar of burnt offering, 1-7. The basin of brass, 8. The court and its hangings, 9-20. The sum of what the people offered and the use to which it was applied, 21-31.

1 And he made the altar of burnt-offering of shittim wood. Five cubits was its length and five cubits its breadth. It was square and its height was three cubits. 2 And he made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were of the same and he overlaid it with brass. 3 And he made all the vessels of the altar: the pots, the shovels, the basins, the flesh-hooks, and the fire-pans. All its vessels he made of brass. 4 And he made for the altar a brazen grate of net-work under its compass beneath to the midst of it. 5 And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass to be places for the staffs. 6 And he made the staffs of shittim wood and overlaid them with brass. 7 And he put the staffs into the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it with. He made the altar hollow with boards.

8 And he made the basin of brass and its foot of brass from the mirrors of the women assembling, who assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

9 And he made the court. On the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, one hundred cubits. 10 Their pillars were twenty and their brazen sockets twenty. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 11 And for the north side, the hangings were one hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty and their sockets of brass twenty. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were made 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 were made of silver. 13 And for the east side eastward fifty cubits. 14 The hangings of 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 all around were of fine twined linen. 17 And the sockets for the pillars were of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were made of silver. And the overlaying of their capitals were made of silver. And all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. 18 And the hanging for the gate of the court was needle-work of blue, purple, 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 were made of silver and also the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets were made of silver. 20 And all the pins of the tabernacle and of the court all around were of brass.

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, a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, 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-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 25 And the silver of those who were numbered of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five 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 everyone who went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty men. 27 And from the hundred talents of silver the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil were cast—one hundred sockets from the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. 28 And from the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and filleted them. 29 And the brass of the offering was seventy talents and two thousand and four hundred shekels. 30 And with this he made the sockets to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the brazen altar, the brazen grate for it, all the vessels of the altar, 31 The sockets of the court all around, the sockets of the court gate, all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court all around.

Commentary

Matthew Henry Commentary - Exodus, Chapter 38[➚]

Notes

[v.1-7] - For an explanation of the altar of burnt-offering and its horns, see the notes for Exodus 27:1-2.

[v.8] - For an explanation of the basin of brass, see the notes for Exodus 30:18.

[v.9-20] - From Robert Hawker's Commentary: "By the court of the tabernacle we may suppose is meant the church of the Lord Jesus upon earth. The extent of it a hundred cubits was about sixty-one yards. Song Of Solomon 4:12. Happy [are] they that enter into it. Psalm 84:4, 10. The washing in the basin before the entry, carried this idea, that it is by the blood and righteousness of Jesus alone that admission can be found. 1st Peter 3:21."

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