The Tabernacle

During their years of wandering in the desert, the Israelites worshiped and offered sacrifices to Yahweh at The Tabernacle. In this episode of Bible Backdrop, we look at how it was built along with the tools of worship that were used in the course of offering sacrifices. How big was the Tabernacle? What were the curtains made of? Could anyone go in? These are some of the questions answered in this latest episode.

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Transcript

The man walked through the camp, leading the goat by a leash fastened around it’s neck. He had done this walk many times before. Years ago, he would have gone with his father. However, as God had promised, the older generation was dying out and his father was no exception. Now the man led his family and that meant offering the sacrifices. He shook his head, remembering his father’s stories about leaving Egypt. It all seemed so long ago. 

Continuing to work his way through the camp, others join him as they made their way to the center with their own sacrifices. It looks to be a busy morning for the Levite priests.

Soon, the smell of wood smoke and burning animal flesh are mixed with the smells of breakfast cooking in the camp. He makes a final turn and sees his destination; the entrance to the Tabernacle. The tent of meeting where sacrifices have been offered while Israel has wandered the desert during these last 30 years. The gold columns shine in the rising sun and the colorful curtains hide the interior from wandering eyes. As he waits in line, he sees the priests going about their jobs offering sacrifices at the bronze altar as they have been doing for years. It’s all so familiar to the man. He knows that one day the wanderings will end and they will settle in the Promised Land. But, until that day, the nation of Israel will need to continue to offer their sacrifices here...at the tabernacle.

Hello again everyone and welcome to the next episode of Bible Backdrop. Last episode, we started on our journey through the religion of Judaism by talking about the Ark of the Covenant. Today, we’re going to talk about where the Ark was housed during the wandering years of the Exodus: the Tabernacle.

First off, the word tabernacle means “to dwell.” God used the tabernacle to dwell among His people, the nation of Israel. It was here that the people came to offer the multitude of sacrifices that the Jewish religion required. We’ll get into those sacrifices in another episode.

The tabernacle was actually in two separate parts: the outer courtyard and the shrine itself, called the Tent of Meeting, located in the center of the courtyard. The courtyard measured 100 cubits in length by 50 cubits in width. Since a cubit was approximately 18 inches, the courtyard was about 150 feet in length and 75 feet in width. This comes out to 11,250 square feet or about a quarter of an acre. It was surrounded by curtains about 5 cubits, or 7.5 feet high. This was to keep people from looking in at the sacrifices taking place. The entrance to the courtyard faced east and was guarded by the Levite priests. According to Exodus 27:16: “For the gate of the court there shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver, with their four pillars and their four sockets.” Like the character in the story at the beginning, the person bringing the sacrifice had to go to this entrance. They would wait and then be allowed in where the priests would perform the sacrifice. 

In the courtyard were two articles used in worship. One was the bronze altar and the other was a bronze laver. The altar was where the sacrifices were made and was the first thing a worshiper would see when coming to the entrance of the courtyard. Exodus 27 says: “You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square and it’s height shall be three cubits. And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be one one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.” Verse 4 then picks up: “You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar.” Given these dimensions, the altar was 7.5 feet square and 4.5 feet high. The grating allowed the priests to place the wood for the fire while also catching the ashes. Exodus also says that all the tools for the altar were also made of bronze. I couldn’t find any information on the weight of the altar, but it had to be fairly heavy. Most likely, it came apart in different pieces which made it easier to carry.

The other article of worship in the courtyard was the bronze laver. Essentially, this was a wash basin for the priests. Exodus 30:17-21: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water into it. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the alter to minister by presenting an offering made to the Lord by fire, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.’” Unlike the other articles, the laver does not have measurements, so we don’t know the size or scale of it. God’s command was for the priests to be clean before entering the Tent of Meeting or offering a sacrifice. Some scholars believe that the Hebrews washed their hands by pouring water over them and not dipping them in the water. 

As I mentioned earlier, the shrine in the middle was called the Tent of Meeting and consisted of two rooms: the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. It was the place where God dwelt and could meet with His people (represented by the priests). The tent measured 30 cubits in length, 10 cubits in width, and 10 cubits in height. This of course translates to 45 feet long, 15 feet wide and 15 feet high. It was covered with curtains made from linen and goat skins and was built with boards of acacia wood. We’ll get into those details a little later.

As I said, the Tent was divided into two rooms. The first was the Holy Place and it measured 20 cubits by 10 cubits, or 30 feet by 15 feet. Inside of the Holy Place were three articles: the table of showbread which was on the right or northern side of the room; the golden lampstand which was on the left or southern side of the room; finally, the altar of incense which would be in-between the table and the lampstand and in front of the curtain, or veil, between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

First, let’s look at the table of showbread. Exodus tells us that the table was 2 cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. So 3 feet long, a foot and a half wide, and about 2 and a quarter feet high. It was made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. All the plates, dishes, pitchers and bowls for offerings were also made of gold. On it was 12 loaves of bread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. These were made of fine flour and were called “the bread of the presence.” The loaves were arranged in two rows or piles of six and frankincense was sprinkled on each row. The loaves were considered holy and could only be eaten by the priests. Each Sabbath, the priests would consume the old bread and replace it with fresh loaves and frankincense supplied by the people.

Next was the golden lampstand. While the other articles were made of wood and overlaid with gold, the lampstand is the only article constructed from solid gold. Exodus 37 says that it took a talent of pure gold to create the lampstand and it’s implements, which is approximately 75 pounds. Like the laver, there are no measurements recorded for the lampstand so we can only guess at it’s size. Since the Tent of Meeting was surrounded by curtains, the lampstand produced the only light for the Holy Place and was to be kept going at all times. It was built with a central column and six arms, each resembling the branches of an almond tree. The cups at the end of each branch and in the central column were formed in a stylized almond blossom and contained a measure of olive oil. A cloth wick was inserted into each cup and then could be lit when it absorbed the oil. Given the description and craftsmanship necessary, this had to be a very beautifully built implement. 

The last article in the Holy Place was the altar of incense. Like some of the other articles, it was made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. Exodus 30 says: “It’s length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it. You shall overlay it with pure gold, it’s top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it.” This did not seem to be a large vessel since it was about a 3 feet tall and a foot and a half long and wide. Later in the same chapter, God tells Moses that Aaron was to burn incense in the morning and at night so that it would always be going. The smoke would fill the Holy of Holies and would eventually find it’s way out to the tabernacle courtyard. The recipe for the incense was very precise and considered holy before God. It included the following ingredients: stacte, which some scholars believe is the gum resin of a tree similar to myrrh; onycha, which is the door membrane of a snail-like mollusk found in the Red Sea; galbanum, which is a bitter resin extracted from a plant in the parsley family; and, finally, frankincense which is a sweet smelling spice. If anyone tried to copy it for their personal use, they were cut off from the people. It was also very important that the correct incense was burned on the altar. Leviticus 10 says: “Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.” This may seem like a harsh penalty, but the priests had a great responsibility to follow the dictates of God and they had also been warned of the consequences of not following them. 

We now come to the most important place in the tabernacle: The Holy of Holies. It was considered so holy, that the high priest could only go in once a year on the Day of Atonement to make a sin offering for the entire nation. If anyone, even the high priest, went in at any other time, they would die instantly. The Holy of Holies was exactly 10 cubits long, 10 cubits wide, and 10 cubits high; a perfect square. It had only one article in it: the ark of the covenant which I described in the last episode. It was separated from the Holy Place by a curtain or veil so that nobody could see into it. When I talk about the sacrifices that were offered, we’ll get a look behind the curtain.

Speaking of the curtain, let’s talk about how they made the tabernacle. First, the tabernacle always faced the same direction. The front faced to the east meaning the back faced to the west. The two long sides always faced north and south. To be portable, the tabernacle was made from wood boards, poles, sockets, and different types of curtains. The boards, like most of the other items, were made from acacia wood. Exodus 26 states: “Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. Ten cubits shall be the length of each board and one and a half cubits the width of each board. There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus you shall do for all the boards of the tabernacle.” 10 cubits in length equals 15 feet and this was the height of the boards when they stood upright. For the Tent of Meeting, there were 20 boards on the north and south sides and 6 boards on the west side plus two corner boards, giving it the 30 x 10 square cubits measurement. Each board had 2 tenons. These were projections from the wood so it could be placed into the socket and hold the board in place. Each board was then overlaid in gold. The east side of the Tent of Meeting did not have any boards and was covered with a linen curtain.

Each board was placed into two sockets of silver and when joined together, created each of the walls of the Tent of Meeting. For further stability, God instructed Moses to create cross bars that were fastened to the outside of the boards by gold rings. The bars were made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. Each side contained 5 cross bars: two on the top, two on the bottom and one in the middle that went end to end. 

To help cover the tabernacle, God instructed the Israelites to make several different types of curtains. These were used in the covering of the Tent of Meeting, for the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, to cover the entrance to the Tent of Meeting along with the entrance to the courtyard, and also along the courtyard wall. Let’s work our way from the outside to the inside starting with the courtyard. Exodus 27 states: “Make a courtyard for the tabernacle. The south side shall be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains of finely twisted linen, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. The north side shall also be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. The west end of the courtyard shall be fifty cubits wide and have curtains, with ten posts and ten bases.” What exactly is meant by finely twisted linen? Ancient Egypt was well known for their manufacture and trade of linen, so it’s no surprise that the Israelites were skilled in this art. Linen comes from the flax plant and it was a labor intensive process. First, the flax had to be soaked, then beaten to separate the fibers. After the fibers were gathered, then they would be twisted together and spun into thread. Finally, the threads would then be woven together to make the cloth. It was a fairly rough fabric compared to the linen today, but was durable making it a great use for covering the tabernacle. The curtains making up the courtyard fence were white but the entrance on the east side was different. Exodus 27 continues: “For the gate of the court there shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver, with their four pillars and their four sockets.” Scholars differ on where the dye came from to make the colored yarn. Most believe that the violet and blue dyes came from shellfish while the scarlet dye came from the harvesting, drying, and crushing of a particular insect that grew in the holm-oak. This curtain was actually believed to be 3 separate curtains hanging between 4 pillars as a single curtain of 20 cubits (about 30 feet) would have been a difficult to care for and carry. 

Inside the courtyard, many different types of curtains were used in the construction of the Tent of Meeting. First, let’s look at the entrance as we see that it is very similar to the entrance to the courtyard. Exodus 26 states: “You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver. You shall make five pillars of acacia for the screen and overlay with gold, their hooks also being of gold; and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.” The entrance to the courtyard and the entrance to the Tent of Meeting were very similar. Of course, the entrance to the Tent of Meeting was smaller being only 10 cubits instead of 20. Being divided between five pillars, it was probably in 4 parts. If that’s the case, each curtain was probably only 2 cubits wide if we assume each pillar was 1 cubit wide. This would easily allow for the priest to enter into the Holy Place when necessary.

Next, let’s look at the 4 different types of curtains that covered the Tent of Meeting. The first one mentioned is a curtain of fine twisted linen but this one had an artistic touch to it. Again, Exodus 26 states: “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. The length of each curtain shall be 28 cubits and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall have the same measurements.” Note that here, God instructs Moses to have the curtains to have a rendering of a cherubim sewn into the curtains. This must have been difficult to do. Also notice that, instead of a skillful weaver, God directs it to be done by a skillful workman. Since this needed a more artistic touch and increased the level of difficulty, it called for a different set of skills instead of those of a weaver. Why a cherubim? These angels seem to have a particular purpose with some believing that they guard God’s glory both on Earth and by His throne; others believe that they are God’s throne bearers and His attendants. Or they could be a combination of both. Either way, God appears to be giving His people a reminder that they are drawing near to His presence by including the cherubim in the curtains. We will see them again in one more place in the tabernacle. Looking at the measurements, this would not be enough to cover the entire Tent of Meeting but would be enough to cover the north, south and west sides. Also, they would not have been left to hang down the side but were probably held down by cords and tent pegs.

After the linen curtains, there was a covering of goats hair. This curtain was set a little further back and was definitely rougher than the linen curtain. It provided protection from the day to day heat and dust and reduced the wear and tear on the finer linen. Finally, there were two other types of curtains: rams skins dyed red and the final one from sea cow or manatee skins. There are no measurements given for these curtains and they were further protection for the other finer elements. With all these coverings, the Tent of Meeting was very shaded and could stand up to the sun and rains.

As I mentioned earlier, there was a curtain or veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. This was a very important curtain as the priests could not enter the Holy of Holies except for once a year on the Day of Atonement. The veil was similar to the curtain that formed the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Back to Exodus 26: “You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold, on four sockets of silver. You shall hang up the veil under the clasps and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for your as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies.” In construction, it was similar to the curtain that guarded the entrance to the Tent of Meeting; however, it also has the additional artistic touch of the cherubim being woven into the curtain. Again, a reminder to the priests that they are in the presence of God’s glory and that He expects His statutes to be followed.

Before wrapping up this episode, there’s something that a few of the sites I researched pointed out. The altar and laver were made of bronze; however, the articles in the Tent of Meeting were made of gold. The closer one got to God’s presence, the more precious the surroundings...and the more costly.

On that note, let’s wrap up this episode of Bible Backdrop. Now that we’ve talked about the articles and place of worship, we’ll start looking at the different sacrifices God outlined in Exodus for the people of Israel. Afterwards, we’ll look at the different Temples that were built and then look into the different Jewish feasts. If you are enjoying Bible Backdrop and haven’t done so already, please subscribe and leave a 5 star rating and review. Word of mouth is still the best way for this podcast to grow, so tell a friend and ask them to subscribe. If you want to get in touch with me, you can e-mail the show at BibleBackdrop@gmail.com. Thank you again and have a great week!