Out of Egypt · c. 1446–1445 BC
Chapter 12
The Tabernacle
Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle.
For parents
Moses repeats the Lord’s command that anyone who works on the Sabbath is to be put to death (Exodus 35:2). It is told plainly, in one sentence.
gathered all the together. “Here is what the has commanded you to do,” he told them. “There are six days for work, but the seventh day is to be a day for you, a , a day of complete rest for the Lord. Anyone who works on it is to be put to death. On the Sabbath day, don’t light a fire in any of your homes.”
Then Moses spoke to all the Israelites. “This is what the Lord has commanded,” he said. “Collect an offering for the Lord from among you. Everyone whose heart is willing is to bring it as the Lord’s offering. Bring gold, silver and bronze. Bring blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and sea cow hides. Bring wood and oil for the lamps, and spices for the and the sweet-smelling . Bring onyx stones, and other stones to be set in the and the .
“Every skilled man among you is to come and make everything the Lord has commanded. Make the with its outer covering and its roof, its clasps, boards, bars, pillars and sockets. Make the and its poles, the , and the veil, the curtain that hangs as a screen. Make the table, its poles and all its dishes, and the . Make the , with its tools and its lamps, and the oil for the lamps. Make the for burning incense, and its poles. Make the anointing oil and the sweet-smelling incense, and the screen that hangs at the door of the tabernacle. Make the altar of with its grate of bronze, its poles and all its tools, and the basin with its base. Make the hangings that go around the courtyard, with their pillars and sockets, and the screen for the courtyard’s gate, and the tent pegs and ropes for the tabernacle and the courtyard. And make the fine clothes for serving in the holy place: the holy clothes for the , and the clothes his sons will wear when they serve as priests.”
All the Israelites left Moses and went away. Then everyone who felt moved to give, everyone whose spirit made them willing, came back with the Lord’s offering. They brought it for the work on the , for everything used in serving there, and for the holy clothes.
Men and women came, all who were willing. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and armbands, every piece made of gold. Everyone who gave gold gave it as an offering to the Lord.
Everyone who had blue, purple or scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red or sea cow hides brought them. Those who were giving silver or bronze brought that to the Lord as their offering. Anyone who had acacia wood that could be used for any part of the work brought it.
All the women who were skilled spun thread with their own hands and brought what they had spun: blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen. The women who felt moved to it, and had the skill, spun the goats’ hair.
The leaders brought the onyx stones and the other stones to be set in the ephod and the breastplate. They brought the spices and the oil too, for the lamps, the anointing oil and the sweet-smelling incense.
The Israelites brought gifts to the Lord because they wanted to. Every man and woman whose heart was willing brought something for all the work the Lord had commanded Moses to have made.
Moses said to the Israelites, “Look, the Lord has chosen by name. Bezalel is the son of Uri, who was the son of Hur, from the tribe of . The Lord has filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him wisdom, understanding and knowledge, and skill in every kind of craft. Bezalel can make skillful designs. He can work in gold, silver and bronze, cut stones to be set, and carve wood. He can do every kind of skilled work.
“The Lord has made him able to teach others, and too, the son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of . He has filled them both with the wisdom to do every kind of work. They can engrave, and do the work of a skilled craftsman. They can weave, and embroider with blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen. They can do any kind of work and make skillful designs.
“Bezalel and Oholiab are to work alongside every skilled man. The Lord has given these men wisdom and understanding, so they know how to do all the work for the holy place. They are to do it all just as the Lord has commanded.”
Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skilled man the Lord had given wisdom, everyone who felt moved to come and do the work. They took from Moses all the gifts the Israelites had brought for building the holy place. The people kept bringing him more gifts every morning, of their own free will.
Then the skilled men who were doing the work on the holy place all left what they were doing. “The people have brought much more than enough for the work the Lord has commanded,” they told Moses.
Moses gave an order, and it was announced all through the camp: “No one, man or woman, is to make anything more for the offering for the holy place.” So the people were stopped from bringing any more. What they had was enough for all the work, with more to spare.
All the skilled men among the workers made the tabernacle. They made it of ten curtains of fine twisted linen, with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with on them, the work of a skilled craftsman. Each curtain was twenty-eight long and four cubits wide. A cubit is about a foot and a half, so each curtain was about forty-two feet long and six feet wide. All ten were the same size. He joined five of the curtains together, and then the other five. Along the edge of each set he made fifty loops of blue, with the loops on one set facing the loops on the other. He made fifty gold clasps and joined the two sets together with them, so the tabernacle was all one piece. Over the tabernacle he made a tent of eleven curtains of goats’ hair, joined with fifty bronze clasps into one. Over that went a covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and on top of everything, a covering of sea cow hides.
For the walls he made boards of acacia wood to stand upright. Each board was ten cubits tall and a cubit and a half wide, about fifteen feet by two and a quarter feet. At the foot of each board were two pegs, and each peg fit into a silver socket. There were twenty boards on the south side, standing in forty silver sockets, and twenty on the north side, with their forty sockets. At the far end, toward the west, there were six boards, and two more for the corners. He made bars of acacia wood to hold the boards together: five for each side, and five for the far end. The middle bar ran through the middle of the boards from one end to the other. He covered the boards with gold, made gold rings to hold the bars, and covered the bars with gold too.
He made the veil out of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, with cherubim on it, the work of a skilled craftsman. For it he made four pillars of acacia wood and covered them with gold. Their hooks were gold, and they stood in four silver sockets. For the door of the tent he made an embroidered screen of the same colors and linen. It had five pillars with hooks. The tops of the pillars and their bands were covered with gold, and the five sockets they stood in were bronze.
Bezalel made the ark, a chest of acacia wood. From end to end it was two and a half cubits, nearly four feet, and it was a cubit and a half wide and high, a little over two feet. He covered it inside and out with pure gold and put a gold trim all around it. He made four gold rings for its four feet, two on each side. He made poles of acacia wood, covered them with gold, and slid them into the rings on the sides of the ark, so it could be carried. He made the mercy seat out of pure gold. It measured two and a half cubits by a cubit and a half, nearly four feet by a little over two. At its two ends he made two cherubim out of hammered gold, one at each end, all one piece with the mercy seat. The cherubim spread out their wings above it and covered the mercy seat with them. They faced each other, and their faces looked toward the mercy seat.
He made the table of acacia wood. It was about three feet long, a foot and a half wide, and a little over two feet high. He covered it with pure gold, gave it a rim as wide as a hand all around, and put gold trim around it. He made gold rings for it, and gold-covered poles to carry it. The dishes, spoons, bowls and pitchers for pouring that went on the table were all pure gold. He made the lamp stand out of pure gold, hammered out all in one piece: its base, its stem, and its cups, buds and flowers. Six branches came out of its sides, three on each side, with cups shaped like almond blossoms. He made its seven lamps and the tools that went with them out of pure gold too. A of pure gold, about sixty-six pounds, went into the lamp stand and all its tools.
He made the altar for burning incense out of acacia wood. The altar was square, a cubit on each side and two cubits high: about a foot and a half across and three feet high. Its horns were all one piece with it. He covered its top, its sides and its horns with pure gold, and put a gold trim around it. He made gold rings for it, and gold-covered poles to carry it. And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, blended the way a perfume maker blends them.
He made the altar of burnt offering out of acacia wood. It was square, five cubits on each side and three cubits high: about seven and a half feet across and four and a half feet high. He made a horn at each of its four corners, all one piece with the altar, and he covered the altar with bronze. He made all its tools out of bronze: the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks and the fire pans. He made a bronze grate for it, like a net, and set it under the altar’s ledge, reaching halfway up. He made four rings for the four corners of the grate to hold the poles, and he made poles of acacia wood covered with bronze to carry it. He built the altar hollow, out of planks.
He made the basin and its base out of bronze, using the mirrors of the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
He made the courtyard. Its walls were hangings, long curtains of fine twisted linen hung on pillars. The south and north sides were each a hundred cubits long, about a hundred and fifty feet, and the west and east ends were fifty cubits, about seventy-five feet. The pillars stood in bronze sockets. Their hooks and bands were made of silver, and their tops were covered with silver. The gate was on the east side. Its screen was embroidered, made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen. The screen was twenty cubits long and five cubits high, about thirty feet by seven and a half, like the hangings of the courtyard. Every tent peg for the tabernacle and the courtyard around it was bronze.
Here is how much was used for the tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the . Moses ordered it counted, and , the son of Aaron the priest, did the counting as part of the ’ work.
Bezalel made everything the Lord had commanded Moses. He was the son of Uri, who was the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, worked beside him. Oholiab was an engraver and a skilled craftsman, and he embroidered with blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen.
All the gold that was given as an offering and used in the work on the holy place came to twenty-nine talents and 730 , weighed by the shekel used at the holy place. That is about 1,930 pounds, nearly a ton.
The silver given by the people who were counted came to a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, weighed the same way. That is about 6,640 pounds, more than three tons. Each man who was counted, twenty years old or older, gave half a shekel, about a sixth of an ounce. There were 603,550 men.
The hundred talents of silver were made into the sockets for the holy place and the sockets for the veil: a hundred sockets from a hundred talents, one talent for each socket. From the other 1,775 shekels, about thirty-nine pounds, he made hooks for the pillars and bands for them, and covered the tops of the pillars.
The bronze from the offering came to seventy talents and 2,400 shekels, about 4,670 pounds, more than two tons. With it he made the sockets for the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the bronze altar, with its bronze grate and all the altar’s tools. He also made the sockets all around the courtyard and the sockets for its gate, and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard around it.
Out of the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made fine clothes for serving in the holy place. They made the holy clothes for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses.
He made the ephod out of gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine twisted linen. They hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut it into wires, to work it in with the blue, the purple, the scarlet and the fine linen. It was the work of a skilled craftsman. They made shoulder straps for the ephod, joined to it at its two ends. Its woven band, for tying it on, was one piece with it and made the same way, as the Lord commanded Moses.
They set the onyx stones in gold settings and engraved them with the names of Israel’s sons, the way a seal is engraved. He put the stones on the ephod’s shoulder straps, so that the Israelites would be remembered, as the Lord commanded Moses.
He made the breastplate, the work of a skilled craftsman. It was made like the ephod, of gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine twisted linen. It was square and folded double, a span long and a span wide, about nine inches each way. In it they set four rows of precious stones, three in each row, each stone in a gold setting. There were twelve stones, one for each of the , and each had the name of one of Israel’s sons cut into it, the way a seal is cut. They fastened the breastplate to the front of the ephod’s shoulder straps with braided chains of pure gold and gold rings. Lower down, they tied its rings to the ephod’s rings with a blue cord, so that it would sit on the ephod’s woven band and not come loose from the ephod. They did it all as the Lord commanded Moses.
He made the robe that went with the ephod, woven all of blue. In the middle was an opening for the head, like the opening of a coat of armor, with a band around its edge so that it would not tear. Around the hem of the robe they made pomegranates out of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and twisted linen. Between the pomegranates they put bells of pure gold, all the way around the hem: a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate. The robe was for serving in, as the Lord commanded Moses.
For Aaron and his sons they made tunics woven of fine linen. They made the turban and the headbands of fine linen, and the linen pants of fine twisted linen. The sash was made of fine twisted linen with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and it was embroidered. They made it all as the Lord commanded Moses.
They made the plate of the holy crown out of pure gold. On it they engraved these words, the way a seal is engraved: “HOLY TO YAHWEH.” They tied a blue cord to it to fasten it high on the turban, as the Lord commanded Moses.
So the Israelites finished all their work on the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. They did everything the Lord had commanded Moses. That is exactly what they did.
Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses. They brought the tent with all its furniture: its clasps, boards, bars, pillars and sockets. They brought the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, the covering of sea cow hides, and the veil that hangs as a screen. They brought the ark of the , its poles and the mercy seat. They brought the table with all its dishes, and the bread of the presence. They brought the lamp stand of pure gold, with its lamps set in their places, all its tools, and oil for the lamps. They also brought the gold altar, the anointing oil and the sweet-smelling incense, and the screen for the door of the tent.
They brought the bronze altar, with its grate of bronze, its poles and all its tools, and the basin and its base. They brought the hangings of the courtyard with their pillars and sockets, the screen for the courtyard’s gate, its ropes and tent pegs, and all the tools for the work of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. And they brought the fine clothes for serving in the holy place: the holy clothes for Aaron the priest, and the clothes his sons would wear to serve as priests.
The Israelites did all the work, everything the Lord had commanded Moses. Moses looked over all of it, and saw that they had done it as the Lord had commanded. They had done it. And Moses blessed them.
The Lord gave Moses instructions. “On the first day of the ,” he said, “put up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. Put the ark of the covenant inside it, and screen the ark off with the veil. Bring in the table and arrange the things that go on it. Bring in the lamp stand and light its lamps. Place the golden altar for burning incense in front of the ark of the covenant, and hang the screen at the door of the tabernacle.
“Set the altar of burnt offering in front of the door of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. Set the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and fill it with water. Set up the courtyard all around, and hang the screen at the courtyard’s gate.
“Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle with it, and everything that is in it. Make the tabernacle and all its furniture holy, and it will be holy. Do the same to the altar of burnt offering and all its tools: anoint the altar and make it holy, and it will be most holy. Then anoint the basin and its base, and make it holy.
“Bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and wash them there with water. Dress Aaron in the holy clothes. Anoint him and make him holy, to serve me as priest. Bring his sons and put tunics on them. Anoint them as you anointed their father, to serve me as priests too. Their anointing will give them a priesthood that lasts forever, generation after generation.”
Moses did so. He did everything the Lord had commanded him.
In the second year, on the first day of the first month, the tabernacle was set up. Moses set it up. He laid down its sockets, stood its boards in them, put in its bars and raised its pillars. He spread the covering over the tent and put the tabernacle’s roof on top of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
He took the of the covenant and put them into the ark. He put its poles in place and set the mercy seat on top of it. He brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung up the veil, and screened off the ark of the covenant, as the Lord commanded Moses.
He put the table in the Tent of Meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside of the veil. On it he set out the bread in order before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
He put the lamp stand in the Tent of Meeting on the south side of the tabernacle, facing the table. He lit the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
He put the gold altar in front of the veil, inside the Tent of Meeting, and burned incense made of sweet spices on it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
He hung up the screen at the tabernacle’s door. He set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and on it he offered the burnt offering and the , as the Lord commanded Moses.
He set the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and filled it with water for washing. Moses, Aaron and Aaron’s sons washed their hands and feet there. Whenever they went into the Tent of Meeting or came near the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses.
He set up the courtyard all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the screen at the courtyard’s gate. So Moses finished the work.
Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Lord’s filled the tabernacle. Moses couldn’t go into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud stayed on it, and the Lord’s glory filled the tabernacle.
All through their journeys, whenever the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle, the Israelites moved on. But if the cloud wasn’t lifted, they didn’t move on until the day it was. In the daytime the Lord’s cloud was on the tabernacle, and at night there was fire in the cloud, where all the people of Israel could see it, all through their journeys.