Exodus 38

Making the Bronze Altar and the Basin

1 And he made the burnt-offering altar of acacia wood; its length [was] five cubits, and its width [was] five cubits--[it was] square--and its height [was] three cubits.

2 And he made its horns on its four corners; its horns were {of one piece with it}; and he overlaid it [with] bronze.

3 And he made all the equipment of the altar--the pots and the shovels and the sprinkling bowls and the forks and the fire pans--all its equipment he made [with] bronze.

4 And he made for the altar a grating, a work of bronze network under its ledge, below, up to its middle.

5 And he cast four rings on the four ends of the bronze grating [as] {holders} for the poles.

6 And he made the poles of acacia wood, and he overlaid them [with] bronze.

7 And he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them. He made it hollow with boards.

8 And he made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze from the mirrors of the serving women who served [at] the entrance of the tent of assembly.

Making the Courtyard

9 And he made the courtyard; for the south side [were] the hangings of the court of finely twisted linen, one hundred cubits,

10 [with] their twenty pillars and their twenty bases of bronze [and with] the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver.

11 And for the north side [the hangings were] one hundred cubits [with] their twenty pillars and their twenty bases of bronze [and with] the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver.

12 And for the {west} side fifty cubits [of] hangings [with] their ten pillars and their ten bases [and with] the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver.

13 And for the eastward side, toward sunrise, fifty cubits;

14 fifteen cubits of hangings [were] to the shoulder, [with] their three pillars and their three bases,

15 and for the second shoulder {on each side} of the gate of the courtyard [were] fifteen cubits of hangings, [with] their three pillars and their three bases.

16 All the hangings of the courtyard all around [were] finely twisted linen,

17 and the bases for the pillars [were] bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands [were] silver, and the overlay of their tops [was] silver, and all the pillars of the courtyard [were] banded [with] silver.

18 And the screen of the gate of the courtyard [was] the work of an embroiderer, [with] blue and purple and crimson [yarns] and finely twisted linen; [it was] twenty cubits long and five cubits {high}, like the hangings of the courtyard,

19 and [with] their four pillars and their four bases of bronze, [with] their silver hooks and [with] their tops and their bands of silver.

20 And all the {pegs} for the tabernacle and for the courtyard all around [were] bronze.

Amounts of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Used

21 These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which [were] recorded at the {command of} Moses, the work of the Levites, in the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

22 And Bezalel the son of Uri the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, did all that Yahweh commanded Moses.

23 And with him [was] Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, a skilled craftsman and a designer and an embroiderer with the blue and with the purple and with the crimson [yarns] and with the linen.

24 And all the gold used for the work, in the work of the sanctuary, it was the gold of the wave offering--twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

25 And the silver recorded from the community [was] a hundred talents and a thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

26 [It was] a bekah for the individual, the half shekel according to the sanctuary shekel, for {everyone who was counted}, from {twenty years old} and above, for six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

27 And it was one hundred talents of the silver to cast the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the curtain--one hundred bases for one hundred talents of silver, a talent for [each] base.

28 And [from] the thousand seven hundred and seventy-five [shekels] he made hooks for the pillars, and he overlaid their tops, and he made bands [for] them.

29 And the bronze of the wave offering [was] seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels.

30 And he made with it the bases of the entrance of the tent of assembly and the bronze altar and the bronze grating that belonged to it and all the equipment of the altar

31 and the bases of the courtyard all around and the bases of the gate of the courtyard and all the {pegs} of the tabernacle and all the {pegs} of the courtyard all around.

Exodus 38 Commentary

Chapter 38

The brazen altar and laver. (1-8) The court. (9-20) The offerings of the people. (21-31)

Verses 1-8 In all ages of the church there have been some persons more devoted to God, more constant in their attendance upon his ordinances, and more willing to part even with lawful things, for his sake, than others. Some women, devoted to God and zealous for the tabernacle worship, expressed zeal by parting with their mirrors, which were polished plates of brass. Before the invention of looking-glasses, these served the same purposes.

Verses 9-20 The walls of the court being of curtains only, intimated that the state of the Jewish church itself was movable and changeable; and in due time to be taken down and folded up, when the place of the tent should be enlarged, and its cords lengthened, to make room for the Gentile world.

Verses 21-31 The foundation of massy pieces of silver showed the solidity and purity of the truth upon which the church is founded. Let us regard the Lord Jesus Christ while reading of the furniture of the tabernacle. While looking at the altar of burnt-offering, let us see Jesus. In him, his righteousness, and salvation, is a full and sufficient offering for sin. In the laver of regeneration, by his Holy Spirit, let our souls be washed, and they shall be clean; and as the people offered willingly, so may our souls be made willing. Let us be ready to part with any thing, and count all but loss to win Christ.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "from it"
• [b]. 1 Samuel 2:13 mentions a fork with "three teeth" used by priests
• [c]. Literally "houses"
• [d]. Or "southward southward"
• [e]. Literally "sea"
• [f]. Or "side," referring to the span on one side of the courtyard's entry
• [g]. Or "side," referring to the span on one side of the courtyard's entry
• [h]. Literally "from this and from this"
• [i]. Literally "height in width"
• [j]. Literally "hands"
• [k]. Literally "mouth of"
• [l]. Literally "all of the going over to the being counted"
• [m]. Literally "a son of twenty years"
• [n]. Literally "hands"
• [o]. Literally "hands"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 38

This chapter is a continuation of the account of the making of the things belonging to the tabernacle, particularly the altar of burnt offering, Ex 38:1-7 the laver of brass, and the things it was made of, Ex 38:8 the court and its hangings, pillars, sockets, hooks and pins, Ex 38:9-20 then follows an account of the quantities of gold, silver, and brass, expended in the making of the several things appertaining to the sanctuary, Ex 38:21-31.

Bezaleel made it, or it was made by his direction, he having the care and oversight of it, wherefore the making of it is ascribed to him, 2Ch 1:5 the account of this, its horns, vessels, rings, and staves, is carried on to Ex 38:2-7 of which \\see Gill on "Ex 27:1"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:2"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:3"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:4"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:5"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:6"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:7"\\ \\see Gill on "Ex 27:8"\\. 10593-941108-1338-Ex38.2