Exodus 25:4-14

4 blue, purple, and deep red yarns; fine linen; goats' hair;

5 rams' skins dyed red; beaded leather; acacia wood;

6 oil for the lamps; spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense;

7 gemstones; and gems for setting in the priest's vest and chest piece.

8 They should make me a sanctuary so I can be present among them.

9 You should follow the blueprints that I will show you for the dwelling and for all its equipment.

Instructions for building the chest containing the covenant

10 Have them make an acacia-wood chest. It should be forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high.

11 Cover it with pure gold, inside and out, and make a gold molding all around it.

12 Cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other.

13 Make acacia-wood poles and cover them with gold.

14 Then put the poles into the rings on the chest's sides and use them to carry the chest.

Exodus 25:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 25

In this chapter an order is given for a freewill offering towards various things for the worship and service of God, and the materials to be offered, which would be useful and acceptable, are mentioned particularly, Ex 25:1-7, as also another order to build a sanctuary for God, after a model that he would give, Ex 25:8,9, and, an ark to put in the law on tables of stone, the fashion of which, and the various things belonging to it, are described, Ex 25:10-16, and a mercy seat with cherubim on it to be set over the ark, where the Lord promises to meet Moses and commune with him, Ex 25:17-22 and a table with various appurtenances to it to place the shewbread on, Ex 25:23-30 and a candlestick of gold, whose parts are described, and all the instruments relative to it, Ex 25:31-40.

Footnotes

• [a] Or dolphin skins
• [b] Heb ephod