Exodus 26:9

9 Join five of the curtains by themselves, and the [other] six curtains by themselves. Then fold the sixth curtain double at the front of the tent.

Exodus 26:9 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 26:9

And thou shall couple five curtains by themselves
And make one large curtain of them, as was ordered with respect to the linen curtains:

and six curtains by themselves;
as there were eleven of them, such a division was made of five into one large curtain, and six into another; and as that which had six in it would reach further than the other, provision is made for the disposal and use of that as follows:

and shall double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle;
at the entrance of it, in the east end of it; the sixth curtain reaching to that, and hanging down, was turned up, and so doubled, opposite the door or entrance; and was, as Jarchi says, like a modest bride that covers her face with a vail, which before this had no covering; for thus it was, as Dr. Lightfoot F13 describes it, the holy place was ten yards long, and the five curtains sewed together were just so broad, and so they covered only the top and the sides, but hung not down at the end, which was eastward--but the six (goat hair curtains) that lay east reached to the end, covered the pillars whereon that vail hung, and they hung half a curtain's breadth or a yard over the entrance.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Works, vol. 1. p. 718.

Exodus 26:9 In-Context

7 "You are to make curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; make 11 of these curtains.
8 The length of each curtain should be 45 feet and the width of each curtain six feet. All 11 curtains are to have the same measurements.
9 Join five of the curtains by themselves, and the [other] six curtains by themselves. Then fold the sixth curtain double at the front of the tent.
10 Make 50 loops on the edge of the one curtain, the outermost in the [first] set, and make 50 loops on the edge of the [corresponding] curtain of the second set.
11 Make 50 bronze clasps; put the clasps through the loops and join the tent together so that it is a single unit.
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