Exodus 27:9-19

Instructions for Making the Courtyard

9 "You will make the courtyard of the tabernacle; for the {south} side [will be] hangings for the courtyard of finely twisted linen, one hundred cubits long for the one side.

10 And its twenty pillars and their twenty bases [will be] bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands [will be] silver.

11 And likewise for the north side along the length [will be] hangings one hundred cubits long; and its twenty pillars and their bases [will be] bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands [will be] silver.

12 And the width of the courtyard for the west side [will be] hangings of fifty cubits, their ten pillars and their ten bases.

13 And the width of the courtyard for the east side, toward sunrise, [will be] fifty cubits.

14 And hangings for the shoulder [will be] fifteen cubits [with] their three pillars and their three bases.

15 And fifteen cubits of hangings [will be] for the second shoulder [with] their three pillars and their three bases.

16 And for the gate of the courtyard [there will be] a screen of twenty cubits of blue and purple and crimson [yarns] and finely twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer; [with] their four pillars and their four bases.

17 "All the pillars of the courtyard all around will be banded [with] silver, [and] their hooks [will be] silver, and their bases [will be] bronze.

18 The length of the courtyard will be one hundred cubits and the width fifty [cubits] and the height five cubits, of finely twisted linen, [with] their bronze bases.

19 Bronze [will be] for all the equipment of the tabernacle in all its service and all its {pegs} and all the {pegs} of the courtyard.

Exodus 27:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 27

This chapter treats of the altar of burnt offering, and of all things relative to it, Ex 27:1-8, of the court of the tabernacle, its hangings on each side, with pillars, sockets, and hooks for them, Ex 27:9-19 and it is concluded with an order to the Israelites to bring oil olive for the lamp of the sanctuary, Ex 27:20,21.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "south southward"
• [b] Or "sea"
• [c] Or "side," referring to the span on one side of the courtyard's entry
• [d] Or "side," referring to the span on one side of the courtyard's entry
• [e] Or "fifty with fifty." Some suggest that the word for cubits has been accidentally omitted and the number fifty repeated in the Hebrew text. Others suggest that repetition of the number is original and indicates that the two ends of the courtyard are the same size
• [f] Literally "hands"
• [g] Literally "hands"