Chapter Twenty-Six

1-14. Instructions concerning the construction of the coverings of the tabernacle. 15-30. The construction of the wooden frame of the tabernacle. 31-37. The inner and outer veils.

Exodus 26:1. And you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and of blue, purple, and scarlet material; you shall make it with skillfully worked cherubim; The first of the coverings of the tabernacle, the so-called lower, inner covering, in its material resembled the multicolored veil that separated the sanctuary from the holy of holies (Exod 26:31). It was made with a work called “woven work” in Greek “woven work” (Exod 36:35), representing, according to ancient tradition, the special feature that it gave the fabric two different appearances on the front and back. On one side, embroidered on a tricolor field were images of cherubim.

Exodus 26:2. The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall have the same measurement. Exodus 26:3. Five curtains shall be coupled to one another; and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. Just as the walls of the tabernacle were composed of individual boards, so the covering of the tabernacle consisted of ten separate strips, each having a length of twenty-eight cubits and a width of four cubits. These separate narrow strips were then sewn together, – they formed two large pieces, each consisting of five strips.

Exodus 26:4. You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in one set, and likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set; Exodus 26:5. You shall make fifty loops on the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite each other. Exodus 26:6. And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle becomes one whole. The two large strips thus formed, each twenty-eight cubits in length and twenty cubits in width, were not sewn together but were joined by means of one hundred blue loops, arranged fifty in each strip, loop opposite loop, and connected by fifty gold clasps. Upon joining the two halves in this manner, a single covering was obtained twenty-eight cubits in length and forty cubits in width. With such dimensions, the covering was laid on the boards of the walls of the tabernacle so that its width (forty cubits) corresponded to the length of the entire building and to the back western wall. Namely, one half of the covering, with its twenty-cubit width, covered the twenty cubits of the sanctuary, the ten cubits of the other half covered the holy of holies, and the remaining ten went to the western side, which had a height of exactly ten cubits (Exod 26:16). The right to such an understanding is given by verse 33; from its indication that the veil dividing the holy of holies from the sanctuary hung exactly under the clasps connecting the two halves of the covering, each of twenty cubits, it follows with certainty that the first twenty cubits covered the space to the holy of holies, that is, the sanctuary. And since the tabernacle was thirty cubits in length (Exod 26:16), the length of the holy of holies required from the remaining twenty cubits of covering only ten cubits. The remaining ten covered the back side not down to the ground, since from them it was necessary to subtract that part which fell on the thickness of the boards. With its length the lower covering covered the width of the tabernacle. But since its length was equal to twenty-eight cubits, and the width of the tabernacle, counting ten cubits of the top and twenty cubits of the height of the two side walls, was equal to thirty cubits, then on both the northern and southern sides, as well as on the western side, it did not reach to the ground by more than one cubit: and in this case part of the lacking two cubits went on the thickness of the boards. This occurrence was not accidental but intentional: the fabric with the images of cherubim should not hang down to the ground and get dusty.

Exodus 26:7. You shall also make curtains of goat hair to serve as a tent over the tabernacle; you shall make eleven such curtains. Exodus 26:8. The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains shall have the same measurement. The second row of coverings, over the lower covering, consisted of eleven separate strips made of goat hair. In its length of thirty cubits it exceeded the lower covering by two cubits, and in its width (forty-four cubits) by four.

Exodus 26:9. And you shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. Five strips were sewn into one covering, and the remaining six – into another. The sixth strip in this covering had the following designation. One half of it, that is, two cubits, was designated, according to Exod 26:12, for the back – western side of the tabernacle. Because of this, ten and a half coverings, having a width of forty-two cubits, covered forty cubits of the length of the tabernacle: twenty cubits went to cover the sanctuary, ten – the holy of holies, and twelve to cover the ten cubits of the western side. The extra two cubits were required to cover it all the way to the ground, to cover that part of the pillars for the covering of which the lower coverings proved too short. Properly speaking, these two cubits went to the thickness of the boards, and since there were probably many of them, the remainder was folded. The other half of the extra sixth strip was lowered to the front, eastern side of the tabernacle. Here, it is thought, formed what in Greek buildings was called “the pediment,” that is, the projection formed by the lower edge of the roof on the facade sides, in the form of a triangular cornice.

Exodus 26:10. And you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is outermost in the second coupling; Exodus 26:11. And you shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together so that it becomes one whole. On the edge of the last of the sewn-together five coverings and on the edge of the sewn-together six coverings fifty loops were made, which, as in the leather coverings, were to be opposite each other. Bronze clasps inserted in these loops joined the covering.

Exodus 26:12. Now the excess length of the tent curtains, the excess part, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. See the explanation of verse 9.

Exodus 26:13. The excess length of the tent curtains on both sides of the tabernacle, on one side and on the other side, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, to cover it. The strips of the second covering were thirty cubits in length (Exod 26:8) and therefore could cover the width of the tabernacle. Compared to the length of the strips of the lower covering, they had an “excess” of two cubits, – hung down one cubit below the colored coverings on both the northern and southern sides of the tabernacle, and thus covered that part of the longitudinal boards for the covering of which the first ones proved too short.

Exodus 26:14. And you shall make a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red, and a covering above that of fine leather. After the spreading of the second covering, the tabernacle from the outside was already completely ready. But in such a state it could suffer from winter rains and the frequent hurricanes in the Arabian desert. In view of this, two other, more durable coverings are designated for it. Being quite unadorned, they are not described in detail; the text indicates only their material. One was of tanned leather made of red ram skins, the other, the very top one, was made of the material “tachash.”

Exodus 26:15. And you shall make upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. Exodus 26:16. Ten cubits shall be the length of a frame, and one and a half cubits the width of each frame. The wooden frame of the tabernacle consisted of boards made of Arabian acacia. When the text speaks of the length (ten cubits) and width (one and a half cubits) of the boards, it does not mention their thickness. It can be derived from other known dimensions. As is evident from Exod 26:22-23, on the western side of the tabernacle stood eight boards, which with a width of one and a half cubits each gave twelve cubits. But this twelve-cubit width of the tabernacle was not its internal width. According to the unanimous testimony of Philo, Josephus, and all Jewish tradition, the tabernacle had an internal width of ten cubits. Twelve cubits were, consequently, the external width of the tabernacle. The ten-cubit internal width could be obtained only if the longitudinal walls, pressing against the edges of the back or transverse side, subtracted from its twelve-cubit measurement one cubit from each side. This last was possible only if the boards composing them had a thickness of one cubit.

Exodus 26:17. Each frame shall have two tenons set parallel to one another; so you shall construct all the frames of the tabernacle. Each board ended at the bottom with two “handles” – two tenons.

Exodus 26:18. Thus you shall make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side; Exodus 26:19. And for the twenty frames you shall make forty bases of silver: two bases under each frame for its two tenons. Exodus 26:20. And for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north, twenty frames, Exodus 26:21. And their forty bases of silver: two bases under one frame, and two bases under another frame. For the longitudinal, northern and southern sides of the tabernacle, forty boards were designated, twenty for each. Since the width of each board was one and a half cubits, a solid wall thirty cubits in length was to be formed from the densely placed boards. Each tenon had its own base with an opening made to the measure of the tenon, into which it was inserted, as into its foundation. Thanks to this, the pillars gained a certain degree of stability. The bases of the pillars of the tabernacle differed from the bases of the courtyard in that they were not bronze but silver, and each one received a talent of silver (Exod 38:27). Their form is unknown.

Exodus 26:22. For the rear of the tabernacle westward you shall make six frames. Exodus 26:23. And two frames you shall make for the corners of the tabernacle in the rear. Exodus 26:24. They shall be separate below, and they shall join together above at the top by a single ring; both shall be like this for both corners. Exodus 26:25. There shall be eight frames with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under each frame. Of the eight boards on the rear side, six had the same appearance as the boards of the longitudinal walls, but the remaining two corner boards differed from others. The text speaks of them as follows: “and two boards make for the corners of the tabernacle on two sides, that they be twins from below and whole above, to a single ring.” According to the most plausible explanation, this passage has the following meaning. The corner pillars were to express a certain architectural parallel known to builders (to be “twins,” similar, “equal” as the Greek translation renders it), beginning from their very foundation and further. But at the same time, they were not to lose anything that is characteristic of other boards; rather, they were to have the same full significance in the count of boards and, like all other boards, be subject to the general system of strengthening the tabernacle, contributing their individual rings to the general rows of rings and bars.

Exodus 26:26. You shall make bars of acacia wood: five bars for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, Exodus 26:27. And five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the rear of the tabernacle westward; Exodus 26:28. The middle bar in the midst of the frames shall pass through from end to end; Exodus 26:29. And you shall overlay the frames with gold, and make their rings of gold to hold the bars; and overlay the bars with gold. With their tenons inserted into the bases, the boards gained stability at the bottom, at their foundation. To provide them with stability along the rest of their extent, bars were used, five on each side. Since the bars were threaded through rings, they were obviously round. One of them is called the “middle bar, which is in the midst of the frames,” more precisely – “through the thickness of the boards,” through holes drilled in the boards themselves. Accordingly, the other four bars were to run along the outer, face side of the walls of the tabernacle. The remark about the fifth bar, that it ran from one end to the other, indicates its length, equal to the length of the entire tabernacle. And since the other bars were also to strengthen the boards, there is no reason to imagine them shorter. As for the arrangement of the bars, the text does not speak of it. One can only think that the “middle” bar ran along the very center of the height of the boards, at an equal distance from the bottom and top. The other four were arranged so that two were below the “middle” one, at an equal distance from it and from each other, and two others were above it.

Exodus 26:30. And you shall set up the tabernacle according to the plan for it that was shown you on the mountain. Exodus 26:31. And you shall make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with an artistic design of cherubim. Exodus 26:32. And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold; upon four bases of silver. Exodus 26:33. And you shall hang the veil under the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall divide for you between the holy place and the holy of holies. Exodus 26:34. And you shall place the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the holy of holies. In the tabernacle, at a distance of twenty cubits from the entrance, hung a veil made of the same material and the same workmanship as the lower coverings (Exod 26:1). Fastened to four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold, it divided the interior of the tabernacle into two parts: the front, twenty cubits in length, ten cubits in width and height, called the “holy place” or “sanctuary,” and the western, ten cubits in a cube, bearing the name “holy of holies.”

Exodus 26:35. You shall place the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle; and you shall place the table on the north side. Regarding the incense altar, a furnishing of the sanctuary, it is said that it stood before the veil, which “before the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat which is upon the ark of the testimony” (Exod 30:6); it appears as though preliminary to the ark of the covenant, stands at the transition from the sanctuary to the holy of holies. If, however, it is said of the two other furnishings – the table and the lampstand that they were outside the veil, then this means they stood farther from the veil than the incense altar, and not in the center of the width of the tabernacle, but on the sides, one to the right, the other to the left of the incense altar.

Exodus 26:36. And you shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework; On the eastern entrance side of the tabernacle there was no wooden wall. The coverings did not close it either: the lower one did not hang at all on the eastern side, and the second descended only a small part. In view of this, to enclose the eastern side and to form the entrance to the sanctuary, a multicolored veil was spread here, differing in material from the veil of the courtyard in no way. According to the testimony of Josephus, it extended from the top only to half the height of the walls of the tabernacle. But this indication is understood in the sense that the veil had special devices in the form of loops and hooks by which it was raised during the time of worship.

Exodus 26:37. And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them. To establish the veil, five columns were set up on the eastern side. Since they are given one base each, while the boards of the walls of the tabernacle had two, it is concluded from this that the columns were narrower than the boards. And indeed, if the width of each of them were equal to one and a half cubits, then five columns would take up seven and a half cubits from the width of the sanctuary; the openings designated for the entrance would be too narrow.