Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 25:9
According to all that I show thee, [after] the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make [it].
9. The sanctuary is to be constructed in accordance with a model shewn to Moses in the mount ( v. 40, Exo 26:30, Exo 27:8; Num 8:4). Gudea, king of Lagash (c. 3000 b.c.), was shewn in a dream, by the goddess Nina, the complete model of a temple which he was to erect in her honour: gold, precious stones, cedar, and other materials for the purpose were collected by him from the most distant countries (Rogers, Hist. of Bab. and Ass. i. 369 f.; Maspero, i. 610 f.).
the tabernacle] the Dwelling, Heb. mishkn, cognate with the verb rendered ‘dwell’ in v. 8. In AV. the word ‘tabernacle’ (derived from the tabernaculum of the Vulg., and therefore meaning properly simply a ‘tent’), through a confusion originating with the LXX. (who in the Pent. rendered both words by ), was used indiscriminately for ’hel (‘tent’) and mishkn (‘dwelling’): in RV. the distinction has been preserved by rendering ’hel ‘tent,’ and mishkn ‘tabernacle.’ This is undoubtedly a great improvement: the retention of ‘tabernacle’ for mishkn has, however, the disadvantage of obliterating the connexion between mishkn, ‘dwelling,’ and the cognate verb shkan, to ‘dwell.’ Dwelling would have been the better rend. for mishkn throughout.
As regards mishkn, it is to be observed that it is used in P in both in narrower and a wider sense. In its narrower, and stricter sense, it is used of the tapestry curtains with their supporting frames, which constituted the ‘Dwelling’ par excellence (see Exo 26:1; Exo 26:6; Exo 26:15; and cf. Exo 40:2; Exo 40:6, Num 3:25); but in its wider sense it is extended so as to be a general term for the entire fabric of the sanctuary, including the ‘tent’ and other coverings (Exo 26:7; Exo 26:14) over the ‘Dwelling’ (so here, Num 16:9; Num 17:13, and elsewhere). Mishkn, in one or other of these technical senses, occurs about 100 times in P; and is used similarly a few times to Chr. (as 1Ch 6:32; 1Ch 16:39): otherwise the word is rare, and mostly poetical. The commonest expression (about 130 times) for the sanctuary as a whole is, however, the ‘Tent of Meeting’ (see on Exo 27:21).
furniture ] The wide term explained on Exo 22:7, and including here all articles, vessels, utensils, &c., belonging to the sanctuary.
10 22 (cf. Exo 37:1-9). The Ark, the most sacred and important of the articles contained in the sanctuary. The ark, as described by P, is an oblong chest of acacia wood, overlaid within and without with gold, about 3 ft. 9 in. long, 2 ft. 3 in. wide, and 2 ft. 3 in. deep; each of sides is finished with a rim, or moulding, of solid gold; and for its transport it is provided with two poles of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, which pass through four rings, attached to its four feet. Distinct from the ark, but resting upon it, is the ‘mercy-seat,’ or ‘propitiatory,’ a slab of solid gold, of the same length and breadth as the ark (its thickness is not stated): and near the ends of this, soldered securely into it, and facing each other, with their wings spread out over the mercy-seat, stand two small emblematic figures, the cherubim, made of beaten gold. Inside the ark are the two tables upon which the Decalogue is inscribed. From between the cherubim above the mercy-seat Jehovah ‘meets’ Moses, and speaks with him (Exo 25:22, Exo 30:6, Num 7:89).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 9. After the pattern of the tabernacle] It has been supposed that there had been a tabernacle before that erected by Moses, though it probably did not now exist; but the tabernacle which Moses is ordered to make was to be formed exactly on the model of this ancient one, the pattern of which God showed him in the mount, Ex 25:40. The word mishcan signifies literally the dwelling or habitation; and this was so called because it was the dwelling place of God; and the only place on the earth in which he made himself manifest. See Clarke on Ex 25:40, and on Ex 33:7-10.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
9. According to all that I showthee, after the pattern of the tabernacleTheproposed erection could be, in the circumstances of the Israelites,not of a fixed and stable but of a temporary and movable description,capable of being carried about with them in their varioussojournings. It was made after “the pattern” shown toMoses, by which is now generally understood, not that it was anunheard-of novelty, or an entirely original structure, for it isascertained to have borne resemblance in form and arrangements to thestyle of an Egyptian temple, but that it was so altered, modified,and purified from all idolatrous associations, as to be appropriatedto right objects, and suggestive of ideas connected with the true Godand His worship.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
According to all that I show thee,…. That is, the sanctuary was to be made in all respects exactly according to the view of it that Moses now had upon the mount from God, and which he was to communicate to the workmen for their instruction and direction;
after the pattern of the tabernacle, and of the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it: and by the “pattern” is not meant an idea of it, impressed on the mind of Moses, or a picture of it which was shown him, but a little edifice representing it in all its parts, a perfect model of it: and so Maimonides i says, “Tabnith”, the word here used, signifies the structure and disposition of anything, i.e. the form of it in a four square, in roundness, in a triangle, or in any of the like figures, see Heb 8:5 and so David had, by the Spirit, a pattern of the temple, and which he gave to his son Solomon, to build according to it, 1Ch 28:11.
i Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9) The pattern.It has been maintained that God shewed to Moses (1) a material structure, furnished with material objects, as the model which he was to follow in making the Tabernacle and its appurtenances; (2) a pictorial representation of the whole; (3) a series of visions in which the forms were represented to the eye of the mind. The entire analogy of the Divine dealings is in favour of the last-mentioned view.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. The pattern of the tabernacle This is most positively represented throughout this entire narrative (comp . Exo 25:40; Exo 26:30; Act 7:44; Heb 8:5) as given to Moses by divine revelation . The notion that it was a fiction of the priests, invented nearly a thousand years after the time of Moses, puts such a withering stamp of falsehood upon this straightforward narrative that it must fail to commend itself to any serious student of history . But when we study out the details, and picture the whole pattern before our eyes when, further, we consider the striking symbolism of the various objects, and their adaptation to body forth the profoundest truths touching the relations of God and man we are convinced that the pattern originated not with man, but with God himself . How God showed Moses this model of the tabernacle we are not told . It may have been imaged before him in clear outline, like the sight of the burning bush; or, in a dream of the night it may have been definitely pictured before the soul . We have no need, however, with the rabbins, to suppose that he saw heaven opened, and a material tabernacle there, in form and substance like what he was commanded to make .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 25:9. According to all This verse might be rendered, more intelligibly perhaps, And ye shall make all things, according to the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, which I shall shew you; see Exo 25:40 and Heb 8:5. This verse, as well as that at the close of the chapter, seems to supply us with an abundant confutation of their opinion, who hold, that these sacred utensils, and, indeed, the whole Jewish ritual, were modelled after the pattern of Egyptian or other heathen usages. See particularly Saurin’s 54th Dissertation.
REFLECTIONS.Moses begins to receive from God directions for the tabernacle which should be erected, as the palace for the King of Glory.
1. The people must furnish him with the materials, and that by a free-will offering. Whatever we have, it is the Lord’s; and whenever his service and glory require it, most readily should we open our heart and hand. A true christian needs no argument to extort his liberality in God’s cause: not only to his power, but above his power he is willing.
2. The exact pattern must be followed, which God would shew him. In God’s service we must beware of will-worship, and be guided by his revealed word.
3. We have the design of this tabernacle, i.e. for God’s dwelling, there to manifest his presence in the midst of them, and travel with them as their King and their Leader through the wilderness. This tabernacle was typical of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus: he was the true tabernacle, he dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. In him was the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and he still makes the hearts of his people the throne of his sanctuary, reigning in them and over them, and subduing before them all their enemies.
4. All their oblations are to be offered there; and these they must inquire after him, as at the place where his honour dwelleth. Note; All our prayers and services are only then acceptable with God, when they are presented in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Who shall take upon him to say to what extent Moses was informed of the great scheme of grace? Read that scripture, Heb 8:5 , and let the Reader determine this interesting matter for himself. It should seem that the whole tabernacle service had a spiritual signification, with all the materials belonging to it. Heb 10:1 ; Col 2:16-17 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 25:9 According to all that I shew thee, [after] the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make [it].
Ver. 9. According to all that I show thee. ] Nothing was left to man’s invention. Here then is no footing for the Popish pomp.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
pattern. Compare Heb 8:5. Not a plan, but a model. The reality is in heaven. So with the temple, later. 1Ch 28:11-19. With the utmost exactitude certain representative measurements given. Nine others, vital to construction, but not for significance, not given. Probably these Divine silences were to make any unauthorized structures impossible. These nine were: (1) Thickness of sides and bottom of ark; (2) thickness of mercy seat and details of cherubim; (3) thickness of table; (4) dimensions of lampstand; (5) thickness of boards; (6) middle-bar dimensions; (7) size, &c., of rams’ skins; (8) ditto badgers’ skins; (9) all thick nesses of brazen altar (the third dimension).
tabernacle. Hebrew. mishkan. First occurance. See App-40. Compare Exo 25:8.
Note, in Exo 25:10-40 we have furniture, for the worship, within; and in Exo 26:1-37 the protection without.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
tabernacle pattern
The tabernacle, speaking comprehensively, is explained in the N.T. as typical in three ways:
(1) of the Church as a habitation of God through the Spirit Exo 25:8; Eph 2:19-22
(2) of the believer 2Co 6:16
(3) as a figure of things in the heavens Heb 9:23; Heb 9:24. In detail, all speaks of Christ:
(1) The ark, in its materials, acacia-wood (See Scofield “Exo 26:15”) and gold, is a type of the humanity and deity of Christ.
(2) In its contents, a type of Christ, as:
(a) having God’s law in His heart Exo 25:16. (b) the wilderness food (or portion) of His people Exo 16:33 (c) Himself the resurrection, of which Aaron;s rod is the symbol Num 17:10.
(3) In its use the ark, especially the mercy-seat, was a type of God’s throne. That it was, to the sinning Israelite, a throne of grace and not of judgment was due to the mercy-seat formed of gold and sprinkled with the blood of atonement, which vindicated the law, and divine holiness guarded by the cherubim Gen 3:24
(See Scofield “Eze 1:5”) See PROPITIATION, See Scofield “Rom 3:25”
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the pattern of the tabernacle: Exo 25:40, 1Ch 28:11-19, Heb 8:5, Heb 9:9
Reciprocal: Exo 26:30 – according to the fashion Exo 27:8 – as it was showed Num 3:25 – the tabernacle and Num 4:12 – General Num 4:32 – the instruments Num 8:4 – the pattern Num 31:6 – the holy instruments
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 25:9. According to all that I show thee God showed him an exact plan of it in little, which he must conform to in all points. And God did not only show him the model, but gave him also particular directions how to frame the tabernacle, according to that model, in all the parts of it. When Moses was to describe the creation of the world, though it be such a stately and curious fabric, yet he gave a very short and general account of it; but when he comes to describe the tabernacle, he doth it with the greatest niceness and accuracy imaginable; for Gods church and instituted religion are more precious to him than all the rest of the world. And all the Scriptures were written, not to describe to us the works of nature, (a general view of which is sufficient to lead us to a knowledge of the Creator,) but to acquaint us with the methods of grace, and those things which are purely matters of revelation.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
THE PATTERN IN THE MOUNT.
Exo 25:9, Exo 25:40.
Twice over (Exo 25:9, Exo 25:40, and cf. Exo 26:30, Exo 27:8, etc.) Moses was reminded to be careful to make all things after the pattern shown him in the mount. And these words have sometimes been so strained as to convey the meaning that there really exists in heaven a tabernacle and its furniture, the grand original from which the Mosaic copy was derived.
That is plainly not what the Epistle to the Hebrews understands (Heb 8:5). For it urges this admonition as a proof that the old dispensation was a shadow of ours, in which Christ enters into heaven itself, and our consciences are cleansed from dead works to serve the living God. The citation is bound indissolubly with all the demonstration which follows it.
We are not, then, to think of a heavenly tabernacle, exhibited to the material senses of Moses, with which all the details of his own work must be identical.
Rather we are to conceive of an inspiration, an ideal, a vision of spiritual truths, to which all this work in gold and acacia-wood should correspond. It was thus that Socrates told Glaucon, incredulous of his republic, that in heaven there is laid up a pattern, for him that wishes to behold it. Nothing short of this would satisfy the inspired application of the words in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the readers, who were Jewish converts, are asked to recognise in this verse evidence that the light of the new dispensation illuminated the institutions of the old.
Without this pervading sentiment, the most elaborate specifications of weight and measurement, of cup and pomegranate and flower, could never have produced the required effect. An ideal there was, a divinely designed suggestiveness, which must be always present to his superintending vigilance, as once it shone upon his soul in sacred vision or trance; a suggestiveness which might possibly be lost amid correct elaborations, like the soul of a poem or a song, evaporating through a rendering which is correct enough, yet in which the spirit, even if that alone, has been forgotten.
It is surely a striking thing to find this need of a pervading sentiment impressed upon the author of the first piece of religious art that ever was recognised by heaven.
For it is the mysterious all-pervading charm of such a dominant sentiment which marks the impassable difference between the lowliest work of art, and the highest piece of art-manufacture which is only a manufactured article.
And assuredly the recognition of this principle among a people whose ancient history shows but little interest in art, calls for some attention from those who regard the tabernacle itself as a fiction, and its details as elaborated in Babylonia, in the priestly interest. (Kuenen, Relig. of Israel, ii. 148).
The problem of problems for all who deny the divinity of the Old Testament is to explain the curious position which its institutions are consistent in accepting. They rest on the authority of heaven, and yet they are not definitive, but provisional. They are always looking forward to another prophet like their founder, a new covenant better than the present one, a high priest after the order of a Canaanite enthroned at the right hand of Jehovah, a consecration for every pot in the city like that of the vessels in the temple (Deu 18:15; Jer 31:31; Psa 110:1, Psa 110:4; Zec 14:20). And here, “in the priestly interest,” is an avowal that the Divine habitation which they boast of is but the likeness and shadow of some Divine reality concealed. And these strange expectations have proved to be the most fruitful and energetic principles in their religion.
This very presence of the ideal is what will for ever make the highest natures quite certain that the visible universe is no mere resultant of clashing forces without a soul, but the genuine work of a Creator. The universe is charged throughout with the most powerful appeals to all that is artistic and vital within us; so that a cataract is more than water falling noisily, and the silence of midnight more than the absence of disturbance, and a snow mountain more than a storehouse to feed the torrents in summer, being also poems, appeals, revelations, whispers from a spirit, heard in the depth of ours.
Does any one, listening to Beethoven’s funeral march, doubt the utterance of a soul, as distinct from clanging metal and vibrating chords? And the world has in it this mysterious witness to something more than heat and cold, moisture and drought: something which makes the difference between a well-filled granary and a field of grain rippling golden in the breeze. This is not a coercive argument for the hostile logic-monger: it is an appeal for the open heart. “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
To fill the tabernacle of Moses with spiritual meaning, the ideal tabernacle was revealed to him in the Mount of God.
Let us apply the same principle to human life. There also harmony and unity, a pervading sense of beauty and of soul, are not to be won by mere obedience to a mandate here and a prohibition there. Like Moses, it is not by labour according to specification that we may erect a shrine for deity. Those parables which tell of obedient toil would be sadly defective, therefore, without those which speak of love and joy, a supper, a Shepherd bearing home His sheep, a prodigal whose dull expectation of hired service is changed for investiture with the best robe and the gold ring, and welcome of dance and music.
How shall our lives be made thus harmonious, a spiritual poem and not a task, a chord vibrating under the musician’s hand? How shall thought and word, desire and deed, become like the blended voices of river and wind and wood, a witness for the divine? Not by mere elaboration of detail (though correctness is a condition of all true art), but by a vision before us of the divine life, the Ideal, the pattern shown to all, and equally to be imitated (strange though it may seem) by peasant and prince, by woman and sage and child.