Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 36:8
And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains [of] fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: [with] cherubims of cunning work made he them.
8. every wise hearted man, &c.] cf. vv. 1, 2, 4. In the account of the construction of the sanctuary these are mentioned only here; in the sequel (even in v. 8b) the sing. (referring to B al’l) is used regularly (as in Exo 26:1; Exo 26:4 &c.) till ch. 39, where the plur. reappears (though not uniformly).
the tabernacle ] the Dwelling. See on Exo 26:1, and Exo 25:9.
the cunning workman ] the designer, or pattern-wearer.
Verse 8. Cherubims of cunning work] See on Ex 25:18. Probably the word means no more than figures of any kind wrought in the diaper fashion in the loom, or by the needle in embroidery, or by the chisel or graving tool in wood, stone, or metal; See Clarke on Ex 25:18. This meaning Houbigant and other excellent critics contend for. In some places the word seems to be restricted to express a particular figure then well known; but in many other places it seems to imply any kind of figure commonly formed by sculpture on stone, by carving on wood, by engraving upon brass, and by weaving in the loom, &c. Ver. 8-38. And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle,…. Did the part assigned him, what he was fittest for, and most skilful in: particularly some
made ten curtains, c. which were properly the tabernacle, and were made first, and then the several things appertaining to it and from hence, to the end of the chapter Ex 36:9, is only an account of the making of the tabernacle, its curtains, coverings, boards, sockets, and bars, the vail for the most holy place, and the hangings for the tabernacle, exactly as they are ordered to be made,
[See comments on Ex 26:1] c. to end of chapter: and it may be observed, that throughout the account of the various articles, it is all along said “he” did this and the other either referring to Moses, by whose orders they were done, or to Bezaleel, the chief director of the work, or to each and everyone of the artificers severally concerned.
Ex 36:8-38:20. Execution of the Work. – Preparation of the dwelling-place: viz., the hangings and covering (Exo 36:8-19, as in Exo 26:1-14); the wooden boards and bolts (Exo 36:20-34, as in Ex 26:15-30); the two curtains, with the pillars, hooks, and rods that supported them (Exo 36:35-38, as in Exo 26:31-37). As these have all been already explained, the only thing remaining to be noticed here is, that the verbs in Exo 36:8, in Exo 36:10, etc., are in the third person singular with an indefinite subject, corresponding to the German man (the French on ).
Construction of the Tabernacle. B. C. 1491. 8 And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them. 9 The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: the curtains were all of one size. 10 And he coupled the five curtains one unto another: and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another. 11 And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling: likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second. 12 Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second: the loops held one curtain to another. 13 And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the taches: so it became one tabernacle. The first work they set about was the framing of the house, which must be done before the furniture of it was prepared. This house was not made of timber or stone, but of curtains curiously embroidered and coupled together. This served to typify the state of the church in this world, the palace of God’s kingdom among men. 1. Though it is upon the earth, yet its foundation is not in the earth, as that of a house is; no, Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, nor founded in it. 2. It is mean and mutable, and in a militant state; shepherds dwelt in tents, and God is the Shepherd of Israel; soldiers dwelt in tents, and the Lord is a man of war, and his church marches through an enemy’s country, and must fight its way. The kings of the earth enclose themselves in cedar (Jer. xxii. 15), but the ark of God was lodged in curtains only. 3. Yet there is a beauty in holiness; the curtains were embroidered, so is the church adorned with the gifts and graces of the Spirit, that raiment of needle-work, Ps. xlv. 14. 4. The several societies of believers are united in one, and, as here, all become one tabernacle; for there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Verses 8-13:
This text gives the actual fabrication pattern of the linen curtains for the tabernacle. The workmen followed in exact detail the pattern described in Ex 26:1-6. See the comments on this passage.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TABERNACLE.
(8-13) This passage follows exactly Exo. 26:1-6, the tenses of the verbs alone being changed. It relates the construction of the inner covering.
The Making of the Dwellingplace ( Exo 36:8 to Exo 38:20 ).
From this point on the chiastic framework is replaced by a straightforward delineation of the different work done on the Dwellingplace following distinct patterns as is required by the subject matter. Thus we have in Exodus 36 working outwards the making of the inner curtains (Exo 36:8-13), then of the outer curtains of goat’s hair (Exo 36:14-18), then of the protective covering of skins (Exo 36:19). Included is the working of the curtains, their dimensions, the coupling, the loops and the clasps (Exo 36:8-19) in that order. This is then followed by the making of the frames, their dimensions and their sockets (Exo 36:20-30); and then by the making of the bars, the Veil with its pillars and the outer screen with its pillars (Exo 36:31-38).
In Exo 37:1 to Exo 38:8 we have, commencing in the Most Holy Place and moving outwards, the making of the Ark, the Mercy Seat (in the Most Holy Place); the Table for the showbread, the Lampstand, the Altar of incense; (all in the Holy Place); the anointing oil and incense (used in the Holy Place); the Altar of burnt offering and the Laver together with their method of transportation (in the courtyard). That is then followed by the making of the curtains and the gate of the courtyard (Exo 38:9-20).
The Curtains of the Sanctuary ( Exo 36:8-13 ).
Exo 36:8-13
‘And all the men of expertise among those who wrought the work made the Dwellingplace with ten curtains. Of fine twined linen, and bluey-violet, and purpley-red, and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of the artistic workman, Bezalel made them. The length of each curtain was eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits: all the curtains had one measure. And he coupled five curtains one to another: and the other five curtains he coupled one to another. And he made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling: and he made them in the same way on the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the second coupling. He made fifty loops in the one curtain, and he made fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that was in the second coupling: the loops were opposite one another. And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to another with the clasps: so the Dwellingplace was one.’
The coupling together of the ten curtains to form the Sanctuary is now described, compare on Exo 26:1-11. It is a reminder that the Dwellingplace needed the beautiful curtains, but it also need the couplings without which the curtains would have been useless. We cannot all be curtains, but we can all be couplings, both by prayer and witness and general and reliable support.
The Curtains of the Tabernacle
v. 8. And every wise-hearted man among them, v. 9. The length of one curtain v. 10. And he coupled the five curtains one unto another; and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another, v. 11. And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvage in the coupling; likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second. v. 12. Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second; the loops held one curtain to another.
v. 13. And he made fifty taches of gold, v. 14. And he made curtains of goats’ hair, v. 15. The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain. The eleven curtains were of one size.
v. 16. And he coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. v. 17. And he made fifty loops upon the uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.
v. 18. And he made fifty taches of brass, v. 19. And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers’ skins above that. Exo 36:8. It may be proper to observe here, for the sake of the learned reader, that the Vatican edition of the LXX varies much from all other copies of the Bible; giving us here that description of the priests’ vestments, which we have in the 39th chapter, instead of the description of the tabernacle. There are also many other variations and transpositions throughout these five last chapters in that version, but none of them of any considerable importance.
With cherubims of cunning work Houbigant renders this, figuris opere textile intertextis: for kerub, says he, in the Hebrew, is a genus, as Castel, after Aben-Ezra, shews us; and, before them, St. Jerome: and here it means figure in general.
Was not the construction of the tabernacle itself symbolic of the Church of the Lord in the world? It was not of stone, or earth, or timber; but curtains only. The Church of God, while on earth, is not founded in the earth, neither is it of this world. Rev 21:2 ; Joh 18:36 . Moreover; the tabernacle was a moveable tent: meaning perhaps thereby, that the Church is not intended to be settled here; the worshippers belonging to it are looking for a city that hath foundations. Heb 11:16 . Moreover, the tabernacle was a very humble building, and not large, nor spacious; compare Jer 22:14-15 with 2Sa 7:2 . But observe; though the tabernacle was thus humble, made of curtains only, yet the curtains were embroidered. Was not this meant to represent the dignified state of the humble believer? His body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. 1Co 6:19 . He is all glorious within. Psa 45:13-14 . And the high and holy One, who inhabiteth eternity, dwells with him. Isa 57:15 .
Exo 36:8 And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains [of] fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: [with] cherubims of cunning work made he them.
Ver. 8. And every wise-hearted man. ] Let no man look upon this and the following chapter as an idle repetition; nor say, as one said once, Did we not know that all Scripture was divinely inspired, we should be ready to say, Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus. But know that here is set forth a table, index, or inventory, of what Moses and the workmen did in obedience to God’s command, for every particular about the sanctuary. This inventory was taken by Ithamar, at the commandment of Moses, Et sic in archivum Ecclesiae relatum, and so laid up in the charter house of the Church for the use of posterity. See the notes on Exo 36:1-38 , and consider that saying of an ancient, Necessarium et utile est etiam quae scripta sunt scribere, ne leve existimetur quod non frequenter arguitur. a
a Prosper., Epist. ad Augustin.
curtains (Exo 26:1), fifteen in all (with the ark in the centre), divided into twelve (U) and three (U).
tabernacle. Hebrew. mishkan. See App-40.
fine twined linen. See Exo 35:23.
cunning work. See note on Exo 26:1.
wise: Exo 31:6, Exo 35:10
made: Exo 26:1-37, 1Ch 15:1
cherubims: Keroovim, cherubim, not cherubims. What these were we cannot determine. Some, observing that the verb kerav in Syriac, sometimes means to resemble, make like, conceive the noun keroov signifies no more than an image, figure, or representation of anything. Josephus says they were flying animals, like none of those which are seen by man, but such as Moses saw about the throne of God. In another place he says, “As for the cherubim, nobody can tell or conceive what they were like.” These symbolical figures, according to the description of them by Ezekiel (Eze 1:10; Eze 10:14), were creatures with four heads and one body; and the animals of which these forms consisted were the noblest of their kind; the lion among the wild beasts; the bull among the tame ones; the eagle among the birds, and man at the head of all. Hence some have conceived them to be somewhat of the shape of flying oxen; and it is alleged in favour of this opinion, that the far more common meaning of the verb kerav, in Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, being to plough, the natural meaning of keroov, is a creature used in ploughing. This seems to have been the ancient opinion which tradition had handed down, concerning the shape of the cherubim with the flaming sword, that guarded the tree of life – Gen 3:24. Exo 25:18, Exo 25:22, 1Ki 6:23, 2Ch 3:10, Eze 1:5-28, Eze 10:1-19
Reciprocal: Exo 26:31 – blue Exo 31:7 – tabernacle Exo 35:11 – tabernacle Exo 35:26 – General Exo 36:19 – rams’ skins dyed red Exo 39:3 – cunning work Exo 40:19 – the tent Num 3:25 – the tabernacle and 1Ki 6:29 – carved figures 1Ki 7:14 – he was filled Heb 9:2 – a tabernacle
Section 2. (Exo 36:8-38.)
The growth of the work.
In the second section we find the growth of the tabernacle to completion; and here it is that we have the repetitions which have been already noticed. The difference between the detail of the patterns of heavenly things given before and the present is principally in the order in which they are presented; first, the tabernacle itself being given us; then the vessels of the tabernacle, what was in it or around it; and then the priestly garments, or what had to do with entrance and worship. These are the three subsections, the number 3 having naturally a large place in all this part.
1. The tabernacle comes first, evidently because it is the house of God itself which we are now seeing put together as a whole. Before it was rather one among many objects in connection with the wider plan of salvation. Now all other objects seen are seen in relation to it. Thus the incense-altar which before was detached from the tabernacle itself to find its place in connection with the sanctification of the priesthood, is now among the vessels of the sanctuary where it belongs.
But what does its numerical place point out? In the earlier series of types it occupies the fourth place, and this evidently points out its character as belonging to the wilderness, -God come down in it to man. Here in the account given there is no change from the former one, except that what was before commanded is now accomplished. But the numerical place may point to what is there and here insisted on, that the tabernacle is one. There is internal unity; there is, beside, no other tabernacle of God but this. There is one Christ and no other; in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in whom we are filled up. He is not one of many incarnations of God, which has been or which will be, but one for eternity the same; and to Him, as in His temple, shall be “glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all the generations of the age of ages.” (Eph 3:21.)
Blessed be God! there is not room even in eternity, for any future glory to surpass this! There is room only for its wondrous anthem to show its power to fill infinity with praise. If of Zion, its earthly shadow, God can say, “This is My rest forever: here will I dwell, for I have desired it,” how much more must it be said of this! Conditions may change: the wilderness give place to the land which is the “glory of all lands;” under the unchanging brightness of skies where storm is not, the “tent upon the tabernacle” be removed, so that its glory shall be fully exposed; the tabernacle form may pass into the temple: -with all this, the delight of God in His beloved changes not, -His “rest” is disturbed no more!
Admire the beauty of these many-hued curtains, where the golden clasp of divine glory embraces the blue loop of heaven’s condescending love! Thus are they united into one, and droop their folds over the board-work overlaid with the gold again. This is the Church, as we have already seen in the beauty put upon her, -the glory of Christ her Lord.
2. And now we come to the vessels of the tabernacle, in which we find portrayed for us the salvation which the dwelling of God with man implies. That His name might be “Immanuel” (“God with us”), they called the Son of Mary “Jesus,” (“Jehovah the Saviour”), because He was to save His people from their sins (Mat 1:22-25.)
I have not much to add to what has been already said with regard to these precious types, which, moreover, fall, in general, into the same numerical place as before. There are, however, now (in this and the following part) seven minor divisions instead of six, as there: a number which speaks for itself in connection with these closing portions of the book. As already noticed, the incense-altar fills its own place here among the vessels of the sanctuary: the fourth place, because, as we have seen, the practical life is brought into the sanctuary in this way, transformed by the knowledge of redemption into the priestly offering of thanksgiving and praise.”
The brazen altar fills the fifth place, as before; and connected with it, as it seems to me, is the note as to the laver, that it was made of the mirrors of the women attending the tabernacle. This does not, I think, as it might seem, claim for itself a sixth section, both because the court of the tabernacle which follows it, holds that in the prior account, and also that this is followed in its turn by what has evidently the character of a seventh -the tale of the complete amount of metal used.
From another point of view there seems to me a most natural and beautiful thought suggested by this close association of the brazen altar with the laver. For if the former show us, as is evident, our responsibility measured and met in atonement, how simple is the connection of this with the self-judgment intimated in the brazen laver! Is it not so that the knowledge of sin put away for us is that which puts it away from us? that the realization of its judgment in Another is that which accomplishes its judgment in ourselves? The association of the brazen altar with the laver has thus its justification in experience.
And the women’s sacrifice of their mirrors, where all is so plainly typical, may represent the willing giving up of our own self-estimates -in general, some form of self-flattery, -to find in the Word of God our true mirror, and fashion ourselves by it.
How beautiful, again, that then, in the next place, we come to the court, where the fine linen of practical righteousness is held up before the world!
Finally the seventh section here gives the estimates of the metals used, and we find whence the silver of the rods and sockets was derived. It has already been considered, however.
3. The priestly garments come in the third place, identified as they are with the means of drawing near to God. Here each minor section is closed with the words, “as Jehovah commanded Moses.” And here, again, there are just seven of them. The numerical place of each is as given before, with the exception of the last two items of the dress, which are reversed. The coats of fine linen are in the fifth place instead of the sixth, the diadem in the sixth instead of the fifth. It is not strange that in this enumeration we shall end with the latter, the final victory over sin being secured by the character of Him into whose hands all is put. Thus here for the first time the plate is called “the diadem.”
As for the other change, the meaning of it is not so clear, although the number of responsibility is suitable enough where as here the ordinary priests come in, -our representatives; and well may we be reminded of it. For where do we more fail than in this character? and it is the root of all other failure.
36:8 And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains [of] fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: [with] {d} cherubims of cunning work made he them.
(d) Which were little pictures with wings in the form of children.
2. Execution of the work 36:8-39:43
Moses described the directions for constructing the tabernacle and its furnishings earlier (chs. 25-31). I will simply give a breakdown of the individual items here with references and parallel references (cf. also Exo 35:11-19).
The tabernacle 36:8-38
The hangings and coverings Exo 36:8-19 (cf. Exo 26:1-14)
The boards and bars Exo 36:20-34 (cf. Exo 26:15-30)
The veil and screen Exo 36:35-38 (cf. Exo 26:31-37)
"The order of recounting the construction of the parts of the tabernacle is not the same as that of the instructions in Exodus 25-30. . . . The purpose for this change is perhaps to begin with, and thus highlight, the part of the work that involved ’all the skilled workers’ before moving on to that work which involved only Bezalel. Thus the picture given at the beginning of the narrative is that of the total participation of all the people." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 318.]
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)