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36: Verse 1: "And Bezale and Oholiab shall work, and every wisehearted man, in whom the Lord hath put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord hath commanded.' The is the last part of Moses's verse, continued from Chapter 35. Note that the Tabernacle was built in Chapter 26. Why the repetition here, 10 chapters later? Does each of these chapters correspond to one of the 10 commandments?! Granted that in Chapter 26, it was the tabernacle of the *testimony* that was build. This housed the Ark of the Covenant which was the vessel for God's supreme laws; and all that would enter would testify unto, bear witness & consent to, and reaffirm God's laws. So why is the Chapter 36 tabernacle being built? Is this a "lesser" tabernacle and hence less splendid, or is it an "overflow" of the tabernacle of the testimony? Verses 2-7: "And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it. And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, wherewith to make it. And they brought yet unto him freewill offerings every morning. And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they wrought. And they spoke unto Moses, saying: 'The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make.' And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying: 'Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary'. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much." In these last verses, there appears to be an implicit connection between wisdom and skilled workmanship. The wisdom instilled by God into his followers is not merely an abstract concept because it is channelled into practical applications, namely to perform the work of the service of the sanctuary (and the building of the tabernacle as we'll soon see). Moses was brought so many offerings by the people who were stirred to come unto him; but the laborers complained that it was too much. They argued that there was more than enough labor (and provisions?) to perform the work of the sanctuary. Verses 8-13: "And every wise-hearted man among them that wrought the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim the work of the skilful workman made he 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 upon the edge of the one curtain that was outmost in the first set; likewise he made in the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the second set. Fifty loops made he in the one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain that was in the second set; the loops were opposite one to another. And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to another with the clasps; so the tabernacle was one." Did the cherubim really help the wise-hearted laborers to make the tabernacle? That would have been a sight to behold. A lot of curtains, loops, and exact cubit measurements were made. They made 10 curtains (one for each of the Ten Commandments?!). Verses 14-19: "And he made curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains he made them. The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits the breadth of each curtain; the eleven curtains had one measure. And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. And he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the first set, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which was outmost in the second set. And he made fifty clasps of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one. And he made a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sealskins above." Let's see. Each curtain has an area of 30*4 = 120 square cubits. Since there are 11 curtains, there is a total area of 120*11 = 1320 square cubits. (With a total of 100 loops made). There is some interesting digit math here. Since each curtain has 120 square cubits (the sum of the digits = 1+2+0 = 3), and there are 5 fastened curtains on one side with a total area of 120*5 = 600 square cubits (the sum of the digits = 6), and finally 6 fastened curtains on the other side with a total area of 120*6 = 720 square cubits (the sume of the digits = 9), we see the arithmetic progression of the digit sums: 3, 6, 9! And if we include the total area of the curtains (1320), the sum of these digits = 6. So the more complete arithmetic series is: 3,6,9,6. And on another topic, there were 50 brass clasps to bind the curtains together. This appears to be a structurally sound technique. Verses 20-34: "And he made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia-wood, standing up. Ten cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board. Each board had two tenons, joined one to another. Thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle. And he made the boards for the tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward. And he made forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards, and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. And for the hinder part of the tabernacle westward he made six boards. And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the hinder part; that they might be double beneath, and in like manner they should be complete unto the top thereof unto the first ring. Thus he did to both of them in the two corners. And there were eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets: under every board two sockets. And he made bars of acacia-wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the hinder part westward. And he made the middle bar to pass through in the midst of the boards from the one end to the other. And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold." I'm very impressed with the exact measurements and building instructions that are specified. I'd like to see an architectural and structural analysis of these specifications. Would this tabernacle be structurally sound? Looks like the tenons would securely fasten into the sockets. The extra 2 boards on the west and east sides would add structural support, while the 5 wooden bars would keep the boards on each side together. And it would all look great in gold! By the way, tenons are joints that have been used by builders throughout the world for thousands of years! It's interesting that the tent was made before the tabernacle. And now for some more digit sum math. Each board is 10*(1.5) = 15 cubits. There are 20*15 = 300 square cubits for each the south and north side. There are 8*15 = 120 square cubits on the west side, and though it isn't mentioned, 120 on the east side as well (unless the east side wasn't built). That makes for a total of 840 square cubits. Digit sum math: south = 3+0+0 = 3, north = 3+0+0=3, west = 1+2=0 = 3, east = 1+2=0 = 3, total = 8+4+0 = 12 and 1+2 = 3. All 3s. OK, if the east side wasn't built, the total area is 720, and the digit sum is 9 for that. Oh well. Verses 35-38: "And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; with the cherubim the work of the skilful workman made he it. And he made thereunto four pillars of acacia, and overlaid them with gold, their hooks being of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver. And he made a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the weaver in colours; and the five pillars of it with their hooks; and he overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold; and their five sockets were of brass. Colorful, masterful, divine. |