Exodus 25–27

25TH CHAPTER

Gifts for Use in the Tent of Meeting—Exodus 35:4–9

¹The Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the Israelites to choose something to give me as a special contribution. You must accept whatever contribution each person freely gives. ³This is the kind of contribution you will accept from them: gold, silver, and bronze, ⁴violet, purple, and bright red yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁵rams’ skins dyed red, fine leather,acacia wood, ⁶olive oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense, ⁷onyx stones, and other precious stones to be set in the ⸤chief priest’s⸥ ephod^band his breastplate. 

⁸“Then have them make a holy place for me, and I will live among them. ⁹Make the tent and all its furnishings exactly like the plans I am showing you. 

The Ark—Exodus 37:1–9

¹⁰“Make an ark of acacia wood 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high. ¹¹Cover it with pure gold inside and out, and put a gold molding around it. ¹²Cast four gold rings for it, and fasten them to its four feet, two rings on each side. ¹³Make poles of acacia wood, and cover them with gold. ¹⁴Put the poles through the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry it. ¹⁵The poles must stay in the rings of the ark. Never remove them. ¹⁶Then you will put into the ark the words of my promise which I will give you. 

¹⁷“Make a throne of mercy to cover the ark out of pure gold 45 inches long and 27 inches wide. ¹⁸Make two angels^cout of hammered gold for the two ends of the throne of mercy, ¹⁹one on each end. Form the angels and the throne of mercy out of one piece of gold. ²⁰The angels should have their wings spread above the throne of mercy, overshadowing it. They should face each other, looking at the throne of mercy. ²¹After you put into the ark the words of my promise which I will give you, place the throne of mercy on top. ²²I will be above the throne of mercy between the angels whenever I meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites. 

The Table—Exodus 37:10–16

²³“Make a table of acacia wood 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high. ²⁴Cover it with pure gold, and put a gold molding around it. ²⁵Make a rim three inches wide around it, and put a gold molding around the rim. ²⁶Make four gold rings for it, and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. ²⁷The rings are to be close to the rim. They are to hold the poles for carrying the table. ²⁸Make the poles out of acacia wood, cover them with gold, and use them to carry the table. ²⁹Make plates and dishes for the table out of pure gold, as well as pitchers and bowls to be used for pouring wine offerings. ³⁰Put the bread of the presence on this table so that it will be in front of me all the time. 

The Lamp Stand—Exodus 37:17–24

³¹“Make a lamp stand out of pure gold. The lamp stand, its base, and its shaft, as well as the flower cups, buds, and petals must be hammered out of one piece of gold. ³²Six branches are to come out of the sides, three branches on one side and three on the other. ³³Each of the six branches coming out of the lamp stand is to have three flower cups shaped like almond blossoms, with buds and petals. ³⁴The lamp stand itself is to have four flower cups shaped like almond blossoms, with buds and petals. ³⁵There should be a bud under each of the three pairs of branches coming out of the lamp stand. ³⁶The buds and branches should also be hammered out of the same piece of pure gold as the lamp stand. 

³⁷“Make seven lamps, and set them on the lamp stand so that they light up ⸤the area⸥ in front of it. ³⁸The tongs and incense burners must be made of pure gold. ³⁹Use 75 pounds of pure gold to make the lamp stand and all the utensils. ⁴⁰Be sure to make them according to the plans you were shown on the mountain.” 

26TH CHAPTER

The Tent—Exodus 36:8–38

¹⸤The Lord continued,⸥ “Make the inner tent with ten sheets made from fine linen yarn. Take violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and creatively work an angel^adesign into the fabric. ²Each sheet will be 42 feet long and 6 feet wide—all the same size. ³Five of the sheets must be sewn together, and the other five must also be sewn together. ⁴Make 50 violet loops along the edge of the end sheet in each set, ⁵placing the loops opposite each other. ⁶Make 50 gold fasteners. Use them to link the ⸤two sets of⸥ sheets together so that the tent is a single unit. 

⁷“Make 11 sheets of goats’ hair to form an outer tent over the inner tent. ⁸Each of the 11 sheets will be 45 feet long and 6 feet wide. ⁹Sew five of the sheets together into one set and the remaining six into another set. Fold the sixth sheet in half ⸤to hang⸥ in front of the tent. ¹⁰Make 50 loops along the edge of the end sheet in each set. ¹¹Make 50 bronze fasteners, and put them through the loops to link the inner tent together as a single unit. ¹²The remaining half-sheet should hang over the back of the inner tent. ¹³There will be 18 inches left over on each side because of the length of the outer tent’s sheets. That part should hang over each side in order to cover the inner tent. ¹⁴Make a cover of rams’ skins that have been dyed red for the outer tent. Over that put a cover made of fine leather. 

¹⁵“Make a framework out of acacia wood for the inner tent. ¹⁶Each frame is to be 15 feet long and 27 inches wide, ¹⁷with two identical pegs. Make all the frames for the inner tent the same way. ¹⁸Make 20 frames for the south side of the inner tent. ¹⁹Then make 40 silver sockets at the bottom of the 20 frames, two sockets at the bottom of each frame for the two pegs. ²⁰For the north side of the inner tent ⸤make⸥ 20 frames ²¹and 40 silver sockets, two at the bottom of each frame. ²²Make six frames for the far end, the west side. ²³Make two frames for ⸤each of⸥ the corners at the far end of the inner tent. ²⁴These will be held together at the bottom and held tightly at the top by a single ring.^cBoth corner frames will be made this way. ²⁵There will be eight frames with 16 silver sockets, two at the bottom of each frame. 

²⁶“Make crossbars out of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the inner tent, ²⁷five for those on the other side, and five for the frames on the far end of the inner tent, the west side. ²⁸The middle crossbar will run from one end to the other, halfway up the frames. ²⁹Cover the frames with gold, make gold rings to hold the crossbars, and cover the crossbars with gold. 

³⁰“Set up the inner tent according to the plans you were shown on the mountain. 

³¹“Make a canopy of violet, purple, and bright red yarn. Creatively work an angel design into fine linen yarn. ³²Use gold hooks to hang it on four posts of acacia wood covered with gold, standing in four silver sockets. ³³Hang the canopy from the fasteners in the ceiling, and put the ark containing the words of my promise under it. The canopy will mark off the most holy place from the holy place. ³⁴Put the throne of mercy that is on the ark in the most holy place. 

³⁵“Place the table outside the canopy on the north side of the inner tent, and put the lamp stand opposite the table on the south side. 

³⁶“For the entrance of the outer tent, make a screen out of fine linen yarn, embroidered with violet, purple, and bright red yarn. ³⁷Make five posts of acacia wood for the screen and cover them with gold. Make gold hooks for this screen. Cast five bronze bases for the posts.” 

27TH CHAPTER

The Altar—Exodus 38:1–7

¹⸤The Lord continued,⸥ “Make an altar out of acacia wood. It should be 7½ feet square, and 4½ feet high. ²Make a horn at each of its four corners. The four horns and the altar must be made out of one piece ⸤of wood⸥ covered with bronze. 

³“Make all the utensils for it out of bronze: pots for taking away the altar’s ashes, also shovels, bowls, forks, and incense burners. 

⁴“Make a grate for it out of bronze mesh, and make a bronze ring for ⸤each of⸥ the four corners of the grate. ⁵Put the grate under the ledge of the altar so that it comes halfway up the altar. 

⁶“Make poles out of acacia wood for the altar, and cover them with bronze. ⁷The poles should be put through the rings on both sides of the altar to carry it. 

⁸“Make the altar out of boards so that it’s hollow inside. It must be made just as you were shown on the mountain. 

The Courtyard—Exodus 38:9–20

⁹“Make a courtyard for the tent. The south side of the courtyard should be 150 feet long and have curtains made out of fine linen yarn, ¹⁰⸤hung⸥ on 20 posts ⸤set in⸥ 20 bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts should be made of silver. ¹¹The north side should be the same: 150 feet long, with curtains on 20 posts set in 20 bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts should be made of silver. 

¹²“The courtyard on the west end should be 75 feet wide and have curtains ⸤hung⸥ on ten posts ⸤set in⸥ ten bases. ¹³On the east end, facing the rising sun, the courtyard should also be 75 feet wide. ^14–15Each side ⸤of the entrance⸥ will be 22½ feet wide with curtains ⸤hung on⸥ three posts ⸤set in⸥ three bases. 

¹⁶“The entrance to the courtyard must have a 30-foot screen made from fine linen yarn, embroidered with violet, purple, and bright red yarn, ⸤hung⸥ on four posts ⸤set in⸥ four bases. ¹⁷All the posts around the courtyard should have silver bands, silver hooks, and bronze bases. ¹⁸The courtyard should be 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 7½ feet high, with ⸤curtains⸥ made of fine linen yarn and with bronze bases. 

¹⁹“All the things for the tent, no matter how they’re used, including all the pegs for the tent and the courtyard, must be made of bronze. 

Lamps in the Tent—Leviticus 24:1–4

²⁰“For the lighting, you must command the Israelites to bring you pure, virgin olive oil so that the lamps won’t go out. ²¹In the tent of meeting outside the canopy where the words of my promise are, Aaron and his descendants must keep the lamps lit in the Lord’s presence from evening until morning. This is a permanent law among the Israelites for…