Exodus 26

This chapter continues the instructions for the tabernacle given at Sinai in Exodus. Whereas chapter 25 deals with furnishings such as the ark of the testimony, the table, and the lampstand, this chapter gives directions for the structure of the tabernacle that will house them. The next chapter moves on to the altar of burnt offering and the court.

Outline

• Verses 1–6 Ten curtains (covering hangings) are made of fine twined linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them. Each curtain is 28 cubits long and 4 cubits wide. They are joined in two sets of five and connected with 50 loops of blue and 50 clasps of gold to form one tabernacle.
• Verses 7–13 Eleven curtains of goats' hair (30 × 4 cubits) are made. They are joined with 50 loops and 50 clasps of bronze; half of the sixth curtain is folded over at the front, the remaining half curtain hangs over the back, and one cubit hangs down on each side.
• Verse 14 A covering is made of rams' skins dyed red, and an outer covering of badgers' skins.
• Verses 15–25 Each board of shittim wood (10 × 1.5 cubits) has two tenons. Twenty boards stand on the south side and twenty on the north, each side with 40 sockets of silver. Six boards stand on the west side and two at the corners, with 16 sockets of silver.
• Verses 26–30 Five bars of shittim wood are fitted to each side, and the middle bar reaches from end to end. The boards and bars are overlaid with gold, and the tabernacle is to be set up according to the pattern shown on the mountain.
• Verses 31–35 A veil worked with cherubim is hung on four gold-overlaid pillars set on silver sockets. The ark of the testimony is placed within the veil, so that the veil divides the holy place from the most holy place, and the mercy seat is placed on the ark. Outside the veil, the table is placed on the north side and the lampstand on the south side.
• Verses 36–37 A hanging is made for the door of the tabernacle. For this hanging, five gold-overlaid pillars and five sockets of bronze are made.

Key Verses

• Exodus 26:30 "And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount." Hebrews 8:5 cites this instruction in describing the tabernacle as a copy of heavenly things.
• Exodus 26:33 "And the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy." This verse marks the boundary of holiness and connects with the New Testament account of the veil.

People and Places

• Moses — the one who receives God's instructions from chapter 25 onward. In this chapter he is addressed as "thou."
• Mount Sinai — the "mount" of verse 30.
• Most Holy Place — the innermost space, where the ark of the testimony and the mercy seat are placed.
• The table on which the showbread is set and the lampstand are placed in the holy place. The cherubim worked into the veil are discussed in the article Seraphim and Cherubim.

Notes for Reading

• The text does not state the overall dimensions of the tabernacle directly. These are reconstructed by calculation from the number and width of the boards, and scholars differ in their interpretation of the arrangement of the west-side and corner boards.
• It is unclear what animal is meant by the Hebrew tachash, rendered "badgers" in verse 14, and translations render it in various ways.
• Interpretations that assign a meaning concerning Christ to each colored yarn or material follow typology (a method of reading Old Testament objects as shadows of New Testament realities). Such meanings are not stated directly in the text, and interpreters differ on how far to accept them.
• Matthew 27:51 records that the veil of the temple was torn at the death of Jesus. Hebrews 10:19–20 likens the veil to the flesh of Christ and speaks of a new way of approaching God.

In the Korean Church

Some churches and mission organizations teach the structure described in this chapter through tabernacle models or "tabernacle seminars." Such teaching is often accompanied by typological preaching that connects the veil with Christ.