Exodus 39

This chapter belongs to the account of the tabernacle's construction that runs from chapter 35 through chapter 40 of Exodus. In Exodus 38, the altar of burnt offering and the court were made, and the materials used were tallied. In this chapter, the priestly garments commanded in Exodus 28 are made, and everything that has been completed is brought to Moses.

Outline

• Verse 1 The garments for service in the holy place and the holy garments for Aaron are made of blue, purple, and scarlet thread.
• Verses 2–7 The ephod is woven with gold that has been beaten into thin plates and cut into wires. Onyx stones engraved with the names of the children of Israel are set on its shoulderpieces.
• Verses 8–21 A doubled breastplate (a panel worn on the chest), a span in length and breadth, is made. Twelve precious stones are set in it in four rows and engraved with the names of the twelve tribes. The breastplate is then fastened to the ephod with gold chains, gold rings, and a lace of blue.
• Verses 22–26 The robe of the ephod, all of blue, is made, with pomegranates and golden bells alternating around its hem.
• Verses 27–29 Coats, the mitre, bonnets, linen breeches (undergarments), and a girdle are made for Aaron and his sons.
• Verses 30–31 "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" is engraved on a plate of pure gold, which is fastened to the front of the mitre with a lace of blue.
• Verses 32–41 Having finished the work of the tabernacle, the people bring all the finished items to Moses. These include the tent and its coverings, the ark of the testimony and the mercy seat, the table and the shewbread, the candlestick, the golden altar, the brasen altar, the laver, the hangings of the court, and the priestly garments.
• Verses 42–43 Moses confirms that everything has been done as commanded and blesses the people.

Key Verses

• Exodus 39:30 "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" — the inscription engraved on the high priest's mitre, showing that the priestly office is set apart to God.
• Exodus 39:43 "And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them." — the verse that concludes the construction account begun in chapter 35.

People and Places

• Moses: receives and inspects the completed work and blesses the people.
• Aaron and his sons: the high priest and the priests who will wear these garments in their service.
• The "he" in verse 2 and elsewhere is widely understood, in light of the preceding chapter (38:22–23), to be Bezalel.
• Tabernacle: also called the tent of meeting (KJV "tabernacle of the congregation"); the portable place of worship used during the wilderness wanderings.
• Twelve tribes of Israel: their names are engraved on the onyx stones and on the stones of the breastplate.

Points for Reflection

• The phrase "as the LORD commanded Moses" appears seven times in verses 1–31 alone, which describe the making of the garments, and recurs in verses 32, 42, and 43. It is generally read as emphasizing that the commands were followed exactly.
• Some interpreters compare the "finished" of verse 32 and the "did look upon… blessed them" of verse 43 with the conclusion of the creation account (Genesis 1:31; Genesis 2:1–3).
• The Urim and Thummim mentioned in Exodus 28:30 do not appear in this chapter's account of making the breastplate. The scene in which they are placed in the breastplate is found in Leviticus 8:8.
• Because it is uncertain which modern minerals the twelve stones correspond to, their names vary from one translation to another. These stones are sometimes compared with the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21.
• Interpretations that assign symbolic meanings to the thread colors (blue for heaven, purple for royalty, scarlet for blood, and so on) are later readings not found in the text. The account of a rope being tied around the high priest's waist is likewise a later tradition.
• "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" reappears in Zechariah 14:20, which depicts a day when it will be inscribed even upon the bells of the horses. In the New Testament, the Epistle to the Hebrews presents Jesus as the great high priest (Hebrews 4:14–16).

In the Korean Church

This chapter is studied together with chapter 28 in tabernacle expositions and tabernacle seminars that explain the structure of the tabernacle and the priestly garments step by step, as well as in church-school instruction that uses tabernacle models.