Understanding Exodus 38: Building God's Dwelling Place

Constructing the Court and Counting the Cost

Exodus 38 documents the tangible results of Israel's faithful giving and skilled labor. The scene is the bustling camp at the foot of Mount Sinai, where the divine instructions are being meticulously carried out. The chapter unfolds by first focusing on the creation of the key elements of the outer court before providing a full financial report of the precious metals that made it all possible.

The Altar of Sacrifice and Basin of Cleansing  (Exodus 38:1-8)

¹ He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood.
² And he made horns for it on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.
³ And he made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its utensils of bronze.
⁴ He made for the altar a grating, a network of bronze, under its ledge, extending halfway down.
⁵ They made the altar of acacia wood. It was square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
⁶ He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.
⁷ And he put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them. He made it hollow, with boards.
⁸ He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.

The Courtyard Enclosure  (Exodus 38:9-20)

⁹ And he made the court. For the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits;
¹⁰ Their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame, and two bases under the next frame.
¹¹ With the silver from those of the congregation who were recorded, the hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary,
¹² And the sockets for the pillars of the court were of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals of silver, and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
¹³ And for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty frames,
¹⁴ The hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court,
¹⁵ The bronze altar, and its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand.
¹⁶ The pillars of the court around the tabernacle and its gatehooks and its cords were of bronze.
¹⁷ Then the pillars of the court all around the tabernacle were of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals was of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
¹⁸ The screen for the entrance of the court was embroidered with needlework in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high, in its breadth, corresponding to the hangings of the court.
¹⁹ All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.
²⁰ All the pegs of the tabernacle and of the court all around were of bronze.

The Supervisors of the Work  (Exodus 38:21-23)

²¹ These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
²² Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses;
²³ and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

An Inventory of the Metals  (Exodus 38:24-31)

²⁴ All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.
²⁵ The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.
²⁶ a beka a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.
²⁷ And of the 100 talents of silver were cast the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent for a base.
²⁸ Of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them.
²⁹ And the bronze that was offered was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels.
³⁰ with which were made the bases of the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar,
³¹ And the bases of the court all around and the bases of the gate of the court, all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs of the court all around.