What Happens in Exodus 39?: Obedience in Every Detail

Crafting Holiness: The Priestly Garments and the Completed Tabernacle

Exodus 39 serves as the grand finale to the construction of the Tabernacle. Having received the divine blueprints in earlier chapters, the skilled artisans of Israel now bring the project to completion. The chapter meticulously documents the creation of the high priest's garments and concludes with the presentation of the entire finished work to Moses for his inspection and blessing.

The Ephod and Breastpiece: Garments of Representation  (Exodus 39:1-21)

¹ From the blue and purple and scarlet yarns they made finely woven garments, for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
² And he made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.
³ They hammered out gold leaf, and he cut it into threads to work into the blue and purple and the scarlet yarns, and into the fine twined linen, in skilled design.
⁴ They made for the ephod attaching shoulder pieces, joined to it at its two edges.
⁵ And the skillfully woven band on it was of one piece with it and made like it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
⁶ And they set onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold filigree, and engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel.
⁷ And he set them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
⁸ He made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.
⁹ It was square. They made the breastpiece doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth when doubled.
¹⁰ And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row;
¹¹ the bells and pomegranates, of gold between them around the hem of the robe.
¹² and the stones were according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each according to its name, for the twelve tribes.
¹³ and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold filigree.
¹⁴ The stones were according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each according to its name, for the twelve tribes.
¹⁵ They made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.
¹⁶ They made the chains on the breastpiece at the two edges, like cords of gold.
¹⁷ They fastened the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
¹⁸ the turban of fine linen, the linen caps, and the ornate headbands of fine linen, and the undergarments of fine twined linen,
¹⁹ They made two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod.
²⁰ They made two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod.
²¹ And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Robe, Tunic, and Holy Crown: Clothed in Consecration  (Exodus 39:22-31)

²² They made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue,
²³ And there was an opening in the middle of the robe, like the opening of a garment, with a binding around the opening, so that it would not tear.
²⁴ And they made on the hem of the robe pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.
²⁵ They made bells of pure gold, and attached the bells between the pomegranates on the hem of the robe all around, between the pomegranates -
²⁶ a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
²⁷ And they made the coats of fine linen, woven work, for Aaron and his sons,
²⁸ and the turban of fine linen, and the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twined linen,
²⁹ and a sash of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
³⁰ They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, "Holy to the Lord."
³¹ And they fastened a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban above, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

An Inventory of Obedience  (Exodus 39:32-41)

³² Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did.
³³ And they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases;
³⁴ the covering of tanned rams' skins and goatskins, and the veil of the screen;
³⁵ the ark of the testimony, and the poles and the mercy seat;
³⁶ The table, all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence.
³⁷ the lampstand of pure gold and its lamps with the lamps set and all its utensils, and the oil for the light,
³⁸ the golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance of the tent;
³⁹ The bronze altar, and its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand.
⁴⁰ the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court,
⁴¹ the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests.

The Final Approval and Blessing  (Exodus 39:42-43)

⁴² According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work.
⁴³ Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them.