The Tabernacle Built
1 Then worked Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whom the I AM had put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the I AM had commanded.Bezaleel and Aholiab were the formen in charge of the building, but everyone who was able to help, did.
2 And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the I AM had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it,
3 And Moses gave them all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it all. And they kept bringing to him free-will offerings every morning.
4 And all the wise men, that worked all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from the work he was doing,
5 And spoke to Moses, saying, "The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the I AM commanded us to make."
"Hey, Moses, we have more than enough stuff to do the job. You can tell the people to quit bringing things to us now."
6 And Moses commanded them, and they proclaimed it throughout the camp, saying, "Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary." So the people were stopped from bringing more.
"Please quit bringing things."
7 For the stuff they had was more than enough for all the work to make it.
The Construction Proceeds
8 And every wise-hearted man among them that created the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, with cherubims of artistic work they made them.9 The length of one curtain was forty-two feet, and the breadth of one curtain twelve feet. The curtains were all the same size.
10 And he fastened five curtains to each other, and the other five curtains he fastened to each other.
11 He made fifty loops of blue yarn and put them along the edge of the last curtain in each set.
12 The fifty loops along the edge of one curtain matched the fifty loops along the edge of the other curtain.
13 And he made fifty gold clasps, and fastened the curtains to each other with the clasps, so it became one tabernacle.
The Curtains of Goats' Hair
14 He made eleven curtains of goat-hair cloth to serve as a tent covering for the Tabernacle.15 The length of each curtain was forty-five feet, and the breadth was six feet. The eleven curtains were the same size.
Each goat hair curtain was 45 feet by 6 feet.
16 And he fastened five curtains together, and six curtains together.
17 And he made fifty loops on the outer edge of each of the large curtains.
18 And he made fifty clasps of brass to fasten the tent together, so it was one big tent.
The Covering of Skins
19 And he made a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of goat skin leather above that.The Tabernacle had three layers of curtains for walls:
- The inside linen layer that was pretty.
- The middle layer of goat hair (mohair/angora) that would have been warm.
- The outer layer of leather from sheep and goats so it was water proof.
The Boards and Sockets
20 And he made boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up.21 The length of a board was fifteen feet, and the wideth of a board 27 inches.
22 Each board had two Pegs, equally distant one from another. He did this for all the boards.of the tabernacle.
23 And he made twenty boards for the south side,
24 With forty bases of silver under the twenty boards; two bases under each board, one for each peg.
25 And he made twenty boards for the north side of the Tabernacle,
26 And their forty bases of silver with two bases under each board.
27 For the west side he made six boards.
28 And he made two boards to frame the corners of the tabernacle in the two back sides.
29 And they were doubled, and fasted together at the top and bottom to form a single piece. Each corner was done this way.
30 And there were eight boards altogether, and they had sixteen silver bases, two under each board.
The Bars
31 And he made five crossbars of acacia wood for the north side of the tabernacle,32 And five bars for thesouth side of the tabernacle, and five bars for west side of the Tabernacle.
33 And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other.
34 And he covered the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and covered the crossbars with gold.
There were rings attached to the boards for bars to be put through to further strengthen the walls.
The Veil
35 And he made a veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, with skillfully worked in cherubims.36 And he made for it four pillars of acacia wood, covered with gold. The hooks were made of gold and he made four bases of silver.
The Curtain for the Door
37 And he made a curtain for the Tabernacle door out of needlework of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen.38 This curtain was hung on gold hooks attached to five posts. The posts with their decorated tops and hooks were overlaid with gold, and the five bases were cast from bronze.
Brass is a tougher metal than gold so it would last longer.