Exodus 36

Read Exodus 36. Exodus 36 opens with Bezaleel and Aholiab, along with every skilled craftsman whom the LORD had gifted with wisdom, beginning the work of constructing the sanctuary exactly as the LORD had commanded. Moses called these skilled workers together and gave them all the offerings the people of Israel had brought for the work of the sanctuary. The people continued bringing freewill offerings morning after morning, so generously that the craftsmen eventually came to Moses and reported that the people were bringing far more than was needed to complete the work. Moses then issued a command throughout the camp that no one should bring any more offerings, and the people were restrained from giving further, for what they had already contributed was more than sufficient for all the work required. Exodus 36 then turns to the actual construction of the tabernacle. The skilled workers made ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread woven with an artistic design of cherubim and joined them together in two sets of five, connected by loops of blue and taches of gold to form one complete covering. They made a second covering of eleven curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle, joined in a similar way with loops and taches of brass. Above that, they added a covering of rams' skins dyed red and a further covering of badgers' skins. The boards for the tabernacle were made of shittim wood (standing upright), each fitted with two tenons and set in silver sockets — two sockets under each board. They made twenty boards for the south side and twenty for the north side, each with their corresponding silver sockets. They made six boards for the west side, with two additional boards for the corners, doubled from beneath and coupled together at the top with a ring. Bars of shittim wood were made to hold the boards together, five bars for each side and for the back, with the middle bar passing through the center of the boards. All the boards and bars were overlaid with gold, and gold rings held the bars in place. Finally, the chapter describes the making of the veil. It was woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine twined linen with cherubim worked into it. They hung it on four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold and set in sockets of silver. A similar hanging was made for the door of the tabernacle, embroidered with needlework, and hung on five pillars overlaid with gold with gold hooks, their sockets cast of brass. In this way, Exodus 36 closes with the tabernacle's framework and coverings essentially complete, ready for the furnishings described in the following chapter.