Ex. 25 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that 2 they take for me an offering: of every man whose heart maketh him willing ye shall take my

3 offering. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them ; gold, and silver, and brass ; 4 and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair ; and rams’ skins dyed red, 5 and sealskins, and acacia wood ; oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the 6 sweet incense ; onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate. 7 And let them make me a sanctuary ; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I 9 shew thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the furniture thereof, even so shall ye make it.

35 4 And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is 5 the thing which the LORD commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the 6 LORD : whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, the LORD’s offering ; gold, and silver, 7 and brass ; and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair ; and rams’ skins 8 dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia wood ; and oil for the light, and spices for the anointing 9 oil, and for the sweet incense ; and onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for 10 the breastplate. And let every wise hearted man among you come, and make all that the 11 LORD hath commanded ; the tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its clasps, and its boards, 12 its bars, its pillars, and its sockets, the ark, and the staves thereof, the mercy-seat, and the 13 veil of the screen ; the table, and its staves, and all its vessels, and the shewbread ; the 14 candlestick also for the light, and its vessels, and its lamps, and the oil for the light ; and the 15 altar of incense, and its staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the screen 16 for the door, at the door of the tabernacle ; the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of 17 brass, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base ; the hangings of the court, the 18 pillars thereof, and their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court ; the pins of the 19 tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords ; the finely wrought garments, for min- istering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.

20. And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21 And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and brought the LORD’s offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all the 22 service thereof, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought brooches, and earrings, and signet-rings, and armlets, all 23 jewels of gold ; even every man that offered an offering of gold unto the LORD. And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, 24 and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins, brought them. Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the LORD’s offering : and every man, with whom was found acacia 25 wood for any work of the service, brought it. And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, the blue, and the purple, the 26 scarlet, and the fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun 27 the goats’ hair. And the rulers brought the onyx stones, and the stones to be set, for the 28 ephod, and for the breastplate ; and the spice, and the oil ; for the light, and for the anoint- 29 ing oil, and for the sweet incense. The children of Israel brought a freewill offering unto the LORD ; every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

31 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezalel the son 2 of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah ; and I have filled him with the spirit of God, in 3 wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to 4 devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones 5 for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold, 6 I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan ; and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have com- 7 manded thee : the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy-seat that is 8 thereupon, and all the furniture of the Tent ; and the table and its vessels, and the pure 9 candlestick with all its vessels, and the altar of incense ; and the altar of burnt offering with 10 all its vessels, and the laver and its base ; and the finely wrought garments, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office ; 11 and the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place : according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

35 30 And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name

31. Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; and to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of cunning workmanship. And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. Then hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of workmanship, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any workmanship, and of those that devise cunning works. And Bezalel and Oholiab shall work, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD hath put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD hath commanded.

2. And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: and they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal.

4. And they brought yet unto him freewill offerings every morning. And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they wrought; and they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.

38 21 This is the sum of the things for the tabernacle, even the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. And Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses. And with him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

24. All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that passed over to them that were numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. And the hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; an hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and made fillets for them. And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tent of meeting, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grating for it, and all the vessels of the altar, and the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the gate of the court, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

Sections 120-153 comprise the body of CEREMONIAL LAWS, and include all the ordinances pertaining to Worship and Ritual. For the outline of these ordinances and the order of arrangement, study carefully the Index following the title-page.

In this and each of several following sections relating to the Tabernacle, its Court, and their furniture, and to the sacred things pertaining to the Ritual service, the double text of the record is included: covering, first, the command to Moses in the mount; second, the execution of the command. The history is thus unified and made more simple and intelligible, while the exact correspondence between the direction and its fulfilment continually repeats its impressive lesson. B.

Preliminary Facts and Considerations.

Two distinct elements are observable in the remaining portion of the Pentateuch: one, a set of laws forming a complete ecclesiastical and civil code; the other, an historical detail of the principal events, connected with the promulgation of the laws. The two elements are com bined in a manner quite extraordinary. The laws do not stand insulated by themselves, neither are they embodied in a systematic form. But, paradoxical as the assertion may seem, they are both separated and connected by the historical narrative. “It is a code of laws in a frame of history.” There are continual transitions from history to law, and from law to history. They are everywhere grafted, the one into the other; and there is such a mutual connection and dependence, that the two parts seem to grow together, like the several branches of a tree. E. C. W.

Its Design and Use.

The best apology of the ceremonial law lies in pointing out its objects, and these refute the charges brought against it: First, it served to cherish the religious sentiment. The Israelite was reminded by it in all his relations, even the most insignificant and external, of God; the thought of God was introduced into the very midst of the popular life. Secondly, it required the recognition of sin, and thus called forth the first thing essential for the reception of redemption, a sense of the need of redemption. The Law was, and was intended to be, a heavy yoke, and therefore would awaken a longing after the Redeemer. Thirdly, it served to separate Israel from the heathen; it erected between the two a wall of separation, by which communication was prevented. Fourthly, many things in the ceremonial law served, by impressions on the senses, to awaken reverence for holy things among a sensual people. Fifthly, one principal object of the ceremonial law lay in its symbolic meaning. The people, enthralled in visible objects, were not yet capable of vitally appropriating supersensual truth in words, the form most suited to their nature. It was needful for the truth to condescend, to come down to their power of apprehension, to prepare itself a body from visible things, in order to free the people from the bondage of the visible. Would we rather not speak at all to the dumb than make use of signs? The ceremonial law was not the opposite to the worship of God in spirit and in truth, but only an imperfect form of the same, a necessary preparation for it. The accommodation was only formal, one which did not alter the essence, but only presented it in large capital letters to children who could not yet read a small running-hand. Hengstenberg.

The purpose of the Levitical law as a scheme of Divine tuition for the Jews, is perhaps largely explained by its tendency to cultivate in the Hebrew mind theistic and monotheistic ideas. That law was of course a device of elaborate prefigurement to forerun the Coming of Christ. But, co-ordinate with this meaning as type and prophecy, the ritual of the Mosaic economy subserved another purpose. It educated the Jews into the faith of a living and personal God. The Law was a school-master until Christ. The problem for the providential administration of Jewish history was, to prepare one race of men for the earthly advent of Christ incarnate among them. For this end, it was necessary to take a people abjectly ignorant, and from amid an environment of heathenism raise them to the height of a pure monotheistic faith. The method was, to announce a law under sanctions the most awful and sublime. This Law was accompanied with a system of precepts that invaded Jewish life at every conceivable point. Not a day in the year, not an hour in the day, but some imperative of the Divine will met the Israelite, demanding obedience. Every such imperative brought into the consciousness of the Jew a fresh recollection of the being of God, and of his living personality. It is hardly too much to say that this perpetual encounter of commands to be obeyed was chiefly what wrought at last into the Jewish nation that connection of the unity and personality of God which has created so remarkable, so unique a characteristic of the Hebrew Scriptures. With almost infinite pains on the part of the teacher, and at what terrible cost to the learner, the lesson was effectively taught and definitely learned. The Jews became believers in one God and that a personal God. Of this God, nature to them was full. If it thundered, Jehovah uttered his voice. If the winds blew, Jehovah made them his chariot. It was his lightning that enlightened the world. If a volcanic eruption occurred, it was the hills melting like wax at the presence of the Lord. Jewish theism became so intense that it might look like pantheism. God was nature to them. But God was nature in a sense vividly antithetic to nature’s being God.

What God thus, with an awful magnificence of revelation, had, after many ages of history, succeeded at length in teaching to the Jews, to such effect that they wrote it inseparably into all their literature, many modern interpreters, forsooth, of that literature, are at fatuous, but futile pains to eliminate thence. They tell us that expressions such as those just recalled from Hebrew Scripture were idiosyncratic ways which that peculiar nation had, of representing in language the processes of nature! Nay, verily. But it was of tuition, and not of intuition, that those forms of speech were born. The inveterate bent of the Jews to relapse and become polytheists and idolaters again, that bent so frequently and so tragically illustrated in their history, this is proof sufficient that the idea of God, as one and personal, was not an idea peculiarly natural to the Jewish stock. The Jews had the same natural tendency in religion as did the neighboring nations around them. That tendency was all to idolatry. The Jews were disciplined to be monotheists, and disciplined to believe in their God as a personal being. And a large part of the discipline by which they were trained to these convictions consisted in the vast and elaborate scheme of requirements that brought them incessantly into contact, through obedience rendered, with a living, invisible, authoritative, absolute, personal will. Wilkinson.

The mind of Israel was governed by two dominant convictions, unknown to any other ancient people. God was the first thought in the mind of Israel. The existence, the presence of One Supreme, Living, Personal Being, who alone exists necessarily and of himself; who sustains the life of all besides himself; before whom all that is not himself is but a shadow and vanity; from whose sanctity there streams forth on the conscience of man that moral law which is the light of human life; and in whose mercy all men, especially the afflicted, the suffering, the poor, may, if they will, find a gracious and long-suffering Patron—this was the substance of the first great conviction of the people of Israel. Dependent on that conviction was another. Israel was conscious of the presence and power of sin. The Jew knew that sin was the secret of human sorrow. He could not forget sin if he would; for before his eyes the importunate existence and destructive force of sin were inexorably pictured in the ritual. He witnessed daily sacrifices for sin, and the sacrifice of sacrifices which was offered on the Day of Atonement. Then the moral law sounded in his ears; he knew that he had not obeyed it. The ritual, interpreted as it was by the Decalogue, created yearnings within him which it could not satisfy, and deepened a sense of pollution which of itself it could not relieve. H. P. L.

The religious worship divinely instituted in the desert fulfilled several minor purposes. It tended to divert the attention from the sensuous attractions of the idolatry with which the people had been associated in Egypt; it had a considerable influence in preserving the sense of national unity; it constituted an invaluable code of sanitary regulations; it even fostered the preservation of genealogies. But none of these were its primary aim; they were secondary effects of causes, the primary purpose of which was the culture of the religious life. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things” (civil and social) “shall be added unto you,” might have been taken as the motto of Judaism. Church and State were so united that the very purposes of government were best furthered by attention to the duties of religion. Cave.

The elaborate system of worship established by Moses was never meant to be an end in itself. Its offerings and sacrifices, its prayers and songs, its priestly mediations and absolutions, assumed an inner spirit of penitence, faith, thanksgiving, love, devotion. The ritual was an appropriate expression in outward signs of the emotions of the heart in view of its sins and sorrows, and of the goodness and mercy of the Lord. It was also a help to the understanding of promises to come, and to faith in their fulfilment. In believing hearts it nursed the expectation of the Messiah, and set forth the great doctrine of atonement through the daily sacrifice—a type of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This was the real import of the covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai. When, however, from being an exponent of feeling and an educator of faith, the Jews perverted their worship to an end in itself, and a meritorious act, both the prophets of the Lord and his Providence taught them that the ritual could neither save them nor preserve itself. Yet the mercy of God prevailed, even over the abuse of mercy. There always was a spiritual Israel; and it was promised, that, by the coming of Christ, the covenant of an inner spiritual life—of knowledge, obedience, grace, righteousness, salvation—should be renewed, enlarged, and made perpetual. Christ was not only a greater and more perfect priest than any other; he superseded all others as priest in his own right, and priest forever: and therefore, to put a priesthood or ritual in his place is to usurp his sole prerogative, and to forfeit his atoning and saving grace. J. P. T.

The Ceremonial Rites not Prophetic Types, but Doctrinal Symbols.

All confusion and uncertainty arises from assuming that the significant rites of the ceremonial law must of necessity be types—that is to say, prophetic symbols, and that they must necessarily be types of Christ. All these rites were symbols, as distinguished from prophetic types, and as such suited to prepare the way for the Christian system, without confounding the two dispensations by an anticipation of the Gospel light amid the shadows of the Law. As soon as we admit that it is equally consistent with the honor of the Saviour, and still more consistent with the general purpose of the old economy as a preparatory dispensation, to explain a large portion of its forms as doctrinal symbols, teaching general truths of great importance, suited to the actual condition of the people, and tending to prepare them for a clearer revelation, several obvious interpretations spontaneously suggest themselves. J. A. A.

This elaborate religious constitution was a ritual of the symbolic class. Whatever truth it had to convey was conveyed under material forms; adjuncts of gold and color were employed to speak of God; gorgeous vestments and precious stones proclaimed the sanctity of a priesthood; washing with water betokened the cleansing of the heart; the fire that consumed the sacrifice told its tale of Divine acceptance. This symbolism, so mysteriously selected and permitted for spiritual ends, fulfilled a double purpose. It taught religious truths which constituted a Divine revelation; at the same time it prepared the way for a further revelation in which the same truths could be conveyed in a clearer, more direct and convincing manner. Cave.

The main peculiarity of God’s method of instruction and discipline in respect to the Old Testament Church consisted in the use of symbol and action. It was chiefly by means of historical transactions and symbolical rites that the ancient believers were taught what they knew of the truths and mysteries of grace. For the practical guidance and direction of their conduct they were furnished with means of information the most literal and express; but in regard to the spiritual concerns and objects of the Messiah’s kingdom, all was couched under veil and figure. The instruction came intermingled with the things they saw and handled; and while it made them familiar with the elements of Gospel truth, it left them in comparative ignorance as to the particular events and operations in which the truth was to find its ultimate and proper realization. How entirely analogous was the course pursued by our Lord with his immediate disciples during the period of his earthly ministry! The direct instruction he imparted to them was, with few exceptions, confined to lessons of moral truth and duty—treeing the Law of God from the false glosses of a carnal and corrupt priesthood, which had entirely overlaid its meaning, and disclosing the pure and elevated principles on which his kingdom was to be founded. But in regard to what might be called the mysteries of the kingdom—the constitution of Christ’s person, the peculiar character of his work as the Redeemer of a sinful and fallen world, and the connection of all with a higher and future world—little instruction of a direct kind was imparted up to the very close of Christ’s earthly ministry. . . . The facts of Christianity are the basis of its doctrines; and until those facts had become matter of history, the doctrines could neither be explicitly taught nor clearly understood. They could only be obscurely represented to the mind through the medium of typical actions, symbolical rites, or parabolical narratives. And it results as much from the essential nature of things as from the choice of its Divine Author, that the mode of instruction, which was continued through the lengthened probation of the Old Testament Church, should have found its parallel in “the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” P. F.

The great mass of evangelical interpreters, especially in former times, have made it a main object in their expositions of the ceremonial law to shun the error of excluding Christ and gospel times from the signification of the legal shadows. In attempting this, it is not, perhaps, surprising, that their zeal has sometimes led them toward the opposite extreme. The exaggeration both of this and of the contrary hypothesis has led to the same general result, but in ways directly opposite. Both have deprived the ceremonial law of its preparatory character, the one by reducing its significance too low, and the other by exalting it too high. If the ceremonies of the Law meant nothing, they could not be preparatory to the Gospel. If they meant everything, and made known everything which needed to be known, they were not so much a preparation as an anticipation of the Gospel itself. J. A. A.

Classification of Ceremonial Institutes.

A fourfold distribution of the Sacred Institutions of the Hebrews has been adopted by the older and later writers: Sacred Places, Sacred Persons, Sacred Rites, and Sacred Times; or to use a more laconic terminology, the Sanctuary, the Priesthood, the Ritual, and the Calendar. J. A. A.—The altar was the basis of the sacred places, the priesthood was the basis of the sacred persons, the burnt-offerings was the basis of the sacred rites, and the Sabbath was the basis of the sacred times. Here we discover the links that connect the ceremonial laws given by Moses with the primeval ordinances of religion. In the altar set up in the family of Adam we have the genesis of the tabernacle and temple. At the beginning the minister of sacrifice was the patriarch of the existing family, and his sacred office passed over to the Mosaic priesthood. In the offering of blood by Abel and the offering by fire of Noah we discover the germs of the Jewish ritual. The Sabbath ordained in paradise became the central institute in the sacred times appointed by Moses. Humphrey.

Perhaps a fuller and more accurate classification is the following, in the main adopted in our arrangement:

I. Positive Institutes, relating directly to Worship. 1. Its Place and external media. 2. Its Ministers—Priests and Levites. 3. Its Rites—Sacrificial and other offerings. 4. Its Times—Sabbatic Periods and Festivals. II. Minor Ceremonial Adjuncts of a preceptive character; Remedial, Corrective, and Prohibitory. B.

The first ordinances given to Moses, after the proclamation of the outline of the Law from Sinai, related to the ordering of the TABERNACLE, its furniture and its service, as the type which was to be followed when the people came to their own home and “found a place” for the abode of God. During the forty days of Moses’s first retirement with God in Sinai, an exact pattern of the whole was shown him, and all was made according to it. P. S.

Pure and abstract notions of the Divinity were beyond the age and the people of Moses. No religious impressions would be lasting which were not addressed to the senses. With this view is commenced the sacred tabernacle or pavilion-temple. The whole nation is called upon to contribute to its construction and ornament. The riches which they brought from Egypt, and the arts which some of them had learned, now come into request. From all quarters offerings pour in; brass, silver, gold, jewels, fine linen, embroidered stuffs of all colors, valuable skins, spices, oils, and incense, in such profusion that they cannot all be brought into use. The high district immediately around Sinai, extending about thirty miles in diameter, is by no means barren, the vegetation is richer than in other parts of the desert, streams of water flow in the valleys, date and other trees abound, and groves, chiefly of the black acacia (the shittim). These latter were speedily felled, all the artificers set to work, the women were employed in weaving and spinning, and the whole camp assumed a busy appearance. The construction of the tabernacle was intrusted to the superintendence of two skilful workmen, Bezalel and Oholiab. Milman.

25:1-8. The tabernacle revelation was in substance a revelation of God’s willingness to dwell with his people, and of the conditions on which this great blessing could be realized by them. The first condition is their willingness to welcome him when he comes. And accordingly the first step is to give the people an opportunity of showing this willingness. “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering . . . and let them make me a sanctuary.” The giving of the revelation shows the willingness on God’s part; the offerings of the people the willingness on theirs. J. M. G.

9. According to the pattern . . . shall ye make it. An ideal of the finished tabernacle, with its hangings and its furniture, with its sacred enclosures of the Holy Place, and of the Holy of Holies, with its cherubim-guarded ark of the covenant, and its Shekinah-revealing of the Divine presence, was seen by Moses when he was on the mountain-top with God. That ideal Moses could not transfer to another’s mental vision; but, under its influence, he could give the directions, step by step, for the making of hangings and of furniture and of adornings that should correspond with its details. S. S. T.—Moses saw on the mountain a pattern of all the things which he afterward caused to be made. In his intercourse with God, he attained to a deep view into the spiritual, eternal relations which existed between God and his people; but these relations were revealed to him under the veil of type and emblem, which veil neither he nor any Israelite could altogether take away. Many thousands were kept by such outward service, with its minute details, in a certain external discipline and reverence toward sacred things, without entering into their meaning (the Jews, Philo and Josephus, in the time of the apostles, had altogether lost the key to it); while the really spiritually-minded found a continually elevating employment for heart and spirit in the beautiful and appropriate symbols, which so harmonized with the doctrinal teaching of the Word. Gerl.

From the twofold relation of Jehovah (as their God and their King) to the chosen people, it follows that there must be found in their laws and institutions both permanent and transient elements. Their duties toward him as their God, which found chief expression in their rites of worship, were permanent. The whole ritual, the kinds and orders of sacrifice, the priesthood in its several ranks, duties, and offices, the sevenfold division of times, the feasts—all this was unchangeable. As typical of higher things to come, they must remain till the antitypes came. And thus it was that Moses was directed to make all these things after the pattern showed him in the mount, a Divine order which man might not change. Andrews.

The LORD’S Offering; Materials Indicated (25 : 3-7 ; 35 : 6-10).

The materials were : Metals : gold, silver, and brass. Textile fabrics : blue, purple, scarlet, and fine (white) linen, for the production of which Egypt was celebrated ; also a fabric of goats’ hair, the produce of their own flocks. Skins : of the ram, dyed red, and of the badger. Wood : the shittim wood, the timber of the wild acacia of the desert itself, the tree of the “burning bush.” Oil, spices, and incense, for anointing the priests, and burning in the tabernacle. Gems : onyx stones, and the precious stones for the breastplate of the high-priest. The people gave jewels, and plates of gold and silver, and brass ; wood, skins, hair, and linen ; the women wove ; the rulers offered precious stones, oil, spices, and incense. P. S.

Blue, purple, and scarlet. There does not seem much ground to doubt that these names of the colors of the woven and embroidered work of the sanctuary express the most probable conclusions. The three colors, blue, scarlet, and purple, have been recognized all but universally as royal colors, such as were best suited for the decoration of a palace. This fact appears to furnish sufficient ground for their having been appointed as the colors for the embroidery which was to adorn the dwelling-place of Jehovah. Clark.

Some of the materials of the tabernacle were exquisitely adapted for symbolical representation. The acacia is the lignum imputrabile of the Orientals, incorruptibility itself, the facile defier of putrefaction. Gold, from its pre-eminence among even the noble metals, must ever be the emblem of all that is glorious and beautiful, the fitting ornament of kingly palaces, the appropriate adornment of a Divine residence. Silver will always the wide world over be eloquent of purity (Is. 1 : 22). And when we come to the richly woven tapestry hangings, did not its white speak of holiness, its blue of the vault of heaven, the footstool of the Almighty, its purple of regal splendor, and its scarlet of a full, free, joyous life, such as is the attribute of God? Cave.

So far as the materials required for the building are concerned, it can be proved that the Israelites were either in possession of all that was wanted, or, if not, could easily have procured them. The most important article of all, the shittim (acacia) wood, could be felled in the desert. Gold, silver, and precious stones they had brought with them in great abundance from Egypt. The tachash skins were to be found in the Arabian Gulf. The raw materials for the cloths, the necessary spices, etc., could be purchased from the caravans. There is no reason for astonishment at the quantity of gold and silver that was used. In comparison with the almost incredible wealth in the precious metals which presents itself on every hand in ancient times, the quantity used in connection with the tabernacle furnishes no occasion for surprise. K.

In erecting the tabernacle in the wilderness, the Israelites were called upon to work in precious stones ; in refining and working metals ; in carving wood and preparing leather ; in spinning, weaving, embroidery, and the preparation of oils. These arts they must have learned in Egypt ; and all these arts are represented upon contemporaneous history. Not more certainly do the physical features of Palestine testify that the Bible was mainly written in that country, than do the tombs of Egypt witness that the author of the Pentateuch was skilled in all the arts and manners of the Egyptians. J. P. T.

We read of the Temple, the more perfect form of the Divine habitation, that it was to be made “so exceeding magnifical as to be of fame and glory throughout all countries ;” and that among other things employed by Solomon for this purpose, “the house was garnished with precious stones for beauty.” Such materials, therefore, were used in the construction of the tabernacle as were best fitted for conveying suitable impressions of the greatness and glory of the Being for whose peculiar habitation it was erected. And as in this we are furnished with a sufficient reason for their employment, to search for others were only to wander into the regions of uncertainty and conjecture. P. F.

25 : 1; 35 : 4. Take for me an offering. The tabernacle was to be dedicated to the honor of God, and used in his service; and therefore what was brought for the setting up and furnishing of that was an offering to the Lord. Our goodness extends not to God, but what is laid out for the support of his kingdom and interest among men, he is pleased to accept as an offering to himself; and he requires such acknowledgments of our receiving our all from him, and such instances of our dedicating our all to him. H.—What the Lord commanded was that such and such work should be done, not that such and such contributions should be rendered to it. These he left free; and accordingly they were brought in the form of free offerings. The commandment was upon Moses, however, to proclaim and receive these offerings and then turn them to the use which had been appointed. T. C.

Spirit Desired and Realized in the Offerers (35 : 5, 20-29).

35 : 5. Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring the Lord’s offering. 21. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and brought the Lord’s offering. The very mode of providing his materials implied that the structure for which they were given was altogether of a sacred character, being made of things consecrated to the Lord. The special call for only that which was given “with the heart” implied that in all that concerns the worship and work of God there must be the concurrence of the sanctified will with the grace and condescension of God. S. R.—They were willing, and it was not any external inducement that made them so, but their spirits. It was from a principle of love to God and his service; a desire of his presence with them in his ordinances; a gratitude for the great things he had done for them; faith in his promise of what he would further do; or, at least, from the present consideration of these things, that they were willing to offer. What we give and do for God is then acceptable when it comes from a good principle in the heart and spirit. H.

Better have the little that comes from the willing heart than the large sums which are given by constraint or from any earthly or worldly motive. In this chapter this is strongly insisted upon; they that gave, gave with willing hearts—“the children of Israel brought a willing offering to the Lord, every man and woman” (verse 29). Some had gold, and they gave that; some had silver and some had brass, and they gave that; some had linen, and they gave that; some skins of rams, some badgers’ skins, some goats’, and some could carve wood, and cut stones, and do all manner of cunning work, and they gave that. There was no representative currency. As they had no money, they gave that which money represents; each gave the substance that he had and could give. J. C.

Should not the establishment of God’s kingdom in the world call forth our zeal as much as the erection of that fabric in the wilderness did the zeal of the Israelites? The material tabernacle was only a shadow of that better habitation wherein God delights to dwell. To the erection of this spiritual house every true Christian Israelite is called to contribute according as God hath given him ability. And let it be ever remembered that the blessing will go with contributions according to the free, cordial, generous spirit with which they are made. It is not the amount given, but the motive of the giver, which is of account in God’s sight. Even the poor widow who casts in her two mites will receive an equal plaudit with Araunah, of whom it is said, “All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king.” They who do what they can show evidently that they would do more if they could. Bush.

The Workmen Qualified and Chosen by the LORD.

31 : 1. “The Lord spake unto Moses.” The frequent repetition of these words seems to intimate that the successive disclosures of Jehovah to Moses were made at intervals, so as to allow the careful consideration and writing down of each. B.

31 : 1, 2, 6; 35 : 30, 31, 34, 36. I have called by name Bezalel, and have filled him with the Spirit of God. And I have appointed with him Oholiab. That he may teach, both he and Oholiab. And Bezalel and Oholiab shall work, and every wise-hearted man in whom the Lord hath put wisdom and understanding to know how to work, all the work for the service of the sanctuary.

A thoughtful reading of these words shows that not only the two superintendents, Bezalel and Oholiab, but as well the entire body of workmen, were specially qualified and chosen for the various branches of work connected with the tabernacle and its service. B.—Skill in common arts and employments is the gift of God; from Him are both the faculty and the improvement of the faculty. It is He that puts even this wisdom into the inward parts (Job 38:36). He teaches the husbandman discretion (Is. 28:26), and the tradesman, too; and He must have the praise of it. God dispenses his gifts variously, one gift to one, another to another, and all for the good of the whole body, both of mankind and of the Church. Moses was fittest of all to govern Israel, but Bezalel was fitter than he to build the tabernacle. The common benefit is very much supported by the variety of men’s faculties and inclinations; the genius of some leads them to be serviceable one way, of others another way, and all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:11). This forbids pride, envy, contempt, and carnal emulation, and strengthens the bond of mutual love. Those whom God calls to any service, he will either find or make fit for it. If God give the commission, he will in some measure give the qualifications, according as the service is. The work that was to be done here, was to make the tabernacle, and the utensils of it, which are here particularly reckoned up. And for this the persons employed were enabled to work in gold, and silver, and brass. When Christ sent his apostles to rear the Gospel tabernacle, he poured out his Spirit upon them, to enable them to speak with tongues the wonderful works of God: not to work upon metal, but to work upon men; so much more excellent were the gifts, as the tabernacle to be pitched was a greater and more perfect tabernacle, as the apostle calls it (Heb. 9:11). H.

God gave the plan clearly, graphically, to Moses; but it needed men raised up specially by the Spirit of God to execute the plan and give it practical development. And we learn from this fact that a gifted intellect is as much the creation of the Spirit of God as a regenerate heart. Gifts are from God as truly as graces: it needs the guidance of God’s good Spirit to enable a man “to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them; and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship;” just as it does to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. A great intellect is as much the gift of God as a holy and sanctified heart is from the grace of God; only we must always remember that the two are not necessarily combined; that the latter—the sanctified heart—is saving; but that the former—the gifted intelintellect—may be an element of ruin, not of everlasting blessedness in the sight of God. Many men have transcendent gifts that shed new light upon the world by their splendor, who at the same time have hearts sunk in depravity and sin. They have been raised to heaven by the greatness of their gifts; they sink themselves to ruin by the degeneracy of their lives. Far better have a holy heart and a very ungifted intellect than have the most gigantic mind but a depraved heart to wield and to make use of it. J. C.

God has a particular kind of inspiration for every man, just according to what he is and the uses he will make of him; for the tradesmen Bezalel as truly as for Moses. He will dignify every right calling by being joined to us in it; for there is nothing given us to do which he will not help us to do rightly and wisely, filling us with a lofty and fortified consciousness of his presence with us in it. It is not for us to say beforehand what gifts or what kind of inspiration God will bestow. Enough that he will take us into his own care, and work his own counsel in us. Only let us set no limits to the Holy One of Israel, and be ready to admit his guidance, and wait to be his qualified instruments, whether in work or suffering. Bushnell.

Bezalel, the son of Uri, was called of God to do what to many seems a very inferior sort of work. See, says the Divine Spirit, I have called him—not to do the services of the priestly office—I have called him to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass. In order to do this labor I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge. In a word, Bezalel was divinely called to be a smith. He was set apart just as certainly and just as divinely to work at that trade, as were Aaron and his sons to attend to the services at the altar. Bezalel’s handicraft was essential to the carrying out of God’s purposes in the building of the tabernacle, and his life was just as much of a heavenly ordination as though he had been clad in priestly robes, and had it appointed him to stand at the side of the altar of sacrifice, or walk with bare feet into the awful, cherubic, overshadowed Holy of Holies. And so Bezalel could feel, as he wrought out into beautiful forms the candlesticks, the altars, the tables, which were to be used in the worship of Jehovah, that he was a chosen servant of God no less than the priestly orders, who were to use the products of his toil; that God had ordained him to do the very work upon which his life was being spent, and that, therefore, he must be in the line of his highest duty. But the case of Bezalel was not a peculiar and distinct one. God has an infinite diversity of callings in which he wishes men, according to their natural fitness, to feel themselves placed. There are not only called preachers, but called merchants, called teachers, called farmers, called physicians, called smiths and carpenters, called housekeepers, called statesmen, called lawyers, it may be, called soldiers and politicians. Every life then which occupies itself with any part of God’s work is of Divine ordination, and every soul that honestly and faithfully devotes itself to that pursuit, toward which natural fitness points it or into which circumstances force it, may feel that it is in the line of a Divine appointment. No man need murmur then that so much of his time must necessarily be squandered, and so much of his ability be wasted upon things which have no heavenly bearing or result. Nay, we may oftentimes feel that God has thrust some form of life upon us that we may teach the world some grand lesson of endurance, or patience, or fortitude, which could not have been disclosed had we been allowed to take any other place. Roseland.

When Tychicus is caring for Paul’s comfort, and looking after common things for him, he is serving Christ, and his work is “in the Lord.” That is equivalent to saying that the distinction between sacred and secular, religious and non-religious, like that of great and small, disappears from work done for and in Jesus. Whenever there is organization there must be much work concerned with purely material things; and the most spiritual forces must have some organization. There must be men for “the outward business of the house of God,” as well as the white-robed priests at the altar and the rapt gazer in the secret place of the Most High. There are a hundred matters of detail and of purely outward and mechanical nature which must be seen to by somebody. The alternative is to do them in a purely mechanical and secular manner, and so to make the work utterly dreary and contemptible, or in a devout and earnest manner, and so to hallow them all, and make worship of them all. The difference between two lives is not in the material on which but in the motive from which, and in the end for which they are respectively lived. All work done in obedience to the same Lord is the same in essence, for it is all obedience; and all work done for the same God is the same in essence, for it is all worship. The distinction between secular and sacred ought never to have found its way into Christian morals, and ought forevermore to be expelled from Christian life. A. M.

One place may be as holy as another; and all action done under the leading of the Spirit is equally accepted of God. There is no necessary part of life which may not be inspired by the Divine Spirit, whether it be work or play, social converse or public worship. As God has planned out our lives in the circumstances in which we act, with the existing demands for labor, social intercourse, and recreation, as well as for worship and religious instruction, his Spirit, if duly sought, will be with us equally in the whole round of life’s activities. As we need him in all, he will fail us in none. To be true to God always, and to find him everywhere; to live ever by faith in Christ Jesus; to be simple, innocent, natural, and loving in all relationships; to be filled with the Holy Ghost; to rise easily and spontaneously from fact to truth, from nature to God, from the human to the Divine; to accept with the same spirit of consecration and obedience whatever seems to lie in the order of Providence for us to do, whether it be private or public, little or great, secular or ecclesiastical, work or play—is what we mean by spirituality. W. W. Patton.

God put it into the hearts of Bezalel and Oholiab to teach others, who received their skill, therefore, proximately from them, but primarily and efficiently from God. This is an example by which what takes place in spiritual matters might also be illustrated. God endows and qualifies men to be the teachers of Christianity; and he is also to every Christian the author of all the spiritual wisdom which he possesses. Yet though taught by him this does not supersede the work of human instructors, for it is generally through them that he teaches the knowledge of himself, and of Jesus Christ whom to know is life everlasting. While depending then on the Spirit of God for a right understanding of the things of God, let us avail ourselves of all the human helps which he has so often sanctioned both by the examples and the exhortations of his Word. T. C.

Liberality Excessive and Restrained.

“And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying: Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.” There is something striking in this account in the way of evidence of the high state of revival of religious feeling among the people after their scandalous fall. It is analogous to the evidence recorded of the holy zeal of the Christians in the revival at Pentecost in the New Testament. The artificers or artisans who took charge of the work—though their work was not yet done and they could only determine that according to their best judgment a sufficiency of materials had been furnished—seem to have been so very honest and of so strict integrity as not to have desired any overplus, which they might appropriate as perquisites. S. R.

Where do we now find men acting so fully on the voluntary principle? How small a proportion of the benevolent offerings of Christians are brought to the Lord’s treasury? Instead of this they must be sent or called for. How different from the full-souled and spontaneous promptings of the Israelitish donors on this occasion! They needed simply to have a want stated, and then without waiting for duty to be inculcated, appeals urged, a precise amount prescribed, or a messenger sent, they become the carriers of their own gifts and pour them in without stint till checked by a public proclamation!

Sum of Gold, Silver, and Copper Contributed.

The gold weighed 29 talents and 730 shekels, if we allow 3000 shekels to the talent of 125 pounds; and this at £4 the ounce would be equal to £175,000 sterling, or nearly $877,000. The silver was 100 talents and 1775 shekels, being a half shekel from all the males above twenty years of age when they came out of Egypt, whose number was 603,550; the whole value of this would, at 5s. the ounce, be £39,721, or nearly $188,605. The brass, or rather copper, was 70 talents and 24,000 shekels, which if valued at 1s. 3d. the pound avoirdupois would be worth £138, or $690. The amount of these several sums would not be less than £213,320, or $1,066,600. But this amount does not include the curtains of the enclosure, the coverings of the tabernacle, the dress of the high-priest and its jewels, the dresses of the common priests, or the value of the skill and labor employed in the work, the whole of which may be fairly taken to have raised its value to the immense sum of £250,000, or $1,250,000!

The grand reason for employing so great an amount of riches in the construction of the tabernacle and its furniture was undoubtedly twofold: (1) To impress the minds of the chosen people with the glory and dignity of the Divine Majesty, and the importance of his service; and (2) To convey through the gorgeousness and splendor of the external ritual an intimation of the essential and transcendent beauty, excellence, and glory of the spiritual things that were shadowed out by it. It was only by means of such a sensuous apparatus of worship that they could receive the inner essential truths which it involved. Bush.

The Israelites had left Egypt the year in which they made this contribution for the construction of the tabernacle. Though many of them were employed in servile labors, yet the people as a whole must have been possessed of considerable wealth. To this the Egyptians made a considerable accession at their departure. The sum here contributed is moderate in comparison with the enormous treasures amassed by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Arabians, and the Egyptians themselves. M.

Thus, on the part of the people, there were abundant tokens of thorough repentance. One of these was their alacrity to set about the work of erecting the tabernacle. All was enthusiasm in the camp. Men and women vied with each other in thoughtful and diligent endeavor. Another was the abounding liberality. So profuse was it that the receivers of the people’s contributions had more than they knew what to do with, so that the people had actually to be restrained from giving. If the Church of Christ only realized the exceeding grace of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, as these people realized the grace of Jehovah and his servant Moses on this occasion, all our mission treasuries would overflow, and instead of ever-renewed appeals for more, the difficulty would be to restrain the people from giving. Finally, there was the minutest and most careful obedience to all the instructions which had been given for the building of the tabernacle and its furniture, so that when all the work was completed, we are told that “Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had, commanded, even so had they done it.” J. M. G.

THE TABERNACLE: NAMES; STRUCTURE AND APPEARANCE; INNER VEIL AND OUTER SCREEN; MEANING AND DESIGN; SYMBOLISM AND TYPES.

Ex. 25 10 And they shall make an ark of acacia wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four feet thereof; and two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark withal. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. And thou shalt make

17 a mercy-seat of pure gold : two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a 18 half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold ; of beaten work shalt 19 thou make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat. And make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end : of one piece with the mercy-seat shall ye make the cher- 20 ubim on the two ends thereof. And the cherubim shall spread out their wings on high, cov- ering the mercy-seat with their wings, with their faces one to another ; toward the mercy-seat 21 shall the faces of the cherubim be. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark ; 22 and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cher- ubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in com- mandment unto the children of Israel.

23. And thou shalt make a table of acacia wood ; two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a 24 cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay 25 it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt make unto it a border of an handbreadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border 26 thereof round about. And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the 27 four corners that are on the four feet thereof. Close by the border shall the rings be, for 28 places for the staves to bear the table. And thou shalt make the staves of acacia wood, and 29 overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and the spoons thereof, and the flagons thereof, and the bowls thereof, to 30 pour out withal : of pure gold shalt thou make them. And thou shalt set upon the table shew- bread before me alway.

31. And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold : of beaten work shall the candlestick be made, even its base, and its shaft ; its cups, its knops, and its flowers, shall be of one piece 32 with it : and there shall be six branches going out of the sides thereof ; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other 33 side thereof : three cups made like almond-blossoms in one branch, a knop and a flower ; and three cups made like almond-blossoms in the other branch, a knop and a flower : so for the 34 six branches going out of the candlestick : and in the candlestick four cups made like almond- 35 blossoms, the knops thereof, and the flowers thereof : and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, and a knop under two 36 branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the candlestick. Their knops and their branches shall be of one piece with it : the whole of it one beaten work of pure 37 gold. And thou shalt make the lamps thereof, seven : and they shall light the lamps thereof, 38 to give light over against it. And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of 39 pure gold. Of a talent of pure gold shall it be made, with all these vessels. And see that 40 thou make them after their pattern, which hath been shewed thee in the mount.

No. 8 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, 2 When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the candlestick. 3 And Aaron did so ; he lighted the lamps thereof so as to give light in front of the candlestick, 4 as the LORD commanded Moses. And this was the work of the candlestick, beaten work of gold ; unto the base thereof, and unto the flowers thereof, it was beaten work : according unto the pattern which the LORD had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

Ex. 26 34 And thou shalt put the mercy-seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most 35 holy place. And thou shalt set the table without the veil, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south ; and thou shalt put the table on the north side.

30 1 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon : of acacia wood shalt thou make 2 it. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof ; foursquare shall it be : and two cubits shall be the height thereof : the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it. 3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, 4 and the horns thereof ; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. And two golden rings shalt thou make for it under the crown thereof, upon the two ribs thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make them ; and they shall be for places for staves to bear it 5 withal. And thou shalt make the staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And 6 thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy-seat that 7 is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereon incense of 8 sweet spices : every morning, when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout 9 your generations. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt offering, nor meal 10 offering; and ye shall pour no drink offering thereon. And Aaron shall make atonement upon the horns of it once in the year: with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year shall he make atonement for it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.

No. 10 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of 2 beaten work shalt thou make them: and thou shalt use them for the calling of the congrega- 3 tion, and for the journeying of the camps. And when they shall blow with them, all the 4 congregation shall gather themselves unto thee at the door of the tent of meeting. And if they blow but with one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather 5 themselves unto thee. And when ye blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall 6 take their journey. And when ye blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the 7 south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. But when 8 the assembly is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for a 9 statute for ever throughout your generations. And when ye go to war in your land against the adversary that oppresseth you, then ye shall sound an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. 10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.

Ex. 37 1-28. Omitted because identical in its corresponding statements.

Having established his covenant God will take up his abode among them and enter into all the intercourse of sacred fellowship with them. For this purpose an abode is prepared for him and is now provided with the needful furniture. The simple idea of a home, where God dwells with his redeemed and reconciled people, is the generic conception of the tabernacle. Yet the whole service of the sanctuary is typical of the higher blessings of salvation, of the true high-priest, of the really atoning sacrifice, of the heaven of redemption, and of that spiritual fellowship which the saints will have with the Lord in glory. Hence we can understand the place and space given to the tabernacle in this book of the exodus. The tabernacle expands and completes what was represented in brief by the lamb of the pass-over. It sets forth the blessings which flow from reconciliation. It is the glorious end to which all the preliminary steps of the deliverance and the covenant lead. M.—Stephen and the writer to the Hebrews are our best expositors, that the Tabernacle, the Altar, the Table, the Ark of the Covenant, were of no importance except in so far as they referred to the heavenly pattern, of which they were the shadows and images. Their entire utility, and even their legitimate use, depended on the truth which they represented. Calv.

The ark and mercy-seat, the table, the candlestick, and the altar of incense comprise the furniture of the tabernacle. The silver trumpets were kept in its outer compartment. B.

Though the tabernacle, as a whole, was God’s house or dwelling-place among his people, yet the innermost of its two apartments alone was appropriated for his peculiar place of abode—the seat and throne of his kingdom. It was in that hallowed recess, where the awful symbol of his presence occasionally appeared, and from which, as from his very presence-chamber, the high-priest was to receive the communications of his grace and will, to be through him made known to others. The things therefore which belong to it most immediately and directly respect God: we have here in symbol the more special revelation of what God himself is in relation to his people. The apartment itself was a perfect cube of ten cubits, thus bearing on all its dimensions the symbol of completeness—an image of the all-perfect character of the Being who condescended to occupy it as the region of his manifested presence and glory. The ark of the covenant with the tables of the testimony, and the mercy-seat with the two cherubim at each end, formed originally and properly its whole furniture. P. F.

25 : 10. An ark. Aron signifies chest or coffer. It is used particularly to designate that chest or coffer in which the testimony, or two tables of the covenant, were laid up; on the top of which was the propitiatory or mercy-seat, and at the end of which were the cherubim of gold, between whom the visible sign of the presence of the supreme God appeared as seated upon his throne. The ark was the most excellent of all the holy things which belonged to the Mosaic economy; and for its sake the tabernacle and the temple were built. It was considered as conferring a sanctity wherever it was fixed (2 Ch. 8 : 11 ; 2 Sam. 6 : 12). A. C.

The special mark of his presence within the tent was to be the ark or chest containing the Ten Commandments on two tables of stone, symbolizing the Divine Law of holiness, covered by the mercy-seat, the type of reconciliation. The significance of the whole sanctuary may be said to be concentrated in the tables of the Law, and the mercy-seat. The other holy things, with every external arrangement, were subordinated to them. And hence the place in which they were deposited was the holy of holies, closely shut off by the veil, entered by no one but the high-priest, and by him only once in the year. Clark.—The two tables, on which are traced in plain and literal characters the great principles of eternal rectitude, are placed here not as an object of worship, but as the basis of all moral dealing in the intercourse between God and man. There is a significance in the very order in which the portions of this symbolical structure are specified. The moral law is the very centre of the whole system of moral things; and accordingly this is first defined and located. The ark in which it is to be deposited is the first article provided for the house of God. M.

10-16. It appears from this description that the ark was simply a box of acacia wood about four feet in length by two in breadth and depth, that both within and without it was overlaid with gold, and that it was surrounded with a crown or wreath of gold toward the top. It stood on four feet, and was borne, when moved from place to place, by staves pushed through rings fastened in such a way to the feet that, as is generally inferred from 1 Kings 8 : 8, the staves stretched along the shorter sides. From these rings the staves were never to be withdrawn, that it might be more easily kept from being touched by the hand of man. Milligan.

11. Make upon it a crown of gold round about.** Heb. a golden border round about. This “crown” was an ornamental cornice, which went round the top, as a kind of enclosure serving to make firm the propitiatory in its place, and called a “crown” from its encompassing the whole outer extremities of the upper side of the ark. The term is only employed in reference to the rivas or crowns of gold made round the ark of the covenant, the table of shew-bread, and the altar of incense. Bush.

The Mercy-seat.

17. A mercy-seat.** The plate of solid gold laid upon the top of the ark and known as the kapporeth, or mercy-seat, was not, strictly speaking, a part of the ark. It was made of pure gold, not, like the ark, of acacia wood overlaid with gold, a circumstance at once revealing to us its great importance. Milligan.—This cover of reconciliation (kapporeth) over the ark of the covenant was the most important and sacred of all that was in the sanctuary—the centre of the whole kingdom of God in the Old Testament. The more prominent we observe this to be, the more significant appears the circumstance that in his chief revelation of himself in the Old Testament God appears as requiring atonement and as reconciled. Gerl.

The mercy-seat is never mentioned as the lid of the ark, or as simply designed to cover and conceal what lay within. It appears as occupying a place of its own, though connected with the ark yet by no means a mere appendage to it; and hence, both in the descriptions and the enumerations given of the holy things in the tabernacle, it is mentioned separately. It sometimes stands more prominently out than the ark itself, as peculiarly that for which the most holy place was set apart; as in Lev. 16:2, where this place is described by its being “within the veil before the mercy-seat,” and in 1 Ch. 28:11, where it is simply designated “the house of the kapporeth,” or mercy-seat. It was for a covering, but only in the sense of atonement. The word is never used for a covering in the ordinary sense; the covering expressed by it is covering only in the spiritual sense—atonement. The covering required must be a propitiatory, a place on which the holy eye of God may ever see the blood of reconciliation; and the most holy place, as designated from it and deriving thence its most essential characteristic, might fitly be called

“the house of the propitiatory,” or the “atonement-house.” P. F.

The mercy-seat is thus the place where sin is covered or forgiven, the place on which atonement is made for it, so that it shall be no longer remembered against the sinner. In conformity with this, on the great Day of Atonement, that day which concentrated in itself all the atonements of the year in their highest potency, the mercy-seat, though the very throne of God, was sprinkled with the blood of the sin-offering then preseated on behalf of the whole nation, both priests and people. It proclaimed that notwithstanding the Law’s accusing and condemning power there was mercy with God that he might be feared, and plenteous redemption; that, holy himself and requiring holiness of those who would be in covenant with him, he yet was both able and willing to redeem Israel from all his iniquities. The ark and the mercy-seat, in short, were an utterance of the Psalmist’s words, “Justice and judgment are the habitation (rather, the foundation) of thy throne; mercy and truth go before thy face.” Milligan.

The two tables of the Law were placed inside the ark, over them was the mercy-seat and the glory between the cherubim, to show that in the Gospel the Law is not passed away, but remains with all its exactions; and before a single soul can get to heaven it must have a perfect righteousness. It is just as true to-day as it was on Sinai—as it was in Paradise—that without a perfect righteousness, there is no admission into heaven. This law remains in all its perfection now just as it subsisted in the ark then; only its thunders are hushed, its lightnings are laid; it is no more an enemy, it is in Christ with us; and therefore there is no condemnation from the Law to them that are in Christ Jesus; for what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God hath done by sending Jesus in the likeness of sinful flesh, to be the propitiatory or the mercy-seat for us. J. C.—In him God reconciles the world unto himself, not imputing unto men their trespasses His blood sprinkled there—for just as he is at once high-priest and victim, he is at once mercy-seat and victim—procures the free and full pardon of all sin; in his offering made once for all we are complete; the throne of judgment becomes a throne of grace; and no longer kept at a distance from him who occupies it, we are admitted to a Divine communion with him, and he speaks with us “as a man speaketh unto his friend.” All this takes place while the Law is neither concealed nor modified. It is, on the contrary, magnified and made honorable. But for the imperative nature of its demands no mercy-seat would have been necessary; and that mercy-seat, not covering the Law but resting upon it, tells us with a voice not less powerful than its own that no jot or tittle of it shall pass away until all be fulfilled. Milligan.

The central position given to the Law clearly shows that while one cannot draw near to God except through mercy which forgives the transgression of the Law, yet he may and must come with an earnest desire and purpose to keep the Law. He may come without any righteousness of his own, but not without “hunger and thirst” after righteousness, not without that spirit which will lead him to put the Law of God in the most sacred place, and surround it with proofs of highest appreciation. Observe carefully that the tables of stone are not at the threshold; they are in the inmost shrine. If they had been at the threshold, the thought would have been: “keep the Law, and you will have the privilege of meeting with God.” But being in the inmost shrine, the thought is not, “keep the Law and God will let you in;” but, “come in and God will give you grace to keep the Law.” Grace first, goodness afterward, always. And yet, though last in one sense, it is first in another, for it is the goal toward which every step of the worshipper is directed; and the first thing a runner must do is to fix his eye upon the goal. Thus the Law is the first for the eyes and the last for the feet; the first as an object of desire, the last as an object of attainment. Even a sinner may make a gold casket and a golden crown for the Law (how many are there, for instance, that can crown with their admiration the Sermon on the Mount, who are very far from keeping it); but if he would learn to keep it perfectly, he must betake himself to the mercy-seat in the appointed way, and avail himself of the rich provision which God has for him in his house. Thus we reach the second leading thought of the tabernacle revelation: the rich provision God has for those who come before him, hungering and thirsting after righteousness. J. M. G.

22. Notice another feature in the mercy-seat. God always gave answers from the mercy-seat. Thus we read (Nu. 7:89) that “Moses heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy-seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubim: and the Lord spake unto Moses.” Here then we have the mercy-seat, the place from which God speaks to us, where God hears us speak to him; it is the place where God still speaks to us. J. C.—Respecting this seat or throne, God says to

Moses (verse 22), “There will I meet with thee, and commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, and from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony.” The place of the mercy-seat being intended for oral communication, it receives a name answerable to this in 1 Kings 6 and 8 and in 2 Ch. 5, where it is called debir, word-place, speaking-place, oracle, which term in 1 Kings 8:6 is plainly put in apposition with the holy of holies, the name given to the inner apartment of the sanctuary. Bush.

The Two Cherubim (verses 18-20).

At the two ends of the mercy-seat, and rising as it were out of it—a part of the same piece and constantly adhering to it—there were two cherubim, made of beaten gold, with outstretched wings overarching the mercy-seat, and looking inward toward each other and toward the mercy-seat, with an appearance of holy wonder and veneration. That forms of created beings were made to surround this throne of Deity, and impart to it an appearance of becoming grandeur and majesty—this was simply an outward embodiment of the fact that God ever makes himself known as the God of the living, of whom not only have countless myriads been formed by his hand, but attendant hosts also continually minister around him and celebrate his praise. And that the particular forms here used were compound figures, representations of ideal beings, and beings whose component parts consisted of the highest kinds of life on earth in its different spheres—man first and chiefly, and with him the ox, the lion, and the eagle—this, again, denoted that the forms and manifestations of creature-life, among whom and for whom God there revealed himself, were not of heaven, but of earth. Primarily and chiefly they had to do with man, who, when the work of redemption is complete and he is fitted to dwell in the most excellent glory of the Divine presence, shall be invested with the properties of what is to him now but an ideal perfection, be made possessor of a yet higher nature, and stand in yet nearer fellowship with God than he did in the paradise that was lost. But these new hopes of fallen humanity all centre in the work of reconciliation and love shadowed forth upon the mercy-seat: thither therefore must the faces of these ideal heirs of salvation ever look, and with outstretched wing hang around the glorious scene, as in wondering expectation of the things now proceeding in connection with it and hereafter to be revealed. So that God sitting between the cherubim is

God revealing himself as on a throne of grace, in mingled majesty and love, for the recovery of his fallen family on earth, and their final elevation to the highest region of life and blessedness and glory. This explanation applies substantially to the curtains, which appear to have formed the whole interior of the tabernacle, and which were throughout inwrought with figures of cherubim. Not the throne merely, but the entire dwelling of God, was in the midst of these representatives of redeemed and glorified humanity. P. F. (See Vol. I., p. 201.)

In the ornamented ark, with its golden mercy-seat and overshadowing golden cherubim, what a fund of mysterious allusion! In the holy of holies the Almighty had his audience-chamber, and this plate of gold was his throne. Over it hovered the shechinah, the visible symbol of the Divine presence in the times of its revelation; when blood was sprinkled before it, it was sprinkled, as it were, before the very eyes of God. That throne, too, was established in righteousness: for the Decalogue was its foundation. Cave.

The articles now described formed properly the whole furniture of the most holy place, being all that was required to give a suitable representation of the character and purposes of God in relation to his people. But three other things were afterward added, and placed, as it is said, before the Lord, or before the testimony—the pot of manna, the rod of Aaron, and the entire book of the Law. These were all lodged there in the immediate presence of God, as in a safe and appropriate depository—lodged partly as memorials of the past, and partly as signs and witnesses for the future. P. F.

After the Israelites had passed the Jordan, the ark generally occupied its proper place in the tabernacle, and was afterward placed in the temple built by Solomon. It seems that the ark, with the other precious things of the temple, became the spoil of Nebuchadnezzar, and was taken to Babylon; and it does not appear that it was restored at the end of the captivity, or that any new one was made. What became of the ark after the captivity cannot be ascertained. The Talmud and some of the Jewish writers confess that the want of the ark was one of the points in which the second temple was inferior to that of Solomon: to which we may add that neither Ezra, Nehemiah, the Maccabees, nor Josephus mention the ark as extant in the second temple, and the last authority expressly says that there was nothing in the sanctuary when the temple was taken by Titus. Bush.

Verses 23-30.

The Table of Shew-bread was an oblong table, 2 cubits long, 1 broad, and 1½ high. It was of shittim wood, covered with gold, and finished, like the altar, with a golden rim, and four rings and staves. It was furnished with dishes, spoons, covers, and bowls of pure gold. It stood on the north, or right side of the altar of incense. Upon this table were placed twelve cakes of fine flour, in two rows of six each, with frankincense upon each row. P. S.—Its dishes were bread-plates, of which two were placed on the table, containing six cakes each. Its bowls were smaller vessels for holding pure frankincense, which were placed upon the two piles of cakes. Its flagons were large cans or decanters, in which a supply of wine was kept for pouring into the cups or smaller vessels used for making libations or drink-offerings. The dishes were constantly replenished with bread, and the flagons and cups filled with wine, which was the drink-offering accompanying every sacrifice. Bread and wine are the bloodless feast after the sacrifice, and are emblematical of all the blessings of those who are pardoned and accepted as righteous through the atoning sacrifice on the altar of propitiation. M.

The striking name of the shew-bread or face-bread was derived from the command, “Thou shalt lay upon the table face-bread before my face continually.” Cave.—On the return of every Sabbath morning the old materials were to be withdrawn and a new supply furnished. For the peculiar designation “bread of presence” a special reason can easily be discovered—viz., to prevent the Israelites from supposing that this, like other bread, was for being eaten; to instruct them that it was for being looked on with complacency by the holy and ever-watchful eye of God. They would thus rise more easily from the natural to the spiritual use, from the symbol to the reality. The bread was, indeed, eaten by the officiating priests each Sabbath; but only after having been removed from the table, and simply because being most holy it might not be turned to a profane use, but must be consumed by God’s representatives in his own house. As connected with the table its design was served by being exhibited and seen, for the well-pleased satisfaction and favorable regard of a righteous God; so that it is not possible to conceive a fitter designation than the one given to it, of shew-bread or bread of presence. In Lev. 24:8 we learn that this bread was laid upon the table as “an offering from the children of Israel by a perpetual covenant:” a portion, therefore, of their substance, and consecrated to the honor of God. It was, consequently, a kind of sacrifice; and as the altar of God was in a sense his table, so this table of his in turn possessed somewhat of the nature of an altar: the provision laid on it had the character of an offering. Hence, also, there was placed upon the top of each of the two rows a vessel with pure frankincense, which was manifestly designed to connect the offering on the table with the offering on the altar of incense. Now, the offering of incense was simply an embodied prayer; and the placing of a vessel of incense upon this bread was like sending it up to God on the wings of devotion. It implied that the spiritual offering symbolized by the bread was to be ever presented with supplication, and only when so presented could it meet with the favor and blessing of heaven. Thus hallowed and thus presented, the bread became a most sacred thing, and could only be eaten by the priests in the sanctuary: “for it is most holy (a holy of holies) unto him, of the offerings of the Lord, made by fire by a perpetual statute.” P. F.

These types represented under the Old Covenant the same truths which are set forth by the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper under the New. In both cases we have a table, not an altar; for in the tabernacle the altar was distinct, and in the Christian Church it is superseded, as the one sacrifice of Christ has been offered once for all. In the tabernacle, moreover, as in the Church, it was the Lord’s Table. Both tables are supplied with the same simple elements of necessary food, bread and wine, with the same reference to the body and blood of Christ, though this was still a mystery under the Old Covenant. Nor does the parallel fail in the point that the shew-bread might only be eaten by the priests; for now the people of Christ are all priests to him. P. S.—God is a good Householder, that always keeps a plentiful table. Is the world his tabernacle? His Providence in it spreads a table for all the creatures; he provides food for all flesh. Is the Church his tabernacle? His grace in it spreads a table for all believers, furnished with the bread of life. But observe how much the dispensation of the Gospel exceeds that of the Law. Though here was a table furnished it was only with shew-bread, bread to be looked upon while it was on this table, and afterward only to be fed upon by the priests; but to the table which Christ has spread in the New Covenant all real Christians are invited guests; and to them it is said, Eat, O friends; drink, O beloved! H.

Verses 31-39.

The Golden Candlestick was placed on the left or south side of the altar of incense. It was made of pure beaten gold. It had an upright stem, from which branched out three pairs of arms, each pair forming a semicircle, and their tops coming to the same level as the top of the stem, so as to form with it supports for seven lamps. It was relieved by ornamental knobs and flowers along the branches and at their junction with the stem. There were oil-vessels and lamp-tongs, or snuffers, for trimming the seven lamps, and dishes for carrying away the snuff; an office performed by the priest when he went into the sanctuary every morning to offer incense. All these utensils were of pure gold. The lamps were lighted at the time of the evening oblation. They are directed to be kept burning perpetually; but from their being lighted in the evening, this seems to mean only during the night. In the house of Jehovah, the candlestick symbolized the spiritual light of life, which he gives to his servants with the words by which they live. In the vision of the heavenly temple in the apocalypse, the seven lights of the sanctuary before the holiest of all are identified with “the seven spirits that are before the throne of God,” the one perfect Spirit. P. S.—That is, the Holy Spirit in all the fulness alike of what he is and of what he bestows. So when John turned to see the voice that spake with him, “being turned he saw seven golden candlesticks” and an explanation was given in the words, “the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” Thus we have in the apocalypse a twofold application of the emblem before us—to the Holy Spirit and to the Church. . . . It is interesting to observe that the candlestick was to be fashioned after the form of a tree, and that tree the almond. The almond tree is the first tree to awaken from the sleep of winter and to send forth its leaves and buds in spring, a circumstance indeed from which it received its name in Hebrew; and none, therefore, could be better fitted to express the vigor and activity of that life which “has-tens” to shed abroad the light represented by the light of the golden candlestick. Milligan.

The candlestick was covered with golden flowers and golden fruit. This intimated that God’s people were to be a flower-decked, fruit-bearing people. They are distinguished by the beautifying graces of the Holy Spirit, fitly represented by flowers, and by the substantial fruits of holy living. R. Newton.

Light, in its most genuine usage as a symbol, stands for knowledge, or rather that kind of sacred intelligence or moral illumination which has for its object the things of God, and for its author the Holy Spirit, the great fountain of all spiritual light. Bush.—The pure oil olive that fed the lamps is indisputably a type of the Holy Ghost. The burning of the lamp represents that Divine, infinite, pure energy and ardor wherein the Holy Spirit consists. The light of the lamps filling the tabernacle with light represents the blessed communication and influence of the Spirit of God, replenishing the Church with the light of Divine knowledge in opposition to the darkness of ignorance and delusion, with the light of holiness in opposition to the darkness of sin, and with the light of comfort and joy in opposition to the darkness of sorrow and misery. Edwards.

The Prophet Zechariah represents the exercise of the Spirit’s gracious working and victorious energy in behalf of the Church, under the image of two olive-trees pouring oil into the golden candlestick—the Church being manifestly imaged in the candlestick, and the Spirit’s assisting grace in the perpetual current of oil with which it was supplied. Clearly, therefore, what we see in the candlestick of the tabernacle is the Church’s relation to God as the possessor and reflector of the holy light that is in him, which she is privileged to receive, and bound again to give forth to others, so that where she is there must be no darkness, even though all around should be enveloped in the shades of night. It is her high distinction to dwell in a region of light, and to act under God as the bountiful dispenser of its grace and truth. P. F.

No. 8:1-4. These verses enjoin the actual lighting of the lamps on the golden candlestick. This was to be done to set forth symbolically the peculiar presence which God actually established among his people. Espin.—In the lamps on this candlestick Aaron was ordered to burn pure olive oil; but only, it would seem, during the night. For in Ex. 27:21 he is commanded to cause the lamps to burn “from evening to morning before the Lord;” and in ch. 30:7, 8, his “dressing the lamps in the morning” is set in opposition to his “lighting them in the evening.” The same order is again repeated in Lev 24:3. And in accordance with this we read in 1 Sam. 3:3 of the Lord’s appearing to Samuel “before the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord”—which can only mean early in the morning, before sunrise. P. F.