Numbers 9

Ex. 39 32 Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting: and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

33. And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the Tent, and all its furniture, its clasps, its 34 boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets; and the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, 35 and the covering of sealskins, and the veil of the screen; the ark of the testimony, and the 36 staves thereof, and the mercy-seat; the table, all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread; the 37 pure candlestick, the lamps thereof, even the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels 38 thereof, and the oil for the light; and the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet 39 incense, and the screen for the door of the Tent; the brasen altar, and its grating of brass

40 its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base; the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court, the cords thereof, and the pins thereof, and all the instruments of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; the finely wrought garments for ministering in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. And Moses saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.

40 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou rear up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and thou shalt screen the ark with the veil. And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof. And thou shalt set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the door to the tabernacle. And thou shalt set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shalt put water therein. And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court. And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the furniture thereof: and it shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint the altar of burnt offering, and all its vessels, and sanctify the altar: and the altar shall be most holy. And thou shalt anoint the laver and its base, and sanctify it.

16. Thus did Moses; according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he.

17. And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and laid its sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up its pillars. And he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy-seat above upon the ark: and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he put the table in the tent of meeting, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the veil. And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he put the candlestick in the tent of meeting, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward. And he lighted the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil: and he burnt thereon incense of sweet spices; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he put the screen of the door to the tabernacle. And he set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meal offering; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water therein, to wash withal. And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat; when they went into the tent of meeting, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed: as the LORD commanded Moses. And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

34. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

No. 9 15 And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the tent of the testimony: and at even it was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until morning. So it was alway: the cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.

No. 7 1 And it came to pass on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it, and all the furniture thereof, and the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them and sanctified them; that the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses, offered; these were the princes of the tribes, these are they that were over them that were numbered: and they brought their oblation before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they presented them before the tabernacle. And the LORD spake unto Moses,

5 saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tent of meeting; and thou 6 shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took the 7 wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave 8 unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service: and four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son 9 of Aaron the priest. But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the 10 sanctuary belonged unto them; they bare it upon their shoulders. And the princes offered for the dedication of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their 11 oblation before the altar. And the LORD said unto Moses, They shall offer their oblation, each prince on his day, for the dedication of the altar. 12 And he that offered his oblation the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the 13 tribe of Judah: and his oblation was one silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both 14 of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal offering; one golden spoon of ten shekels, 15 full of incense; one young bullock, one ram, one he-lamb of the first year, for a burnt offer- 16 ing; one male of the goats for a sin offering: and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two 17 oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year: this was the oblation of Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 18 On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, did offer. [As the offerings of the other eleven princes are identical with the first, the text is omitted.] 84 This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of 85 Israel: twelve silver chargers, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden spoons: each silver charger weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, and each bowl seventy: all the silver of the vessels 86 two thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; the twelve golden spoons, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary: all the 87 gold of the spoons an hundred and twenty shekels: all the oxen for the burnt offering twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the he-lambs of the first year twelve, and their meal offering: and 88 the males of the goats for a sin offering twelve: and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he-goats sixty, the he-lambs of the first 89 year sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed. And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with him, then he heard the Voice speaking unto him from above the mercy-seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spake unto him.

One-third part of the entire Book of Exodus is taken up with the tabernacle; and it occupies more than two thirds of the portion devoted to Mount Sinai. All of Levities is occupied with it, and a considerable portion of Numbers. Minute instructions and full details are given, the most important of which are repeated again and again. All this goes to show the impor- tance attached to the tabernacle and its signifi- cance. J. M. G.

The Entire Work Completed. Brought to Moses, and Approved (Ex. 39:32-43).

39:33. They brought the taber- nacle to Moses. They submitted it to his inspection. He knew what he had ordered them to make; and now the particulars were called over and all produced, that Moses might see both that they had made all, omitting noth- ing, that they had made all according to the instructions given them, and that, if they had made a mistake in anything, it might be forth- with rectified. H.

43. As the Lord had commanded.

This is the tenth time that Moses, in this one chapter, says all this was done, “as the Lord had commanded,” to show how scrupulously exact they were in their obedience. Patrick. —And Moses blessed them. This blessing seems to have been given not only to the workmen but to all the people. The people contributed liberally, and the workmen wrought faithfully, and the blessing of God was pro- nounced upon ALL. A. C.

Command to Set up the Tabernacle and its Court and their Furniture, and to Anoint them (Ex. 40:1-11).

In the erection of the tabernacle the order was from the holy of holies within outward to the court. In the directions for worship the order is reversed. Each order is appropriate in its place. In the setting up of the tabernacle, the prominent thought was the coming down of God to dwell with his people. Hence the throne, the mercy-seat, comes first, and after, in succession, the veils and barriers which guarded the shrine from unhallowed intrusion. In the directions for worship the prominent thought is the access of the people to God, and accordingly the beginning is made from the court, through which alone there can be access to the inner shrine. J. M. G.

9,10. Thou shalt anoint and hallow it, and it shall be holy.** Enlightened worshippers understood that the enjoyment of God’s presence and blessing was by no means confined to that outward habitation, and that the relations there unfolded were proper to the whole Church of God. Hence the Psalmist represents it as the common privilege of an Israelite to dwell in the house of God, and abide in his tabernacle, though in the literal sense not even the priests could be said to do so. Of himself he speaks as desiring to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, by which he could only mean, that he earnestly wished continually to realize and abide in that connection and fellowship with God which he saw so clearly symbolized in the form and services of the tabernacle. And this symbolical import of the tabernacle was plainly indicated by the Lord himself to Moses, in the words, “And I will set my tabernacle among you, and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.” The least in spiritual discernment could scarcely fail to learn here that what was outwardly exhibited in the tabernacle of God’s nearness and familiarity with his people was designed to be the image of what should always and everywhere be realizing itself among the members of his covenant; that the tabernacle was the visible symbol of the Church or kingdom of God. Before it could be used as the Lord’s tabernacle, it had to be consecrated by the application to all its parts and furniture of the holy anointing oil, for the preparation of which special instructions were given. “And thou shalt sanctify them,” was the word to Moses regarding this anointing oil, “that they may be most holy; whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.” The tabernacle and its furniture being a symbol of the true Church as the peculiarly consecrated, God-inhabited region, the anointing with the sacred oil was a sensible representation of the effusion of the Holy Spirit, whose part it is to sanctify the unclean, and draw them within the sphere of God’s habitation, as well as to fit them for occupying it. And as the anointing not only rendered the tabernacle and its vessels holy, but made them also the imparters of holiness to others—“whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy”—the important lesson was thereby taught, that they who really come into a living connection with the Church or kingdom of God are brought into communion with his spiritual nature, and made partakers of his holiness. It is only within the sphere of that kingdom that true purification and righteousness proceed.

And as everything in the original tabernacle required to be sprinkled with the holy anointing oil to fit it for its sacred destination and use, so in the higher and ultimate realities of the Divine kingdom all is pervaded and consecrated by the living Spirit of God. The ordinances of the Church are made fruitful of good because they are the ordained channels of the Spirit’s communications. He who has become really united to the one spiritual body has done so by being baptized into it by the one Spirit. He who, through the word of the Gospel, has been convinced of sin, righteousness, and judgment, is a monument in what he has experienced of the powerful and blessed agency of that Spirit. And of every grace he exhibits, and every work of acceptable service he performs, it may be said that the will and the power to perform it have been wrought by the self-same Spirit. P. F.

NOTE.—The actual anointing of the Tabernacle and its Furniture, and of the Altar of Burnt-offering and the Laver, took place in connection with the Consecration of Aaron and his sons to the Priesthood. The record is found in the next following section (Lev. 8 : 10, 11). B.

The Tabernacle Reared and the Holy Things Put in Place.