Chapter 26

1 The ten curtains of the tabernacle. 7 The eleven curtains of goats’ hair. 14 The covering of rams’ skins. 15 The boards of the tabernacle, with their sockets and bars. 31 The vail for the ark. 36 The hanging for the door.

1. The tabernacle. From mishkan, a “dwelling,” a word derived from shakan, “to dwell.” It is related Shekinah, the glorious presence of God (see on Ex. 25:8 and Gen. 3:24) in the holy of holies (Ex. 25:22). The word “tabernacle” might be more accurately rendered today as “tent” or “dwelling.”

The sacred furniture of the “tabernacle” has been described, with the exception of the altar of incense. That is considered in ch. 30:1–10. Chapter 26 is concerned with directions for making the sacred “tabernacle” itself. This had two main parts:

a.   A quadrangular enclosure 30 cubits long by 10 cubits wide and 10 high (43 ft. 9 in. by 14 ft. 7 in. (13.34 by 4.45 by 4.45 m.; see on ch. 25:10) open at one end. The three sides were made of acacia boards covered with gold.

b.   A tent of goats’ hair, probably flat on top, was stretched over the tabernacle. The word “tent” is wrongly translated as “covering” in v. 7, but appears correctly elsewhere in the chapter (vs. 11-14, 36). An outer covering of “rams’ skins dyed red,” or tanned rams’ skins, and “badgers’ skins” (see on ch. 25:5), over the tent of goats’ hair.

There were secondary parts to the structure, such as:

a.   The “sockets,” or bases, which were to hold and support the upright boards that enclosed the tabernacle.

b.   The “bars” to be used to hold these boards together.

c.   The “vail,” or curtain, stretched on pillars from one side of the tabernacle to the other, thus separating it into two apartments. The front apartment, the “holy place,” or “first tabernacle,” was twice as long as the “most holy place” (Ex. 26:15-25, 33; see 1 Kings 6:16–20; Heb. 9:2–7), or 20 cubits long and 10 cubits wide (29 ft.2 in. by 14 ft. 7 in., or 8.89 by 4.46 m.). The “most holy place,” or “the holiest of all” (Heb. 9:3), was 10 cubits in length and 10 in width (14 ft. 7 in., or 4.45 m. square).

d.         A “hanging,” or curtain, covered the front, open end of the tabernacle where there were no boards.

Ten curtains. Fastened together as “breadths,” these formed the innermost of the four “coverings” (Ex. 26:7, 14), and thus the ceiling of the two apartments. These curtains were two cubits shorter than the outer curtains (v. 7), making the inner covering one cubit shorter on each covering than the outer covering.

Cherubims. Since the materials Aholiab used in his embroidery were identical with those here named, it is reasonable to think that these “cherubim” were embroidered in the “curtains” (chs. 35:35; 38:23). These cherubim represented the host of angels that attend the Lord and do His bidding (Ps. 103:20, 21; see on Gen. 3:24).

2. The length. Each curtain was 40 ft. 10 in. long and 5 ft. 10 in. (12.45 by 1.78 m.) wide. From the outside there was nothing particularly attractive about the tabernacle. But within—it was a thing of great beauty, with its gold, the blue, purple, and scarlet “curtains,” and the cherubim embroidered in them.

7. Curtains of goats’ hair. The Arabs still use goats’ hair in weaving their tents. It was goats’ hair that gave the sanctuary its strength and protected it in wet and stormy weather. These “curtains” were two cubits longer than the inner, linen curtains, or 43 ft. 10 in. (13.34 m.) long. Laid over the flat of the tabernacle, they would reach to the top of the silver “sockets” or bases on either side (see v. 19). There would be ample covering for the back wall of the tabernacle, and enough to protect the upper portion of the front of the tabernacle as well.

14. Rams’s skins. This “covering” was to go over the “curtains of goats’ hair” to ensure further protection from the weather. No size is mentioned, but it must have been sufficient for covering the goats’ hair curtains (v. 7).

Badgers’ skins. For the Hebrew word see on ch. 25:5.

15. Make boards. These were 14 ft. 7 in. long 2 ft. 2 in. wide (4.45 by 0.66 m.; v. 16). They were held erect by placing the two “tenons” (v. 17) of each board into two silver “sockets,” or bases. The boards were overlaid with gold (v. 29).

19. Forty sockets. These weighed talent, or 75 lb. 6 oz. (34.2 kg.), apiece (ch. 38:27). Each would form a cube a little less than 5.8 in. (14.7 cm.) on a side. The “sockets” were laid side by side upon the ground, forming a continuous foundation for the board walls. Forty more “sockets” were required to the north wall (ch. 26:21), 16 for the west wall, and 4 for the pillars between the 2 apartments, or 100 “sockets” in all (ch. 38:27). That the tabernacle was raised from the ground by this silver foundation typifies, according to some commentators, that the church is to be separate from the world. Here it has no permanent resting place, but looks forward in faith to the “city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10). Here we have “no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Heb. 13:14).

26. Bars. To hold the boards in place and for bracing the walls, “five bars” were to be made for each side and for the west end, four of which were to be passed through “rings” fastened to the boards. The fifth or middle “bar” in each wall was to pass through the center of the boards (see v. 28). It is probable that the four visible bars on each wall were on the outside of the tabernacle.

31. A vail. This was to be of the same material and workmanship as the “ten curtains” that formed the inner covering for the ceiling and walls of the tabernacle (v. 1), and like it, to have figures of cherubim embroidered into it in silver and gold thread (PP 345).

32. Four pillars. The “vail” (v. 31) was to hang “upon four pillars.” The “hanging for the door of the tent” was suspended from “five pillars” (vs. 36, 37). The inner veil did not extend all the way to the ceiling, but permitted the glory of God manifested above the mercy seat to be partially visible from the holy place (PP 353). The four pillars had “hooks” of gold, and rested upon “four sockets [bases] of silver,” in the same way as the boards in the walls (vs. 15, 19).

33. Taches. The “taches” were the buckles, or clasps, the held the veil up. The high priest alone went within the veil that separated the holy place from the most holy place, and that but once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16; Heb. 9:7). Before the veil, or in the holy place, the various parts of the “daily” service were conducted.

36. An hanging. This “hanging,” or screen, covered the eastern, or front, end of the tabernacle. Some Bible scholars believe it was possible to raise or lower this screen, as might be desired.

37. Five pillars. There is some difference of opinion as to whether the tabernacle had a flat or a gable roof. The weight of evidence leads to the conclusion that it was probably flat:

1.   The outside curtains (v. 8) were 30 cubits long, the exact length required to provide a flat roof and to extend down either side as a covering for the gold-plated board walls. A gable roof would increase the length of covering required for the roof and correspondingly decrease the remaining length available for covering the sides. More or less of the lower portion of the gold-plated boards would thus be left exposed. But gold was otherwise reserved for the interior of the structure. The fact that the inner curtain was two cubits shorter than the outer three which covered it implies that the outer curtains were designed to protect it, and that they probably reached nearly to the ground.

2.   No ridgepole is mentioned, nor is the use of one implied. Furthermore, there is nothing to indicate that the five “pillars” varied in length.

3.   No mention is made of any means of covering triangular gable ends, and it would be highly improbable that the ends were left open. Incidentally, the curtain which separated the holy place from the most holy did not extend to the top of the building (PP 353), so that light from the Shekinah might be partially visible above it from the first apartment of the sanctuary.

4.   The tabernacle was a temporary, portable structure designed for use during the wilderness wanderings, until the erection of a more permanent building in the Promised Land. The insignificant amount of rainfall in the arid, wilderness would not make a flat roof an inconvenience.

Thus, while there is no positive evidence, it appears probable that the roof was flat. Sketches of the tabernacle showing a gable roof are based on the artist’s mental picture of it.

Ellen G. White comments

1-37PP 347, 348

1     GC 412; PP 347; SR 154

7, 14    GC 412; PP 347

31, 33  PP 347; SR 154

33   GC 412

34, 35  PP 348

36   PP 347