The big picture
The renewed agreement now leads to work. Moses, Israel's leader, gathers the people to explain God's commands for a tabernacle, a portable tent for worship. Israel, the community God has claimed, must supply both materials and skilled labour. Aaron, the priest who serves before God, will need special clothes. The building work begins with a command to rest, followed by an invitation to give willingly.
In this chapter
- Rest Comes Before the Building Work Exodus 35:1-3
Moses brings the whole community together and passes on God's command.
- Moses Calls for Gifts and Craftspeople Exodus 35:4-19
Moses asks willing people to bring the materials the Lord has named.
- Willing People Bring Their Possessions Exodus 35:20-24
The people leave Moses and return with gifts from what they own.
- Women Spin and Leaders Supply Stones Exodus 35:25-29
Skilled women spin the coloured threads and fine linen needed for the work.
- God Equips Builders Who Can Teach Exodus 35:30-35
Moses names Bezaleel, a craftsman from Judah, one of Israel's tribes, as God's chosen worker.
Central truth
Israel prepares God's meeting tent through willing gifts and skilled work, while keeping the commanded day of rest.
Scripture beside the summary
Exodus · King James Version · 35Exodus 35:1-3
Rest Comes Before the Building Work
Moses brings the whole community together and passes on God's command. Six days are available for work, but the seventh belongs to the Lord as a day of complete rest. Working on that day carries the death penalty. The people must not even kindle a fire in their homes. This command comes before the request for materials and builders. The importance of the worship tent does not cancel the limits God places on the people's working time.
In everyday life
A restoration foreman puts down his tools as the required rest break begins, though rain threatens an unfinished roof. His crew stops with him. The urgency of the project does not give him authority to erase the rule. The death penalty in Israel makes this far more than a workplace break.
Notice
Exodus 35:2 The command allows six working days before setting the seventh apart. Work on a sacred project still falls within that weekly limit.
Exodus 35:1-3
King James Version1And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them.
2Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.
3Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.
Exodus 35:4-19
Moses Calls for Gifts and Craftspeople
Moses asks willing people to bring the materials the Lord has named. These include metals, coloured thread, cloth, skins, wood, oil, spices, and precious stones. Skilled workers are also called to make the tent and everything used with it. The list runs from the sacred chest and its cover to lamps, washing equipment, courtyard curtains, and tent pegs. Special clothes are needed for the priests. Both costly objects and small practical fittings belong in the same work.
In everyday life
A theatre designer pins a supply list beside the unfinished stage. One volunteer brings fabric, another offers carpentry, and a third buys the screws nobody notices. The show needs all three contributions before the doors open. Israel is preparing a place for worship that God has specified, not a performance.
Notice
Exodus 35:18 Tent pegs and cords appear alongside the chief furnishings. The list includes the small items that make the whole structure usable and secure.
Exodus 35:4-19
King James Version4And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying,
5Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,
6And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,
7And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,
8And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,
9And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
10And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded;
11The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,
12The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,
13The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,
14The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,
15And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle,
16The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
17The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court,
18The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,
19The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.
Exodus 35:20-24
Willing People Bring Their Possessions
The people leave Moses and return with gifts from what they own. Men and women bring gold jewellery, fine cloth, coloured thread, animal skins, silver, brass, and wood. The account repeatedly describes willing hearts. The gifts are for the tent, its service, and the priests' clothes. Not everyone brings the same thing, but the materials match the work ahead. Household possessions become supplies for a shared place of worship through the choices of those who bring them.
In everyday life
A retired seamstress opens her cupboard and carries her best unused fabric to a neighbourhood repair project. A neighbour arrives with spare timber from his shed. Neither has been assigned an amount; each chooses something the project needs. Here God specifies the sanctuary that the gifts must supply.
Notice
Exodus 35:22 Both men and women bring jewellery. The costly metal comes from personal possessions, so the building's splendour begins with gifts people choose to surrender.
Exodus 35:20-24
King James Version20And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
21And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.
22And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD.
23And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers’ skins, brought them.
24Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the LORD’s offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it.
Exodus 35:25-29
Women Spin and Leaders Supply Stones
Skilled women spin the coloured threads and fine linen needed for the work. Others spin goats' hair, another material for the tent coverings. The leaders bring precious stones for the priest's clothes, along with spices and oil for lamps, anointing, and incense. Anointing means applying oil to set someone or something apart for God's service. The community's offering includes finished work as well as raw supplies. Every willing man and woman contributes toward what God has commanded through Moses.
In everyday life
Two knitters finish warm blankets for a refuge while its trustees pay for the beds. The women lay their work beside the newly delivered mattresses. Hours of trained handwork and money for large purchases meet the same need. The tent's materials serve Israel's worship rather than emergency housing.
Notice
Exodus 35:26 The women bring skill as well as possessions. Spinning goats' hair takes work, so their gift includes the time spent making usable thread.
Exodus 35:25-29
King James Version25And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.
26And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair.
27And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate;
28And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.
29The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.
Exodus 35:30-35
God Equips Builders Who Can Teach
Moses names Bezaleel, a craftsman from Judah, one of Israel's tribes, as God's chosen worker. God gives him skill in designing and making objects of metal, stone, and wood. Aholiab, a craftsman from the tribe of Dan, works with him. Both receive the ability to teach. Their skills include engraving, weaving, and embroidery as well as design. The work depends on people who can make things well and pass that knowledge to others who will help them.
In everyday life
An experienced jeweller bends over a workbench with a new apprentice. She shows him how to secure a stone, then lets him try while she watches. Her skill becomes useful in another pair of hands. The account expressly credits God with the builders' skill and their ability to teach.
Notice
Exodus 35:34 Teaching is named alongside craftsmanship. The appointed workers are equipped to share their skills, allowing others to take part in the demanding work.
Exodus 35:30-35
King James Version30And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
31And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;
32And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
33And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.
34And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
35Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, 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 work, and of those that devise cunning work.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Exodus 35:1 begins with “And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye…”
Where the chapter turns
Exodus 35:18 forms a natural hinge: “The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,”
The final note
Exodus 35:35 leaves the reader with “Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words work, LORD, offering, heart, children, Israel help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- wise hearted
- Skilled and capable, especially at the practical work described here.
- taches
- Clasps that fasten separate pieces of fabric together.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
