The big picture
Work continues outside the tabernacle, the tent set apart for worship. Israel, the people who supplied its materials, now has an altar, a washing basin, and an enclosed courtyard taking shape. Moses, their leader, orders an account of the materials. Ithamar, a priest's son overseeing this service, is linked to that record. The list names the skilled workers and reports where the donated metals have gone.
In this chapter
- An Altar and Basin Take Shape Exodus 38:1-8
The builder makes a hollow wooden altar covered with brass for burning offerings.
- Curtains Enclose the Worship Courtyard Exodus 38:9-20
Linen hangings form the courtyard around the tent.
- The Record Names Those Responsible Exodus 38:21-23
Moses orders a record of the tabernacle's materials and work.
- The Metals Are Counted and Assigned Exodus 38:24-31
The record totals the gold, silver, and brass used in the sanctuary.
Central truth
The builders complete the outdoor worship equipment and give a clear account of the metals used in the work.
Scripture beside the summary
Exodus · King James Version · 31Exodus 38:1-8
An Altar and Basin Take Shape
The builder makes a hollow wooden altar covered with brass for burning offerings. It has raised corners, a metal grate, and the tools needed to handle fire and meat. Rings and poles make it possible to carry the altar. A brass washing basin and its stand are made from the polished metal mirrors of women who gather at the tent's entrance. Personal objects become part of the equipment used in the community's service to God.
In everyday life
A metalworker melts donated household copper into a new bell for a village hall. A woman watches her old kettle join the metal in the mould. An object once kept at home will now serve a shared purpose. The basin serves sacred washing, rather than calling villagers to meetings.
Notice
Exodus 38:8 The basin comes from the women's mirrors, which were polished metal. The account preserves the connection between a finished object and the people who supplied it.
Exodus 38:1-8
King James Version1And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.
2And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.
3And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.
4And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.
5And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.
6And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.
7And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.
8And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Exodus 38:9-20
Curtains Enclose the Worship Courtyard
Linen hangings form the courtyard around the tent. Rows of pillars hold them up, with brass bases below and silver fittings above. The entrance on the eastern side has its own coloured, embroidered screen and four supporting pillars. The dimensions, materials, and fittings are listed for each side. Brass pegs secure the tent and courtyard. This open enclosure has a clear boundary and one marked entrance, giving the outdoor equipment an ordered place beside the tent.
In everyday life
A festival rigger stretches fabric barriers between posts around a temporary outdoor venue. She leaves one marked entrance and secures each post before the public arrives. The boundary turns an open patch of ground into a defined place. The courtyard boundary concerns sacred approach to God, with no tickets or entertainment involved.
Notice
Exodus 38:18 The entrance screen uses coloured embroidery instead of the plain linen around the sides. Its different appearance makes the point of entry distinct.
Exodus 38:9-20
King James Version9And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits:
10Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
11And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
12And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
13And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.
14The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.
17And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.
18And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.
19And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver.
20And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.
Exodus 38:21-23
The Record Names Those Responsible
Moses orders a record of the tabernacle's materials and work. Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest, is responsible for the service of the Levites, the group assigned to sanctuary duties. Bezaleel, the chief craftsman from the tribe of Judah, makes what God commanded Moses. Aholiab, his fellow worker from the tribe of Dan, contributes engraving, design, and embroidery. The account joins named responsibility to the finished work instead of leaving its makers and overseers anonymous.
In everyday life
A bridge inspector signs the completion sheet beside the engineer and lead builder. Each name identifies a different responsibility for the same finished structure. The document gives future readers more than a list of purchased materials. The tabernacle's record concerns obedience to God's design, not certification under building law.
Notice
Exodus 38:21 The count is made at Moses' command and tied to Ithamar's service. The materials are recorded under named oversight rather than disappearing into an unnamed total.
Exodus 38:21-23
King James Version21This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.
22And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
23And with him was Aholiab, 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.
Exodus 38:24-31
The Metals Are Counted and Assigned
The record totals the gold, silver, and brass used in the sanctuary. Silver comes from the counted men, each contributing half a shekel, a small unit of weight. Most of it forms the bases for the tent and its veil. The rest supplies hooks and fittings. Brass goes into the altar, its tools, the outer bases, and the pegs. The figures connect large gifts and many small contributions with particular pieces of the finished structure.
In everyday life
A charity treasurer checks the receipts for a new minibus against the donation ledger. Small gifts from many households appear beside a few large gifts. She marks the vehicle payment and remaining equipment costs so every sum has a destination. These ancient figures measure metal by weight, not modern currency.
Notice
Exodus 38:26 Each counted man contributes the same half shekel. The large silver total therefore represents many equal contributions, not only the gifts of wealthy households.
Exodus 38:24-31
King James Version24All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
25And 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:
26A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
27And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
28And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.
29And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.
30And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,
31And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Exodus 38:1 begins with “And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and…”
Where the chapter turns
Exodus 38:16 forms a natural hinge: “All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.”
The final note
Exodus 38:31 leaves the reader with “And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words pillars, sockets, brass, court, cubits, silver help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- bekah
- Half a shekel, a small weight used for the silver contribution.
- lookingglasses
- Mirrors made from polished metal rather than modern glass.
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.
