Offerings prescribed for making the tabernacle, the ark, the
candlestick, etc.
25:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
25:2. Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring firstfruits to
me: of every man that offereth of his own accord, you shall take them.
Firstfruits... Offerings of some of the best and choicest of their
goods.
25:3. And these are the things you must take: Gold, and silver, and
brass,
25:4. Violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, and
goats' hair,
25:5. And rams' skins dyed red, and violet skins, and setim wood:
Setim wood... The wood of a tree that grows in the wilderness, which is
said to be incorruptible.
25:6. Oil to make lights: spices for ointment, and for sweetsmelling
incense:
25:7. Onyx stones, and precious stones to adorn the ephod and the
rational.
The ephod and the rational... The ephod was the high priest's upper
vestment; and the rational his vestplate, in which were twelve gems,
etc.
25:8. And they shall make me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in the midst
of them:
25:9. According to all the likeness of the tabernacle which I will shew
thee, and of all the vessels for the service thereof: and thus you shall
make it:
25:10. Frame an ark of setim wood, the length whereof shall be of two
cubits and a half; the breadth, a cubit and a half; the height,
likewise, a cubit and a half.
25:11. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold, within and
without; and over it thou shalt make a golden crown round about:
25:12. And four golden rings, which thou shalt put at the four corners
of the ark: let two rings be on the one side, and two on the other.
25:13. Thou shalt make bars also of setim wood, and shalt overlay them
with gold.
25:14. And thou shalt put them in through the rings that are in the
sides of the ark, that it may be carried on them:
25:15. And they shall be always in the rings, neither shall they at any
time be drawn out of them.
25:16. And thou shalt put in the ark the testimony which I will give
thee.
25:17. Thou shalt make also a propitiatory of the purest gold: the
length thereof shall be two cubits and a half, and the breadth a cubit
and a half.
A propitiatory... a covering for the ark: called a propitiatory, or
mercy seat, because the Lord, who was supposed to sit there upon the
wings of the cherubims, with the ark for his footstool, from thence
shewed mercy. It is also called the oracle, ver. 18 and 20; because from
thence God gave his orders and his answers.
25:18. Thou shalt make also two cherubims of beaten gold, on the two
sides of the oracle.
25:19. Let one cherub be on the one side, and the other on the other.
25:20. Let them cover both sides of the propitiatory, spreading their
wings, and covering the oracle, and let them look one towards the other,
their faces being turned towards the propitiatory wherewith the ark is
to be covered.
25:21. In which thou shalt put the testimony that I will give thee.
25:22. Thence will I give orders, and will speak to thee over the
propitiatory, and from the midst of the two cherubims, which shall be
upon the ark of the testimony, all things which I will command the
children of Israel by thee.
25:23. Thou shalt make a table also of setim wood, of two cubits in
length, and a cubit in breadth, and a cubit and a half in height.
A table... On which were to be placed the twelve loaves of proposition:
or, as they are called in the Hebrew, the face bread, because they were
always to stand before the face of the Lord in his temple: as a figure
of the eucharistic sacrifice and sacrament, in the church of Christ.
25:24. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold: and thou shalt
make to it a golden ledge round about.
25:25. And to the ledge itself a polished crown, four inches high; and
over the same another little golden crown.
25:26. Thou shalt prepare also four golden rings, and shalt put them in
the four corners of the same table, over each foot.
25:27. Under the crown shall the golden rings be, that the bars may be
put through them, and the table may be carried.
25:28. The bars also themselves thou shalt make of setim wood, and shalt
overlay them with gold, to bear up the table.
25:29. Thou shalt prepare also dishes, and bowls, censers, and cups,
wherein the libations are to be offered, of the purest gold.
Libations... That is, drink offerings.
25:30. And thou shalt set upon the table loaves of proposition in my
sight always.
25:31. Thou shalt make also a candlestick of beaten work, of the finest
gold, the shaft thereof, and the branches, the cups, and the bowls, and
the lilies going forth from it.
A candlestick... This candlestick, with its seven lamps, which was
always to give light in the house of God, was a figure of the light of
the Holy Ghost, and his sevenfold grace, in the sanctuary of the church
of Christ.
25:32. Six branches shall come out of the sides, three out of one side,
and three out of the other.
25:33. Three cups as it were nuts to every branch, and a bowl withal,
and a lily: and three cups likewise of the fashion of nuts in the other
branch, and a bowl withal, and a lily. Such shall be the work of the six
branches, that are to come out from the shaft:
25:34. And in the candlestick itself shall be four cups in the manner of
a nut, and at every one bowls and lilies.
25:35. Bowls under two branches in three places, which together make
six, coming forth out of one shaft.
25:36. And both the bowls and the branches shall be of the same beaten
work of the purest gold.
25:37. Thou shalt make also seven lamps, and shalt set them upon the
candlestick, to give light over against.
25:38. The snuffers also, and where the snuffings shall be put out,
shall be made of the purest gold.
25:39. The whole weight of the candlestick, with all the furniture
thereof, shall be a talent of the purest gold.
25:40. Look, and make it according to the pattern that was shewn thee in
the mount.