Tabernacle 2 - Exodus 26

Chapter 26 is very much a continuation of instructions for the construction of the tabernacle. Chapter 25 covered the inside things like the ark of the covenant, etc and now we move on to the actual physical structure. Concerning the overall design of the tabernacle, TB explains, “the Tabernacle was divided into 3 zones of varying degrees of holiness: the Holy of Holies being the greatest, the Holy Place with slightly less holiness, and the Outer Court the least. Also recall that the perimeter of the Tabernacle was basically a fence made out of cloth that enclosed an open courtyard. The Tent portion which consisted ONLY of the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, was the only portion of the Tabernacle that had a roof.” I’m attaching a picture that I found online that gives a better visualization to what the whole thing looked like

There are some notes that TB makes that I found to be very interesting about the materials. He says, “since the Tabernacle was meant to go wherever God directed Israel to move, it had to be mobile… obviously meant for it to be assembled and disassembled, and then transported, multiple times. It would have to have been made to withstand the daunting conditions of the desert, with it’s oven-like dryness and the fierce winds laden with fine sand that was an ever present bother. Yet, it was also not made of lightweight materials; it had to be rugged. So, it also must have been heavy… The book of Numbers tells us that the precious metals alone totaled 8 tons, and the wood used for the construction also would have weighed several tons. Even the cloth and Rams skins would have been of considerable weight.”

I had not considered how bulky and heavy these materials would have had to be, and what’s even more interesting is that God has specifications about how these materials were to be transported. TB continues, “Numbers also tells us that several covered wagons, pulled by teams of Oxen were used to transport the Tabernacle. However, all indications are that the furnishings of the Tabernacle, the Ark, the Menorah, the Tables of Showbread and Incense, were hand-carried. Various clans that formed the tribe of Levi were given specific articles they were to carry; to handle any other way was a trespass against the God of Israel.” That’s why there were specifics provisioned for rings to be added and holes for carrying sticks to be put in to.

The tent itself was to be made of several layers of different materials such as goat hair, leather, fine linen, but there is one term that TB notes is only used to describe this material used in the tabernacle, which was “tachash,” which, interestingly, is translated as “seal and/or porpoise” skin. TB says that this would have made is “airtight, water repellant, and even offered protection from the superfine dust that was part of desert life.” And he says that it would have been available because the Israelites were near the Red Sea.