15 And you are to make upright boards of hard wood for the House.
And for the uprights of the House they made boards of hard wood. The boards were ten cubits long and one cubit and a half wide. Every board had two tongues fixed into it; all the boards were made in this way. They made twenty boards for the south side of the House: And for these twenty boards, forty silver bases, two bases under every board, to take its tongues. And for the second side of the House, on the north, they made twenty boards, With their forty silver bases, two bases for every board. And for the west side of the House, at the back, they made six boards, And two boards for the angles at the back. These were joined together at the base and at the top to one ring, so forming the two angles. So there were eight boards with sixteen bases of silver, two bases under every board. And they made rods of hard wood; five for the boards on one side of the House, And five for the boards on the other side of the House, and five for the boards at the back, on the west. The middle rod was made to go right through the rings of all the boards from one end to the other.
And six boards for the back of the House on the west, With two boards for the angles of the House at the back. The two are to be joined together at the base and at the top to one ring, forming the two angles. So there are to be eight boards, with their sixteen silver bases, two bases under every board. And make rods of the same wood, five for the boards on the one side, And five for the boards on the other side of the House, and five for the west side of the House at the back. And the middle rod is to go through the rings of all the boards from end to end. And the boards are to be plated with gold, having gold rings for the rods to go through: and the rods are to be plated with gold.
And this is their part in the work of the Tent of meeting: the transport of the boards and the rods of the Tent, with the pillars and their bases; And the pillars of the open space outside it, with their bases and their nails and cords and all the instruments used, and everything which has to be done there; all the instruments for which they are responsible are to be numbered by name.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 26
Commentary on Exodus 26 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 26
Moses here receives instructions,
These particulars, thus largely recorded, seem of little use to us now; yet, having been of great use to Moses and Israel, and God having thought fit to preserve down to us the remembrance of them, we ought not to overlook them. Even the antiquity renders this account venerable.
Exd 26:1-6
Exd 26:7-14
Moses is here ordered to make a double covering for the tabernacle, that it might not rain in, and that the beauty of those fine curtains might not be damaged.
Exd 26:15-30
Very particular directions are here given about the boards of the tabernacle, which were to bear up the curtains, as the stakes of a tent which had need to be strong, Isa. 54:2. These boards had tenons which fell into the mortises that were made for them in silver bases. God took care to have every thing strong, as well as fine, in his tabernacle. Curtains without boards would have been shaken by every wind; but it is a good thing to have the heart established with grace, which is as the boards to support the curtains of profession, which otherwise will not hold out long. The boards were coupled together with gold rings at top and bottom (v. 24), and kept firm with bars that ran through golden staples in every board (v. 26), and the boards and bars were all richly gilded, v. 29. Thus every thing in the tabernacle was very splendid, agreeable to that infant state of the church, when such things were proper enough to please children, to possess the minds of the worshippers with a reverence of the divine glory, and to affect them with the greatness of that prince who said, Here will I dwell; in allusion to this the new Jerusalem is said to be of pure gold, Rev. 21:18. But the builders of the gospel church said, Silver and gold have we none; and yet the glory of their building far exceeded that of the tabernacle, 2 Co. 3:10, 11. How much better is wisdom than gold! No orders are given here about the floor of the tabernacle; probably that also was boarded; for we cannot think that within all these fine curtains they trod upon the cold or wet ground; if it was so left, it may remind us of ch. 20:24, An altar of earth shalt thou make unto me.
Exd 26:31-37
Two veils are here ordered to be made,