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Exodus

About this book
Chapter 26

1 “The tabernacle itself you are to make with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; you are to make them with cherubim that are the work of an artistic designer. 2 The length of each curtain is to be 42 feet, and the width of each curtain is to be 6 feet—the same size for each of the curtains. 3 Five curtains are to be joined, a woman to her sister9, and the other five curtains are to be joined, a woman to her sister9.⁠ 4 You are to make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and in the same way you are to make loops in the outer edge of the end curtain in the second set. 5 You are to make 50 loops on the one curtain, and you are to make 50 loops on the end curtain which is on the second set, so that the loops are opposite one to another. 6 You are to make 50 gold clasps and join the curtains together with the clasps, so that the tabernacle is a unit. 7 “You are to make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you are to make 11 curtains. 8 The length of each curtain is to be 45 feet, and the width of each curtain is to be 6 feet—the same size for the 11 curtains. 9 You are to join five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. You are to double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. 10 You are to make 50 loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and 50 loops along the edge of the curtain that joins the second set. 11 You are to make 50 bronze clasps and put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it is a unit. 12 Now the part that remains of the curtains of the tent—the half curtain that remains will hang over at the back of the tabernacle. 13 The foot and a half on the one side and the foot and a half on the other side of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent will hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on one side and the other side, to cover it. 14 “You are to make a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather. 15 “You are to make the frames for the tabernacle out of acacia wood as uprights. 16 Each frame is to be 15 feet long, and each frame is to be 27 inches wide, 17 with two projections per frame parallel one to another. You are to make all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 18 So you are to make the frames for the tabernacle: 20 frames for the south side, 19 and you are to make 40 silver bases to go under the 20 frames—two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise two bases under the next frame for its two projections; 20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, 20 frames, 21 and their 40 silver bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame. 22 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west you will make six frames. 23 You are to make two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back. 24 At the two corners they must be doubled at the lower end and finished together at the top in one ring. So it will be for both. 25 So there are to be eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame. 26 “You are to make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 27 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames on the back of the tabernacle on the west. 28 The middle bar in the center of the frames will reach from end to end. 29 You are to overlay the frames with gold and make their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and you are to overlay the bars with gold. 30 You are to set up the tabernacle according to the plan that you were shown on the mountain.⁠ 31 “You are to make a special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen;⁠ it is to be made with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. 32 You are to hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set in four silver bases. 33 You are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. The curtain will make a division⁠ for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. 34 You are to put the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. 35 You are to put the table outside the curtain and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table, and you are to place the table on the north side. 36 “You are to make a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer. 37 You are to make for the hanging five posts of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and their hooks will be gold, and you are to cast five bronze bases for them.

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 1:4 and Exodus 26:33 and Leviticus 20:24

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Genesis describes the separation of light from darkness in a priestly version of creation. Exodus and Leviticus follow this pattern, with the priests separating sacred from ordinary, reflecting a common tradition and literary source.

Passages

Genesis 1:4

Hebrew Bible
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was hovering11 over the surface of the water. 3 God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light! 4 God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Exodus 26:33

Hebrew Bible
32 You are to hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set in four silver bases. 33 You are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. 34 You are to put the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Leviticus 20:24

Hebrew Bible
23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nations which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them. 24 So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples. 25 Therefore you must distinguish between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you must not make yourselves detestable by means of an animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground—creatures I have distinguished for you as unclean.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

References

"... Within the Pentateuch, “separation” is also an important cultic term. Appropriate “separation” is to be made in relation to space (Exodus 26:33; compare Ezekiel 42:20), impurity (Leviticus 20:25), and people groups (Leviticus 20:24, 26; Numbers 8:14; 16:9; Deuteronomy 10:8). In fact, making correct divisions is viewed as being integral to the function of the priests who are commissioned “to separate between the holy and the common and between the unclean and the clean” (Leviticus 10:10). Thus, in Leviticus 11–15, the priests, and by extension the people as a whole, are to order their world through acts of separation. The conceptual parallel between God’s ordering of the cosmos and Israel’s (re)ordering of its environs is strengthened by the rare syntactical formulation involving בדל that links Genesis 1 to Leviticus 10:10 and 11:47 (see above). A correlation, or even analogy, between creation and cult is implied ..."
G. Geoffrey Harper, "I Will Walk among You": The Rhetorical Function of Allusion to Genesis 1-3 in the Book of Leviticus (University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns, 2018), 193–194.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 1:4 and Exodus 26:33 and Leviticus 20:24

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