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The Altar

38 Then he built the altar for burning offerings. He made the altar of acacia wood. The altar was square. It was 7½ feet long, 7½ feet wide and 4½ feet high. He made each corner stick out like a horn. The horns and the altar were joined together in one piece. Then he covered the altar with bronze. He made all the tools of bronze to use on the altar: the pots, shovels, bowls for sprinkling blood, meat forks and pans for carrying the fire. He made a large bronze screen to hold the burning wood for the altar. He put the screen inside the altar, under its rim, halfway up from the bottom. He made bronze rings for holding the poles for carrying the altar. He put the rings at the four corners of the screen. Then he made poles of acacia wood and covered them with bronze. He put the poles through the rings on both sides of the altar. They were used for carrying the altar. He made the altar of boards and left the inside hollow.

The Bronze Bowl

He made the bronze bowl for washing. He built it on a bronze stand. He used the bronze of mirrors. These mirrors belonged to the women who served at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.

The Courtyard of the Holy Tent

Then he made a wall of curtains to form a courtyard around the Holy Tent. On the south side the curtains were 150 feet long and were made of fine linen. 10 The curtains hung on silver hooks and bands. These were on 20 bronze posts on 20 bronze bases. 11 On the north side the wall of curtains was also 150 feet long. It hung on silver hooks and bands on 20 posts with 20 bronze bases.

12 On the west side of the courtyard, the wall of curtains was 75 feet long. It was held up by silver hooks and bands on 10 posts and 10 bases. 13 The east side was 75 feet wide. 14 On one side of the entry there was a wall of curtains that was 22½ feet long. It was held up by 3 posts and 3 bases. 15 On the other side of the entry there was a wall of curtains 22½ feet long. It was held up by 3 posts and 3 bases. 16 All the curtains around the courtyard were made of fine linen. 17 The bases for the posts were made of bronze. The hooks and the bands on the posts were made of silver. The tops of the posts were covered with silver also. All the posts in the courtyard had silver bands.

18 The curtain for the entry of the courtyard was made of blue, purple and red thread, and fine linen. It was sewn by a person who could sew well. The curtain was 30 feet long and 7½ feet high. It was the same height as the curtains around the courtyard. 19 The curtain was held up by 4 posts and 4 bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver. The tops on the posts were covered with silver. 20 All the tent pegs for the Holy Tent and for the curtains around the courtyard were made of bronze.

21 This is a list of the metals used to make the Holy Tent. This is where the two flat stones with the Ten Commandments are kept. Moses ordered the Levites to make this list. Ithamar son of Aaron was in charge of keeping the list. 22 Bezalel son of Uri made everything the Lord commanded Moses. Uri was the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah. 23 Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan helped him. Oholiab could cut designs into metal and stone. He was a designer. He was also skilled at sewing the blue, purple and red thread, and fine linen.

24 The total amount of gold used to build the Holy Tent was presented to the Lord. It weighed over 2,000 pounds, as set by the Holy Place measure.

25 The silver was given by the members of the community who were counted. It weighed 7,550 pounds, as set by the Holy Place measure. 26 All the men 20 years old or older were counted. There were 603,550 men, and each man had to pay ⅕ ounce of silver. This is the weight as set by the Holy Place measure. 27 Of this silver, 7,500 pounds was used to make the 100 bases. These bases were for the Holy Tent and for the curtain. There was 75 pounds of silver in each base. 28 The other 50 pounds of silver was used to make the hooks for the posts. It was also used to cover the tops of the posts and to make the bands on the posts.

29 The bronze which was presented to the Lord weighed about 5,000 pounds. 30 They used the bronze to make the bases at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. They also used the bronze to make the altar and the bronze screen. And this bronze was used to make all the tools for the altar. 31 This bronze was also used to make bases for the wall of curtains around the courtyard. It was used for the bases for the curtains at the entry to the courtyard. And this bronze was used to make the tent pegs for the Holy Tent and curtains that surrounded the courtyard.

The Altar of Burnt Offering(A)

38 They[a] built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, three cubits[b] high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.[c] They made a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar were of one piece, and they overlaid the altar with bronze.(B) They made all its utensils(C) of bronze—its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. They made a grating for the altar, a bronze network, to be under its ledge, halfway up the altar. They cast bronze rings to hold the poles for the four corners of the bronze grating. They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. They inserted the poles into the rings so they would be on the sides of the altar for carrying it. They made it hollow, out of boards.

The Basin for Washing

They made the bronze basin(D) and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women(E) who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The Courtyard(F)

Next they made the courtyard. The south side was a hundred cubits[d] long and had curtains of finely twisted linen, 10 with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 11 The north side was also a hundred cubits long and had twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts.

12 The west end was fifty cubits[e] wide and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 13 The east end, toward the sunrise, was also fifty cubits wide. 14 Curtains fifteen cubits[f] long were on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, 15 and curtains fifteen cubits long were on the other side of the entrance to the courtyard, with three posts and three bases. 16 All the curtains around the courtyard were of finely twisted linen. 17 The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver; so all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands.

18 The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer. It was twenty cubits[g] long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits[h] high, 19 with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks and bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. 20 All the tent pegs(G) of the tabernacle and of the surrounding courtyard were bronze.

The Materials Used

21 These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant law,(H) which were recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar(I) son of Aaron, the priest. 22 (Bezalel(J) son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything the Lord commanded Moses; 23 with him was Oholiab(K) son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan—an engraver and designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen.) 24 The total amount of the gold from the wave offering used for all the work on the sanctuary(L) was 29 talents and 730 shekels,[i] according to the sanctuary shekel.(M)

25 The silver obtained from those of the community who were counted in the census(N) was 100 talents[j] and 1,775 shekels,[k] according to the sanctuary shekel— 26 one beka per person,(O) that is, half a shekel,[l] according to the sanctuary shekel,(P) from everyone who had crossed over to those counted, twenty years old or more,(Q) a total of 603,550 men.(R) 27 The 100 talents of silver were used to cast the bases(S) for the sanctuary and for the curtain—100 bases from the 100 talents, one talent for each base. 28 They used the 1,775 shekels to make the hooks for the posts, to overlay the tops of the posts, and to make their bands.

29 The bronze from the wave offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels.[m] 30 They used it to make the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar with its bronze grating and all its utensils, 31 the bases for the surrounding courtyard and those for its entrance and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and those for the surrounding courtyard.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 38:1 Or He; also in verses 2-9
  2. Exodus 38:1 That is, about 4 1/2 feet or about 1.4 meters
  3. Exodus 38:1 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters long and wide
  4. Exodus 38:9 That is, about 150 feet or about 45 meters
  5. Exodus 38:12 That is, about 75 feet or about 23 meters
  6. Exodus 38:14 That is, about 22 feet or about 6.8 meters
  7. Exodus 38:18 That is, about 30 feet or about 9 meters
  8. Exodus 38:18 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters
  9. Exodus 38:24 The weight of the gold was a little over a ton or about 1 metric ton.
  10. Exodus 38:25 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons; also in verse 27
  11. Exodus 38:25 That is, about 44 pounds or about 20 kilograms; also in verse 28
  12. Exodus 38:26 That is, about 1/5 ounce or about 5.7 grams
  13. Exodus 38:29 The weight of the bronze was about 2 1/2 tons or about 2.4 metric tons.