36 “So, Bezalel, Oholiab and all the other skilled men must do the work the Lord has commanded. The Lord has given these men the wisdom and understanding to do all the skilled work needed to build this holy place.” ²Then Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and all the other skilled people that the Lord had given special skills to. And these people came because they wanted to help with the work. ³Moses gave these people all the things the people of Israel had brought as gifts. And they used these things to build {God’s} holy place. The people continued to bring gifts each morning. ⁴Finally, all the skilled workers left the work they were doing on the holy place, and they went to speak to Moses. They said, ⁵“The people have brought too much! We have more than we need to finish the work on the Tent!” ⁶Then Moses sent this message throughout the camp: “No man or woman should make anything else as a gift for the holy place.” So the people were forced to stop giving more. ⁷The people had brought more than enough things to finish the work {of building God’s holy place}.

The Holy Tent

⁸Then the skilled workers began making the Holy Tent.* They made the ten curtains from fine linen and blue, purple, and red yarn. And they sewed pictures of Cherub angels* with wings into the curtains. ⁹Each curtain was the same size—28 cubits* long and 4 cubits* wide. ¹⁰The workers joined the curtains together into two groups of curtains. They joined five curtains together to make one group and five curtains together to make the other group. ¹¹Then they used blue cloth to make loops along the edge of the end curtain of one group. And they did the same on the end curtain in the other group. ¹²There were 50 loops on the end curtain in one group, and 50 loops on the end curtain in the other group. The loops were opposite each other. ¹³Then they made 50 gold rings to join the two curtains together. So the Holy Tent was joined together into one piece. ¹⁴Then the workers made another tent to cover the Holy Tent.* They used goat hair to make eleven curtains. ¹⁵All the curtains were the same size—30 cubits* long and 4 cubits* wide. ¹⁶The workers joined five curtains together into one group and six curtains together into another group. ¹⁷They put 50 loops along the edge of the end curtain of one group. And they did the same on the end curtain of the other group. ¹⁸The workers made 50 bronze* rings to join the two groups of curtains together to form one tent. ¹⁹Then they made two more coverings for the Holy Tent. One covering was made from ram skins dyed red. The other covering was made from fine leather.* ²⁰Then the workers made frames from acacia wood to support the Holy Tent.* ²¹Each frame was 10 cubits* long and 1 1/2 cubits* wide. ²²There were two side poles joined together with cross pieces to make each frame. Every frame for the Holy Tent was made the same. ²³They made 20 frames for the south side of the Holy Tent. ²⁴Then they made 40 silver bases for the frames. There were two bases for each frame—one base for each side pole. ²⁵They also made 20 frames for the other side (the north side) of the Holy Tent. ²⁶They made 40 silver bases for the frames—two bases for each frame. ²⁷They made six more frames for the back (the west side) of the Holy Tent. ²⁸They also made two frames for the corners at the back of the Holy Tent. ²⁹These frames were joined together at the bottom. And at the top a ring held the corner frames together. They did the same for both corners. ³⁰There was a total of eight frames for the west side of the Holy Tent. And there were 16 silver bases—two bases for each frame. ³¹Then the workers used Acacia wood to make the braces for the frames—five braces for the first side of the Holy Tent,* ³²five braces for the other side, and five braces for the back of the Holy Tent (that is, the west side). ³³They made the middle brace so that it passed through the frames from one end to the other. ³⁴They covered these frames with gold. Then they used gold to make the rings to hold the braces. And they covered the braces with gold. ³⁵They used fine linen* and blue, purple, and red yarn to make the special curtain {for the entrance to the Most Holy Place}. And they sewed pictures of Cherub angels* into the curtain. ³⁶They made four posts using acacia wood, and they covered the posts with gold. Then they made gold hooks for the posts. And they made four silver bases for the posts. ³⁷Then they made the curtain to cover the entrance to the Tent. They used blue, purple, and red yarn and fine linen to make this curtain. And they wove pictures into it. ³⁸Then they made the five posts and the hooks {for this curtain over the entrance}. They covered the tops of the posts and the curtain rods* with gold. And they made the five bronze* bases for the posts.

Holy Tent Or, “tabernacle,” the tent where God came to live among his people. Cherub angels Special angels from God. Statues of these angels were on top of the Box of the Agreement. 28 cubits 48’ 2 3/4” (14.7m). 4 cubits 6’ 10 13/16” (2.1m). 30 cubits 51’ 8 1/16” (15.75m). bronze A metal. The Hebrew word can mean “copper,” “bronze,” or “brass.” fine leather A special kind of leather made from the skin of an animal like a seal or a sea cow. 10 cubits 17’ 2 11/16” (5.25m). 1 1/2 cubits 2’ 7” (78.75cm.). linen Thread or cloth made from the fibers of the flax plant. curtain rods Or, “fasteners.”

The Box of the Agreement

37 Bezalel made the Holy Box* from acacia wood. The Box was 2 1/2 cubits* long, 1 1/2 cubits* wide, and 1 1/2 cubits high. ²He covered the inside and outside of the Box with pure gold. Then he put gold trim around the Box. ³He made four rings of gold and put them on the four corners. These rings were used for carrying the Box. There were two rings on each side. ⁴Then he made the poles for carrying the Box. He used acacia wood and covered the poles with pure gold. ⁵He put the poles through the rings on each side of the Box. ⁶Then he made the cover* from pure gold. It was 2 1/2 cubits long and 1 1/2 cubits wide. ⁷Then Bezalel hammered gold to make two Cherub angels. He put the Cherub angels* on each end of the cover. ⁸He put one angel on one end of the cover, and he put the other angel on the other end. The angels were joined together with the cover to make one piece. ⁹The wings of the angels were spread up toward the sky. The angels covered the Box with their wings. The angels faced each other, looking toward the cover.

The Special Table

¹⁰Then he made the table from acacia wood. The table was 2 cubits* long, 1 cubit* wide, and 1 1/2 cubits* high. ¹¹He covered the table with pure gold. He put gold trim around the table. ¹²Then he made a frame 1 handbreadth* wide around the table. He put gold trim on the frame. ¹³Then he made four gold rings and put them at the four corners of the table, where the four legs were. ¹⁴He put the rings close to the frame {around the top of the table}. The rings were to hold the poles used to carry the table. ¹⁵Then he used acacia wood to make the poles for carrying the table. He covered the poles with pure gold. ¹⁶Then he made all the things that were used on the table. He made the plates, the spoons, the bowls, and the pitchers from pure gold. The bowls and pitchers are used for pouring {the drink offerings}.

The Lampstand

¹⁷Then he made the lampstand. He used pure gold and hammered it to make the base and the shaft.* Then he made flowers, buds, and petals. He joined all these things together into one piece. ¹⁸The lampstand had six branches—three branches on one side and three branches on the other side. ¹⁹Each branch had three flowers on it. These flowers were made like almond flowers with buds and petals. ²⁰The shaft of the lampstand had four more flowers. They were also made like almond flowers with buds and petals. ²¹There were six branches—three branches coming out from each side of the shaft. And there was a flower with buds and petals below each of the three places where the branches joined the shaft. ²²The whole lampstand, with the flowers and branches, was made from pure gold. All this gold was hammered and joined together into one piece. ²³He made seven lamps for this lampstand. Then he made wick trimmers and trays from pure gold. ²⁴He used 75 pounds* of pure gold to make the lampstand and the things used with it.

The Altar for Burning Incense

²⁵He made the altar* for burning incense.* He made this from acacia wood. The altar was square. It was 1 cubit* long, 1 cubit wide, and 2 cubits* high. There were four horns on the altar. There was one horn on each corner. These horns were joined together with the altar to make one piece. ²⁶He covered the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold. Then he put gold trim around the altar. ²⁷He made two gold rings for the altar. He put the gold rings below the trim on each side of the altar. These gold rings held the poles for carrying the altar. ²⁸He made the poles from acacia wood and covered them with gold. ²⁹Then he made the holy anointing oil.* He also made the pure, sweet-smelling incense.* These things were made the same way that a perfume maker would make them.

Holy Box The Box of the Agreement—the box containing the flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them and other things that proved God was with the people of Israel during their time in the Sinai desert. 2 1/2 cubits 4’ 3 5/8” (131.25cm). 1 1/2 cubits 2’ 7” (78.75cm.). cover Also called, “mercy seat.” The Hebrew word can mean “lid,” “cover” or “the place where sins are forgiven.” Cherub angels Special angels from God. Statues of these angels were on top of the Box of the Agreement. 2 cubits 3’ 5 5/16” (105cm). 1 cubit 1’ 8 5/8” (52.5cm). 1 handbreadth The width of 4 fingers, about 3” (7.7cm). base and the shaft Or, “flared base.” 75 pounds Literally, “1 kikar.” altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices. incense Special dried tree sap. Burned to make a sweetsmelling smoke, it was offered as a gift to God. anointing oil Fine olive oil that was poured on things or people to show they were chosen for a special work or purpose.