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Insights Into the Tabernacle – PART 4: The Curtains, Coverings & Walls
The Curtains – יריעת
Exodus 26:1-14 (v.1-3) “Moreover, you shall make the Tabernacle [משכן, mishkan] with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns. You shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size. Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another.
(v.4-12) And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. Likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set. The loops shall be opposite one another. And you shall make fifty clasps of gold and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the Tabernacle [משכן, mishkan] may be one.”
(v.7-10) “You shall also make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent [אהל, ohel] over the Tabernacle [משכן, mishkan]; elevencurtains shall you make. The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains shall be the same size. You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and the sixth curtain you shall double over [כפל, caphel] at the front of the tent. You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set.
(v.11-13) You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple them together that the tent [אהל, ohel] may be one. And the part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the Tabernacle. And the extra that remains in the length of the curtains, the cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, shall hang over the sides of the Tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it.
The Coverings – מכסה
(v.14a) And you shall make for the tent a covering of rams’ skins dyed red and …
(v.14b) … a covering of tachash skins on top.”
The Planks – קרשים
Exodus 26:15-30 (v.15-17) “You shall make upright planks for the Tabernacle of acacia wood. Ten cubits shall be the length of a plank, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each plank. There shall be two tenons in each plank, parallel to one another. So shall you do for all the planks of the Tabernacle.
(v.18-22) “You shall make the planks for the Tabernacle: twenty planks for the south side, and forty sockets of silver you shall make under the twenty planks, two sockets under one plank for its two tenons, and two sockets under the next plank for its two tenons; and for the second side of the Tabernacle, on the north side twenty planks, and their forty sockets of silver, two sockets under one plank, and two sockets under the next plank. And for the rear of the Tabernacle westward you shall make six planks.
(v.23-25) “And you shall make two planks for corners of the Tabernacle in the rear; they shall be separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring. Thus shall it be with both of them; they shall form the two corners. And there shall be eight planks, with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one frame, and two sockets under another frame.
(v.26-30) “You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the planks of the one side of the Tabernacle, and five bars for the planks of the other side of the Tabernacle, and five bars for the planks of the side of the Tabernacle at the rear westward. The middle bar, halfway up the planks, shall run from end to end. You shall overlay the planks with gold and shall make their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold. Then you shall erect the Tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain.”
Midrash Rabbah 35.4 Another interpretation: “You shall make the planks for the Tabernacle [למשכן, l’mishkan] of acacia wood, standing erect.” Scripture should have said nothing other than, “You shall make of the planks a Tabernacle [משכן].” What is the implication of You shall make the planks “for the Tabernacle” [למשכן, l’mishkan]?
R’ Hoshaya said: The verse is worded in this way because the Tabernacle is made to serve for collateral [למשכן, l’mash’kein] for Israel, meaning that if “the enemies of Israel” ever become liable to the punishment of destruction, it will serve as collateral for them.
Moses said before the Holy One, blessed is He, “But they [Israel] are destined one day, due to their recurring rebelliousness to have neither Tabernacle nor Temple, and what will become of them then?!”
The Holy One, blessed is He, replied, “I will take from them a righteous man and make him collateral [משכן, mash’kein] for them, and with this I will grant atonement to them for all their sins.”
The Parochet –פרכת
Exodus 26:31-35 “And you shall make a veil [פרכת, parochet] of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four sockets of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps and bring the Ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. You shall put the cover on the Ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. And you shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the Tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side.
פרכת = 700 – Mentioned 5x in Ch. 26
Numbers 4:5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the separation and cover the ark of the testimony with it.
Matthew 27:51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. [Mark 15:38 / Luke 23:45]
Hebrews 10:20 …by the new and living way that He opened for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh.
The Screen –מסך
Exodus 26:36-37 “You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.”
REFERENCES:
Verse 1
Psalm 104:2 Covering Yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a curtain [יריעה, ye’riah].
Verses 3,5,6,17
“to one another”
אשה אל אחתה (isha el achotah) = “a woman to her sister”
Verse 6
“that the mishkan may be one” והיה המשכן אחד (a’hayah ha-mishkan echad)
Verse 9
“double” = כפל (caphal) [compare מכפלה, Machpelah]
Verse 14
Ezekiel 16:10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and sandaled you with tachash …
Numbers 4:25 They shall carry the curtains of the Tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering [מכסה, mec’seh] and the covering [מכסה, mec’seh] of goatskin that is on top of it …
Verse 37
Revelation 21:12-14 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed – on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
