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Making the Altar for Burnt Gifts

38 Then he made the altar for burnt gifts of acacia wood. It was as long and as wide as three steps, and as tall as a man’s chest. He made horns on its four corners of one piece with it and covered it with brass. He made all the objects of the altar, its pails, its tools for picking up the ashes, its pots, meat-hooks and fire-holders of brass. He made a net for it of brass. It was put under the altar and it came up half-way. He put four rings of brass at the four corners of the net to hold the long pieces of wood. He made the long pieces of wood out of acacia wood and covered them with brass. He put the long pieces of wood through the rings on each side of the altar for carrying it. He made the altar with pieces of wood so it was empty inside.

Making the Pot of Brass for Washing

He made the pot for washing and its base of brass. They were made from the mirrors of the women servants who worked at the door of the meeting tent. Then he made the open space for the holy tent. On the south side were curtains for the open space. They were made of fine linen, as long as fifty long steps. 10 They hung from twenty pillars with twenty brass bases. The hooks of the pillar and their rings were made of silver. 11 And on the north side there were curtains as long as fifty long steps, and twenty pillars with twenty brass bases. The hooks of the pillars and their rings were made of silver. 12 On the west side there were curtains as long as twenty-five long steps. They had ten pillars with ten bases. The hooks of the pillars and their rings were made of silver. 13 The east side was as wide as twenty-five long steps. 14 The curtains for one side of the gate were as long as seven steps. They had three pillars with three bases. 15 And on the other side there were curtains as long as seven steps, with three pillars and three bases. 16 All the curtains around the open space were made of fine linen. 17 The bases for the pillars were made of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their rings were made of silver. Their tops were covered with silver. And the pillars were joined with silver. 18 The curtain for the gate of the open space was the work of an able workman. It was made of blue, purple and red cloth and fine linen. It was as long as ten long steps, and as high as a man raises his hand, to go with the curtains around the open space. 19 Its four pillars and their bases were made of brass. Their hooks and rings were made of silver. And their tops were covered with silver. 20 All the nails of the meeting tent and the open space were made of brass.

The Parts Are Weighed

21 This is the number of the things for the meeting tent, the meeting tent of the Law, as they were given by the mouth of Moses, for the work of the Levites, under the leading of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the religious leader. 22 Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the family of Judah, made all that the Lord had told Moses. 23 With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the family of Dan. He was an able workman who cut words in stone, gold or silver, and in sewing blue, purple and red cloth and fine linen.

24 All the gold used for the work of the holy tent, the gold given as a gift in worship, weighed as much as twelve men. 25 The silver given by the people weighed as much as forty men. 26 Each one of the men who were twenty years old and older, added up to 603,550 men, gave only a small weight of silver. 27 One hundred heavy weights of silver were used for making the bases for the holy tent and for the curtain in front of the most holy place. One hundred bases were made from the heavy weights of silver. 28 And from the heavy weights of silver he made hooks and joining parts for the pillars, and also covered their tops. 29 The brass that was given weighed as much as thirty men. 30 With it he made the base for the door of the meeting tent, the brass altar and its brass net, and all the objects of the altar. 31 He also made bases all around the open space and the base for the gate of the open space, and all the nails of the meeting tent and all around the open space.

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.