commission to call upon the children of Israel for contributions and offerings of their substance and all their precious things, such as would be suitable for the construction of a sanctuary for service in the wilderness.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
"Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
"And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
"And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
"And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
"Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
"Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.
"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
"According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it."[7]
The response of the people was so liberal and prompt that a surplus of material was soon amassed.
"And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make.
"And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.
"For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much."[8]
Divine direction was manifest in the appointment of men who should be in charge of the labor. Bezaleel, the son of Uri, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, were designated by revelation as the master craftsmen under whose direction the other workers should labor until all had been finished in direct accord with the revealed pattern and plan. And when so finished it was the embodiment of the best in material and workmanship.
The Tabernacle stood in an outer enclosure or court, walled in by canvas screens with entrance curtains finely embroidered. The curtains that formed the walls of the court were suspended from pillars, which stood at intervals along the sides of an oblong. The longer walls ran east and west, with the main entrance to the enclosure on the eastern side. Of the two squares within the curtains, the easterly was reserved for assemblies of the people, while the square to the west constituted the more sacred area pertaining to the Tabernacle itself.
The entire space so enclosed covered one hundred cubits east and west and fifty cubits north and south, or approximately one hundred and fifty feet by seventy-five feet.[9] In the easterly section, and therefore removed from the Tabernacle, stood the altar of burnt-offerings. Between the altar and the Tabernacle stood the laver; this was a large vessel of brass standing upon a pedestal and containing water for the ceremonial cleansing of the hands and feet of the priests. It is interesting to note that the laver and its supporting pedestal were made by special contribution of the women, who gave their brazen mirrors for this purpose. The Tabernacle stood with its longer axis east and west, and with its entrance on the easterly side. The structure was but thirty cubits long by ten cubits broad, or forty-five by fifteen feet; these are the dimensions given by Josephus, and they are practically in accord with the description in Exodus, which states that the walls comprised twenty boards on a side, each board one and a half cubits wide; at the west end there were six boards, each one and a half cubits wide or nine cubits in all; these with the angle posts would make the entire breadth equal to that given by Josephus, ten cubits. The boards of the walls were held together by tenon-joints having sockets of silver, two to each board; the boards themselves were overlaid with gold and were provided with rings of the same metal to receive the bars, which also were overlaid with gold.
It will be seen that the Tabernacle was but a small structure, entirely unsuited to the accommodation of large assemblies, but it is to be remembered that for such it was never intended. Within the Tabernacle, only the appointed bearers of the Priesthood officiated; and of these none but the few actually engaged in the service of the day could be admitted.
The Tabernacle was divided by a curtain, specifically called the Veil, into two compartments, the outer of which was known as the Holy Place, and the inner as the Most Holy Place or Holy of Holies. Josephus and some others state that the Tabernacle comprised three parts; the third division, however, was really outside the main tent and appeared as a porch at the east end, five cubits deep, and extending across the entire front. The Veil, which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, was of fine workmanship, "of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work," and was embroidered with cherubim. It was hung upon four pillars of wood overlaid with gold; the hooks were of gold and the sockets of silver. The wood used for these pillars, as indeed that used in other parts of the structure, was the rare, costly, and durable shittim or acacia, sometimes known as thorn-wood. Beyond the Veil the enclosure was most holy, and therein was placed the Ark of the Covenant with its Mercy Seat bearing the sacred cherubim, the description of which appears in the record as follows:
"And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it:
"And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.
"And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it.
"And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.
"And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.
"And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and half the breadth thereof.
"And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat:
"One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
"And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims."[10]
Outside the Veil, yet within the Tabernacle, was the Holy Place; in this were placed the table of shewbread, the altar of incense, and the golden seven-branched candlestick.[11]
The rich fabrics of delicate workmanship forming the walls and roof of the Tabernacle were protected by coarser hangings of goats' hair, and these in turn by a covering of skins. The structure as completed is referred to in the scripture sometimes as the Tent of the Congregation and at others as the Tabernacle of the Congregation; the former expression occurs thirteen times, the latter one hundred and thirty-three times; yet notwithstanding this difference, the original in each case was Ohel Moed, the best authenticated translation of which is the Tent of Meeting. Let it not be supposed, however, that this means in the ordinary sense a meeting-house, for the meeting here expressed is not that of a concourse of worshippers, but the place of communion between God and His Priesthood. The Tent of Meeting, or the Tabernacle of the Congregation, in Israel, was the Lord's tent wherein He met the authorized representatives of His people.
On the first day of the second year following Israel's exodus from Egypt, the Tabernacle was set up for the first time, and all the sacred furniture was disposed according to the direct commands of the Lord. The veil was hung, and the place was consecrated as a most holy spot, ineffably sacred as the dwelling place of Jehovah. Then, even as on Sinai a cloud had shrouded the temporary abiding place of God, so was it with the Tabernacle:
"Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
"And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation,