Exodus 38:10
Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
The verse records twenty court pillars standing in twenty bronze sockets, with their hooks and connecting bands made of silver. They formed part of the open tabernacle court, an enclosure one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and five cubits high, whose linen hangings were held by sixty such pillars set five cubits apart. It belongs to the minute record of the wilderness tabernacle built by Israel at God's command after the exodus, exactly following the divine pattern shown to Moses and not left to human choice. That sanctuary was the sacred place where God would dwell among His people, a manifold object-lesson of the plan of salvation given to a people unfitted by Egyptian bondage to comprehend His character and redemption. As part of that earthly tabernacle it served unto the shadow of heavenly things and pointed to the coming Messiah, and with the death of Christ its typical service passed away entirely, while its fine-linen hangings still show the righteousness of the saints which comes through Christ.
Sanctuary Setting and Purpose
Exodus 38:10 belongs to the very minute record in Exodus 25 to 40 of the wilderness tabernacle built by Israel at God's command in the days of Moses after Israel came out of Egypt. That building and its setting up followed explicit directions given by the Lord to Moses on the mountain, exactly according to the divine pattern shown him in the mount, and was not left to human choice. The construction so recorded included that the pillars had bronze sockets with silver hooks and fillets.
The sanctuary thus built was a sacred, marvelously beautiful structure where God's glory would dwell among Israel that He might dwell among them. It was the center of Israel's worship, which revolved around the most holy place where the law of God rested beneath the mercy seat. Its directions and description formed a great, multiple object-lesson by various forms and rites comprehending in its teaching the great plan of salvation.
It was given after God redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand, because hundreds of years of slavery had unfitted them to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required. God instructed Moses to ask free-will offerings of all that would be used in building, and He specially endowed His workmen to build it. The verse falls within the laws given through Moses that Malachi calls God's law, which includes more than the Ten Commandments.
That law also includes statutes and judgments, ceremonial laws, and laws about offerings, sacrifices, and types that show how the substance of the new dispensation is traced from the shadows of the old, while the verse itself is not explained in detail. As part of the earthly, worldly tabernacle described in Exodus 25-40, it belonged to a typical system serving unto the shadow of heavenly things and foreshadowing the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. It pointed to the coming Messiah and His power to forgive sin, transform the character, and deliver from burdens, and with the death of Christ and the rending of the veil that typical earthly sanctuary and its service passed away entirely and forever.
Court Pillars and Materials
The verse describes part of the open, uncovered court that enclosed the tabernacle, an oblong enclosure one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide without a cover. That court was five cubits high, about nine feet. Its curtains were supported by pillars set in brass sockets, with silver hooks and connecting fillets.
On the side here described there were twenty pillars set in twenty sockets of bronze or brass. The hooks of the pillars and their connecting bands, fillets, or rods were of silver. The construction followed the Lord's directions.
The full court was formed by sixty brass pillars with silver capitals and mountings, twenty on each side and ten on each end, holding the hangings or curtains. They stood five cubits apart in brass sockets fastened to the earth with brass pins. Since the curtains hanging on them were five cubits, the pillars were about that same length.
Those pillars supported the fine-linen curtains or hangings that enclosed the court. Their brass and silver fittings adorned the court. These structural details belonged to the portable dwelling place God asked Israel to make so He could dwell among them.
The fine-linen hangings of that court represent the righteousness of the saints. That righteousness comes through Christ, who is their righteousness. The building and inauguration of the sanctuary described in Exodus 36 to 40 showed God's acceptance of the people's repentance.