Exodus 38:19
And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver. And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver.
The verse describes four pillars of the outer court standing in four bases of brass, fitted with hooks of silver and with their tops and connecting bands overlaid with silver. They belonged to the courtyard of the wilderness tabernacle, an enclosure one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and five cubits high, or about nine feet. Their making was part of the exact carrying out in Exodus 35-40 of the pattern God had shown for the sanctuary and its furniture in Exodus 25-30, built by specially endowed workmen from free-will offerings. The sanctuary so built was God's appointed dwelling among Israel after He redeemed them from Egypt, a great object-lesson to teach a people debased by slavery His salvation and the character He required. It was the earthly center of worship until Solomon's temple, patterned after the heavenly sanctuary and Christ's priestly work, where the fine linen of the court signifies the righteousness of the saints obtainable only through Christ.
Context and Construction
The verse counts four pillars standing in four sockets of brass, fitted with hooks of silver and with their capitals and connecting rods overlaid or covered with silver. These pillars belong to the court of the tabernacle, an enclosure one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and five cubits high, about nine feet. The verse stands in Exodus 35-40, the record of compliance with the directions for the sanctuary and its furniture given in Exodus 25-30, carried out just as directed. In chronological order that building and setting up stands after the events of Exodus 19-32 and immediately after the instruction concerning the sanctuary given to Moses in the mount in Exodus 25-31.
Exodus, meaning going out, concerns Israel's departure from Egypt, and the verse belongs to its worship portion. The book is divided into history in chapters 1 to 18, laws in chapters 20 to 24, and worship in chapters 25 to 50. It shows how the family comfortably settled in Egypt grew more and mightier than the Egyptians, fell into bitter bondage and oppression, was greatly delivered, and became a nation with thorough organization, efficient leadership under Moses from his rescue from Egyptian malice in infancy through his work as chosen leader, a complete code of laws, and an established form of worship.
The verse belongs to the very minute description in Exodus 25-40 of the worldly, movable wilderness tabernacle, the sanctuary God commanded Israel to build after being brought out from under Pharaoh across the Red Sea. It was made by the people of God exactly according to the dimensions, material, furnishings, and explicit divine pattern shown to Moses in the mount, so that God might dwell among them. God specially endowed the workmen for the task, and the children of Israel built it from free-will offerings into a marvelously beautiful structure. The surrounding structure was composed of two apartments separated by a veil, the holy place twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide and ten cubits high, and the most holy place ten cubits in each of its dimensions, just half as large as the holy place.
Its sides and rear west end were upright boards of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set by tenons fitting into sockets or bases of silver each weighing a talent, and held securely in position at the top by bars placed through rings attached to the boards. Its roof and eastern entrance were closed by curtains, and another curtain divided it into the two apartments. When the court-gate curtains were hung and the construction recounted in Exodus 36-40 was completed and inaugurated, the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. That glory showed His acceptance of the people's repentance. The specific details of pillars and fittings in the verse are left unexplained, and Exodus 38 is assigned for reading on February 5.
Purpose and Teaching
The sanctuary to which the four pillars with their four brass sockets and silver hooks and silver overlaying of capitals and rods belonged was God's appointed dwelling-place among Israel, built according to His instruction so that He might dwell among them. It was a marvelously beautiful, movable structure that the children of Israel built from free-will offerings after their redemption from Egyptian bondage and their bringing out from under Pharaoh across the Red Sea, exactly according to dimensions, material, furnishings, and explicit divine pattern given to Moses in the mount, with God specially endowing the workmen for the task. When its court-gate curtains were hung and the work was completed, the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. After redeeming Israel from bondage, God gave this sanctuary as a great multiple object-lesson by various forms and rites to teach a people unfitted by slavery to comprehend His great salvation and the character He required, comprehending in its teaching the great plan of salvation.
Its construction belongs to the law of Moses, which includes more than the Ten Commandments in statutes and judgments, ceremonial laws, and laws of offerings, sacrifices, and types. These laws preserve the old-dispensation shadows through which the substance of the new dispensation can be traced. The construction serves as a pattern teaching about the heavenly sanctuary and Christ's priestly work, while its specific details about pillars and fittings are left unexplained. The wilderness tabernacle thus built was the earthly center of Israel's worship until Solomon's temple replaced it, with worship centered on the Most Holy Place where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat.
The fine linen of the court to which these pillars belonged represents the righteousness of the saints, which can be obtained only through Christ, who is their righteousness. The inner walls, formed from upright boards set in silver sockets and held by bars with roof and eastern entrance closed by curtains and another curtain dividing the two apartments, were overlaid with gold, representing the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem. The account of the sanctuary furnishings raises how the soul is adorned for God's indwelling.