And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.
All the fastenings that anchored the dwelling and its surrounding courtyard to the ground were made of copper-colored metal, holding the sockets in which stood the sixty pillared supports of the open courtyard about one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. The detail belongs to the exact and complete account of the wilderness sanctuary in Exodus 25-40, commanded according to the pattern shown on the mountain and then carried out and set up in the second year after the departure from Egypt. That sanctuary was God's dwelling among His people, a manifold object lesson given to a people unfitted by slavery to grasp His salvation and the character He required. The movable earthly house served as a shadow and pattern of the heavenly sanctuary and Christ's priestly work, foreshadowing the true tabernacle pitched by the Lord until its typical service ended forever at Christ's death. Its white hangings stand for the righteousness the saints receive through Christ, and its careful adorning presses the question of how the soul temple is prepared for God's indwelling.
Context and Construction Details
Exodus 38:20 belongs to the very minute and complete description of the sanctuary built in the days of Moses in Exodus 25 to 40, which Moses was instructed to make exactly according to the pattern shown him in the mount. It stands in the account of preparing and fitting the tabernacle, which was set up on the first day of the second year after the Exodus. Exodus 25-30 give the directions for building the sanctuary and making its furniture, while Exodus 35-40 record how those directions were complied with.
In chronological order the events of Exodus 19-32 come first, then the instruction concerning the sanctuary in Exodus 25-31 given to Moses in the mount, then the building and setting up of the sanctuary recorded in Exodus 33-40. The pins of the tabernacle and of its surrounding court were made of brass. Those brass pins fastened to the earth the brass sockets in which stood the sixty brass pillars forming the open oblong court around the sanctuary, one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide, with silver capitals, carrying hangings and set five cubits apart.
The court described in Exodus 38:9-20 measured about 150 feet by 75 feet, with hangings of fine-twined linen except for the entrance, which used blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. The marvelously beautiful sanctuary structure was given after Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage and was built from the free-will offerings of the children of Israel by workmen specially endowed by God to build it according to the divine pattern. It was made as God directed, and the completed work was accompanied by blessing and glory upon the congregation and the building.
Typology and Application
The pins being of brass belong to the complete description of the sanctuary as the dwelling place of God among His people. That marvelously beautiful structure was given after the deliverance from Egyptian bondage, when slavery had unfitted Israel to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required. It was built from the free-will offerings of the children of Israel by workmen specially endowed by God, according to a divine pattern given to Moses in the mount, so that God might dwell among them. It was a great multiple object-lesson which by various forms and rites comprehended the teaching of the great plan of salvation.
The detail belongs to the laws given through Moses, which included civil, sacrificial, health, ceremonial, and moral laws and not only the Ten Commandments. It is part of the body of laws that preserves the offerings, sacrifices, and types through which the substance of the new dispensation can be traced from the shadows of the old. The verse belongs to the account of making the earthly sanctuary, whose features served as a pattern and object lesson for the heavenly sanctuary and Christ's priestly work. That worldly sanctuary was first pitched in the wilderness after God brought Israel out of Egypt to Sinai, a movable dwelling built exactly according to the directions given in the mount so God might dwell among men, giving one detail of its dimensions, material, and furnishings. It served unto the shadow of heavenly things.
That earthly sanctuary and its service was typical of and foreshadowed the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, pointing to Christ and His power to forgive sin and transform character. Its typical and shadowy service passed away entirely and forever with the death of Christ when the temple veil was rent. The court to which the pins belonged was hung with fine-twined linen, except for the entrance of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, enclosing an area about 150 feet by 75 feet. That fine linen represents the righteousness of the saints, which they receive through Christ, who is their righteousness. The detail belongs to the adorning of God's sanctuary and calls each person to ask how his soul temple is adorned for God's indwelling.
All the fastenings that anchored the dwelling and its surrounding courtyard to the ground were made of copper-colored metal, holding the sockets in which stood the sixty pillared supports of the open courtyard about one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. The detail belongs to the exact and complete account of the wilderness sanctuary in Exodus 25-40, commanded according to the pattern shown on the mountain and then carried out and set up in the second year after the departure from Egypt. That sanctuary was God's dwelling among His people, a manifold object lesson given to a people unfitted by slavery to grasp His salvation and the character He required. The movable earthly house served as a shadow and pattern of the heavenly sanctuary and Christ's priestly work, foreshadowing the true tabernacle pitched by the Lord until its typical service ended forever at Christ's death. Its white hangings stand for the righteousness the saints receive through Christ, and its careful adorning presses the question of how the soul temple is prepared for God's indwelling.
Context and Construction Details
Exodus 38:20 belongs to the very minute and complete description of the sanctuary built in the days of Moses in Exodus 25 to 40, which Moses was instructed to make exactly according to the pattern shown him in the mount. It stands in the account of preparing and fitting the tabernacle, which was set up on the first day of the second year after the Exodus. Exodus 25-30 give the directions for building the sanctuary and making its furniture, while Exodus 35-40 record how those directions were complied with.
In chronological order the events of Exodus 19-32 come first, then the instruction concerning the sanctuary in Exodus 25-31 given to Moses in the mount, then the building and setting up of the sanctuary recorded in Exodus 33-40. The pins of the tabernacle and of its surrounding court were made of brass. Those brass pins fastened to the earth the brass sockets in which stood the sixty brass pillars forming the open oblong court around the sanctuary, one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide, with silver capitals, carrying hangings and set five cubits apart.
The court described in Exodus 38:9-20 measured about 150 feet by 75 feet, with hangings of fine-twined linen except for the entrance, which used blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. The marvelously beautiful sanctuary structure was given after Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage and was built from the free-will offerings of the children of Israel by workmen specially endowed by God to build it according to the divine pattern. It was made as God directed, and the completed work was accompanied by blessing and glory upon the congregation and the building.
Typology and Application
The pins being of brass belong to the complete description of the sanctuary as the dwelling place of God among His people. That marvelously beautiful structure was given after the deliverance from Egyptian bondage, when slavery had unfitted Israel to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required. It was built from the free-will offerings of the children of Israel by workmen specially endowed by God, according to a divine pattern given to Moses in the mount, so that God might dwell among them. It was a great multiple object-lesson which by various forms and rites comprehended the teaching of the great plan of salvation.
The detail belongs to the laws given through Moses, which included civil, sacrificial, health, ceremonial, and moral laws and not only the Ten Commandments. It is part of the body of laws that preserves the offerings, sacrifices, and types through which the substance of the new dispensation can be traced from the shadows of the old. The verse belongs to the account of making the earthly sanctuary, whose features served as a pattern and object lesson for the heavenly sanctuary and Christ's priestly work. That worldly sanctuary was first pitched in the wilderness after God brought Israel out of Egypt to Sinai, a movable dwelling built exactly according to the directions given in the mount so God might dwell among men, giving one detail of its dimensions, material, and furnishings. It served unto the shadow of heavenly things.
That earthly sanctuary and its service was typical of and foreshadowed the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, pointing to Christ and His power to forgive sin and transform character. Its typical and shadowy service passed away entirely and forever with the death of Christ when the temple veil was rent. The court to which the pins belonged was hung with fine-twined linen, except for the entrance of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, enclosing an area about 150 feet by 75 feet. That fine linen represents the righteousness of the saints, which they receive through Christ, who is their righteousness. The detail belongs to the adorning of God's sanctuary and calls each person to ask how his soul temple is adorned for God's indwelling.