Exodus 38:24, commentary and pictures

Exodus 38:24 records the gold occupied for the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, as twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels after the sanctuary shekel. It belongs to the account of the wilderness sanctuary's construction in Exodus 35-40, carrying out the directions given to Moses in the mount in Exodus 25-30, made from materials freely given by willing hearts and built by divinely endowed workmen exactly according to the divine pattern. That sanctuary was a movable dwelling of God among Israel and the center of their worship, whose completion was blessed with the manifestation of His glory. As part of the old-covenant shadows concerning the sanctuary and its offerings, it was a great object-lesson of the plan of salvation, a typical service pointing to the coming Messiah and the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. The scale of the offering shows Israel's willing generosity when God asked for materials, while its gold-covered brightness represented the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem.

Setting and Construction

Exodus 38:24 belongs to the account of the wilderness sanctuary's construction in Exodus 35-40, which records the carrying out of God's directions for building the sanctuary and making its furniture given in Exodus 25-30 to Moses in the mount. More broadly it belongs to Exodus 25-40 and to Exodus 33-40, giving the directions for building and the description of the sanctuary structure and the carrying out of God's instructions for its parts and furnishings. In chronological order this building followed the events of Exodus 19-32 and the instruction in Exodus 25-31, and it came after Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The gold it counts was part of the offering brought for the work and used for the work of the holy place to make a sacred place where God might dwell among Israel and where their worship centered.

The sanctuary was made from materials willingly given by the people with willing hearts as free-will offerings so that God might dwell among them. Those materials included gold, silver, brass, precious stones, blue, purple and fine linen, skins, spices and oil. It was built by workmen specially endowed by God, with its parts and furnishings made exactly as He directed according to the divine pattern given to Moses in the mount. The material of the dwelling-place recorded here was thus wrought exactly according to explicit directions.

The wilderness sanctuary was a movable structure designed to be taken down, carried, and reassembled as Israel traveled. It served as God's dwelling place among Israel in the wilderness and later in Israel, made at His request, and as the center of their earthly worship and service and religious worship. Especially the holy of holies was central, where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat. The completed building at the inauguration was blessed with the manifestation of God's glory, which showed His acceptance of the people's repentance.

Gold Amount and Value

The gold occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, amounted to twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary. That total is the sum devoted to the work of the tabernacle, reckoned by the sanctuary measure. Here sanctuary means the Lord's dwelling or tabernacle. And the shekel of the sanctuary was Israel's standard of weight.

By the American standard this gold alone was reckoned at $768,514.80, more than five times the $150,000 fund being raised, with the silver used for the tabernacle additional. The gifts of gold, silver, and brass together weighed more than ten and a half tons, and the gold alone was worth more than a million dollars by the values then used.

Type and Application

As part of the laws and records given through Moses concerning the sanctuary and its offerings and sacrifices, this reckoning of gold belongs to the law Moses was commanded to give, and those details of offerings and sacrifices are among the old-covenant shadows from which the substance of the new dispensation can be traced. It stands within Exodus 25-40, which gives the directions for building and the description of the marvelously beautiful sanctuary structure that God instructed Moses to have the children of Israel build from free-will offerings after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. That structure, built by workmen specially endowed by God according to the divine pattern given to Moses in the mount, was a great multiple object-lesson comprehending the great plan of salvation.

It belongs to the description of the movable worldly sanctuary built in the wilderness that God might dwell among His delivered people, recording the gold occupied for the work of the holy place and showing the material of the dwelling-place wrought exactly according to the explicit directions given to Moses in the mount. As part of that earthly tabernacle, afterward succeeded by Solomon's temple, it belongs to the typical service pointing to the coming Messiah and foreshadowing the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. The amount of gold used in the work of the holy place went into gold-covered inner walls that shone brightly and represented the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem.

The total was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty sanctuary shekels, including the gold given as an offering and used throughout the work of the sanctuary. The gifts of gold, silver, and brass together weighed more than ten and a half tons, and the gold alone was worth more than a million dollars by the values then used. The scale of the offering shows the Israelites' generosity toward God when He asked for materials for the sanctuary, highlighting willing giving for the sanctuary and asking how the soul is adorned for God's indwelling.