Exodus 38:26
A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
Exodus 38:26 records the required offering of half a shekel by the sanctuary standard from every numbered man twenty years old and upward, numbering 603,550 men in all. The silver thus gathered was cast into the sockets that held the upright gold-covered acacia boards forming the walls of the portable wilderness structure carried by Israel in their journeyings. Those gifts were part of the free-will offerings given after redemption from Egyptian bondage to provide materials for making a sanctuary for God. That sanctuary was the sacred dwelling made so God might dwell among Israel and the center of earthly worship and service focused on the holy of holies where His law rested beneath the mercy seat. It belongs to the broader law given through Moses, with its statutes, judgments, and laws of sacrifices and offerings, to be remembered so the realities of the new dispensation may be traced through the shadows and types of the old.
Wording and Historical Setting
The reckoning is of a required payment of one bekah apiece, that is half a shekel reckoned by the sanctuary shekel, laid on every man from twenty years old and upward who went to be numbered, and the numbering amounted to six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. The silver thus gathered went to the sockets in which the upright boards of acacia wood overlaid with gold were set, forming walls thirty cubits long and ten cubits wide and ten cubits high, so that the structure appeared like a building of gold. These gifts belonged with the materials willingly furnished for the wilderness tabernacle, supplied by free-will offerings called for from Israel after their redemption from Egyptian bondage, that they might make a sanctuary for God to dwell among them.
The reckoning stands in the record of the building and setting up of the sanctuary in Exodus 33-40, especially in Exodus 35-40, which sets forth how the directions for the sanctuary were carried out. That building record comes in chronological order after the events of Exodus 19-32 and carries into effect the instruction concerning the sanctuary given to Moses in the mount in Exodus 25-30, elsewhere stated as Exodus 25-31. What is described is the earthly sanctuary built in the wilderness according to God's directions. It was a portable structure made to be taken down and carried as Israel journeyed, and through the forty years in the wilderness the Levites bore it with its sacred vessels.
Dwelling Place and Worship
The wilderness building is the sanctuary, the sacred dwelling place made so that God might dwell among Israel. It belongs to the record in Exodus 35-40 showing how the directions for building in Exodus 25-30 were carried out, accounting for the silver for the sockets in which the upright boards of acacia wood overlaid with gold were set. Those boards made walls thirty cubits long, ten cubits wide, and ten cubits high that looked like a building of gold, erected as a sacred place for God to dwell among Israel and for their worship to center. It was built after God redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage and instructed Moses to ask free-will offerings of the children of Israel so they could make Him a sanctuary that He might dwell among them. The half-shekel contribution was required by the sanctuary shekel as the standard from each Israelite man aged twenty or older who was counted, with the total counted at 603,550.
It was the center around which Israel's earthly worship and religious service was performed. That worship and service was focused on the holy of holies, where the law of God rested beneath the mercy seat. The sanctuary was made to be taken down and carried as Israel traveled, and the Levites bore it and its sacred vessels during the forty years in the wilderness. Solomon's temple later took the place of the portable tabernacle as the central place of worship.
The verse is part of the law given through Moses, which includes more than the Ten Commandments. It also includes statutes and judgments, civil and health regulations, rules for conduct, and laws about sacrifices and offerings. These laws are to be remembered so that the realities of the new dispensation can be traced through the shadows and types of the old.