Exodus 38:28, commentary and pictures

The verse records how the leftover 1,775 shekels of silver were worked into hooks for the pillars, into the covering for their tops, and into the bands that joined them. It stands in the minute account of the portable wilderness tabernacle built after Israel came out of Egypt and set up on the first day of the first month of the second year, made exactly according to the pattern shown to Moses in the mount. That sanctuary was God's sacred dwelling place among His people, where His glory would remain and their worship would center. It was given as a great object-lesson of the plan of salvation, its earthly form and rites foreshadowing the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and pointing to Christ and His power to forgive sin and transform character. As part of that building and adorning of God's house, it calls for examining how the soul temple is adorned for His indwelling.

Construction and Setting

The verse belongs to the minute, detailed description of the sanctuary built in the days of Moses in Exodus 25 to 40, made exactly according to the pattern shown to Moses in the mount. Its dimensions, material, furnishings, and all were made exactly according to the directions given to Moses in the mount. The directions for the sanctuary were given in Exodus 25-30, also described as Exodus 25-31, and were complied with and carried out in Exodus 35-40, also described as Exodus 36-40 and Exodus 33-40. That latter account comes in chronological order after the events of Exodus 19-32 and records the building, completing, and setting up of the sanctuary according to the Lord's directions.

The account concerns preparing and fitting the portable wilderness tabernacle built after Israel came out of Egypt. It was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus. This portable tabernacle was later replaced by Solomon's temple. The verse records that the remaining 1,775 shekels of silver were used to make hooks for the pillars, to overlay or cover their chapiters or tops, and to join or fillet them.

The sides and west end of its two apartments were composed of acacia boards overlaid with gold, secured at the bottom by tenons on the boards fitting into sockets or bases of silver each weighing a talent, and held securely at the top by bars placed through rings attached to the boards. The tabernacle entrance had five shittim-wood pillars, with hooks and chapiters and fillets overlaid with gold, standing on brass sockets. The marvelously beautiful structure was made from the free-will offerings of Israel by workmen specially endowed by God with wisdom to carry out the directions. It was not left to man's fancy in manner or size, for God gave explicit instructions that were not to be disregarded under penalty of death.

Purpose and Significance

The sanctuary was a sacred or holy place made so that God might dwell among Israel, where His glory would remain and where their worship would center. That portable wilderness tabernacle built after Israel came out of Egypt was later replaced by Solomon's temple, and worship on earth centered in these buildings, especially around the most holy place where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat. It was made from the free-will offerings of Israel according to the divine pattern shown to Moses in the mount, by workmen specially endowed by God with wisdom to carry out the directions, which were given in Exodus 25-30 and complied with in Exodus 35-40 and were not left to man's fancy in manner or size under penalty of death. Its dimensions, material, furnishings, and all were made exactly according to the directions given to Moses, and the complete description of that marvelously beautiful structure includes the use of the 1,775 shekels of silver to make hooks for the pillars and to overlay and join their chapiters.

It was given as a great multiple object-lesson by forms and rites comprehending the great plan of salvation for a people unfitted by long slavery to comprehend God's salvation and required character. The verse falls within the law given through Moses, which includes more than the Ten Commandments and encompasses civil, sacrificial, conduct, health, ceremonial, and moral laws. The laws about offerings, sacrifices, and types reveal how the substance of the new dispensation is traced through the shadows of the old.

That worldly sanctuary and its furniture was typical of and foreshadowed the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, serving unto the shadow of heavenly things. All its rites pointed to Christ and His power to forgive sin, transform character, and deliver from burdens, until the earthly sanctuary passed away entirely at the death of Christ. As part of the account of building and adorning God's sanctuary, the verse calls for examining how the soul temple is adorned for His indwelling.