Exodus 38:30
And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar, And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,
The brass from the offering was fashioned into the sockets for the entrance pillars of the tabernacle, the altar of burnt offering for sacrifices to God, its brass grate, and all its vessels, exactly as God directed. This work belonged to the preparing, fitting, building and setting up of the movable wilderness tabernacle after God brought Israel out of Egypt to Mount Sinai, in the order recorded in Exodus 35-40 in compliance with the pattern for the sanctuary and its furniture given to Moses in the mount in Exodus 25-30. God commanded Israel to make the sanctuary so that He might dwell among them, and it became the center of earthly worship and service organized around the most holy place where His law rested beneath the mercy seat. By its forms and rites it was given as a great object-lesson to teach Israel the plan of salvation, for the worldly sanctuary was always typical of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, with all its ceremonies pointing to the Lamb of God and the coming Messiah, until true worship centered there passed away forever with the rending of the veil at the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary. When the work was finished the cloud covered the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filled it, bringing blessing upon the congregation and the building and showing His acceptance of the people's repentance.
Building the Wilderness Tabernacle
Exodus 38:30 belongs to the account of preparing, fitting, building and setting up the movable wilderness tabernacle after God brought Israel out from under Pharaoh across the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, and that tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus. The building and setting up in Exodus 33-40 came in chronological order after the instruction concerning the sanctuary in Exodus 25-31 given to Moses in the mount, following the events of Exodus 19-32. Exodus 35-40 record how Israel complied with the directions for building the sanctuary and making its furniture given in Exodus 25-30.
The worldly sanctuary is described in Exodus 25 to 40 with minute detail, including its sockets and vessels. It was made exactly according to the explicit pattern shown to Moses in the mount. It was a marvelously beautiful structure, built from the free-will offerings of all that would be used in building, by workmen specially endowed by God to build it.
Therewith were made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle, the brazen altar of burnt offering used for offering sacrifices to God, its brazen grate, and all the vessels of the altar, according to God's directions. The sanctuary entrance pillars stood in brass sockets. The east entrance had five pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold, with gold chapiters, fillets, and hooks.
The layout included an outer and an inner apartment. Its inner walls were overlaid with bright gold, representing the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem. Angels worked into the ceiling curtains represented the angels of heaven awaiting God's command.
When the work was finished the cloud covered the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filled it. That completion was followed by blessing and glory upon the congregation and the building. God's glory appearing at the sanctuary showed His acceptance of the people's repentance.
Sanctuary Purpose and Foreshadowing
God commanded Israel to erect the tabernacle, asking them to make the sanctuary so that He might dwell among them. It was built from free-will offerings of all that would be used in building, according to the divine pattern shown to Moses in the mount, by workmen specially endowed by God to build it. When finished the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord filled it.
The tabernacle was the center of earthly worship and service, organized around the most holy place, where the law of God rested beneath the mercy seat. By various forms and rites it was given as a great multiple object-lesson to teach Israel, unfitted by hundreds of years of slavery to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required, the great plan of salvation. It belongs to the section in which God's laws given through Moses are set forth, including laws about offerings, sacrifices, and types that show how the substance of the new dispensation is traced through the shadows of the old.
The lesser worldly sanctuary, with its door sockets, brazen altar of burnt offering, brazen grate, and all the vessels of the altar, was always typical of and foreshadowed the better temple, the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, serving unto the shadow of heavenly things. All its rites and ceremonies were object lessons pointing to the Lamb of God and the coming Messiah and His power to forgive sin, transform the character and deliver from burdens. Until the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary the true worship of God centered in that worldly sanctuary, which with the rending of the veil passed away entirely and forever. The making of the tabernacle furnishings, including the sockets at the entrance, the bronze altar, its bronze grate, and the altar vessels, prompts reflection on how the soul is adorned for God's indwelling.