Exodus 39:3
And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work. And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.
The verse describes skilled work for God's dwelling among His people, beating gold into thin sheets, cutting it into threads, and weaving it with skill into the blue and purple and scarlet materials and fine linen exactly as directed. That gold-threaded work formed the sanctuary's inner curtain and inner covering embroidered with cherubim for its magnificent ceiling, and the tabernacle garments. It was done exactly according to the divine pattern for the tabernacle with its holy and most holy places shown to Moses in the mount, not by human choice, and when inspected it matched all God had commanded. It was wrought by Bezalel and Oholiab with other devoted workers whom God specially endowed with His Spirit for building, given to Israel after redemption from Egyptian bondage so He might dwell among them and reveal His great love more fully. As part of the movable worldly sanctuary its leading features taught God's way as a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary and Christ's priestly work, with all its rites and workmanship pointing to the coming Messiah until passing away at His death, centering on the holy of holies where the ark containing God's law was placed and where glory came down to show His acceptance.
Making the Sanctuary
Exodus 39:3 belongs to the account of the preparing and fitting and the building and setting up of the tabernacle. That tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus. This building and setting up in Exodus 33-40 comes in chronological order after the events of Exodus 19-32 and immediately follows the instruction concerning the sanctuary given to Moses in the mount in Exodus 25-31.
The verse describes skilled work for God's dwelling place among His people. Gold was beaten into thin plates or sheets and cut into wires or threads, then skillfully worked or woven into the blue and the purple and the scarlet materials and the fine linen. The sanctuary directions were carried out explicitly in this work, according to explicit instructions and not by human choice.
That work made the sanctuary's inner curtain and inner covering. These embroidered materials, worked with figures of cherubim, formed the inner covering of the tabernacle and made its ceiling magnificent. The same work made the tabernacle garments and the sanctuary garments, with the gold threads woven with blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and worked into colored cloth. This skilled goldworking belongs to the account of the sanctuary's construction and inauguration, whose completion with manifested glory showed God's acceptance of the people's repentance.
The full description to which the verse belongs, running from Exodus 25 to the end of Exodus, shows a structure whose sides and one end were upright boards closely joined and set in silver sockets in the ground and held by bars passing through rings. It was roofed with curtains reaching to the ground on both sides, with the east end closed by hangings of fine-twined linen brushed aside for entry. It was divided by another curtain so the outer apartment had twice the space of the inner. The inner walls were overlaid with fine gold shining with the greatest brilliancy, representing the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem, and the ceiling portion of the curtains was finest and purest linen wrought with beautiful needlework figures of many angels, representing the angels of heaven waiting upon the bidding of Jehovah. The goldworking and textile skills thus described were already known in the ancient world before the Exodus.
Divine Pattern and Meaning
The beating of gold into thin plates, cutting it into threads, and weaving it with blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen was done exactly according to God's explicit instructions and not by human choice. It belongs to the building of the tabernacle with its holy and most holy places and their furnishings, made in dimensions, material, furnishings, and all according to the pattern shown to Moses in the mount. When the detailed work described from Exodus 25 to 40 was finished, it was inspected by Moses and found to match what God had commanded as the true pattern. That work was done by Bezalel and Oholiab together with other devoted men and women on whom God placed His Spirit. God specially endowed those workmen for building, so the building might be properly erected and the work properly done.
God gave Israel that marvelously beautiful sanctuary structure after redeeming them from Egyptian bondage, so He might dwell among them. Their slavery had unfitted them to comprehend His great salvation and the character He required, so by various forms and rites the sanctuary served as a great, multiple object-lesson to teach the great plan of salvation and to reveal His great love more fully. This continued the unfolding of the plan of redemption previously shown from Eden to the Exodus in the very simple service in which the father of each family acted as priest to offer a lamb for sin on an altar of rough stones. As part of the movable worldly sanctuary, and as part of the law given through Moses which includes more than the Ten Commandments, including statutes and judgments and laws concerning ceremonies, offerings, and types, its details help show how the realities of the new dispensation were foreshadowed in the old. Its leading features were given to teach God's way as a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary and Christ's priestly work, with all its rites and workmanship pointing to the coming Messiah and His power to forgive sin, transform character, and deliver from burdens, until passing away entirely and forever at the death of Christ when the temple veil was rent.
The sanctuary centered on the holy of holies, where the ark of the covenant was placed containing God's holy law written on tables of stone. When the construction with all its furniture and equipment was completed and inaugurated, wonderful blessing and glory came down upon the congregation and the building. That manifested glory showed His acceptance of the people's repentance. The Spirit-endowed completion of the work shows God is just as willing to bless consecrated workers in material things as workers in spiritual things.