Exodus 39:32, commentary and pictures

All the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation was brought to completion by Israel exactly as the Lord commanded Moses, and its construction and details are set out in Exodus 25-40. It was built as God's dwelling place among His people, with its dimensions, materials, and furnishings following the divine pattern shown on the mountain, and the finished work was inspected and found to conform to God's commands. The tabernacle erected after inspection of the heavenly one was a correct pattern or model of that heavenly building, serving as a teaching object for understanding God's way and Christ's priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary. Since the earthly copy consisted of two holy places, the great heavenly original must also consist of two holy places, for if the original had only one there would be complete dissimilarity instead of likeness. When the building and its furnishings were finished, blessing and glory came upon the congregation and the tabernacle, and the manifestation of God's glory at its inauguration showed that God accepted the people's repentance.

Context Words and History

Exodus belongs in two great parts, and chapters 19-40 form the second, in which the ransomed people are bound to Jehovah by solemn covenant and given legal ordinances for their guidance. Within that division, chapters 35-40 relate the preparation and fitting of the Tabernacle, and this verse marks its finishing, done exactly as the Lord commanded Moses. That completion came before the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year from the Exodus. In chronological order, the building and setting up of the sanctuary recorded in Exodus 33-40 immediately followed the instruction concerning the sanctuary in Exodus 25-31 given to Moses in the mount. That building work in turn came after the events of Exodus 19-32.

The verse falls within the part of Exodus that sets out the laws God gave through Moses, including moral precepts as well as laws about offerings, sacrifices, and ceremonies. It records that the work of the tabernacle was finished and that Israel had done what the Lord commanded Moses. The word rendered finished means to finish or complete, the Hebrew kalah carrying that sense as it does in descriptions of completing God's tabernacle or temple. The account of that completed work stands as evidence that the skilled craftsmanship and the materials used in its construction were possible in the ancient world.

Earthly Tabernacle Completed

The finished tabernacle was a richly made structure of upright boards covered with gold, with an embroidered linen ceiling and three outer coverings of goats' hair, red-dyed rams' skins, and badgers' skins, its entrance closed by an embroidered curtain. Its sides and one end were upright boards closely joined, with lower ends set in silver sockets fixed in the ground and held in position by outside bars passing through rings placed at uniform distances. It was roofed with curtains reaching to the ground on both sides, with the east end closed by hangings of fine-twined linen that could be brushed aside for passage, and it was divided by another curtain into two apartments, the outer apartment having twice the space of the inner.

The inner walls overlaid with fine gold shone with great brilliancy, representing the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem. The ceiling part of the curtains was of the finest and purest linen bearing many angels wrought in beautiful needlework, representing the angels of heaven waiting to do God's bidding. The sanctuary thus completed was God's dwelling place among His people in the wilderness and later in the temple, with its dimensions, materials, and furnishings following the directions given to Moses. It was the place where worship centered on the holy of holies, with God's law beneath the mercy seat.

It was built from the divine pattern shown on the mountain, and the finished work was inspected and found to conform to God's commands. All the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation was finished by Israel exactly according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, and its construction and details are set out in Exodus 25-40. The verse belongs to the second division of Exodus, chapters 19-40, in which the ransomed people are bound to God by covenant and given ordinances, and it marks the finishing of the preparation and fitting of the Tabernacle related in chapters 35-40, done exactly as commanded, before it was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus. It falls within the part of Exodus that sets out the laws given through Moses, including moral precepts and laws about offerings, sacrifices, and ceremonies.

When the building and its furnishings were finished, blessing and glory came upon the congregation and the tabernacle. The manifestation of God's glory at its inauguration showed that God accepted the people's repentance. Its finishing and erecting was followed by anointing with oil to prepare for the appointed priestly service. That service was carried forward day by day by the priests throughout the year in the court and in the first apartment, with one year of ministration closing on the tenth day of the seventh month with a special service.

Heavenly Sanctuary Patterned

All the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation was finished with the children of Israel doing according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, proving that the tabernacle erected after forty days' inspection of the heavenly one was a correct pattern or model of that heavenly building. The sanctuary and its parts had been made according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mount, and the finished work was inspected and found to conform to God's commands. Since the earthly copy consisted of two holy places, the great heavenly original must also consist of two holy places. If the original had only one there would be complete dissimilarity instead of likeness.

The completed earthly sanctuary and its service served as a pattern and teaching object for understanding God's way and Christ's priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary.