Exodus 39:33
And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets, And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets,
The verse marks the moment the finished dwelling with its tent, furnishings, clasps, boards, bars, pillars and sockets was delivered to Moses as completed work. Every part had been made exactly as God directed in minute detail according to the pattern shown to Moses in the mount during forty days. That completed earthly house with its two holy places was a correct model of the heavenly building, so the heavenly original must also consist of two holy places. It was built as God's dwelling place among His people and the earthly center of His worship focused on the most holy place where His law rested beneath the mercy seat. In this way it stood as a teaching object lesson of the plan of salvation and of Christ's priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary for forgiving sin and transforming character.
Tabernacle Built and Presented
They brought to Moses the finished work, the tabernacle with its tent and all its furniture, its clasps, boards, bars, pillars and sockets. It belongs to the account of the completed tabernacle brought to Moses as part of building and inaugurating the sanctuary and its services. It stands as part of the laws and instructions given through Moses concerning the tabernacle and the ceremonial system, whose offerings and types reveal the substance of the new dispensation through the shadows of the old.
The verse belongs to Exodus 35-40, which tell how the tabernacle and its furnishings were prepared and fitted together in carrying out the instructions for the sanctuary given in Exodus 25-31. That building and setting up in Exodus 33-40 came immediately after God gave Moses in the mount the instruction concerning the sanctuary in Exodus 25-31, following in chronological order the events recorded in Exodus 19 to Exodus 32 inclusive. The work finished with the tabernacle set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt.
Every part and equipment was made exactly as God directed, in very minute detail, as Exodus 39 records that the Lord's directions for building the sanctuary were explicitly carried out. The description in Exodus 25 to 40 is very minute, for Moses was instructed to make it exactly according to the pattern shown him in the mount. The structure was made of upright acacia boards overlaid with gold, about thirty cubits long, ten wide, and ten high. The boards had tenons on their lower ends fitting into silver socket bases each weighing a talent, and bars placed through rings attached to the boards at the top held them securely in position. Its inner walls were overlaid with gold, reflecting God's glory.
Its entrance was at the east end, with five gold-trimmed pillars standing on brass sockets and supporting an embroidered curtain. It was divided by a curtain into two apartments. It had four coverings: an inner fine-linen curtain embroidered with cherubim in blue, purple, and scarlet, then goats' hair, red-dyed rams' skins, and badgers' skins. The angels worked into the ceiling curtains represented the angels of heaven.
The sanctuary was composed of two apartments separated by a veil, with the sides of both apartments and the rear or west end formed by the boards. The first, called the holy place, was twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide, and ten cubits high, and the second, called the most holy place, was ten cubits in each of its dimensions and hence just half as large as the holy place. The skills needed for this work existed in the ancient world before the Exodus, as shown by evidence of fine linen work, goldworking, and finely made jewelry.
When the work was completed wonderful blessing and glory came down upon the congregation and the building, centered on the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant held God's holy law written on tables of stone. When the tabernacle was finished and erected it was anointed with oil to prepare it for the appointed priestly service. That service was carried forward day by day through the year in the court and the first apartment until the closing special service on the tenth day of the seventh month.
Heavenly Pattern and Purpose
The tabernacle was made exactly according to the pattern God showed Moses in the mount, which Moses inspected during forty days, and the very minute description of that sanctuary built in the days of Moses stands in Exodus chapters 25 to 40. It was composed of two apartments separated by a veil, the first called the holy place twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide, and ten cubits high, and the second called the most holy place ten cubits in each of its dimensions and hence just half as large as the holy place. Its sides and rear west end were composed of boards of acacia wood overlaid with gold, secured at the bottom by tenons fitting into sockets or bases of silver each weighing a talent, while at the top bars placed through rings held them securely in position. The completed work with its furnishings was brought to Moses after being made according to that shown pattern.
That completed earthly tabernacle with its two holy places was a correct pattern or model of the heavenly building. The heavenly original from which it was copied must also consist of two holy places, for if the original had only one there would be perfect dissimilarity instead of likeness. So the earthly tabernacle with two holy places serves as a model of the heavenly sanctuary, which likewise has two holy places.
It was built as God's dwelling place among His people in the wilderness, and it continued so through the period of the judges and kings until Solomon built the temple after its pattern. It was the earthly center of God's worship, which centered on the holy of holies, where the law rested beneath the mercy seat. There the ark of the covenant held God's holy law written on tables of stone, with every part and equipment made exactly as God directed.
The sanctuary was built according to God's pattern as a teaching object lesson of the plan of salvation and a place for God to dwell among Israel. The earthly sanctuary and its service were an object lesson of God's way and of Christ's priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary. Its furnishings and ceremonies pointed to Christ and His work of forgiving sin and transforming character, as type of the heavenly sanctuary and its service.
The verse belongs to the laws and instructions given through Moses concerning the tabernacle and the ceremonial system, whose offerings and types reveal the substance of the new dispensation through the shadows of the old. It stands in the record of building and inaugurating the sanctuary and its services in Exodus 35-40, carrying out the instructions given in Exodus 25-31. The account of the sanctuary's construction is worth studying for what it shows of that way and work.