Exodus 39:40, commentary and pictures

Exodus 39:40 lists the finished hangings of the court with their pillars and sockets, the curtain for the court gate with its cords and pins, and all the vessels for the service of the tent of meeting, showing the careful and exact carrying out of God's directions. It belongs to the closing account of the preparation and fitting of the Tabernacle, which was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus. The completed work, found upon inspection to be made according to the pattern shown to Moses, is evidence that the earthly tabernacle was a model of the heavenly sanctuary. Because the earthly tabernacle consisted of two holy places, the great heavenly original from which it was copied must also consist of two corresponding holy places. Commanded after God redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage that He might dwell among them, it was a multiple object-lesson of the plan of salvation pointing to Christ and His priestly work, whose typical role ended with His death, and when completed as directed blessing and glory came down and God's glory filling it showed His acceptance.

Setting and Construction

Exodus 39:40 belongs to the second division of Exodus, chapters 19-40, in which the ransomed people are bound to Jehovah by covenant and given legal ordinances. More narrowly it belongs to the final six chapters, chapters 35-40, which relate the preparation and fitting of the Tabernacle. That Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year from the Exodus.

It belongs to Exodus 33-40, which records the building and setting up of the sanctuary. That work came immediately after the instruction concerning the sanctuary in Exodus 25-31 given to Moses in the mount. It continues in chronological order the events from Exodus 19 through Exodus 32.

The verse records the completed court hangings and their pillars and sockets, the gate curtain with its cords and pins, and the vessels used in the service of the tabernacle for the tent of the congregation. Its place among the instructions in Exodus 25-30 and their fulfillment in Exodus 35-40 shows the careful and explicit execution of God's directions, made exactly as God directed. Upon inspection Moses found the work to be as God had commanded, a true pattern.

The verse belongs to the very minute description in Exodus 25 to 40 of the worldly sanctuary built in the days of Moses, which was made exactly according to the pattern shown in the mount. That sanctuary was composed of two apartments separated by a veil, the holy place twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide and ten cubits high, and the most holy place ten cubits in each of its dimensions and thus just half as large as the holy place. Its sides and rear west end were composed of acacia boards overlaid with gold, secured at the bottom by tenons fitting into silver sockets weighing a talent each and held securely at the top by bars placed through rings attached to the boards.

It belongs to the account in Exodus 36-39 that sets forth the tabernacle as a structure of extraordinary magnificence formed of upright boards overlaid with gold, thirty cubits long and about ten in width and ten in height. At the east end, which was the entrance, there were five pillars of shittim wood whose chapiters and fillets were overlaid with gold, having hooks of gold, standing on five sockets of brass. Over the tabernacle thus erected were thrown four different coverings, the first and inner curtain composed of fine linen embroidered with figures of cherubim in blue, purple and scarlet forming the magnificent ceiling, the second made of goats' hair, the third of rams' skins dyed red, and the fourth and last of badgers' skins, with the east end enclosed by a richly embroidered curtain suspended from the pillars.

The structure it helps list had sides and one end formed of closely joined upright boards set in silver sockets fixed in the ground and held in position by bars crossing on the outside through rings 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 brushed aside for passage, and divided by another curtain into two apartments with the outer apartment having twice as much space as the inner. Its inner walls were overlaid with fine gold shining with the greatest brilliancy, representing the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem. The ceiling part of the curtains was finest and purest linen wrought with many angels in beautiful needlework, representing the angels of heaven waiting upon the bidding of Jehovah.

The sanctuary it describes was commanded by God after redeeming Israel from Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand, to be built from free-will offerings of all things used in building so He might dwell among them. It was built by workmen God specially endowed, according to the divine pattern God gave to Moses in the mount. It was a multiple object-lesson by forms and rites to teach the great plan of salvation and the character He required.

The sanctuary was God's dwelling place among His people, a role it continued to serve until Solomon built the temple according to the same pattern. The wilderness tabernacle and later Solomon's temple were the earthly centers of worship. These details belong to the explicit instructions for building the sanctuary, God's dwelling place among Israel.

The account of making and building the tabernacle to which the verse belongs is historically plausible, since ancient people had the skill to work fine linen and gold. After the work the verse lists was completed as directed, blessing and glory came down upon the congregation and the building. The manifestation of God's glory filling the sanctuary showed He accepted the people's repentance, in the making and setting up and consecrating of the sanctuary and its service equipment and its being filled with God's presence.

Heavenly Pattern and Service

The finished tabernacle with all its furnishings, including the hangings of the court with their pillars and sockets, the hanging for the court gate with its cords and pins, and all the vessels of the service of the tent of the congregation, was made exactly according to the pattern God showed Moses in the mount. When the completed work was brought to Moses for inspection in Exodus 39:32-43, he found it to be as God had commanded, a true and correct pattern or model. These details serve as evidence that the earthly tabernacle was a model of the heavenly sanctuary, built after forty days' inspection of the one shown in the mount. Since the earthly tabernacle consisted of two holy places, the great heavenly original from which it was copied must also consist of two corresponding holy places. Otherwise there would be perfect dissimilarity instead of likeness.

The making of the earthly sanctuary described here served as a pattern and object lesson pointing to the heavenly sanctuary and to Christ's priestly work there. That earthly sanctuary and its services were a type of the heavenly sanctuary and pointed to Christ the Messiah, whose work brings forgiveness and transformation. Its typical role ended with Christ's death. The wilderness tabernacle erected by Israel at God's command, and later Solomon's temple, were the earthly centers of worship. That worship centered on the holy of holies, where the law rested beneath the mercy seat.

The tabernacle shown finished in Exodus 39:32-43 was erected and anointed with oil in preparation for the appointed priestly service. That service was then carried forward day by day by the priests throughout the year in the court and in the first apartment of the sanctuary. One year allotted to this ministration always closed on the tenth day of the seventh month with a special service.