The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2 — Section 369

Ver. 10.-An altar moat holy. Not really ments (eh. xxv. Jfj; xxxi. 18). Bet th& more holy thnn I.he re~t of t.he taherne.ole e.nd atavea on the a.rk. "Put the staves," thnl its content~, which are all pronounced" moat is," into the rings, nod left thrm thore" (eh. holy" in eh. llllll. W ; hut requiring more to xxv. 14). Put the meroy ee11t above upon have its holines~ continually borne in mind, the 11rk. See eh. xxv. 21. since "it wos more exposed to contact with Ver. 21.-Bet np the veil of the covering- the people " thnn the tabernacle and its vessels i.e., hung the veil on the four pillars betweon (Keil). the holy pluce and the holy o[ holies, and Ver. 12.-Unto the door of the tabernaole thllB oovered-i.e., concealed from sight. tho --i.e., to the plnco whero the laver was ark of the testimony. (See the comment on situated (ver. 7). ver. 3) Ver. 14.-0oati. Rather," tunics." They Ver. 22.-ltpon the side of the tabernacle were to he " of fine linen, woven work " ( eh. northward. Upon the right hand. •s on~ xxxix. 27). faced the veil. No direction had heen gi,·en Ver. 15.-Thou 1halt anoint them 11,1 thou upon tbie point. but Moses prohuhly knew didst anoint their father. The mode of the right position from the patteru which he o.nointing does not seem to have been identic<1l had seen upon the mount. in the two coses. The oil wos first poured Ver. 28.-He eet the bread in order npon upon Aaron's bend (Lev. viii. 12; Ps. cxxxiii. it. Upon the subject of this'" order," see Lev. 2), and afterwards sprinkled upon him (Lev. xxiv. 6--8, and compare the comment on ver. 4. viii. 30). It was, apparently, only sprinkled Ver. 2-1.-0ver against the table-i.e., uron the priests (ib.). This WOS a lower form exactly opposite to the to.ble, on the left o.s o anointing; and hence the high priest was one faced the veil. BQmetimes called "the anointed priest" (Lev. Ver. 25.-When evening came, he lighted iv. 5, 16; vi. 22; xvi. 32, etc.). Their anoint- the la.mpe. (See the comment on ver. 4.) ing shall surely be a.n everla.ating priesthood. Whatever the priests ordinarily bad to do was Tbe Rnbbinical commentators maintain that on this occasion done by Moses. these words apply to the ordinary prie,-ts only, Ver. 28.-The golden altar, or "altar of and on the strength of them establish a differ- incense," was placed before the veil--i.e., out- ence between the ordinlll'Y priests nnd the side it, in the holy place, midway between the high priests. The l<1tter were in every case to table of shew-bread and the golden r.andlestick. be anointed to their office. A single anoint- Ver. 28.-He set up the hanging a.t the ing sufficed for the former. It is scarcely neces- door. He hnng on the five pillars at the sary to say that there is no Scriptural ground entrance to the tabernacle the " hanging " or for this distinction. The natural sense of the "curtain," which h.ui been made for the pur- words is, rather, that as long as the anointing pose ( eh. xxxvi. 37). r.ontinued, the priesthood should continue. Ver. 29.-He pllt the altar ofbumt-off'ering by the door of the tabernacle. See the Vers.17-33.-The actual setting up of the comment on ver. 6. And oifered upon it the t.a.ber-na.cle. bumt-off'ering a.nd the meat-oifering--i.e., in Ver. 17.-0n the first day the ta.bemaole his priest!y character inaugurated the altar by wa.s rea.red up. Being constrncted after the offering upon it the first evening sacrifice. fashion of a tent, it was quite possible to rear (See eh. xxix. 38--41.) up and also to take down, the tabernacle in Ver. 30.-He eat the la.ver. As directed less than a day. in ver. 7. For the position of the laver, see Ver. 18.-J!'aatened his sooketa. Rather, eh. XXX, 18. " placed its sockets." The "sockets" or Vers. 31, 32.-M:oeea and Aaron and hia " bases" appear to have been simply laid on BODS waahed their hands. This is not a p.ut the flat sand of the desert, not " fastened" to of the narrative of what was done at this time, it in any way. They were heavy masses of but a parenthetic statement of the purpose to metal and would remain where they were which the !aver was subsequently applied. placed. His pilla.rs, The pillars that sup- On the importance attached to these ablu- po.ted the "veil," and also those at the east tions, see eh. x.xx. 20, 21. end, where the entrance was. Ver. 33-He reared up the oourt, etc., a.s Ver. 19.-He spread a.broad the tent over directed in ver. 8. So Moses finished the the tabemaole. The entire distinctness of work. With the hanging of the curtain at the tent(' 6hel) from the tabernacle (mishkan) the entrance to the court, the erection of the is here very strougl y marked. The " tent " tabernacle was complete. It was probably not was the goats' hair covering, with the frame- till after th.is that Moses performed the acts work of wood that supported it. The oovering. of worship mentioned in the course of the The outer covering of rams' skins and seals' narrativ&--put water in the !aver (ver. 30), air.ins. (See eh. xxvi. 14.) offered sacrifice (ver. 29), lighted the lamp! Ver, 20. -The testimony--i.e., the two (ver. 25), and burnt inc8Dlle on the golden tabllll of rrtone coutainingthe Ten Commmd• alta, (ver. 26).  HOMILETICS. "rel'I!. 1-33.-The -timt of the fAlbernack. At last the work of prep&ration wu ~,.er. The work for which God had begun to give inRtructions more than nine months previous!~· ( eh. xrv. 1) WlLll completed. All the parts of the structure, pillal'I!, curtains, boards, rockets, ban, taches, books, pins; and all the furniture, ark, altars, table, can- dlei;tick, laver, Ve8~ls, censers, tongs, a.sh-pans-were finished and ready. All bad been inspected by Moses, and approved ( eh. xxxix. 43); they answered to the pattern which had been shown him in the mount (eh. xxv. 40). Still, however, Moses waited until be received from God :-1. The order for erection. 2. Instructions as to details. I. THE ORDER FOR ERECTION. "On the first day of the first month she.It thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation" (ver. 2). The order included :-1. TM act. "Set up the tabernacle." 2. The agent. "Thou "-i.e., Moses. 3. The time. " The first day of the fil'llt month." Concerning the act there is nothing to be so.id. It W&6 implied in the fil'llt order given, and lay e.t the root of every subsequent direction. The tabernacle could only have been devised in order to be set up. :But concerning the agent and the time there wa.s room for doubt. As to the agent : Beza.lee!, the master craftsman, might have been chosen to erect what he had constructed; or Aaron might have been deputed to arrange the temple of which he was to be chief minister; or Moses and Aaron and Beza.lee! might have been constituted e. commission to carry out the work conjointly. But it pleased God to appoint Moses alone. For every enter- prise it is best to have one directing mind, one ultimate authority. Otherwise there will be conflicting views, waste of time and energy, and commonly e.n inhe.nnonious result. And Moses, who had e.lone seen " the pattern on the mount," wa.s beyond e.11 doubt the fittest director that could have been selected. As to the time: any day that Wa.5 not e. Sabbath would have been fairly suitable; but there seems e.n especie.J appro- priateness in the selection of the :first day of e. new year. "To everything there is a sea.5on, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (Eccles. vii. 1). A new year should begin with a good work. What better work for such e. de.y than the opening of a Bethel-a house of God-a "tent of meeting," where God himself was to be met? God, who is the :first, should have the first. First fruits of ell things should be given to him. Thus, New Year's-day is a ne.tura.l holy day. It opens the year. It is thus the most appropriate for openings. II. INSTRUCTIONS AS TO DETAILS. A certain order had to be observed. God deter- mit!ed the order. First, the tabernacle itself was to be erected (ver. 2); then the ark was t.o be brought in and placed in the holy of holies (ver. 3); then the veil was to be hung up (ib.). After this the furniture of the holy place was to be brought in-the table of shewbread (ver. 4), the candlestick (ib.), and the altar of incense (ver. 5). Next, the hanging at the entrance to the tabernacle was to be put up (ib.) Lastly, the outer court and its furniture were to be to.ken in hand. The le.ver and altar of burnt olierinu were t.o be set in their ple.ces (vers. 6, 7); the pillars and hangings which encl~ the court were to be arranged., and the curtain hung at the entrance to ir. (ver. 8). The general law which pervades the whole is the precedence of the more imporumt over the less important. We do not know what time intervened between the delivery of these i.nstruct:ions to Moses and " the first day of the second year"; bur. probably the interval was not long. Moses would employ it in selecting a site, and in preparing the artificers and others for the day's pr~gs. When the appointed day arrived, he applied himself to the work (ver. 17). First, he stretched, by means of cords and tent-pins, probably on a light wooden framework, the taberne.cle cloth of blue e.nd purple and scarlet and fine twined !inen ( eh. xx"i: 1---6). Then he laid down th_e "sockeu;" of silver in their ple.ces, fitted the boards 1nto them by means of their "tenons," put in the bars which kept the boards together, and reared up the pillars for the veil (eh. :tl 18). After this he stretched the goats'-hair covering, which con- stituted the tent, outside and above the tabernacle cloth, and placed over the goats'-hair covering the rams' skins and the seals' skins (ver.19). So much constituted the erection· of the tabernaclll proper. Next he proceeded to the furniture ; he bro~ht in the ark and mercy saat,_and, having placed them in the holy of holies (ve.. 21), set up the nil; thus completing it, and isolating it from.th.e holy place. .After this,.he brought- en. JL. 18-33.] THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 3!J'I - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------