Representation

DEVOTION

EXODUS

REPRESENTATION

Ex 38

38:1 They built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, three cubits high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.   2 They made a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar were of one piece, and they overlaid the altar with bronze. 3 They made all its utensils of bronze — its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. 4 They made a grating for the altar, a bronze network, to be under its ledge, halfway up the altar. 5 They cast bronze rings to hold the poles for the four corners of the bronze grating. 6 They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. 7 They inserted the poles into the rings so they would be on the sides of the altar for carrying it. They made it hollow, out of boards. 8 They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 9 Next they made the courtyard. The south side was a hundred cubits long and had curtains of finely twisted linen, 10 with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 11 The north side was also a hundred cubits long and had twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 12 The west end was fifty cubits wide and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 13 The east end, toward the sunrise, was also fifty cubits wide. 14 Curtains fifteen cubits long were on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, 15 and curtains fifteen cubits long were on the other side of the entrance to the courtyard, with three posts and three bases. 16 All the curtains around the courtyard were of finely twisted linen. 17 The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver; so all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands. 18 The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen — the work of an embroiderer. It was twenty cubits long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits high, 19 with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks and bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. 20 All the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the surrounding courtyard were bronze. 21 These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, which were recorded at Moses' command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest. 22(Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything the LORD commanded Moses; 23 with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan — a craftsman and designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen.) 24 The total amount of the gold from the wave offering used for all the work on the sanctuary was 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel. 25 The silver obtained from those of the community who were counted in the census was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel —  26 one beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone who had crossed over to those counted, twenty years old or more, a total of 603,550 men. 27 The 100 talents of silver were used to cast the bases for the sanctuary and for the curtain — 100 bases from the 100 talents, one talent for each base. 28 They used the 1,775 shekels to make the hooks for the posts, to overlay the tops of the posts, and to make their bands. 29 The bronze from the wave offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels.   30 They used it to make the bases for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar with its bronze grating and all its utensils, 31 the bases for the surrounding courtyard and those for its entrance and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and those for the surrounding courtyard.

NIV

This is approximately sixty-five million dollars in gold, nearly two million dollars in silver and it is unclear the value of two and a half tons of bronze. But that is all the precious metals that were used in the construction of the tabernacle. The fixtures inside, the altars outside and the courtyard area. This does not include the cost of all the acacia wood and fabrics or the overall cost of labor. The total project was staggering in both cost of materials and labor. Far more than any of the ancient basilicas of Europe even with their massive sizes, like that of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. And yet with all this intricate work, this tabernacle was portable. We are unclear as to how much value was placed on gold, silver and bronze in those days, but imagine if there was a traveling exhibit being carried around by people today that was worth at least close to seventy million dollars. But what is the value men place on God? It is appearent the Israelites had no reservations about giving up everything of value for the place God would dwell among them. Again they had just invested in a golden calf not too long ago, but they also must have experienced the forgiveness of God in some sense. Those who the Levites had gone throughout the camp killing served to show the rest of them the grace they received. They had to have repented of their sin, their worship of the golden calf and came to their senses about their relationship with the LORD. We remember their giving of materials was so abundant the workers had to have Moses restrain them from giving more. They must have put great value on this project. We are unclear of the daily life within the camp during the construction period, however after it completion, we know the people were continually bringing some type of sacrifice for sin. It would seem the whole of community life was centered on the tabernacle, in turn around the LORD. There may have even been a bit of pride in their hearts every time they came near the courtyard, thinking of how they gave of their gold, silver, bronze, wood, wool, skins, and linens for its construction. Certainly this was the purpose of those large basilicas which usually stood in the center of town, to focus people on the LORD. Today we have such a wide variety of designs and sizes of local churches as well as so many different ones all throughout communities they somewhat lose the impact or influence on the daily life of people. Some denominations still seem to want the ornateness but for so many the plainness or even the non-church look style building dots the community landscape. How they hope to be the center of influence in the community still seems to elude reality. However there is another tabernacle which has great worth to God which is how he intends to dot the landscape and have tremendous influence on the community. We are that tabernacle in which God dwells among his people. We should be the center most attraction in the community, the central focus of the landscape. Perhaps we have taken this concept of being separate, of being other, too far and withdrawn from the community in which we are to be the central theme.  Maybe we have withdrawn into our buildings hoping beyond hope that some sinner will stumble in and get saved. Then maybe we just have the “Us four and no more attitude”, clinging to our own brand of Christianity, as separatists. But the tabernacle was the central theme in the camp of the Israelites, it stood in the center of all their daily life. We too must be that kind of tabernacle, a shining light on a hill where all people can see the tabernacle of God. This is where we can have great influence on the daily life of the people. We are not to blend in. The tabernacle was unlike any other tent in the camp. It was the most expensive display of their wealth, a shining example of their respect for the LORD. It did not blend in with the rest of the community. We should be standing tall, being different than rest of the community, being of great value to God, even more than the finest gold, silver and bronze, but yet right in the center of town, being the central focus, the central theme, the representation of the presence of God among the people.