Exodus Chapter 38

EXODUS 

CHAPTER 

38

1. He made the altar of burnt offering also of acacia wood; it was five cubits long, and five cubits wide; it was square, and three cubits high.

(Exodus chapter 38 verse 1)


The altar of burnt offerings was made according to the dimensions given by God, on which burnt offerings were to be offered. Oh father may my heart be a place where I can offer my offerings of thanksgiving to You and even my chalice of sorrows. Thanks for giving me this special place where I can communicate with You. May You bless this blog and the time spent in prayer and worship by those who use it as a means of prayer and worship and may all our prayers appear before You in a flame of fragrant offering like the incense that was burnt as an offering to You.


2. He made horns for it on its four corners; its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.

(Exodus chapter 38 verse 2)

According to Mr. Devain Pawar the author of this chapter, just as in a square, the horns connected its four corners thus making the altar, a single unit. As in the case of humanity, no matter we humans may be living far away from each other living on the other side of the world or we are all united and all form part of the human race as created by God. 

3. He made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the firepans; all its utensils he made of bronze.

(Exodus chapter 38 verse 3)

Every utensil made had its own intrinsic value and therefore was made of a particular material. As previously mentioned those utensils that were made to serve directly in the service of God were made of Gold, other utensils were made of inferior material such as bronze, however in order for the offering to take place all the utensils and apparatus were needed and their utility was worth its value in gold. Even in the Church, Everyone from the altar boy, priest, laity all have their function and value, and nobody can say that one does not need the other, or that one's role can be discarded for the other or considered as useless. 

According to Mr. Devain Pawar the author of this chapter, in the process of furnishing the tent of the meeting the people started making items that were of a simple nature made from wood, however in time they moved on to accomplish more complex tasks thus making the tent more attractive and fitting to welcome the presence of God. God works in the same way in our lives. He may give us an idea or a calling that may on first sight appear crazy or insignificant however with alot of patience and love from You my God You develop it into something that gives You infinite pleasure.


A typical example is human nature meaning me and you. God created us in the womb by means of our parents and up to this very day we are developing from a material being to people who are becoming more like God sharing in love, faith and care towards ourselves and moreover towards others as is the will of God.  


4. He made for the altar a grating, a network of bronze, under its ledge, extending halfway down. 5. He cast four rings on the four corners of the bronze grating to hold the poles; 6. he made the poles of acacia wood,  and overlaid them with bronze. 7. And he put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar, to carry it with them; he made it hollow, with boards.

(Exodus chapter 38 verses 4 to 7)


In order to have an idea of what this altar looked like please click on the following link:-

The altar of burnt offerings


8. He made the basin of bronze with its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

(Exodus chapter 38 verse 8)

God is just like a mirror. He shows us our true selves and makes us realize who we are, who He is and where we stand as sinners in our relationship with Him and others. God also makes us aware of our errors when we wander away from Him. Just like a mirror He reflects our reality so that we can turn back to him before we place our spiritual welfare into serious trouble.

Moreover as in the case of the bronze material used to make the basin God also forms us into a form that can be of service to Him and others by giving us the necessary qualities needed to accomplish the given call or task. The greatest quality is that of love and faith.

9. He made the court; for the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twisted linen one hundred cubits long; 10. its twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver. 11. For the north side there were hangings one hundred cubits long; its twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver. 12. For the west side there were hangings fifty cubits long with ten pillars and ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.

(Exodus chapter 38 verses 9 to 12)

God even told those who were making the tent and its furnishings to make some free space in order to give access to view the ark to those who were on the outside. God gives us the opportunity to explore our world from different perspectives thus becoming aware of the needs of those of our north, south east and even west, the poor the rich and those who in their situations are faring well, God is open to welcome people of different religions this may explain why the tent of the meeting was accessible from almost all angles, Even during our times the Roman Catholic Church welcomes people of all religions it even holds a yearly meeting thus inviting members of all religions to meet and unite in a spirit of prayer. The Vatican Council has also an Encyclical called 'Unitatis Redintegrazio" 


This document can be found by clicking on the following link Unitatis Redintegrazio


13. And for the front to the east, fifty cubits. 14. The hangings for one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with three pillars and three bases 15. And so for the other side; on each side of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with three pillars and three bases. 16. All the hangings around the court were of fine twisted linen. 17. The bases for the pillars were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver; the overlaying of their capitals was also of silver, and all the pillars of the court were branded with silver

(Exodus chapter 38 verses 13 to 17)


In order to obtain a bird's eye view of the tabernacle and the furnishings of the court please click on the following link.


The layout of the court of the tabernacle

In life we are exposed to different forms of curtains of deception by which the truth is hidden from us. On the other hand, those who have put the curtain do their best to make sure that the curtain is not lifted, not only the devil does this but many people also do the same by telling lies to us and do their best that to make sure that their deception is not exposed.

18. The screen for the entrance to the court was embroidered with needlework in blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine twisted linen. It was twenty cubits long and, along the width of it five cubits high, corresponding to the hangings of the court. 19. There were four pillars; their four bases were of bronze, their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their bands of silver. 20. All the pegs for the tabernacle and for the court all around were of bronze. 

(Exodus chapter 38 verses 18 to 20)

According to the author of this chapter in our life, no matter how many curtains are placed before us in order to hinder us from reaching our ultimate goal that of being reunited with God, sooner or later these curtains or obstacles are meant to be lifted no matter how hard, many people attempt to deceive us God, will always be their to uplift those curtains and show us, the truth and the light to find our way to Him.

21. These  are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant which were drawn up at the commandment of Moses, the work of the Levites being under the direction of Ithamar son of the priest Aaron,

(Exodus chapter 38 verse 21)


Verses 21 to 31 are a haven for those of us who love keeping track of costings and accounts. Although part of my work concerns billing and statements I still do not consider myself as an accountant, However in a spirit of prayer God gave me the following reflection in light of verses 21 to 31 which brings us to the end of this chapter. All the work and skills devoted to the construction of the temple and its apparatus were accounted for in the following inventory. As Christians all the good deeds that we do to others and even those actions that are done as a consequence of willful sinful actions are also accounted for. Although You oh father are portrayed as loving Father and I wholly believe that You are, I also believe that You believe in justice and in truth therefore You cannot hold back from executing judgement in order to assure that justice is done both at the time that we appear before You at the point of death and even at the point of universal jurisdiction.


22. Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses: 23. and with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, engraver, designer and embroiderer in blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and in fine linen.

(Exodus chapter 38 verses 22 to 23)

According to the author of this chapter, Aaron was a priest, Oholiab was an engraver and designer. They both had a talent that, they used to the fullest so that society would benefit from their efforts sustained with the help of God. All of us have a special are in which we are gifted, however as humans, we tend to look at our bad things and not focus on our good talents. Therefore we are to be be happy for whatever talents God has given us and whatever skills and talents he has given us we are to use happily and to the maximum of our potential for the benefits of society and in the work of God our father.

24. All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, measured by sanctuary shekel.

(Exodus chapter 38 verse 24)

After alot of digging I calculate that twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels amounts 1160 kg of gold. According to the following hypotheses if 1 talent is 40 kg of gold 29 x 40 is 1160 kg of gold.

25. The silver from those of the congregation who were counted was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy five shekels, measured by the sanctuary shekel. 26. a beka a head (that is half a shekel, measured by the sanctuary shekel), for everyone who was counted in the census, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand, five hundred fifty men. 27. The hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary, and the bases of the curtain; one hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent for base. 28. Of the thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their capitals and made bands for them. 29. The bronze that was contributed was seventy talents, and two thousand four hundred shekels; 30. with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar, 31. the bases all around the court, and the bases of the gate of the court, all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court.

(Exodus chapter 38 verse 25 to )

According to Mr. Deevain Ajit Pawar the author of this chapter, many precious metals such as gold and silver and brass were used which was impossible for anyone to collect this great quantity of resources. However God gave them whatever materials they needed for the completion of the whole project. Similarly God gives us all those things that we need in order to achieve our goals. However although we all in some way or another benefit from God's providence not all use it properly for the good of humanity but sometimes only to achieve power and personal accomplishments.

Mr. Deevain Ajit Pawar the author of this chapter chose to end this chapter with the following prayer:-

                                                                                              

God thank you for giving me the things  I needed in my life thank you for being with me every time saving me from myself from my foolish deeds and from the curtains of deception in front of my eyes as with you always looking upon me I feel safe thank you God for everything. 

 Thank you God for everything.