The Dwelling-place Itself (Exodus 26:1 to Exodus 27:19).
Having described the main contents of the Sanctuary which represented the permanent blessing which came from Him in His presence, we now move on to the Dwellingplace proper.
The Dwellingplace was to be splendid in beauty. Its glory represented the glory of its King and His supreme righteousness. But it had to be patterned according to how God revealed it (Exodus 26:30). Nothing mundane must enter into its construction, and no ideas of man. It had to be kept pure in what it represented. The fine detail of its construction was a reminder of God's detailed activity on behalf of His own (compare Ephesians 2:21).
The Dwelling-place was to be about thirty cubits by ten cubits made of large curtains flung over a framework, the Most Holy Place being a perfect cube, ten cubits by ten cubits by ten cubits, symbolising the perfection of God, and the Holy Place twenty cubits by ten cubits. These were then covered by goats' hair, and then by rams' skins dyed red and finally by dolphin or dugong skins.
The Tabernacle/Temple would finally be dispensed with when God found a more splendid and more fitting Dwellingplace, the living temple of His people (2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:20-22) who would submit at His throne, and receive the bread and light of life. And it would finally find its fulfilment in Heaven (Hebrews 8:2; Hebrews 9:24).
The Curtains of the Dwellingplace and the Outer Tent (Exodus 26:1-14)
The making of these may be analysed as follows:
a The Dwellingplace to be made of ten curtains of fine-twined linen, and bluey-purple and purpley-red, and scarlet worked with pictures of cherubim, and made by skilful workmen (Exodus 26:1).
b Length and breadth of the curtain in cubits (Exodus 26:2).
c Two sets of five curtains to be coupled together (Exodus 26:3).
d Loops to be made on the edges of the curtains (Exodus 26:4).
e Fifty loops on one set of curtains and fifty loops on the other, the loops to be opposite one another (Exodus 26:5).
f Fifty clasps of gold are to be made to couple the curtains and make the Dwellingplace one (Exodus 26:6).
g Curtains of goats' hair to be made to form a tent over the Dwellingplace, there are to be eleven curtains (Exodus 26:7).
g The length and breadth of the eleven curtains of the outer tent is described (Exodus 26:8).
f The method of coupling the curtains for the outer tent is described (Exodus 26:9).
e Fifty loops on one set of curtains and fifty loops on the other, the loops to be opposite one another, on the curtains for the outer tent (Exodus 26:10).
d Fifty clasps of brass are to be put in the loops to bring the curtains together (Exodus 26:11).
c The overhanging of the curtains is described (Exodus 26:12).
b Description of the overhanging in cubits (Exodus 26:13).
a The tent covering is to be made of rams' skins dyed red and a covering of porpoise skins (Exodus 26:14).
It will be noted that in ‘a' the making of the Dwellingplace is described and in the parallel the making of the outer tent. In ‘b' the curtains are measured in cubits, and in the parallel the overhanging is measured in cubits (apart from in verse 8 the only mention of cubits in the narrative). In ‘c' the curtains are described, in the parallel the overhanging of the curtains is described. In ‘d' the loops are described and in the parallel the clasps that utilise the loops. In ‘e' we have fifty loops on each set of curtains opposite each other, and in the parallel the same. In ‘f' fifty clasps of gold join the loops and make the Dwellingplace one, and in the parallel the method of coupling for the outer tent is described. In ‘g' the overtent of goats' hair is composed of eleven curtains, while in the parallel the length and breadth of the eleven curtains are described.
We would suggest that the way in which the making of the two sets of curtains is described in such a way that we have a chiasmus by using keywords is very clever and quite remarkable, while if we compare each section verse by verse they would not wholly fit.
“Moreover you shall make the Dwelling-place with ten curtains. You shall make them as the work of a skilful craftsman of fine twined linen, and of blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim woven in. The length of each curtain shall be twenty eight cubits and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains shall have one measure. Five curtains shall be coupled together, the one to the other, and the other five curtains shall be coupled together the one to the other.”
The first procedure in making the Dwelling-place is to make ten curtains of the same size, of different colours, of which two are then to be made each consisting of five of the ten curtains joined together. They are to be made of fine twined linen and multicoloured cloth (sections consisting of the different colours having been attached together) with cherubim patterned in. Thus the final large curtains would appear to be twenty eight cubits by twenty cubits (about thirteen metres by ten metres or forty foot by thirty foot). It appears that the edge was then woven making a selvedge.
It has been suggested that bluey-purple represents its heavenly connections, purpley-red its royal connections, red symbolises the shedding of blood and the fine linen represents purity (but see above on Exodus 25:4). The cherubim, symbolising a heavenly reality, were a reminder of the spiritual beings who attended on the throne of Yahweh. The size of the curtains was limited both for practical purposes and by their methods of manufacture.
“And you shall make loops of bluey-violet on the edge of the one curtain along the woven edge in the set, and in the same way you shall make loops on the outmost edge of the curtain in the second set. You will make fifty loops on the one curtain, and you will make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set. The loops shall be opposite one another. And you will make fifty clasps of gold and couple the curtains one to another with the clasps, and the Dwelling-place shall be one.”
The use of loops and clasps was a popular method of joining curtains together in the Ancient Near East and is still used today. The two curtains were joined by fifty loops. They could thus be split apart for travelling. When fitting together the whole would be flung over the framework described below forming the Dwelling-place. This would then be protected by a goat-hair covering so that the curtains were only seen from the inside.
Paul uses these fittings and framework of the Tabernacle as a picture of God's careful concern for His people (Ephesians 2:21).
“And you shall make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the Dwelling-place. You shall make eleven curtains. The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains shall have one measure. And you shall join five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. And you will double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. And you will make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is on the outside of the first set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is on the outside of the second set. And you shall make fifty clasps of copper, and put the clasps into the loops and couple the tent together that it may be one. And the overhanging part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the rear of the Dwelling-place, and the cubit on the one side and the cubit on the other side of what remains in the length of the curtains in the tent, shall overhang the sides of the Dwelling-place on this side and on that to cover it.”
The goats' hair covering was to be made in the same way but was to be larger than the inner curtains so that it overhung and could be tucked in at the front and would protect the inner curtains at front, rear and at both sides from the weather.
Note that the goat's hair is ‘a tent over the Dwelling-place'. Thus the Dwelling-place strictly consists of the framework plus the inner curtains. These latter are overhung by the goats' hair by two cubits (twenty eight cubits compared with thirty cubits).
“And you shall make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red and a covering of dolphin (or dugong) skins above.”
These were the final weatherproofing and protected the whole. The red rams' skins over portable religious tents are witnessed later among the Bedouin.