Daily Scripture Reading Exodus 26:7-30
One of the debates within Christianity has to do with whether or not Christians need to observe the Mosaic Law in some way, shape, or form. Since the law includes animal sacrifices and other requirements that are challenging to observe today, those who believe it still applies today either need to offer animal sacrifices, or come up with ways that modern society can symbolically observe the Law of Moses.
The New Testament book of Hebrews makes it clear the Mosaic Law does not apply to Christians. The argument is that Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, not Levi, and that since the priesthood changed, the law also changed (see Hebrews 7:12). If the law changed when the priesthood changed, then Christians do not need to observe the Mosaic Law. While making this argument, the author of Hebrews quoted a command which is found several times in the book of Exodus, including today’s passage.
Chapter 26 of Exodus is part of a passage in which Yahweh gave Israel instructions regarding how to build a tabernacle.
Ex. 26:7 ¶ “Then you shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you shall make eleven curtains in all.
Ex. 26:8 The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains shall have the same measurements.
Ex. 26:9 And you shall join five curtains by themselves and the other six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent.
Ex. 26:10 You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set.
Ex. 26:11 ¶ “You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and you shall put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it will be one unit.
Notice the word “one”. The Israelites were constructing a tabernacle that had to be movable; thus, it had to be constructed of many different pieces. However, Yahweh also wanted it to be one unit. The method of uniting all the pieces into a unified unit was to create a single covering which would cover all the various pieces.
This idea of uniting many parts into one unit foreshadowed the church. The church is made up of many individuals scattered all over the globe. However, all people who believe in Jesus are united together by the Holy Spirit into one church.
Ex. 26:12 The overlapping part that is left over in the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that is left over, shall lap over the back of the tabernacle.
Ex. 26:13 The cubit on one side and the cubit on the other, of what is left over in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall lap over the sides of the tabernacle on one side and on the other to cover it.
Ex. 26:14 You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of porpoise skins above.
The covering of goats’ hair described in verses 7-13 was the first covering that went on top of the tabernacle. Then a covering of rams’ skins went on top of the curtain of goats’ hair. Finally, a covering made of porpoise skins covered everything.
Ex. 26:15 ¶ “Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright.
Ex. 26:16 Ten cubits shall be the length of each board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board.
Ex. 26:17 There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus you shall do for all the boards of the tabernacle.
Ex. 26:18 You shall make the boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side.
Ex. 26:19 You shall make forty bases of silver under the twenty boards, two bases under one board for its two tenons, and two bases under another board for its two tenons;
Ex. 26:20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards,
Ex. 26:21 and their forty bases of silver; two bases under one board and two bases under another board.
Ex. 26:22 For the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, you shall make six boards.
Take note of the words “rear” and “west”. Yahweh not only specified how to construct the tabernacle, He also specified that it should face east, towards the rising of the sun.
In modern society, we have a northern orientation, meaning maps are designed with north at the top. North is considered to be up while south is considered to be down. The north pole is called the top of the world. Australia is called down under because it is near the south pole, which is the bottom of the world.
Ancient Israel appears to have oriented itself towards the east. The Hebrew word for east also means forward or front. The Hebrew word for left also means north. West meant back or rear. Thus, there are some maps of biblical Israel that have east at the top instead of north at the top to reflect how they viewed the world.
Ex. 26:23 You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear.
Ex. 26:24 They shall be separated beneath, but together at their completion at its top, at the first ring; thus it shall be with both of them: they shall form the two corners.
Ex. 26:25 There shall be eight boards with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under one board and two bases under another board.
Ex. 26:26 ¶ “Then you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle,
Ex. 26:27 and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the rear side to the west.
Ex. 26:28 The middle bar in the center of the boards shall pass through from end to end.
Ex. 26:29 You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold.
Ex. 26:30 Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to its plan which you have been shown in the mountain.
Notice the command to erect the tabernacle according to the plan which was shown in the mountain. This command was repeated multiple times in the book of Exodus and was quoted by the author of the book of Hebrews for the following reason.
One of the debates within Christianity has to do with whether or not Christians need to observe the Mosaic Law in some way, shape, or form. Since the law includes requirements that are challenging to observe today, such as animal sacrifices, those who believe it still applies today often invent ways that modern society can symbolically observe the Law of Moses.
The author of Hebrews stated in the 7th chapter that Jesus is not a Levitical priest, He is a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews also states that when the priesthood changes, the law also changes. That means followers of Jesus are not required to observe the law of Moses.
In the 8th chapter of Hebrews, the author extolled the superiority of the priesthood of Jesus. One of his arguments was that the earthly priests served in a tabernacle that was a copy of the heavenly tabernacle, a concept found in multiple verses, including Exodus 26:30, in order to prove that the earthly tabernacle was a mere shadow of the heavenly temple. That leads to the conclusion that Jesus “has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6).
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”