Jo’s Place

Building the Ark of the Covenant and the Table of Showbread  Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood—a sacred chest 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.  He overlaid it inside and outside with pure gold, and he ran a molding of gold all around it.  He cast four gold rings and attached them to its four feet, two rings on each side.  Then he made poles from acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.  He inserted the poles into the rings at the sides of the Ark to carry it.  Then he made the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—from pure gold.  It was 45 inches long and 27 inches wide.  He made two cherubim from hammered gold and placed them on the two ends of the atonement cover.  He molded the cherubim on each end of the atonement cover, making it all of one piece of gold.  The cherubim faced each other and looked down on the atonement cover.  With their wings spread above it, they protected it.  Now, the Table of Showbre...

​ Building the Tabernacle The skilled craftsmen made ten curtains of finely woven linen for the Tabernacle.  Then Bezalel decorated the curtains with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skillfully embroidered cherubim.  All ten curtains were exactly the same size—42 feet long and 6 feet wide.  Five of these curtains were joined together to make one long curtain, and the other five were joined to make a second long curtain.  Bezalel made fifty loops of blue yarn and put them along the edge of the last curtain in each set.  The fifty loops along the edge of one curtain matched the fifty loops along the edge of the other curtain.  Then he made fifty gold clasps and fastened the long curtains together with the clasps.  In this way, the Tabernacle was made of one continuous piece.  Bezalel made eleven curtains of goat-hair cloth to serve as a tent covering for the Tabernacle.  These eleven curtains were all exactly the same size—45 feet long...

Israel gives to the Tabernacle  (After Moses gave God’s commands to the people)  the whole community of Israel left Moses and returned to their tents.  All, whose hearts were stirred and whose spirits were moved, came and brought their sacred offerings to the Lord.  They brought all the materials needed for the Tabernacle, for the performance of its rituals, and for the sacred garments.  Both men and women came, all whose hearts were willing.  They brought to the Lord their offerings of gold—brooches, earrings, rings from their fingers, and necklaces.  They presented gold objects of every kind, as a special offering to the Lord.  All those, who owned the following items, willingly brought them:  blue, purple, and scarlet thread;  fine linen and goat hair for cloth;  and tanned ram skins and fine goatskin leather.  And all, who had silver and bronze objects, gave them as a sacred offering to the Lord.  And those who had aca...

​ Offerings for the Tabernacle Then Moses said to the whole community of Israel,  “This is what the Lord has commanded:  Take a sacred offering for the Lord.  Let those, with generous hearts, present the following gifts to the Lord:  gold,  silver, and  bronze;  blue,  purple, and  scarlet thread;  fine linen and goat hair for cloth; tanned ram skins and fine goatskin leather;  acacia wood;  olive oil for the lamps;  spices for the anointing oil and the fragrant incense;  onyx stones, and other gemstones to be set in the ephod and the priest’s chestpiece.  “Come, all of you who are gifted craftsmen.  Construct everything that the Lord has commanded:  the Tabernacle and its sacred tent, its covering, clasps, frames, crossbars, posts, and bases;  the Ark and its carrying poles;  the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement;  the inner curtain to shield the Ark;  the table, its carrying poles...

​ The Radiance of the Lord Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord forty days and forty nights.  In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water.  And the Lord wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets.  When Moses came down Mount Sinai, carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant, because he had spoken to the Lord.  So when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him.  But Moses called out to them and asked Aaron and all the leaders of the community to come over, and he talked with them.  Then all the people of Israel approached him, and Moses gave them all the instructions the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.  When Moses finished speaking with them, he covered his face with a veil.  But whenever he went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord, he would remove ...

Celebrate to the Lord “You must celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread.  For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you.  Celebrate this festival annually, at the appointed time, in early spring, in the month of Abib, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.  “The firstborn of every animal belongs to Me, including the firstborn males from your herds of cattle and your flocks of sheep and goats.  A firstborn donkey may be bought back from the Lord by presenting a lamb or young goat in its place.  But if you do not buy it back, you must break its neck.  However, you  must  buy back every firstborn son.  “No one may appear before Me without an offering.  “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.  “You must celebrate the Festival of Harvest, with the first crop of the wheat h...

A New Copy of the Covenant Then the Lord told Moses,  “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones.  I will write on them the same words that were on the tablets you smashed.  Be ready in the morning to climb up Mount Sinai and present yourself to Me on the top of the mountain.  No one else may come with you.  In fact, no one is to appear anywhere on the mountain.  Do not even let the flocks or herds graze near the mountain.”  So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the first ones.  Early in the morning he climbed Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.  Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and Lord called out His own name, Yahweh.  The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,    “Yahweh! The Lord!  The God of compassion and mercy!  I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.  I lavish unfailing ...