EXODUS LESSON 62

    We will begin this lesson in Exodus 38:1 "And he made the altar of
burnt offering [of] shittim wood: five cubits [was] the length
thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; [it was] foursquare; and
three cubits the height thereof." Exodus 38:2 "And he made the horns
thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same:
and he overlaid it with brass."

    I will stop right here and remind you that this brasen altar was
just inside the outer court. Take a really good look at this, because
it symbolizes all that Jesus did for us on the cross. This was the
place of repentance. In the outer court, brass was used.

    Exodus 38:3 "And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots,
and the shovels, and the basins, [and] the fleshhooks, and the
firepans: all the vessels thereof made he [of] brass." Exodus 38:4
"And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass
thereof beneath unto the midst of it." Exodus 38:5 "And he cast four
rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, [to be] places for the
staves." Exodus 38:6 "And he made the staves [of] shittim wood, and
overlaid them with brass." Exodus 38:7 "And he put the staves into the
rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar
hollow with boards." Exodus 38:8  "And he made the laver [of] brass,
and the foot of it [of] brass, of the lookingglasses of [the women]
assembling, which assembled [at] the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation."

    This altar and this laver were in the outer court, as we mentioned
before. We see something very special in verse 8 above. The women
brought their mirrors to be used in the outer court. For a woman to
give her mirror was a great act of humility and sacrifice on her part.
Here, again, we know this offering would be used in the outer court
where all the Israelites could come.

    Exodus 38:9  "And he made the court: on the south side southward
the hangings of the court [were of] fine twined linen, an hundred
cubits:" Exodus 38:10 "Their pillars [were] twenty, and their brasen
sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets [were of]
silver."  Exodus 38:11 "And for the north side [the hangings were] an
hundred cubits, their pillars [were] twenty, and their sockets of
brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets [of] silver."

    We see clearly that this enclosure was not the same as the
tabernacle where the Holy Place and Holy of Holies were. This area was
available to the congregation.  We do see the curtains of linen
(righteousness) which separates even this area from the outside world.
This was an area where anyone seeking salvation could come. This was why
we see brass and silver in the outer court, brass for repentance and
silver for redemption.

    Exodus 38:12 "And for the west side [were] hangings of fifty
cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the
pillars and their fillets [of] silver."  Exodus 38:13 "And for the
east side eastward fifty cubits."  Exodus 38:14 "The hangings of the
one side [of the gate were] fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and
their sockets three." Exodus 38:15 "And for the other side of the
court gate, on this hand and that hand, [were] hangings of fifteen
cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three."  Exodus 38:16
"All the hangings of the court round about [were] of fine twined
linen." Exodus 38:17 "And the sockets for the pillars [were of] brass;
the hooks of the pillars and their fillets [of] silver; and the
overlaying of their chapiters [of] silver; and all the pillars of the
court [were] filleted with silver."  Exodus 38:18 "And the hanging for
the gate of the court [was] needlework, [of] blue, and purple, and
scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits [was] the length,
and the height in the breadth [was] five cubits, answerable to the
hangings of the court." Exodus 38:19 "And their pillars [were] four,
and their sockets [of] brass four; their hooks [of] silver, and the
overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets [of] silver."
Exodus 38:20 "And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court
round about, [were of] brass."

      The one thing that stands out so clearly in all of this was that
every detail had been closely adhered to.  We see that God had chosen
well the people to do this work.  He had chosen people who would follow
His plan to the letter.  To see an explanation of the meanings of all
of this, read through the earlier lessons.  In all of this beautiful
description of the enclosure, we can see the world looking at the
church as a separated people.  We, also, can see the church beckoning
the world to come and see.  All the world could see was the linen
enclosure. This linen depicts righteousness. Is that what the world
sees when they look at you?  If you are a Christian, you are the
church. God's grace through Jesus separates the believers from the
world.

      Exodus 38:21  "This is the sum of the tabernacle, [even] of the
 tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the
 commandment of Moses, [for] the service of the Levites, by the hand
 of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest."

      This was speaking of the totality of the tabernacle being exactly
as Moses had commanded them from God.  It was interesting that the
Levites were to be the ministers, here, through Ithamar, not Nadab or
Abihu. We will see Moses placing on record all of the metals used in
the preparation of the tabernacle and enclosure. This tabernacle was
made for everyone. The mention of the Levites, here, just meant that
their family would be the priests who conducted the administration of the
services.

      Exodus 38:22 "And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of
the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses."

      We see, here, that this man Bezaleel, who was chosen by the Lord
from total obscurity, had done the job well that God had called him to
do. It was as if his sole purpose for living was to build the
tabernacle.

    Exodus 38:23 "And with him [was] Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the
tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer
in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen."

    We see, here, for the first time that Aholiab was chosen for his
special gifts as an engraver and worker with materials.

    Exodus 38:24 "All the gold that was occupied for the work in all
the work of the holy [place], even the gold of the offering, was
twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after
the shekel of the sanctuary."

    A talent is estimated to weigh 125 lbs.  Metal weight is 12 ozs.
to a lb., so we see here that 1 talent was 1500 ozs.  We see here that
there was 43,500 ozs. of gold.  At today's price of about $400 per oz.
you can easily see that these gold talents would be worth by our
standards $17,400,000.00. Seventeen million four hundred thousand
dollars worth of gold seems to be a lot, but you must remember there
were an estimated 3 million people on this journey. This gold offering
would be less then $10 per person. Egypt had been made wealthy by the
Lord through Joseph. When the famine came, the wealthy of many
countries came to Egypt to buy food. Now, these Hebrews had brought
much of it with them into the wilderness. One shekel weighed
approximately 10 dwt.  Twenty dwt.  makes up an ounce.  This shekel, I
assume, is a small gold 1/2 oz.  piece.  Seven hundred thirty shekels
would be 365 ozs. of gold.  Figuring at $400 an ounce, we would
see that these 730 small gold shekels would amount to $146,000.00.  We
see then a total of seventeen million five hundred forty six thousand
dollars gold value was used.

    Exodus 38:25 "And the silver of them that were numbered of the
congregation [was] an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred
and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the
sanctuary:"

    This figures out to be 150,000 ounces of silver in the 100
talents. Figuring silver at $5. per oz., these talents of silver would
be worth by our standards $750,000.00.  We see here, also, that there
were 1,775 shekels of silver which was 8871/2 ozs.  of silver.  At $5.
per oz., this would figure $4,437.50.  The total value of the silver
was $754,437.50.

    Exodus 38:26 "A bekah for every man, [that is], half a shekel,
after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be
numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand
and three thousand and five hundred and fifty [men]."

    We see here that the men over 20 years old who went up to be
numbered were 603,550. There was 1/4 oz. of silver for each man.  This
bekah was, perhaps, a very small coin.  This was just an explanation of
verse 25 since the amount is the same $754,437.50.  Perhaps this was
saying, that each man 20 years old or older brought 1/4 oz. of silver
to the temple, and this was where all of the silver came from in verse
25.
    Exodus 38:27 "And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the
sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; an hundred
sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket."

    Remember, these sockets were next to the ground, and they were what
the boards of the walls sat on. As we said before, the silver
symbolically means redemption. There was redemption between the sinful
earth and God who dwelled in the Holy of Holies. A talent was 125
lbs., so this also helped stabilize the framework.

    Exodus 38:28 "And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five
shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters,
and filleted them."

    These hooks weighed 1/2 oz. This was what held the curtains
together.

    Exodus 38:29 "And the brass of the offering [was] seventy talents,
and two thousand and four hundred shekels."

    These 70 talents of brass weighed 8,750 lbs.  In addition, there
was 2,400 shekels which weighed 1,200 ozs. or 100 lbs.  The total
weight of the brass was 8,850 lbs.

    Exodus 38:30 "And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen
grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar," Exodus 38:31 "And the
sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate,
and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court
round about."

    We see here, again, that the brass was used in the outer
enclosure.





















                          Exodus 62 Questions

1.  Where was the brasen altar located?
2.  What did the brasen altar symbolize?
3.  What did it specifically say the women brought that was a personal
    item of theirs?
4.  What did the curtains of linen symbolize?
5.  Why do we see brass and silver in the outer court?
6.  What shows us that God had chosen well the people to do this work?
7.  If you are a Christian, you are what?
8.  What tribe would minister in the tabernacle?
9.  Which one of Aaron's sons was singled out for work in the
    sanctuary?
10. Who was in charge of all the work?
11. What does the fact that God picked such an unknown man to do this
    job make you think about his life?
12. Why was Aholiab chosen as an assistant?
13. How much does a talent weigh (estimated)?
14. How does metal weight differ from a regular pound?
15. How much is 29 talents?
16. At today's price of $400 per oz., how much would 29 talents amount
    to?
17. Where did Egypt get all of this gold?
18. What does a shekel weigh?
19. 730 shekels would be how many ounces?
20. What was the present value of 730 shekels figuring at $400 gold?
21. What would be the present value of all the gold used in the
    tabernacle and enclosure?
22. How many ozs. of silver is 100 talents?
23. At present day price of $5 per oz., how much total silver was used
    in the building of the temple and enclosure?
24. How many men over 20 years old went up to be numbered?
25. What was a bekah?
26. 70 talents of brass weighed what?
27. How many total lbs. of brass were used?
28. Where was the brass used?