Exodus 37

Chap. XXXVII. Ver. 1—29. Pasts as 2 tad i A RE Sa I Ea ES tions were peculiarly useful to the Israelites; for in these types they chiefly had their gospel, and they were not permitted to see the things themselves, as they were placed within the sanctuary: and thus in the New Testament we have the same things related in two or three places, with not very material variations, yet not without usefulness.—The exactness of the workmen to their rule is worthy of our imitation: and it is never unseasonable to observe, that through the great Antitype, the substance Mercy-seat, &c.—After what Per. Loe s ND he made the * altar of burnt-offering of shittim-wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it |‘?

of all these shadows, our way being opened to the mercy-seat, we should continually draw near in faith; feeding daily upon him and his fulness, as the nourishment of our souls; walking through this dark world according to the light of his word, and seeking for renewed and enlarged anointings of his Holy Spirit; that here we Aap a m him and glorify him, and at length be for ever with him in heaven.— J. Scott. 100, 4. filleted with silver. 18 And the hanging for the gate of the court was needle-work, of blue, and purple, and Chap. XXVIII. Ver. 1-31. pi Mil hi &c.—In all ages there have been some persons more devoted to God, more constant in their attendance upon his ordinances, and more willing to part with lawful things for his sake, than others.

These are never censured, but always commended and honoured in the word of God: for when relative duties and social obligations are not neglected or violated, we cannot too much renounce the world, deny ourselves, and devote our all to the Lord, and seek our whole happiness from him.—It may also be added, that the enclosure of this court, being only of curtains, might intimate that it should in due time be removed: and so we may take occasion to bless God for the enlargement of his church, by the calling of us Gentiles into it; and to pray that all remaining boundaries may be removed and the whole earth filled with the knowledge of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to whom be glory for ever.

Amen.—J. Scott. Chap. XXIX. Ver. 1—43. Garments of the priests, &c.— When unanimity, diligence, and zeal, animate the hearts of numbers in a good cause, much may be done in a short time: and when the commandment of God is continually attended to, as the rule and standard of his service, the whole will be done well.—We ought indeed daily to prove our own work, to take the counsel and regard the judgment of others, to present all we do before the Lord, and beg to be shown how far he approves or disapproves it: but the grand trial of all our actions will be at the conclusion of them. We ought not therefore try to judge others, or their works, before the time; nor be elated by man’s applause, or cast down by his reproach which are often alike erroneous and unmerited: but we should exercise

Notes on the verses

Ver. 21. Board.—Each of these boards, taking the cubit at nearly twenty-two inches, was about eighteen feet long, and two feet nine inches broad. As these boards are said to be standing up (ver 20.) their length was consequently the height of the tabernacle; and as the two sides were composed of twenty of these standing up, (ver. 23, 25.) and the west end of six, with two boards to project at the corners, (ver. 27, 28.) the tabernacle must therefore have been thirty cubits, or fifty-five feet long, and about ten cubits, or eighteen feet broad. These boards were fastened at the bottom by two tenons in each board, which fitted into two mortices in the foundation, at the top by links or hasps, and on the sides by five wooden bars, which run through rings or staples in each of the boards.

The boards and bars were all overlaid with gold; and their rings for the staves, and their hasps at top were of the same metal. The foundation on which they stood consisted of about ninety-six solid blocks of silver, two under each board, about eighteen inches long, and of a suitable thickness; and each weighing a talent, or about a hundred weight. Four blocks of silver formed the bases of the columns, which supported the curtain that divided the inside of the tabernacle into two rooms.—Bagster.

Ver. 35. Vail, &c.—Parachoth, from parach, probably of the same import as the Arabic, pharaka, to separate, divide, make a distinction between somewhat, the inner vail, which divided the tabernacle into two, and separated, and made a distinction between the Holy place and the Holy of Holies.

This vail was made of the same rich materials as the inner covering of the tabernacle, and curiously embroidered with cherubim and other ornaments. Though it does not appear from Scripture at what distance from either end of the tabernacle this vail was hung, yet it is reasonably conjectured, that it divided it in the same proportion in which the temple, built after this model, was divided; that is, two thirds of the whole length were allotted to the first room and one third to the second; so that the room beyond the vail, the Holy of Holies, was exactly square, being ten cubits each way, and the first room, the sanctuary, was twice as long as it was broad.—Bagster.

Ver. 37. Hanging.—This vail was a fine embroidered curtain, of the same materials, and of the same workmanship, as the inner vail and inner covering of the tabernacle.

The text does not say how low it hung. Philo makes it touch the ground; but Josephus will have it to come down but half way, so that the people might have a view of the inside of the tabernacle; but then he says, there was another curtain over that, which came to the ground, to keep it from the weather, and was drawn aside on the sabbath and other festivals.

Chap. XXXVIII. Ver. 10. The table, &c.—Imitations of this sacred utensil also we find in the temples of ancient heathen nations. In the temple of Juno Fopulonia, there was a magnificent table for the utensils required at sacrifices and libations, as Macrobius states from older accounts. F. Montfaucon has given us a draught of a very celebrated piece of antiquity, called the table of Isis, which was a table made of brass, almost four feet long and nearly the same breadth.

The ground work was a black enamel, curiously filled with silver plates inlaid, which represented figures of various kinds, distinguished into several classes and compartments, and interspersed by various hieroglyphics. Though nothing can be confidently asserted respecting the signification, or the original design of this table, yet it seems not improbable that it was an imitation of the table of shew-bread. See Shuckford for a full.

Ver. 17. Candlestick.—Herodotus (I. 1. c. 62.) states, that, when the people have assembled in the city of Sais to sacrifice and to celebrate the festival, they light round their houses lamps, which are filled with salt and oil, in which the wick swims and burns the whole night.

This festival is called the feast of the burning of lamps. Even those Egyptians who do not attend at this meeting do not fail to keep the festival: so that lamps are burning at the same time not only at Sais but throughout all Egypt. As the Egyptians, according to Clemens Alexandrinus, were the first who used lamps in their — they probably borrowed the use of them from the golden candlestick. — Bagster.