Thy Strong Word — Exodus 27: God's Design: Tabernacle (Part 2)

The Rev. David Boisclair, pastor of Faith and Bethesda Lutheran Churches in Pine Lawn, MO, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Exodus 27.

God continues to give his instructions to Moses regarding the construction of the Tabernacle. Our attention shifts from the holy of holies to the bronze altar and outer courtyard where the altar of sacrifice was located. This section ends with God’s command that the people supply pure olive oil for a lamp to burn continually in the tent of meeting, tended to by the priests.

It’s the true story of God reaching down into history and, through an unlikely prophet, redeeming his chosen people from slavery. It’s the story of Exodus, but it’s also the story of us all. How through Christ, God has liberated us from sin, death, and the Devil. Don’t miss this chapter-by-chapter study of the Book of Exodus on Thy Strong Word.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations.

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Exodus 27

The Bronze Altar

27 “You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits^[a] long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. ²And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. ³You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze. ⁴You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. ⁵And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar. ⁶And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. ⁷And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. ⁸You shall make it hollow, with boards. As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.

The Court of the Tabernacle

⁹“You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twined linen a hundred cubits long for one side. ¹⁰Its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. ¹¹And likewise for its length on the north side there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, its pillars twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. ¹²And for the breadth of the court on the west side there shall be hangings for fifty cubits, with ten pillars and ten bases. ¹³The breadth of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits. ¹⁴The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. ¹⁵On the other side the hangings shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. ¹⁶For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. It shall have four pillars and with them four bases. ¹⁷All the pillars around the court shall be filleted with silver. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze. ¹⁸The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, the breadth fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twined linen and bases of bronze. ¹⁹All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.

Oil for the Lamp

²⁰“You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. ²¹In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

Footnotes

Exodus 27:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

Rev. Dr. Phil Booe

Native North Carolinian Rev. Dr. Phil Booe serves pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, and host of Thy Strong Word on KFUO Radio. His parishioners probably think he can’t teach Bible study without a mug of coffee in his hand, and he’ll always be happy to eat a plate of sushi. When he’s not shepherding his flock or teaching on the radio, you might find him watching bad movies from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and especially binging RiffTrax and MST3K episodes. Some day he’d love to travel to the Lutheran homeland in Germany, but for now he spends time in Minnesota with his wife, son, daughter, and cat, and looks forward to Holy Week every year.