Exodus 36:1-38, NLT

Exodus 36

1“The Lord has gifted Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other skilled craftsmen with wisdom and ability to perform any task involved in building the sanctuary. Let them construct and furnish the Tabernacle, just as the Lord has commanded.”

2So Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and all the others who were specially gifted by the Lord and were eager to get to work.

3Moses gave them the materials donated by the people of Israel as sacred offerings for the completion of the sanctuary. But the people continued to bring additional gifts each morning. 4Finally the craftsmen who were working on the sanctuary left their work. 5They went to Moses and reported, “The people have given more than enough materials to complete the job the Lord has commanded us to do!”

6So Moses gave the command, and this message was sent throughout the camp: “Men and women, don’t prepare any more gifts for the sanctuary. We have enough!” So the people stopped bringing their sacred offerings.

7Their contributions were more than enough to complete the whole project.

Building the Tabernacle

8The skilled craftsmen made ten curtains of finely woven linen for the Tabernacle. Then Bezalel*36:8 Hebrew he; also in 36:16, 20, 35. See 37:1. decorated the curtains with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skillfully embroidered cherubim.

9All ten curtains were exactly the same size—42 feet long and 6 feet wide.*36:9 Hebrew 28 cubits [12.9 meters] long and 4 cubits [1.8 meters] wide. 10Five of these curtains were joined together to make one long curtain, and the other five were joined to make a second long curtain. 11He made fifty loops of blue yarn and put them along the edge of the last curtain in each set. 12The fifty loops along the edge of one curtain matched the fifty loops along the edge of the other curtain. 13Then 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.

14He made eleven curtains of goat-hair cloth to serve as a tent covering for the Tabernacle.

15These eleven curtains were all exactly the same size—45 feet long and 6 feet wide.*36:15 Hebrew 30 cubits [13.8 meters] long and 4 cubits [1.8 meters] wide. 16Bezalel joined five of these curtains together to make one long curtain, and the other six were joined to make a second long curtain. 17He made fifty loops for the edge of each large curtain. 18He also made fifty bronze clasps to fasten the long curtains together. In this way, the tent covering was made of one continuous piece. 19He completed the tent covering with a layer of tanned ram skins and a layer of fine goatskin leather.

20For the framework of the Tabernacle, Bezalel constructed frames of acacia wood.

21Each frame was 15 feet high and 27 inches wide,*36:21 Hebrew 10 cubits [4.6 meters] high and 1.5 cubits [69 centimeters] wide. 22with two pegs under each frame. All the frames were identical. 23He made twenty of these frames to support the curtains on the south side of the Tabernacle. 24He also made forty silver bases—two bases under each frame, with the pegs fitting securely into the bases. 25For the north side of the Tabernacle, he made another twenty frames, 26with their forty silver bases, two bases under each frame. 27He made six frames for the rear—the west side of the Tabernacle—28along with two additional frames to reinforce the rear corners of the Tabernacle. 29These corner frames were matched at the bottom and firmly attached at the top with a single ring, forming a single corner unit. Both of these corner units were made the same way. 30So there were eight frames at the rear of the Tabernacle, set in sixteen silver bases—two bases under each frame.

31Then he made crossbars of acacia wood to link the frames, five crossbars for the north side of the Tabernacle

32and five for the south side. He also made five crossbars for the rear of the Tabernacle, which faced west. 33He made the middle crossbar to attach halfway up the frames; it ran all the way from one end of the Tabernacle to the other. 34He overlaid the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. Then he overlaid the crossbars with gold as well.

35For the inside of the Tabernacle, Bezalel made a special curtain of finely woven linen. He decorated it with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skillfully embroidered cherubim.

36For the curtain, he made four posts of acacia wood and four gold hooks. He overlaid the posts with gold and set them in four silver bases.

37Then he made another curtain for the entrance to the sacred tent. He made it of finely woven linen and embroidered it with exquisite designs using blue, purple, and scarlet thread.

38This curtain was hung on gold hooks attached to five posts. The posts with their decorated tops and hooks were overlaid with gold, and the five bases were cast from bronze.