Linen
is a textile made from fibers of the flax plant. The earliest linen industry
was founded in Egypt. Fine linen from Egypt was known for its quality
apparently.
Proverbs 7:16 I have decked
my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
Ezekiel 27:7 Fine linen with broidered work
from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and
purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.
Goats’ hair will
be used for the curtains for the tent over the tabernacle. Modern-day Bedouins
have tents, tent-ropes, and rugs made from spun goats’ hair. It was used for
pillows.
1Samuel 19:13 And Michal
took an image, and laid it in
the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth.
Writers
talk about the goat hair of Asia being very fine and long and how it feels like
silk. It was combed off, they write, rather than sheared. Of course, there was
coarser goats’ hair which was used in the clothing of the poor, according to
some writers.
Rams’ skins dyed red and
badgers’ skins taken together suggest
that they were used for their being impervious to the infrequent rain. However,
scientists who study ancient climate patterns say that there were periods of
wet and dry and we are in a dry period now. There could have been much more
frequent rain storms during the time of the Exodus. Their dating methods, often
hinged to assumptions and variables that can be questioned and should be,
should not be taken as absolute facts. Evidence is evidence, but remember,
evidence is useless unless it is interpreted. The interpretation is where the
vagaries of human viewpoints, worldviews, and culturally mandated assumptions
interfere, not just education.[1] Just remember that the
world is drying out after the Flood of Noah’s time in a process that is still
going on today.
Shittim wood, according
to Strong’s dictionary, would come from the Acacia tree. The Ark of the
Covenant will be made of this wood.
Oil, spices, and incense, as with the other material,
all have spiritual significance. They can represent things like the Holy
Spirit, remind us of the preparation of Christ’s burial, and signify prayer and
sacrifice. Each of these items in some way can point us to Christ and are the
fitting subject of their own special study. There are many and varied possible
ways to draw all of these items and colors into sound preaching.
Stones,
as well, provide an important subject for a Bible study. There is a particular
importance for these stones regarding the ephod,
which will be discussed later.
Exodus 28:4 And these are the garments which they shall
make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a
mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother,
and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
With
verse 8 it is important to understand that God did not have His Spirit dwell in
each and every Hebrew as He does in each and every Jew and Gentile who believes
on Christ and God can appear and His presence can be anywhere He wants it to
be. But, He has commanded a tabernacle or sanctuary to be built so that He can
dwell with these Hebrews in a specific way. Later, His glory will fill the
temple that Solomon builds. The tabernacle, temporary as it was, represents the
body of flesh while the temple represents our resurrection body. We should be
filled with the glory of the Lord.
Exodus 40:34 ¶ Then a cloud
covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the
tabernacle.
2Chronicles 5:14 So that
the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory
of the LORD had filled the house of God.
But,
there are no sacred spaces in Biblical Christianity outside of the believer’s
own heart, which is now God’s temple.
1Corinthians 3:16 ¶ Know ye
not that ye are the temple of God, and that
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Corinthians 6:19 What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have
of God, and ye are not your own?
And we should seek to be filled with the Spirit of God and there
are certain manifestations in our lives if that truly has happened.
Ephesians
5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein
is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 ¶
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Galatians
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in
the Spirit.
God is going to
give Moses the instructions for how this tabernacle, this sanctuary, is to be
built.
[1] Abdou Abouelmagd,
Mohamed Sultan, Neil C. Sturchio, Farouk Soliman, Mohamed Rashed, Mohamed
Ahmed, Alan E. Kehew, Adam Milewski, & Kyle Chouinard, “Paleoclimate record
in the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt,” Quaternary Research, 81 (2014) 158–167. http://wrrs.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Abouelmagd-et-al_2014.pdf
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