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Êxodo 25

BLIVRE · Chapter 25/40

1E o SENHOR falou a Moisés, dizendo:

2Dize aos filhos de Israel que tomem para mim oferta: de todo homem que a der de sua vontade, de coração, tomareis minha oferta.

3E esta é a oferta que tomareis deles: Ouro, e prata, e bronze,

4E material azul, e púrpura, e carmesim, e linho fino, e pelo de cabras,

5E couros de carneiros tingidos de vermelho, e couros finos, e madeira de acácia;

6Azeite para a luminária, especiarias para o azeite da unção, e para o incenso aromático;

7Pedras de ônix, e pedras de engastes, para o éfode, e para o peitoral.

8E farão para mim um santuário, e eu habitarei entre eles.

9Conforme tudo o que eu te mostrar, o desenho do tabernáculo, e o desenho de todos os seus objetos, assim o fareis.

10Farão também uma arca de madeira de acácia, cujo comprimento será de dois côvados e meio, e sua largura de côvado e meio, e sua altura de côvado e meio.

11E a cobrirás de ouro puro; por dentro e por fora a cobrirás; e farás sobre ela uma borda de ouro ao redor.

12E para ela farás de fundição quatro anéis de ouro, que porás a seus quatro cantos; dois anéis ao um lado dela, e dois anéis ao outro lado.

13E farás umas varas de madeira de acácia, as quais cobrirás de ouro.

14E meterás as varas pelos anéis aos lados da arca, para levar a arca com elas.

15As varas se estarão nos anéis da arca: não se tirarão dela.

16E porás no arca o testemunho que eu te darei.

17E farás uma coberta de ouro fino, cujo comprimento será de dois côvados e meio, e sua largura de côvado e meio.

18Farás também dois querubins de ouro, lavrados a martelo os farás, nas duas extremidades do propiciatório.

19Farás, pois, um querubim ao extremo de um lado, e um querubim ao outro extremo do lado oposto: da qualidade do propiciatório farás os querubins em suas duas extremidades.

20E os querubins estenderão por encima as asas, cobrindo com suas asas o propiciatório: suas faces a uma em frente da outra, olhando ao propiciatório as faces dos querubins.

21E porás o propiciatório encima da arca, e no arca porás o testemunho que eu te darei.

22E dali me declararei a ti, e falarei contigo de sobre o propiciatório, dentre os dois querubins que estão sobre a arca do testemunho, tudo o que eu te mandarei para os filhos de Israel.

23Farás também uma mesa de madeira de acácia: seu comprimento será de dois côvados, e de um côvado sua largura, e sua altura de côvado e meio.

24E a cobrirás de ouro puro, e lhe farás uma borda de ouro ao redor.

25Farás também para ele também uma moldura ao redor, da largura de uma mão, à qual moldura farás uma borda de ouro ao redor.

26E lhe farás quatro anéis de ouro, os quais porás aos quatro cantos que correspondem a seus quatro pés.

27Os anéis estarão antes da moldura, por lugares das varas, para levar a mesa.

28E farás as varas de madeira de acácia, e as cobrirás de ouro, e com elas será levada a mesa.

29Farás também seus pratos, e suas colheres, e seus jarros, e suas bacias, com que se fará libações: de ouro fino os farás.

30E porás sobre a mesa o pão da proposição diante de mim continuamente.

31Farás também um candelabro de ouro puro; lavrado a martelo se fará o candelabro: seu pé, e sua cana, seus copos, seus botões, e suas flores, serão do mesmo:

32E sairão seis braços de seus lados: três braços do candelabro do um lado seu, e três braços do candelabro do outro seu lado:

33Três copos em forma de amêndoas em um braço, um botão e uma flor; e três copos, forma de amêndoas no outro braço, um botão e uma flor: assim, pois, nos seis braços que saem do candelabro:

34E no candelabro quatro copos em forma de amêndoas, seus botões e suas flores.

35Haverá um botão debaixo dos dois braços do mesmo, outro botão debaixo dos outros dois braços do mesmo, e outra botão debaixo dos outros dois braços do mesmo, em conformidade aos seis braços que saem do candelabro.

36Seus botões e seus braços serão do mesmo, todo ele uma peça lavrada a martelo, de ouro puro.

37E farás para ele sete lâmpadas, as quais acenderás para que iluminem à parte de sua dianteira:

38Também suas tenazes e seus apagadores, de ouro puro.

39De um talento de ouro fino o farás, com todos estes objetos.

40E olha, e faze-os conforme seu modelo, que te foi mostrado no monte.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God gives Moses detailed instructions for building the ark of the covenant, the table of showbread, and the golden lampstand, central elements of the tabernacle that would be built in the wilderness.

Explanation

This chapter opens an extensive section of the book devoted to painstaking instructions for building the tabernacle, the portable sanctuary where God would dwell symbolically among his people during their journey through the wilderness. The invitation for the people to bring offerings 'of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart' (v. 2) establishes from the outset that this sacred work would be built through genuine generosity, not forced obligation. The ark of the covenant, with its cover called the 'mercy seat' and its golden cherubim, would become the most sacred object in all of Israelite worship, representing God's own earthly throne, the place where he promised to meet and speak with Moses. Every technical detail — exact measurements, specific materials, ornamentation — communicates that worshiping God demanded excellence and care, reflecting the holiness of what was being represented.

Fun facts

  • The ark of the covenant, with its precise dimensions (roughly 1.15m x 0.7m x 0.7m), became one of the most legendary and sought-after objects in history, inspiring even modern works of fiction, though its final fate after the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem remains an unresolved historical mystery.
  • The repeated command 'according to all that I shew thee, after the pattern' (v. 9) suggests that Moses received some kind of vision or heavenly blueprint of the tabernacle, an idea taken up again in Hebrews 8:5, which describes the earthly tabernacle as 'the example and shadow of heavenly things.'

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 25:1After forty days on the mountain, a long block of instructions begins here about building the tabernacle, the sanctuary tent that will accompany the people through the desert.
  2. Êxodo 25:2The construction of the tabernacle would be funded by voluntary donations from the people themselves, not by a mandatory tax — each one contributing according to his own will.
  3. Êxodo 25:3Begins the list of materials accepted as an offering: the three metals used in the structure, gold, silver, and bronze, in quantities and uses that vary by piece.
  4. Êxodo 25:4Continues the list of materials with the colored fabrics, blue, purple, and scarlet, plus the fine linen and the goats’ hair used in the outer coverings.
  5. Êxodo 25:5“Badgers’ skins” is an old and debated translation: the original Hebrew term probably refers to the hide of a sea animal, such as a dolphin or dugong, used to waterproof the tent’s outer covering. “Shittim wood,” meanwhile, is acacia, a sturdy tree common in the Sinai desert, used throughout the tabernacle’s wooden structure.
  6. Êxodo 25:6Also includes the oil to keep the lamps burning and the spices used both in the anointing oil and in the incense burned in the sanctuary.
  7. Êxodo 25:7Closes the list of materials with precious stones intended specifically for the high priest’s garments, detailed later in chapter 28.
  8. Êxodo 25:8Explains the purpose of this entire construction: to give God a physical place to dwell visibly in the midst of the Israelite camp.
  9. Êxodo 25:9God gives Moses a specific pattern to follow, suggesting some kind of vision or detailed plan shown to him on the mountain, which had to be reproduced exactly.
  10. Êxodo 25:10The cubit was an ancient unit based on the length of the forearm, from the elbow to the fingertips, somewhere between about 18 and 20 inches depending on the period and region. Using that, the ark of the covenant was roughly 3 feet 9 inches long by 2 feet 3 inches wide and high, about the size of a large chest.
  11. Êxodo 25:11The ark was to be overlaid with pure gold both inside and outside, with a decorative rim running around the top.
  12. Êxodo 25:12Four gold rings fixed to the corners of the ark were meant to hold the carrying poles described in the next verse.
  13. Êxodo 25:13The poles used to carry the ark also had to be made of acacia and overlaid with gold, keeping the same material standard as the main piece.
  14. Êxodo 25:14The poles ran through the ark’s side rings, allowing it to be carried on the shoulders without anyone needing to touch it directly.
  15. Êxodo 25:15Determines that the poles had to stay permanently fitted in the ark, even when it was not being carried, preventing any accidental direct contact.
  16. Êxodo 25:16“The testimony” is the name given to the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, which God would still give Moses on the mountain. They were called that because they attested to, recorded, the agreement between God and the people, which is why the ark that held them is also called the “ark of the testimony” in the following chapters.
  17. Êxodo 25:17The mercy seat, the ark’s lid of pure gold, had exactly the same length and width as the ark itself, fitting perfectly on top of it.
  18. Êxodo 25:18The two cherub figures had to be made of beaten gold, the same technique of hammering a single block of metal used in other important pieces of the tabernacle.
  19. Êxodo 25:19The two cherubim had to form a single piece with the mercy seat itself, with no separately welded parts, one at each end of the lid.
  20. Êxodo 25:20The cherubim’s wings stretched upward and met above the mercy seat, with the faces of the two figures turned toward each other, looking down.
  21. Êxodo 25:21Once finished, the mercy seat would be placed on the ark already containing the tablets of the law, joining the two most sacred pieces of the tabernacle.
  22. Êxodo 25:22The “mercy seat” was the ark’s gold lid, between the two cherub figures carved at its ends. It was there, between those two figures, that God said He would appear to speak with Moses, the most sacred point in the whole tabernacle.
  23. Êxodo 25:23Besides the ark, the tabernacle also needed a smaller acacia table, meant for a specific use explained in the following verses.
  24. Êxodo 25:24The table also received an overlay of pure gold and a decorative rim around it, following the same visual pattern as the ark.
  25. Êxodo 25:25An extra frame around the table, about a hand’s width, reinforced the structure and received its own golden rim.
  26. Êxodo 25:26Just like the ark, the table also had four gold rings, one at each leg, to make it easier to carry.
  27. Êxodo 25:27The rings were positioned close to the frame, at exactly the right spot to receive the carrying poles.
  28. Êxodo 25:28The table’s poles followed the same pattern as the ark’s: acacia wood overlaid with gold, used solely to carry the piece.
  29. Êxodo 25:29The table came with specific utensils, dishes, spoons, pitchers, and bowls, all made of pure gold for use in the ritual described in the next verse.
  30. Êxodo 25:30The “shewbread” was twelve loaves, one for each tribe of Israel, kept continually on a table inside the tabernacle as a standing offering before God. They were exchanged for fresh loaves every week, and the old ones were left for the priests to eat.
  31. Êxodo 25:31The lampstand described here, with six branches coming out of a central shaft, is the piece that would later inspire the menorah, a Jewish symbol to this day. “Of beaten work” means the entire piece, shaft, branches, and flowers, had to be hammered out of a single block of gold, with no welds or separate parts.
  32. Êxodo 25:32The lampstand had six branches coming out of a central shaft, three on each side, forming the basic structure of the piece later associated with the Jewish menorah.
  33. Êxodo 25:33Each branch of the lampstand was decorated with almond-flower shapes, an ornamental pattern repeated on all six side branches.
  34. Êxodo 25:34The lampstand’s central shaft, unlike the side branches, received four sets of this same floral ornament.
  35. Êxodo 25:35Details the exact position of each apple-shaped ornament at the base where each pair of branches met the central shaft.
  36. Êxodo 25:36Reinforces that the entire piece, ornaments and structure, had to be hammered out of a single block of gold, with no separately welded parts.
  37. Êxodo 25:37The lampstand held seven lamps, positioned to light the space in front of it inside the tabernacle.
  38. Êxodo 25:38Even the small accessories used to tend the lamps, such as wick trimmers and snuff dishes, had to be made of pure gold.
  39. Êxodo 25:39Determines the exact amount of metal used: a full talent of pure gold for the lampstand and all its utensils.
  40. Êxodo 25:40Closes the chapter repeating the central requirement: to follow exactly the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain, without inventing variations of his own.

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