Exodus 36

KJV · Chapter 36/40

1Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded.

2And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it:

3And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.

4And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made;

5And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make.

6And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.

7For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.

8And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.

9The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: the curtains were all of one size.

10And he coupled the five curtains one unto another: and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another.

11And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling: likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.

12Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second: the loops held one curtain to another.

13And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the taches: so it became one tabernacle.

14And he made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them.

15The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size.

16And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.

17And he made fifty loops upon the uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

18And he made fifty taches of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one.

19And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers’ skins above that.

20And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.

21The length of a board was ten cubits, and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half.

22One board had two tenons, equally distant one from another: thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

23And he made boards for the tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward:

24And forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

25And for the other side of the tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards,

26And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

27And for the sides of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.

28And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.

29And they were coupled beneath, and coupled together at the head thereof, to one ring: thus he did to both of them in both the corners.

30And there were eight boards; and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets.

31And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

32And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward.

33And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other.

34And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

35And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.

36And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver.

37And he made an hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework;

38And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets with gold: but their five sockets were of brass.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Bezalel, Aholiab, and other craftsmen begin building the tabernacle; the people bring so many offerings that Moses has to order them to stop contributing, and the curtains, boards, and structures of the sanctuary are made according to the divine instructions.

Explanation

This chapter presents a rare and delightful detail in Scripture: for the first and only time in the entire sacred text, the people have to be stopped from continuing to give, because 'the people bring much more than enough' (v. 5) for the work of the tabernacle — a remarkable contrast to the usual stories of scarcity or reluctance to contribute. This overflow of generosity reflects a moment of genuine, collective spiritual enthusiasm, showing what can happen when a people commit wholeheartedly to a purpose they recognize as truly sacred. The detailed technical execution of the work, following precisely the specifications God gave Moses in earlier chapters, demonstrates faithfulness both in spiritual vision and in practical execution — true worship of God involves both the intention of the heart and excellence in the work carried out.

Fun facts

  • This is the only recorded case in the Bible where a leader has to publicly order the people to stop giving to a religious cause (v. 6), an episode sometimes cited in modern church administration contexts as a rare and positive 'problem of too much generosity.'
  • The near word-for-word repetition of the technical instructions already given in chapters 26-27, now describing their actual execution, is a common literary technique in the Old Testament for emphasizing the exact faithfulness with which God's work was carried out, without deviating from the original instructions.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Exodus 36:1After all the preparation, the execution of the work begins: Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other talented craftsmen get to work following God’s instructions.
  2. Exodus 36:2Moses formally summons each of the gifted craftsmen, gathering specifically those who felt personally moved to take part in the construction.
  3. Exodus 36:3The craftsmen receive from Moses all the material already donated by the people, and offerings keep arriving spontaneously every morning, even with the work already underway.
  4. Exodus 36:4The craftsmen themselves, busy with different parts of the work, have to stop and report an unexpected problem to Moses.
  5. Exodus 36:5The problem is abundance: the people brought far more material than needed to complete the entire planned construction.
  6. Exodus 36:6It’s a rare detail in the Bible: the people donated so much material voluntarily that Moses had to order the donations stopped, because there was already more than enough for the whole project. It shows the level of generosity and popular engagement in that particular project.
  7. Exodus 36:7It confirms that the material really was more than sufficient, a rare case in the Bible of a surplus of donations instead of a shortage.
  8. Exodus 36:8Here begins the practical execution of the instructions given earlier in chapters 25 and 26: the craftsmen actually made the curtains embroidered with cherubim just as they had been designed. It’s the start of the detailed account of how the orders were carried out, step by step.
  9. Exodus 36:9It reproduces, now in the execution, the same measurement of the inner curtains already specified in chapter 26: about forty feet by less than six feet wide.
  10. Exodus 36:10The craftsmen join the ten inner curtains into two sets of five, following the original plan to the letter.
  11. Exodus 36:11Loops of blue fabric are sewn onto the edges of each set of curtains, exactly as specified before.
  12. Exodus 36:12The fifty loops on each side are positioned precisely so they will fit together perfectly at the moment of final joining.
  13. Exodus 36:13Fifty gold clasps, matching the number of loops, permanently join the two sets of curtains into a single covering.
  14. Exodus 36:14The second layer of covering, made of goat hair, is also made at this point, with the eleven curtains called for in the original plan.
  15. Exodus 36:15The goat-hair curtains follow the same measurements specified before, a bit larger than the inner linen curtains.
  16. Exodus 36:16The craftsmen divide these eleven curtains into sets of five and six, exactly as God had instructed in chapter 26.
  17. Exodus 36:17The same system of loops used on the inner curtains is repeated here to join the two sets of the outer covering.
  18. Exodus 36:18Copper clasps, instead of the gold ones used on the inner layer, join this second goat-hair covering.
  19. Exodus 36:19As in chapter 26, this is the execution of the tabernacle’s protective outer layer. The near-identical repetition between the order given earlier and the execution recounted here is a common style in the book of Exodus, reinforcing that everything was done exactly as commanded.
  20. Exodus 36:20The rigid framework of acacia boards, which would form the tabernacle’s walls, is also built at this stage.
  21. Exodus 36:21Each board is made following exactly the measurements specified before: about fifteen feet tall.
  22. Exodus 36:22The joints at the base of each board are made to let them connect firmly to one another.
  23. Exodus 36:23Twenty boards are set aside specifically for the south side of the structure, following the original plan to the letter.
  24. Exodus 36:24Forty silver sockets are cast to support these twenty boards on the south side, two for each one.
  25. Exodus 36:25The north side receives the same treatment, with another twenty boards made in the same configuration as the south side.
  26. Exodus 36:26The silver sockets on the north side also total forty, following exactly the pattern already established.
  27. Exodus 36:27The narrower west wall is closed off with just six boards, as specified in the original plan.
  28. Exodus 36:28Two extra boards are set aside specifically to reinforce the rear corners of the structure.
  29. Exodus 36:29These corner boards are fitted together in a special way, joined at the bottom and the top by a ring, exactly as planned.
  30. Exodus 36:30In total, the west wall adds up to eight boards resting on sixteen silver sockets, confirming the faithful execution of the design.
  31. Exodus 36:31Bars of acacia wood are made to run horizontally across the boards on each side of the structure.
  32. Exodus 36:32Five bars are assigned to each of the three sides with boards—south, north, and west—completing the reinforcement system.
  33. Exodus 36:33A center bar, longer than the others, is positioned to run through the boards from end to end.
  34. Exodus 36:34The boards and bars are overlaid with gold, with gold rings made specifically to hold the bars in their proper place.
  35. Exodus 36:35The veil that would separate the two parts of the sanctuary is woven with the same materials and the same cherubim pattern specified before.
  36. Exodus 36:36Four acacia pillars overlaid with gold are made to support this veil, resting on silver sockets.
  37. Exodus 36:37The entrance curtain of the tent is also made at this point, using the same combination of colored fabrics and fine linen.
  38. Exodus 36:38This entrance curtain is fitted with five gilded acacia pillars, but with copper sockets, unlike the silver sockets used for the inner veil.

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