Exodus · chapter 25 of 40
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Exodus 25 opens God's instructions for the tabernacle. The Lord asks for freewill offerings to build a sanctuary where he may dwell among his people, and he gives the design of three pieces of furniture: the ark of the testimony with the mercy seat and the cherubim, the table of the bread of the Presence and the gold lampstand with seven lamps.
After the covenant was sealed at Sinai (Exodus 24) and while Moses is on the mountain, God gives him the pattern for the tabernacle, the tent where his presence would travel with Israel in the wilderness. Chapters 25 to 31 contain those instructions, and chapters 35 to 40 tell how they were carried out. Exodus 25 begins with the heart of the sanctuary, the ark.
The Lord tells Moses to receive an offering from everyone whose heart moves him to give. He lists the materials: gold, silver and bronze, blue, purple and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats' hair, rams' skins dyed red, acacia wood, oil, spices and incense, and onyx and other stones for the ephod and breastpiece. The purpose is that they make a sanctuary so he may dwell among them, according to the pattern Moses will be shown.
First the ark is described, a chest of acacia wood overlaid with gold, with rings and poles for carrying it. Inside will be placed the testimony, the tablets of the law. On top goes the mercy seat of pure gold, with two gold cherubim whose wings are spread and who face each other. There God will meet with Moses to speak with him.
Next comes the table, also of acacia and gold, where the bread of the Presence will be set before the Lord continually, with its plates, dishes and jars. Finally the lampstand of pure hammered gold is described, with a central shaft and six branches, three on each side, decorated with cups shaped like almond blossoms, and seven lamps. God insists that everything be made according to the pattern shown on the mountain.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God asks them to receive an offering from everyone whose heart moves him to give. From the start, the building of the place of worship depends on free generosity, not on forced demand.
Let them make me a sanctuary, the Lord says, that I may dwell in their midst. This is the purpose of the whole tabernacle: that the God who brought Israel out of Egypt may live near his people.
God promises to meet with Moses above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim, to speak about everything he commands Israel. The place of atonement is also the place of communication with God.
Moses must make everything according to the pattern shown him on the mountain. The tabernacle is not a human invention; Hebrews mentions it when explaining that the earthly sanctuary was a copy of heavenly realities.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: From everyone whose heart moved him to give. — Exodus 25:2
Answer: So that the Lord might dwell among them. — Exodus 25:8
Answer: The testimony God would give Moses, the tablets of the law. — Exodus 25:16
Answer: Two gold cherubim with wings spread, facing each other. — Exodus 25:18-20
Answer: The bread of the Presence, before the Lord. — Exodus 25:30
Answer: Seven lamps. — Exodus 25:37
Exodus 25 shows that God wants to dwell with his people and that worship springs from a willing heart. A congregation or a group can ask whether it gives gladly and freely rather than from pressure or habit, and whether what it offers to God, time, gifts and resources, comes from gratitude.
It also reminds us to follow God's pattern, not our own. In the Christian life, worship and service are measured by what God has revealed. Today we do not enter a tent of cloth, but God's presence is with his people through Christ and the Spirit, and that truth should shape both our reverence and our joy.
Exodus 25 makes clear that the tabernacle comes from God's desire to live among his people and is built with freewill offerings. Chapter 26 describes the tent itself, its curtains, frames and veil.
It was the gold cover of the ark, between the two cherubim, where God promised to meet with Moses. On the Day of Atonement the high priest sprinkled blood there. The New Testament uses the related word to present Christ as the place where sin is atoned for.
They showed the holiness and glory of God and the value of his presence. The materials came from what Israel had received on leaving Egypt and were given as a freewill offering. The people took part in building the place where they would meet with God.
The text does not give a detailed explanation. It was set before the Lord continually, and tradition understands it as a sign of the twelve tribes' fellowship with God and of his daily provision. Some Christian readers connect it with Christ, the bread of life, though the passage itself does not say so.