Exodus · chapter 26 of 40
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Exodus 26 describes the tent of the tabernacle according to the pattern God showed Moses: ten linen curtains with cherubim, goats' hair curtains, coverings of skins, acacia frames on silver bases and a veil that separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, where the ark will stand. God wanted a portable dwelling that would travel with Israel in the wilderness.
Exodus 25 introduced the furniture of the sanctuary. Exodus 26 describes the structure that surrounds it: the tent of meeting, which could be set up and taken down for travel. With its layers, its veil and its inner order, the tabernacle taught Israel that God is near and also holy, and that his presence is not entered in just any way.
The first block describes the tabernacle itself: ten curtains of fine twisted linen, blue, purple and scarlet, with embroidered cherubim, joined in two sets of five with blue loops and gold clasps so the whole forms a single unit. Over them goes a covering of eleven curtains of goats' hair, joined with bronze clasps, and above that a covering of rams' skins dyed red and another of fine leather.
Then the structure is described. It consists of frames of acacia wood, each with two tenons, set in silver bases and held firm by acacia crossbars overlaid with gold, passed through rings. They are arranged on the south side, the north side and the western end. God reminds Moses that he must set up the tabernacle according to the pattern shown him on the mountain.
Finally the veil of blue, purple, scarlet and linen with cherubim is described, hung on four acacia posts. It divides the tabernacle into the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. In the latter the ark of the testimony is placed with the mercy seat. Outside the veil go the table, on the north side, and the lampstand, on the south side. At the entrance of the tent a colored screen is hung, held by five acacia posts set in bronze bases.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The tabernacle is built with ten curtains of fine linen, blue, purple and scarlet, with embroidered cherubim. The cherubim recall that this is a place of God's presence, guarded by heavenly beings.
Moses must set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown him on the mountain. It is not Moses' idea: the design is God's, and obedience means making it just as it was shown.
The veil separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, and behind it goes the ark of the testimony. The separation teaches that access to God's holiest presence is neither free nor immediate, and the New Testament says Christ has opened that distance.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Ten curtains of fine linen, blue, purple and scarlet, with embroidered cherubim. — Exodus 26:1
Answer: Goats' hair, eleven curtains, with further coverings of rams' skins dyed red and of fine leather. — Exodus 26:7-14
Answer: Acacia wood, and they stood in silver bases. — Exodus 26:15-19
Answer: Set up the tabernacle according to the pattern God had shown him. — Exodus 26:30
Answer: The Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. — Exodus 26:33
Answer: Inside the veil, in the Most Holy Place. — Exodus 26:33-34
Exodus 26 may read like a technical list, but it communicates that God cares about the details of worship and wants to live among his people. In a small group you can discuss what it means that God is both near and holy, and how we avoid making his presence ordinary or, on the other hand, unreachable.
The veil recalls the distance sin creates. The Gospels report that when Jesus died the temple veil was torn, and Hebrews teaches that through Christ we have free access to God. That truth invites us to draw near with confidence and with reverence, and to give thanks that what was closed to Israel is open now.
Exodus 26 shows the tent that surrounded the ark and the furniture: an ordered, beautiful space divided by a veil. Chapter 27 continues with the altar of burnt offering and the courtyard around the tent.
It was the inner part of the tabernacle, separated by the veil, where the ark with the mercy seat stood. Only the high priest entered, once a year, on the Day of Atonement. It represented God's most direct presence among his people.
The coverings protected the linen curtains from the weather of the wilderness. The inner curtains were the most beautiful and were seen from inside. The text does not explain a symbolic meaning for the outer layers, though some readers have proposed one.
Matthew, Mark and Luke say that when Jesus died the temple veil was torn. Hebrews understands that the way to God was opened by Christ's sacrifice. It is a connection the New Testament itself makes with the function of the veil.