Placing Faith Within the Tabernacle's Golden Work

Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. He overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out; and he made a gold molding for it round about. He cast four gold rings for it, for its four feet: two rings on one of its side walls and two rings on the other. He made poles of acacia wood, overlaid them with gold, and inserted the poles into the rings on the side walls of the ark for carrying the ark. He made a cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work, at the two ends of the cover: one cherub at one end and the other cherub at the other end; he made the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at its two ends. The cherubim had their wings spread out above, shielding the cover with their wings. They faced each other; the faces of the cherubim were turned toward the cover. He made the table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high; he overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding around it. He made a rim of a hand’s breadth around it and made a gold molding for its rim round about. He cast four gold rings for it and attached the rings to the four corners at its four legs. The rings were next to the rim, as holders for the poles to carry the table. He made the poles of acacia wood for carrying the table, and overlaid them with gold. The utensils that were to be upon the table—its bowls, ladles, jugs, and jars with which to offer libations—he made of pure gold. He made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand—its base and its shaft—of hammered work; its cups, calyxes, and petals were of one piece with it. Six branches issued from its sides: three branches from one side of the lampstand, and three branches from the other side of the lampstand. There were three cups shaped like almond-blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on one branch; and there were three cups shaped like almond-blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on the next branch; so for all six branches issuing from the lampstand. On the lampstand itself there were four cups shaped like almond-blossoms, each with calyx and petals: a calyx, of one piece with it, under a pair of branches; and a calyx, of one piece with it, under the second pair of branches; and a calyx, of one piece with it, under the last pair of branches; so for all six branches issuing from it. Their calyxes and their stems were of one piece with it, the whole of it a single hammered piece of pure gold. He made its seven lamps, its tongs, and its fire pans of pure gold. He made it and all its furnishings out of a talent of pure gold. He made the incense altar of acacia wood, a cubit long and a cubit wide—square—and two cubits high; its horns were of one piece with it. He overlaid it with pure gold: its top, its sides round about, and its horns; and he made a gold molding for it round about. He made two gold rings for it under its molding, on its two walls—on opposite sides—as holders for the poles with which to carry it. He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. He prepared the sacred anointing oil and the pure aromatic incense, expertly blended.

Exodus 37:1-20 describes Bezalel's crafting of the Ark of the Covenant, the table of showbread, and the lampstand. The repeated phrase 'pure gold' and the detailed measurements (two and a half cubits by one and a half) echo the instructions given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The literal Hebrew behind 'gold' is זָהָב (zahav), refined and without alloy. The carrying rings and poles remind us that what is most sacred must still be carried by human hands.