The Altar and the Court: Where Details Bear Trust

He made the altar for burnt offering of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide—square—and three cubits high. He made horns for it on its four corners, the horns being of one piece with it; and he overlaid it with copper. He made all the utensils of the altar—the pails, the scrapers, the basins, the flesh hooks, and the fire pans; he made all these utensils of copper. He made for the altar a grating of meshwork in copper, extending below, under its ledge, to its middle. He cast four rings, at the four corners of the copper grating, as holders for the poles. He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with copper; and he inserted the poles into the rings on the side walls of the altar, to carry it by them. He made it hollow, of boards. He made the laver of copper and its stand of copper, from the mirrors of the women who performed tasks uncertain. at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He made the enclosure:On the south side, a hundred cubits of hangings of fine twisted linen for the enclosure— with their twenty posts and their twenty sockets of copper, the hooks and bands of the posts being silver. On the north side, a hundred cubits—with their twenty posts and their twenty sockets of copper, the hooks and bands of the posts being silver. On the west side, fifty cubits of hangings—with their ten posts and their ten sockets, the hooks and bands of the posts being silver. And on the front side, to the east, fifty cubits: fifteen cubits of hangings on the one flank, with their three posts and their three sockets, and fifteen cubits of hangings on the other flank—on each side of the gate of the enclosure—with their three posts and their three sockets. All the hangings around the enclosure were of fine twisted linen. The sockets for the posts were of copper, the hooks and bands of the posts were of silver, the overlay of their tops was of silver; all the posts of the enclosure were banded with silver.— The screen of the gate of the enclosure, done in embroidery, was of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen. It was twenty cubits long. Its height—or width—was five cubits, like that of the hangings of the enclosure. The posts were four; their four sockets were of copper, their hooks of silver; and the overlay of their tops was of silver, as were also their bands.— All the pegs of the Tabernacle and of the enclosure round about were of copper. These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, that were drawn up at Moses’ bidding—the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. Now Bezalel, son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, had made all that GOD had commanded Moses; at his side was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, carver and designer, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and crimson yarns and in fine linen. All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary—the elevation offering of gold—came to 29 talents and 730 shekels by the sanctuary weight. The silver of those of the community who were recorded came to 100 talents and 1,775 shekels by the sanctuary weight: a half-shekel. a head, half a shekel by the sanctuary weight, for each one who was entered in the records, from the age of twenty years up, 603,550 men. The 100 talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets for the curtain, 100 sockets to the 100 talents, a talent a socket. And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the posts, overlay for their tops, and bands around them. The copper from the elevation offering came to 70 talents and 2,400 shekels. Of it he made the sockets for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; the copper altar and its copper grating and all the utensils of the altar; the sockets of the enclosure round about and the sockets of the gate of the enclosure; and all the pegs of the Tabernacle and all the pegs of the enclosure round about.

Exodus 38:1-20 describes the construction of the burnt-offering altar and the tabernacle courtyard. Every measurement, hook, and socket is recorded because covenant faithfulness lives in the details no one sees.