Exodus 38: 9-31….I’ve cut out large sections!

And he made the court. For the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. And for the north side ……And for the west side…….And for the front to the east,….. And so for the other side……. On both sides of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases. All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen. ……And the screen for the gate of the court was embroidered with needlework in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. ………
These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses; and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.
All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels,……. for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men. The hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases ……….The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels; with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar, the bases around the court, and the bases of the gate of the court, all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court.

Comment: As we come to the end of the book of Exodus, acknowledging that all scripture is given by God to help us in our earthly pilgrimage, I find the details here basically irrelevant for my daily living although academically informative! So what ‘hits me’ as relevant for my walk with God. a) God wants all of His people to be able to find space to draw near to Him in worship. b) Everybody is in God’s sight! In some ways the list is of 603,550 men above 20 years of age, but God is not anti-women. I bet there were many women who were involved in the overall running of the workshops etc. And I wouldn’t mind betting that kids were sent to fetch this and that when needed. I am certain that many of the youths were ‘apprenticed’ as the work proceeded! c) God is worth more than the left-overs of our lives – either of our time or our substance! Preparing stuff for the walls of the place of worship was both expensive and time consuming! d) The whole passage ends up with information about the altar. And thus, we must never forget the centrality of the Cross – the altar on which Christ made the perfect sacrifice for our being able to get right with God!

Proverbs 26: 13-14 – The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!” As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. – Any excuse is good enough to avoid doing what we know we should. Even on a Sunday morning!

Prayer: Help me to sing and live out that beautiful old hymn – ‘Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!’