_The Ark_.

And Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it: and he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a rim of gold to it round about. And he cast for it four rings of gold, in the four feet thereof; two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. And he made staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. And he made a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And he made two cherubim of gold; of beaten work made he them, at the two ends of the mercy seat; one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end: of one piece with the mercy seat made he the cherubim at the two ends thereof. And the cherubim spread out their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.

{221}

_The Table_.

And he made the table of acacia wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereto a rim of gold round about. And he made for it a border of an handbreadth round about, and made a golden rim to the border thereof round about.

And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that were on the four feet thereof. Close by the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table. And he made the staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table. And he made the vessels which were upon the table, the dishes thereof, and the spoons thereof, and the bowls thereof, and the flagons thereof, to pour out of, pure gold.

_The Candlestick_.

And he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick, even its base, and its shaft; its cups, its k.n.o.bs, and its flowers, were of one piece with it: and there were six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof: three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a k.n.o.b and a flower; and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a k.n.o.b and a flower: so for the six branches going out of the candlestick. And in the candlestick were four cups made like almond blossoms, the k.n.o.bs thereof, and the flowers {222} thereof: and a k.n.o.b under two branches of one piece with it, and a k.n.o.b under two branches of one piece with it, and a k.n.o.b under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of it.

Their k.n.o.bs and their branches were of one piece with it: the whole of it was one beaten work of pure gold. And he made the lamps thereof, seven, and the tongs thereof, and the snuff-dishes thereof, of pure gold. Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof.

_The Altar of Incense_.

And he made the altar of incense of acacia wood: a cubit was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, foursquare; and two cubits was the height thereof; the horns thereof were of one piece with it. And he overlaid it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns of it: and he made unto it a rim of gold round about. And he made for it two golden rings under the rim thereof, upon the two ribs thereof, upon the two sides of it, for places for staves to bear it withal. And he made the staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, after the art of the perfumer.

_The Altar of Burnt Offering_.

And he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof, foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.

{223}{224}

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE TRADITIONAL SPOT ON WHICH MOSES READ THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

The traditional Sinai is bounded on the north by the great plain Er-Rahab out of which it rises precipitately. The northernmost peak is called the "Head of the Willow," probably from a willow tree growing in one of the gullies, and is commonly taken as the place of the giving of the Law. The height of the peak is 6,937 feet. "Now the whole prospect is before us. The vast plain of Er-Rahab, flecked with a few camels and black Arab tents, and capable of holding millions of people all in view of the Mount, gradually slopes away from the eminences where we are."

[End ill.u.s.tration]

{225}

And he made the horns thereof upon the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of one piece with it: and he overlaid it with bra.s.s. And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basins, the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of bra.s.s. And he made for the altar a grating of network of bra.s.s, under the ledge round it beneath, reaching halfway up. And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grating of bra.s.s, to be places for the staves. And he made the staves of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bra.s.s. And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made it hollow with planks.

And he made the laver of bra.s.s, and the base thereof of bra.s.s, of the mirrors of the serving women which served at the door of the tent of meeting.

_The Court_.

And he made the court: for the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine linen, an hundred cubits: their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bra.s.s; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. And for the north side an hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bra.s.s; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. And for the east side eastward fifty cubits. The hangings for the one side of the gate were {226} fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three; and so for the other side: on this hand and that hand by the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. All the hangings of the court round about were of fine linen. And the sockets for the pillars were of bra.s.s; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their capitals of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. And the screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court. And their pillars were four, and their sockets four, of bra.s.s; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets of silver. And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of bra.s.s.

_The Workmen and the Materials_.

This is the sum of the things for the tabernacle, even the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. And Bezalel the son of Uri, the 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 a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

{227}

All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And the hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; an hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them. And the bra.s.s of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tent of meeting, and the brazen altar, and the brazen grating for it, and all the vessels of the altar, and the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the gate of the court, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

_The Garments of the Priests_.

And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the Lord commanded Moses.

And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And they beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and {228} in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the cunning workman. They made shoulderpieces for it, joined together: at the two ends was it joined together. And the cunningly woven band, that was upon it, to gird it on withal, was of the same piece and like the work thereof; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the Lord commanded Moses.

And they wrought the onyx stones, inclosed in clasps of gold, graven with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel. And he put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses.

And he made the breastplate, the work of the cunning workman, like the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being double. And they set in it four rows of stones: a row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row. And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in clasps of gold in their settings. And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, for the twelve tribes.

{229}{230}

[Ill.u.s.tration]

VIEW FROM MOUNT HOR From an old engraving.

[End ill.u.s.tration]

{231}

And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue; and the hole of the robe in the midst thereof, as the hole of a coat of mail, with a binding round about the hole of it, that it should not be rent.

And they made upon the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and linen. And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the skirts of the robe round about, between the pomegranates; a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe round about, to minister in; as the Lord commanded Moses.

And they made the coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, and the miter of fine linen, and the goodly turbans of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine linen, and the girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer; as the Lord commanded Moses.

And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like the engravings of a signet, "Holy to the Lord." And they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it upon the miter above; as the Lord commanded Moses.

Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting: and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.

_The Work Is Approved_.