Exodus 26

Curtains and Coverings for the Sacred Tent

1 (Exodus 36.8-19) The Lord said to Moses: Furnish the sacred tent with curtains made from ten pieces of the finest linen. They must be woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures.2 Make each piece fourteen yards long and two yards wide3 and sew them together into two curtains with five sections each.

4-6 Put fifty loops of blue cloth along one of the wider sides of each curtain, then fasten the two curtains at the loops with fifty gold hooks.
7-8 As the material for the tent, use goat hair to weave eleven sections fifteen yards by two yards each.9 Sew five of the sections together to make one panel. Then sew the other six together to make a second panel, and fold the sixth section double over the front of the tent.10 Put fifty loops along one of the wider sides of each panel11 and fasten the two panels at the loops with fifty bronze hooks.12-13 The panel of goat hair will be a yard longer than the tent itself, so fold half a yard of the material behind the tent and on each side as a protective covering.14 Make two more coverings—one with ram skins dyed red and the other with fine leather.

The Framework for the Sacred Tent

15 (Exodus 36.20-34) The Lord said: Build a framework of acacia wood for the walls of the sacred tent.16 Each frame is to be fifteen feet high and twenty-seven inches wide17 with two wooden pegs near the bottom.18-21 Place two silver stands under each frame with sockets for the pegs, so the frames can be joined together. Twenty of these frames are to be used along the south side and twenty more along the north.22 For the back wall along the west side use six frames23-24 with two more at the southwest and northwest corners. Make certain that these corner frames are joined from top to bottom.

25 Altogether, this back wall will have eight frames with two silver stands under each one.
26-27 Make five crossbars for each of the wooden frames,28 with the center crossbar running the full length of the wall.29 Cover the frames and the crossbars with gold and attach gold rings to the frames to run the crossbars through.30 Then set up the tent in the way I showed you on the mountain.

The Curtain Inside the Sacred Tent

31-33 (Exodus 36.35-38) The Lord said: t31-33 Make a curtain to separate the holy place from the most holy place. Use fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. Cover four acacia wood posts with gold and set them each on a silver stand. Then fasten gold hooks to the posts and hang the curtain there.
34 Inside the most holy place, you must put the sacred chest that has the place of mercy on its lid.t

35 Outside the curtain put the table for the sacred bread on the right side and the gold lampstand on the left.
36 For the entrance to the tent, use a piece of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with fancy needlework.

37 Cover five acacia wood posts with gold and set them each on a bronze stand. Then put gold hooks on the posts and hang the curtain there.

Exodus 27

The Altar for Offering Sacrifices

1 (Exodus 38.1-7) The Lord said to Moses: Use acacia wood to build an altar seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high,2 and make each of the four top corners stick up like the horn of a bull. Then cover the whole altar with bronze, including the four horns.3 All the equipment for the altar must also be made of bronze—the pans for the hot ashes, the shovels, the sprinkling bowls, the meat forks, and the fire pans.4-5 Midway up the altar build a ledge around it, and cover the bottom half of the altar with a decorative bronze grating. Then attach a bronze ring beneath the ledge at the four corners of the altar.6-7 Cover two acacia wood poles with bronze and put them through the rings for carrying the altar.8 Construct the altar in the shape of an open box, just as you were shown on the mountain.

The Courtyard Around the Sacred Tent

9-15 (Exodus 38.9-20) The Lord said: 9-15 Surround the sacred tent with a courtyard one hundred fifty feet long on the south and north and seventy-five feet wide on the east and west. Use twenty bronze posts on bronze stands for the south and north and ten for the west. Then hang a curtain of fine linen on the posts along each of these three sides by using silver hooks and rods. Place three bronze posts on each side of the entrance at the east and hang a curtain seven and a half yards wide on each set of posts.

16 Use four more of these posts for the entrance way, then hang on them an embroidered curtain of fine linen ten yards long and woven with blue, purple, and red wool.
17-18 The curtains that surround the courtyard must be two and a half yards high and are to be hung from the bronze posts with silver hooks and rods.19 The rest of the equipment for the sacred tent must be made of bronze, including the pegs for the tent and for the curtain surrounding the courtyard.

The Oil for the Lamp in the Holy Place

20 (Leviticus 24.1-4) The Lord said to Moses: Command the people of Israel to supply you with the purest olive oil. Do this so the lamp will keep burning

21 in front of the curtain that separates the holy place from the most holy place, where the sacred chest is kept. Aaron and his sons are responsible for keeping the lamp burning every night in the sacred tent. The Israelites must always obey this command.

Exodus 28

The Clothes for the High Priest

1 (Exodus 39.1-7) The Lord said to Moses: Send for your brother Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. They are the ones I have chosen from Israel to serve as my priests.2 Make Aaron some beautiful clothes that are worthy of a high priest.3 Aaron is to be dedicated as my high priest, and his clothes must be made only by persons who possess skills that I have given them.4 Here are the items that need to be made: a breastpiece, a priestly vest, a robe, an embroidered shirt, a turban, and a sash. These sacred clothes are to be made for your brother Aaron and his sons who will be my priests.5 Only gold and fine linen, woven with blue, purple, and red wool, are to be used for making these clothes.

The Vest for the High Priest

6-8 (Exodus 39.2-7) The Lord said: 6-8 The entire priestly vest must be made of fine linen skillfully woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and decorated with gold. It is to have two shoulder straps to support it and a sash that fastens around the waist.

9-12 Put two onyxt stones in gold settings, then attach one to each of the shoulder straps. On one of these stones engrave the names of Israel’s first six sons in the order of their birth. And do the same with his remaining six sons on the other stone. In this way Aaron will always carry the names of the tribes of Israel when he enters the holy place, and I will never forget my people.
13-14 Attach two gold settings to the shoulder straps and fasten them with two braided chains of pure gold.

The Breastpiece for the High Priest

15 (Exodus 39.8-21) The Lord said: From the same costly material make a breastpiece for the high priest to use in learning what I want my people to do.16 It is to be nine inches square and folded double17 with four rows of three precious stones: In the first row put a carnelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald;18 in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond;19 in the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;20 and in the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper.t Mount the stones in delicate gold settings

21 and engrave on each of them the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.
22-25 Attach two gold rings to the upper front corners of the breastpiece and fasten them with two braided gold chains to gold settings on the shoulder straps.26 Attach two other gold rings to the lower inside corners next to the vest27 and two more near the bottom of the shoulder straps right above the sash.

28 Then take a blue cord and tie the two lower rings on the breastpiece to those on the vest. This will keep the breastpiece in place.
29 In this way Aaron will have the names of the twelve tribes of Israel written on his heart each time he enters the holy place, and I will never forget my people.30 t30 He must also wear on his breastpiece the two small objectst that he uses to receive answers from me.

The Other High-Priestly Clothes

31 (Exodus 39.22-26, 30, 31) The Lord said: Under his vest Aaron must wear a robe of blue wool32 with an opening in the center for his head. Be sure to bind the material around the collar to keep it from raveling.33-34 Along the hem of the robe weave pomegranatest of blue, purple, and red wool with a gold bell between each of them.

35 If Aaron wears these clothes when he enters the holy place as my high priest, the sound of the bells will be heard, and his life will not be in danger.
36 On a narrow strip of pure gold engrave the words: “Dedicated to the Lord.”37 Fasten it to the front of Aaron’s turban with a blue cord,

38 so he can wear it on his forehead. This will show that he will take on himself the guilt for any sins the people of Israel commit in offering their gifts to me, and I will forgive them.
39 Make Aaron’s robe and turban of fine linen and decorate his sash with fancy needlework.

The Clothes for the Other Priests

40 (Exodus 39.27-29) Since Aaron’s sons are priests, they should also look dignified. So make robes, sashes, and special caps for them.

41 Then dress Aaron and his sons in these clothes, pour olive oil on their heads, and ordain them as my priests.
42 Make linen shorts for them that reach from the waist down to the thigh, so they won’t expose themselves.

43 Whenever they enter the sacred tent or serve at the altar or enter the holy place, they must wear these shorts, or else they will be guilty and die. This same rule applies to any of their descendants who serve as priests.