Exodus 38 · WEB
Construction of the Bronze Altar, Basin, and the Courtyard
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He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Its length was five cubits, and its width was five cubits, square. Its height was three cubits.
2He made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.
3He made all the vessels of the altar: the pots, the shovels, the basins, the meat hooks, and the fire pans. He made all its vessels of bronze.
4He made for the altar a grating of a network of bronze, under its ledge, beneath, reaching halfway up.
5He cast four rings for the four ends of the bronze grating, to be places for the poles.
6He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.
7He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks.
8He made the basin of bronze and its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the tent of meeting.
9He made the court: for the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, one hundred cubits;
10their twenty pillars and their twenty sockets were of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
11For the north side, one hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty sockets were of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
12For the west side were hangings of fifty cubits; their ten pillars and their ten sockets were of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
13For the east side eastward, fifty cubits.
14The hangings for the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their three pillars and their three sockets.
15For the other side of the gate of the court, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their three pillars and their three sockets.
16All the hangings of the court around were of fine twined linen.
17The sockets for the pillars were of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. The overlaying of their capitals was of silver; and all the pillars of the court had silver fillets.
18The screen for the gate of the court was the work of an embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height along the width was five cubits, like the hangings of the court.
19Their four pillars and their four sockets were of bronze. Their hooks were of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets were of silver.
20All the pins of the tabernacle, and around the court, were of bronze.
21This is the inventory of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of the testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
22Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that Yahweh commanded Moses.
23With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen.
24All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
25The silver of those who were numbered of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary:
26a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed over to those who were numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men.
27The hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil: one hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
28Of the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them.
29The bronze of the offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels.
30With it he made the sockets for the door of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, all the vessels of the altar,
31the sockets for the court around, the sockets for the gate of the court, all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court around.
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Summary
The construction continues with the bronze altar of burnt offering, followed by the bronze washing basin — made from the bronze mirrors donated by the women who served at the Tabernacle entrance. The courtyard's linen hangings and bronze-and-silver pillars are completed. The chapter ends with a detailed inventory: the total gold used was 29 talents and 730 shekels; silver was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels (gathered from the half-shekel census tax of 603,550 men); and bronze was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels. Ithamar, Aaron's son, oversaw the accounting.
Themes
- Accountability and transparency in handling sacred resources
- Personal sacrifice: women giving their mirrors — objects of personal appearance
- The community's census as the basis for the Tabernacle's silver foundation
- Every person's contribution embedded in the structure of God's dwelling
Key verses
- Ex 38:21 — “This is the inventory of the tabernacle… as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses.”
- Ex 38:25-26 — “603,550 men gave a half-shekel each — the silver used for the Tabernacle's foundation sockets.”
- Ex 38:8 — “He made the basin of bronze and its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the tent of meeting.”
Context & background
The census of 603,550 men (v. 26) matches the number in Numbers 1:46, giving a total Israelite community of approximately 2 million people. Each adult male's half-shekel was used to cast the silver sockets that formed the very foundation of the Tabernacle — meaning every Israelite's ransom price literally held up God's dwelling. The women's bronze mirrors (v. 8) represent a striking personal sacrifice: mirrors were among the most personal luxury items of the ancient world, and giving them up was an act of profound self-offering. The detailed inventory demonstrates the Tabernacle's accountability — Moses (through Ithamar) counted everything.
Cross-references
- 1 Corinthians 4:2 — "It is required of stewards that they be found faithful" — the principle behind Ithamar's careful accounting.
- Exodus 30:12-16 — The half-shekel ransom tax commanded earlier — now we see it executed and accounted for.
- Luke 21:1-4 — The widow's offering of everything she had echoes the spirit of the women giving their mirrors.
- Numbers 1:46 — The census of 603,550 fighting men — the same number as here, confirming the accounting.