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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 26:15-30

Very particular directions are here given about the boards of the tabernacle, which were to bear up the curtains, as the stakes of a tent which had need to be strong, Isa. 54:2. These boards had tenons which fell into the mortises that were made for them in silver bases. God took care to have every thing strong, as well as fine, in his tabernacle. Curtains without boards would have been shaken by every wind; but it is a good thing to have the heart established with grace, which is as the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 26:19

And thou shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards ,.... Or bases F19 אדני "bases", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator, Drusius. , and which were properly the foundation of the tabernacle, on which it was settled and established; these sockets were the mortises for the two tenons of each board or plank to be placed in, and were as broad as the plank, and, joining each other, made one entire basis for the whole structure; each socket contained a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 26:20

And for the second side of the tabernacle the north side ,.... The direction of the tabernacle was east and west; at the east end was the entrance into the holy place, and at the west end the holy of holies; and the two sides were north and south; and as on the south side, so on the north there shall be twenty boards : just the same number as the laws of building required. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 26:21

And their forty sockets of silver ,.... answerable to the twenty boards, for their two tenons to be placed in as in mortises: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board; and so under all the boards on the north side as on the south. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 26:1-37

THE TABERNACLE . The sacred furniture which the tabernacle was to contain having been described, with the exception of the "altar of incense" the description of which is reserved for Exodus 30:1-38 . ( Exodus 30:1-10 )-directions were next given for the sacred structure itself. This was to consist of three main things— 1 . A quadrangular enclosure thirty cubits long by ten broad, open at one end, and on the other three sides enclosed by boards of acacia-wood overlaid with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 26:1-37

The symbolism of the tabernacle structure. I. That the HOLY OF HOLIES typified heaven itself is declared in the Epistle to the Hebrews ( Hebrews 9:7-12 ). In it were the forms of cherubim, representing the angelic choir, and between them was the manifestation of the presence of God himself. It was cut off from the rest of the sanctuary by the veil, which none was to lift save the High Priest once a year: "the Holy Ghost thus signifying, that the way into the holiest of all"— ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 26:1-37

Jehovah's dwelling. Instructions are now given for the making of the "dwelling-place," of that sacred house or tent which was to be the special abode of Jehovah, and within which, when reared according to the fashion shown to Moses in the mount ( Exodus 26:30 ), the sacred articles described in the previous chapter were to be deposited. We need not encumber our homily with the minutiae of construction. It will suffice to direct attention to the general arrangement of parts, and to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 26:1-37

The tabernacle itself. Consider here— I. GOD 'S COMMANDMENT THAT A DWELLING - PLACE SHOULD BE PROVIDED FOR HIM . Against even the least degree of image-making there was a stern edict; and we might also have expected that there would be equal sternness in forbidding the creation of aught in the shape of a holy house. For what on the face of it would seem more probable than this, that the erection of a holy house would be a strong inducement towards the fashioning... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 26:19

Forty sockets of silver . Nothing is said of the shape of these "sockets." They were certainly very massive, as each contained a silver talent ( Exodus 38:27 ), and thus weighed from eighty to ninety pounds. It has been supposed that they stood on the ground, and formed a sort of continuous base, out of which the planks rose. But this would have constituted a very unsafe structure. Kalisch is probably right in his view, that the sockets were let into the ground resembling those at the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 26:20

The second side … the north side . The north side, or left hand, was always regarded as less honourable than the south side or right hand (see Genesis 48:13-20 ), probably because in the northern hemisphere the sun illumines the south side. It showed the superior dignity of the south side that the golden candlestick was set against it ( Exodus 40:24 ). read more

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