Making the Ark
37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 2 And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. 3 And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. 4 And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold 5 and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. 6 And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 7 And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, 8 one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. 9 The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.
Making the Table
10 He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it. 12 And he made a rim around it a handbreadth wide, and made a molding of gold around the rim. 13 He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 14 Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table. 15 He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold. 16 And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.
Making the Lampstand
17 He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it. 18 And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 19 three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, 21 and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it. 22 Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. 23 And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold. 24 He made it and all its utensils out of a talent of pure gold.
Making the Altar of Incense
25 He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it. 26 He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a molding of gold around it, 27 and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it. 28 And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
29 He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer. (ESV)
1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.
Bezalel has been mentioned in previous chapters as one who was chosen by the Lord and filled with “the Spirit of God, ability, skill and knowledge” (Ex. 31:3) He used his talents and gifts to serve God in the construction of the Tabernacle. It stood out to me that Bezalel was the one who had the honor of making the most sacred object of all the items for the Tabernacle, the Ark. When God gives us abilities we need to be obedient to use them to serve Him, just as Bezalel did. When we do this we are given more opportunities to serve God and thus we are storing up more treasures in heaven. May all of us use our gifts and talents to serve God and show that we are living the call of Matthew 6:20 to store up for ourselves treasure in heaven.
Great Comment Beth!
This chapter reminded me a little of last weeks sermon. We learned that if we want to recieve our Heavenly reward than we must do all things for God’s glory (Col. 3:23) instead of being lazy. What if Bezalel was lazy? His sin would have an effect on the entire camp of Isrealites! If he didn’t do one thing exactly how God wanted it the whole project would be a disaster, if he procrastinated then Isreal would be with out a place to atone for sin and God would not have a dwelling place. These are all huge consequences! This is why we must do all things for the glory of God, like Bezalel, so that we can recieve our reward in Heaven and be blessed by our work here on earth instead of reaping the consequences of sin.
2 He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it.
There was no more precious metal than pure gold. Pure gold is uncontaminated from other metals. Nothing but the best was to go to the items of worship. Let us give God our best today, and let Him be #1 for us, uncontaminated from any other competing interest or priority.
Radical comments you guys!!! I really like these comments, mucho gusto!!!! Yeah Beth I agree let’s use our gifts to serve God, Hunter that’s a really good point about being lazy and the sin that occurs when that happens!
2 He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it.
I agree with you Dan, we gotta to be giving God our best, like the Israelites did here with all of these costly materials! It reminds me of the Israelites when they were giving sacrifices they were put the animals that had defects or challenged or crippled and God corrects them for this.
1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.
2 He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it.
3 He cast four gold rings for it and fastened them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other.
The ark sounds really cool and amazing. and Bezalel most of felt honored that he was making the ark for God. It is I mean it is such a privallege. And all the little details that he put on and around it makes it so much more unique and amazing. And do go off of what Dan and Kyle said, we DO need to give God our best(including: doing homework) :]
***REMEMBER TO GIVE HIM YOUR BEST!!!***
6 He made the atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
7 Then he made two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover.
8 He made one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; at the two ends he made them of one piece with the cover.
9 The cherubim had their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover
In Pastor Mike’s message a few weeks ago I remember him talking about this cover. In Romans 3:24 the phrase ‘sacrifice of atonement’, he said means the cover on the ark, Because they used to sprinkle blood on this and once they did that would be the final say that they have been forgiven.. It still a little confusing so if anyone wants to touch up on this verse please do haha cuz I don’t think I did it justice…
I thought it was interesting how they made rings and poles for each item so that they could carry it. Before reading Exodus, I thought they only did this for the Ark, but it says that they did it for all of the items in the tabernacle. This shows that God took His dwelling place seriously and wanted it to be set apart from human hands. And like Dan and others have said, they also overlaid everything they made with pure gold. In this way, we need to be serving God by giving Him the best of what we have as well as taking our work seriously so that it will truly be glorifying to God.
1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.
2 He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it.
3 He cast four gold rings for it and fastened them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other.
4 Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
Wow! Could you imagine a place that everyone could see that GOD resided in. It would be a place of such power, such majesty, that it would be… I don’t think there is even a word to describe it.
COOL! The Ark! This is an awesome chapter explaining exactly how the Ark of the Covenant looked like. If anyone is confused of what it looks like and wants to see an image of it (not the real one of course), click on this link:
http://drzaius.ics.uci.edu/blogs/setbang/raiders_of_the_lost_ark_1.jpg
1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.
2 He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it.
This whole thing is really how they made something out of gold. He is choosing to use the most expensive and best for the Lord! That is what we need to do is to do everything for Him and always do our best!
I find it so cool how this chapter give such specific instructions to make the ark! I also agree with what Dan was saying about how pure the gold was. And that God totally deserves that and sooo much more!
i like what hunter said. We need to not be lazy and do every thing for God. So lets think what does God want us to do for Him this week?
It is cool that the passage explains how the ark was made. Since the gold was really expensive, it was glorifying God that Bezalel was making it for God and out of the best materials.
2 He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it.
6 He made the atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
7 Then he made two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover.
8 He made one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; at the two ends he made them of one piece with the cover.
9 The cherubim had their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover
I find this amazing how Bezalel made only the best to be offered to God. We need to give our best and only best to God for He deserves it for everything He has given to us.
I cant believe how descriptive and exact this is. Can you imagine being in the presence of something so amazing and intricate? This is much the same feeling we should have when we think about standing in the presence of God. Actually it should be a million times more breathtaking.
this scripture really does tell how much we should obay the comands God gives us i am still working on one of them help me to obay my parents when they tell me to do something.Amen
This passage is very interesting. Its good to read about the hard work put into the ark, and what it was made of.
The ark was really important because it provided a place for God to dwell among His people. The details in this chapter show how attentive God is to detail.
The implements used for the tabernacle are described for us in detail. I love how God has allowed us a glimpse into how these items were made, as well as what they might have looked like. A few years ago while visiting Israel we went to The Temple Institute, where they have begun to remake some of these items for the future temple. If God had not kept a record (in His word), duplication of these items would not have been possible. I am thankful to serve a detailed God; it assures me that nothing is EVER overlooked!
i agree with what you said, drew, that this chapter is very interesting.
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1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.
Its really awsome when you do stuff for God to the max. most of the time we do stuff just so we can get it done, not so that we’re doing it for God. if we do stuff for our earthly reward, we wont get our reward in heaven.
That was really awesome learning how the ark was made!:D Every little detail was needed to make it complete and to serve its purpose. God gave us skillz to use them for his glory in serving him, like Bezalel did. If we don’t use our special gifts and talents that our Lord gave us, then we are missing the joy in opportunities and maybe even blessings from God.
Oh my lanta, pure gold is mentioned a lot in this chapter!! It reminded me of how our God is pure and HOLY!! Nothin’ but the best for our HOLY God!! It’s interesting to see how much work was put into making everything for His tabernacle, it wasn’t just another tent they had with them!! Our God is an awesome God, and he deserves the best from us!! :D
I LOVE THE LAMPSTANDS! THEY SOUND SO COOL! GOD IS AMAZING! He designs everything on this Earth and commands it to look a specific way. The same goes for us. He commands us to do specific things and, like Christa said at girls workshop, we disregard it and move on with our lives like it’s nothing. But God also created His Word and it is designed to be a certain way so that we may obey it according to the way He wants us to. Let’s not forget how powerful God is and how important it is to crack open His Word and learn from it. God’s Word should bring us joy! :D
I wonder if Bezalel ever wondered when he was younger if he was ever going to do something really big for God…and then it turns out God used him for one of the most amazing things made by human hands EVER. I guess what we can learn from this is that we never know what God has planned for our lives, whether it be something huge or just effecting one person’s life. Whatever the case, once we give our lives to Christ, we need to be fully satisfied and JOYFUL (girls workshop :]) with whatever God has us doing.
When the Bible says that the angels were facing eachother and inward, it’s like they’re worshipping God along with us, even in depictions of them. We need to remember to always worship God with every talent we have (:
9 The cherubim had their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover.
I thought this chapter was cool showing how God had a planned out design for what He wanted them to build.
This paints such a beautiful picture for us! Everything is so detailed. It reminds me that every little thing we do for the Lord- we should give our 100% to it. Always remember that God can see everything! He knows our heart and how much effort we put into things. Like Pastor Bobby said at true north united- DO EVEN YOUR HOMEWORK FOR THE LORD. Let’s bring glory to him through our daily activities!
It sounds so gorgeous and detailed. It give us such an awesome description and they must have put a lot of time and effort in order to make it this beautiful. They really gave their best to God. I wonder who Bezalel is and what his job was. I also want to know if he’s going to be mentioned again.
I’m totally with Jasmine. Like that is pretty much what I was thinking too haha. It’s so detailed! God gave such specific instructions and every detail was laid out. God wants to shape us in every area of our life and we need to pay attention to the details of our life as well and make sure that in EVERYTHING we do, we are doing it for His glory.
Like Natasha said just look at the detail God put into telling Moses and the people on how to build the Ark of the Covenant. How much detail and time does God spend when planning our lives?
I never knew that so much detail went into making all this stuff! BUt i think the main theme for this passsage is that we need to use our gifts for God. He gave them to us for a reason, to serve Him, so we need to do that because He is our Lord!
This description of the Ark is really cool! It is amazing how much work and GOLD was put into it. Like everyone else said…we really need to put everthing we have into God. We need to give him our very best for everything to glorify Him.
Awesome Comments!
6 He made the atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
I remember Pastor Mike’s sermon a few weeks ago on Jesus as the atoning sacrifice. He mentioned the ark, and how each year the blood of an animal was sacrificed to make justice for the sins of Israel. But since an animals death does not complete the full justice that God requires, a person must die in order to appease God’s anger. Thats where Jesus comes in. He is our atoning sacrifice, dying on the cross for us, even when we were still sinners. That is amazing love.
So much detail! It’s amazing! God showed Bezalel how to make the Ark– everything so percisely and accurate! That’s exactly how God is with our lives. We talked a bit about this at our table at Girl’s Workshop today– how we’ve got our “plans” in our life, but God only laughs when He hears them. God’s plans are WAY more amazing than we can fathom when we surrender our life and plans to Him. He promises that He’ll make everything work out accurately. In a way, this chapter is so encouraging in that it assures me that God is in control of my life and my plans– even to every little detail! :)
Thank you for the awesome message today at Girl’s Workshop, Christa!
I’ve seen acacia wood in Exodus a few times now. It is amazing how God was so specific in His instructions to go down to the very wood that needed to be used. God has plans for our lives and we need to listen to Him and follow what He wants for us, not what we want for ourselves. If anyone is interested, this is the species of acacia they think was used on the ark: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_seyal
Like Jacob says, God is very specific with how he wants things done. That’s what his word is all about, specificity. He not only demands his temple and ark to be built exactly how he wants but also our lives. He wants perfection out of us even thought he knows we’ll sin. Our perfection comes from our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He demands that we embrace the commands of his son and we need to follow them exactly as he says.
Thanks for the link Jacob!
God is a God of details and he has prepared good works in advance for us who are Christians. Sometime God puts us through trials and tribulations because he is preparing us to minister to people in the same situation. So when you are going through life pay close attention and now that God is doing a work in your life for a reason.
It’s interesting to see how specific God is with his orders on how to build the ark. God knows exactly what he wants from us, and we need to obey every one of his commandments. He had the ark constructed in this way for a reason: to show his splendor to other nations and to the Israelites, and he has reasons that he made every single one of his commandments.
Great to read these comments on here everyone! Keep them coming!
I remember when God was telling Moses about these things on the mountain. Now it is exciting to see them coming together!
This is how it should be in our lives. God has told us what to do. Now we need to go make it happen in our lives!
Great comment Hunter!!
Its a good point, what if we did procrastinate? Im sure a lot of the people that are christians today wouldnt be if we would have. So if we have procrastinated in the past, lets change that and get out there doing the work for God and for his Glory!!
Once again God is sooooo specific and i am still not sure why he needs it to be built that exact way… but were called to listen to God … and they did.