| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, |
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| 2 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, and they take for Me a heave-offering; from every man whose heart impelleth him ye do take My heave-offering. |
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| 3 'And this [is] the heave-offering which ye take from them; gold, and silver, and brass, |
Gold – Representing the divine nature. T18
And silver – Symbol of truth. T114
And brass – Copper, symbol of perfect human nature. T18
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| 4 and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and linen, and goats' [hair], |
And blue – Symbol of faithfulness. T30
And purple – Symbol of royalty. T34
And scarlet – Symbol of the blood of the ransom. T34, T109
And fine linen – Symbol of righteousness. T29, T30, T36
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| 5 and rams' skins made red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, |
And badgers' skins – As God covered the Tabernacle with unsightly skins, so the glory and beauties of spiritual things are seen only by the "Royal Priesthood." T127
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| 6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the perfume of the spices, |
Anointing oil – Symbol of the holy Spirit. T29, T37, T116; D650; R5654:5
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| 7 shoham stones, and stones for setting for an ephod, and for a breastplate. |
Stones to be set – The Lord's jewels, his "Little Flock." T36
In the ephod – Type of the Abrahamic covenant (front part), and the New covenant (back part). T30
In the breastplate – Type of the Law. T34
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| 8 'And they have made for Me a sanctuary, and I have tabernacled in their midst; |
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| 9 according to all that which I am shewing thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all its vessels, even so ye do make [it]. |
Tabernacle – The lessons of the Tabernacle represent both progress and completion. R4579:1
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| 10 'And they have made an ark of shittim wood; two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height; |
Shall make an ark – It represented the eternal purpose of God for mankind in The Christ, Head and Body. T121
Wood was used as a base to make the articles more easily portable. T18
Representing Christ, in whom are hidden all the wisdom and power of God. R5680:5
Tradition says that the Jewish high priests took the ark and other temple treasures to Abyssinia for safe keeping at the time of the captivity and that they will be found in the monastery islands of Lake Zonai. R3450:5
Of shittim wood – Wood not typical, used merely for lightness. R1236:6
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| 11 and thou hast overlaid it [with] pure gold, within and without thou dost overlay it, and thou hast made on it a ring of gold round about. |
With pure gold – Representing the divine nature. T18
The fact that all things in the Tabernacle were made of gold implies that it represented the condition of such only as are called to the divine nature. T20
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| 12 'And thou hast cast for it four rings of gold, and hast put [them] on its four feet, even two rings on its one side, and two rings on its second side; |
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| 13 and thou hast made staves of shittim wood, and hast overlaid them [with] gold, |
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| 14 and hast brought the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark by them, |
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| 15 in the rings of the ark are the staves, they are not turned aside from it; |
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| 16 and thou hast put unto the ark the testimony which I give unto thee. |
The testimony – To show that Christ would meet in full all the requirements of God's perfect Law and also that legal authority would be vested in him as the Law-executor. T121
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| 17 'And thou hast made a mercy-seat of pure gold, two cubits and a half its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth; |
Make a mercy seat – Representing the underlying principle of Jehovah's character-justice. T124
Representing the chariot or throne. R529:6*
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| 18 and thou hast made two cherubs of gold, beaten work dost thou make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat; |
Make two cherubims – Representing love and power. T125
They are always connected with the immediate presence, or with the throne, of God. R529:6*
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| 19 and make thou one cherub at the end on this side, and one cherub at the end on that; at the mercy-seat ye do make the cherubs on its two ends. |
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| 20 'And the cherubs have been spreading out wings on high, covering the mercy-seat over with their wings, and their faces [are] one towards another towards the mercy-seat are the faces of the cherubs. |
Toward the mercy seat – Neither love nor power can be exercised until justice is fully satisfied; hence they look inward toward justice to know when to move. T125
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| 21 'And thou hast put the mercy-seat on the ark above, and unto the ark thou dost put the testimony which I give unto thee; |
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| 22 and I have met with thee there, and have spoken with thee from off the mercy-seat (from between the two cherubs, which [are] on the ark of the testimony) all that which I command thee concerning the sons of Israel. |
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| 23 'And thou hast made a table of shittim wood, two cubits its length, and a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height, |
Also make a table – Representing the Church as a whole, holding forth the word of life. T115
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| 24 and hast overlaid it [with] pure gold, and hast made for it a crown of gold round about, |
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| 25 and hast made for it a border of a handbreadth round about, and hast made a crown of gold to its border round about. |
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| 26 'And thou hast made to it four rings of gold, and hast put the rings on the four corners, which [are] to its four feet; |
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| 27 over-against the border are the rings for places for staves to bear the table; |
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| 28 and thou hast made the staves of shittim wood, and hast overlaid them with gold, and the table hath been borne with them; |
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| 29 and thou hast made its dishes, and its bowls, and its covers, and its cups, with which they pour out; of pure gold thou dost make them;
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| 30 and thou hast put on the table bread of the presence before Me continually. |
Shewbread – Representing the truth, the word of life. T22, T115
Spiritual food. R5418:5, R5621:6
Only for the priests to eat. Granted to the fully consecrated that by these they might be strengthened to carry out fully their consecration unto death. R4782:4
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| 31 'And thou hast made a candlestick of pure gold, of beaten work is the candlestick made; its base, and its branch, its calyxes, its knops, and its flowers are of the same; |
Make a candlestick – Representing the entire Church, the true light-bearers. T116; R243:3*
Representing the light of God's truth. R5621:6, R5418:5
Had seven branches, typifying perfection or completeness. R243:3*
No dimensions given. Truth, like its author, is boundless. R243:3*
We may gain an accurate conception of its appearance from the Arch of Titus in Rome. R3650:6
It was the light in the Holy, as the Shekinah glory was the light in the Most Holy. R3650:5
Does not represent the Church in the future state of glory giving light to the world; that will be as the "Sun of righteousness." (Mal. 4:2) R3650:6
Same as that in Zech. 4:2 and Rev. 1:20, showing all elopment. R1491:1
In Revelation the same candlestick is brought to our attention, but the parts are separated, the union being supplied by the antitypical High Priest. R3569:4
Of beaten work – Not cast wholesale in a mold. As is the shaft, so are the branches-all of beaten work. R243:4*
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| 32 and six branches are coming out of its sides, three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the second side; |
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| 33 three calyxes made like almonds in the one branch, a knop and a flower, and three calyxes made like almonds in one branch, a knop and a flower; so for the six branches which are coming out from the candlestick. |
Like unto almonds – In the almond tree fruit buds appear before leaves. So with the Royal Priesthood, they begin to sacrifice, to bring forth fruit, before the leaves of profession are seen. T121
The Hebrew word for "almond" is from a root meaning "to hasten." Regarded by the Jews as a harbinger of spring. Remarkable for early blossoming (even in January) and flowers appearing before the leaves. R244:1*
A knop and a flower – Representing the true Church as both beautiful and fruitful from first to last. T116
In continuous succession, typifying the beautiful graces of a Christian spirit accompanying the solid fruits of Christian life-faith and works. R243:5*
A vigorous ever-developing plant, always blooming, continually fruit-bearing; like the trees by the river of life, yielding fruit every month. R243:5*
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| 34 'And in the candlestick [are] four calyxes made like almonds, its knops and its flowers; |
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| 35 and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, [are] to the six branches which are coming out of the candlestick; |
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| 36 their knops and their branches are of the same, all of it one beaten work of pure gold; |
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| 37 and thou hast made its seven lamps, and [one] hath caused its lights to go up, and it hath given light over-against its front. |
Light – One of the most powerful forces in nature; one of the most quiet: it is peculiarly expressive of the character of God and his people. R243:2*
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| 38 'And its snuffers and its snuff dishes [are] of pure gold; |
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| 39 of a talent of pure gold he doth make it, with all these vessels. |
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| 40 And see thou and do [them] by their pattern which thou art shewn in the mount. |
After their pattern – Because it illustrated something greater and more important to come afterward. T12
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