All the gold that it took for the work in all the work of the sanctuary -- the gold of the wave-offering, was twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
Exodus 38:24 opens the tabernacle's accounts. God weighs the gold, totals it, and puts the figure in Scripture — which raises three questions: was this gold required or freely given, why does the verse measure it by the sanctuary's own shekel, and why record the sum at all?
One writer converts the figures and sets the gold beside the silver of the next verses:
The total weight of gold comes to 29 talents and 730 shekels, which would amount to nearly 3800 pounds. The silver amounted to 100 talents and 1775 shekels, which would weigh about 11,635 pounds.
The two metals came to the sanctuary by different routes:
The gold and the brass came from free-will offerings. The silver came from the half-shekel, or bekah, that every male of 20 years and older paid as atonement money, in keeping with the law of Ex. 30:11-16.
The ESV calls this gold "the offering"; older translations read "wave-offering." One writer sets that term beside the heave-offerings of the earlier gifts:
When God let the people give from what they owned for the tabernacle, their gifts were called heave-offerings (Ex. 25:2-3; Ex. 35:5, 21–24; Ex. 36:3-6), because they gave out of their possessions. But in Ex. 35:22 and Ex. 38:24-29, the gold and the brass they brought were called wave-offerings, because they were set apart for the service of God… A heave-offering meant taking up one part of something to offer it to God. The idea of a wave-offering is wider: it means consecration to God, because the offerer waved the gift before the Lord.
The gesture itself carried the meaning:
Israel dedicated its gifts to the LORD, and He accepted them as wave-offerings. The offerer lifted the gift up and waved it toward heaven, as before God, "as an acknowledgement that He to whom it was offered is Lord and Giver of all."
The verse does not just say "shekels." It names the measure: the shekel of the sanctuary. One writer traces that name to the root of the word:
The word comes from a root meaning to weigh, and perhaps first of all to balance. It is what forms a true estimate of the value of things. The shekel of the sanctuary, or sacred shekel, may have been heavier than the usual one… One thing we know: the shekel of the King of kings would be just and unchanging, for "unequal weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the LORD" (Prov. 20:10).
Commentators differ over what the gold pictures. One gives a short answer:
"Gold" is the symbol of divine righteousness, or the divine nature in "the man Christ Jesus."… That is why inside the tent of the tabernacle everything was gold — the ark, the mercy seat, the table, the lampstand, the altar of incense.
Another writer finds that word too narrow:
I cannot think of the gold as simply "divine righteousness." Who can look at all its display in the tabernacle furniture and think it speaks of nothing else?… If the acacia wood also pictures the humanity of the Lord, then the gold must picture His deity: the one thing by which alone He could show God in full reality. It would be too narrow to limit that to "righteousness," though righteousness is of course part of it. It is rather "glory," as the apostle calls the golden cherubim of the mercy seat "the cherubim of glory." (Heb. 9:5.)
Someone had to look after all this. One writer reads the arrangement as a charge still resting on believers:
Everything made for the tabernacle followed the command of Moses, and the Levites were to care for it all, under the oversight of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. In Christianity all believers are priests (1 Peter 2:5), and all are servants too, as the Levites were. So we are responsible to guard carefully the truths pictured in all the service of the tabernacle. These are valuable, and must not be stolen from us, or lost.
The record itself tells us something about God:
He delights to record every little act of service, every little loving gift. He never forgets the smallest thing; and not only does He not forget it Himself, but He takes special care that untold millions will read the record.
- Given — the gold was a free-will gift, not a required payment like the silver. It came to nearly 3800 pounds.
- Waved — the offerer lifted the gift toward heaven, acknowledging that God is Lord and Giver of all.
- Weighed — by "the shekel of the sanctuary," the just and unchanging standard of the King of kings.
- Glorious — inside the tent, everything was gold. Writers differ: does it picture divine righteousness, or the wider glory of God?
- Recorded — the Levites kept it all under Ithamar's oversight, and God wrote the total into Scripture. He never forgets the smallest gift.
And the silver of them that were numbered of the assembly was a hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary
The silver counted here was not ordinary building money. It came from a payment God commanded long before the tabernacle was built, and that payment explains why this metal ended up under His dwelling.
The totals in this verse come from a payment every man made when the people were counted.
God had redeemed them as a nation out of Egypt. But now the need of redemption had to come home to every man among them, one by one. We see this in Exodus 30:11-15. Every man counted, from twenty years old and upward, had to give half a shekel as a ransom for his soul. This was called the atonement money. Exodus 38:25 tells us that this atonement money was silver, and that it went into the sockets of the tabernacle. So we take silver as a picture of redemption.
The Hebrew word itself carries a shade of feeling worth noticing.
It is worth noting that silver was above all the medium of exchange. So (as in French today) "silver" and "money" were the same word, keseph. That word comes from kahsaph, "to grow pale," as with longing, shame, or anxiety. Such thoughts gather around the atonement money.
The verse weighs the silver by the shekel "of the sanctuary" — God's own standard, not the market's.
The need for this is pressed hard: no man could be counted as His at all without the redemption money paid for each one. No one was exempt, and no excuse would do. The rich could not pay more, and the poor could not pay less, than the half shekel. If God is to have a redeemed people to live among, it must be on His terms, not theirs. The price is half a shekel, or ten gerahs, by the shekel of the sanctuary — God's own valuation. A man might imagine that something else would suit his redemption better — his own works, his feelings, his worthiness, or his faithfulness. But God's holiness and righteousness would not let poor man be fooled like that.
That one price for every man still speaks to believers now:
In the matter of atonement, all must stand on one common platform. Believers may differ greatly in knowledge, experience, capacity, attainment, zeal and devotedness. But the ground of atonement is the same for all. The great apostle to the Gentiles and the feeblest lamb in Christ's flock stand on the same level when it comes to atonement.
The hundred talents went into the sockets — the bases the whole tabernacle stood on.
So it is clear that the silver sockets, made up of the ransom money, are a picture of atonement — of the blood of Christ, which He gave as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). Peter has this in mind, and Numbers 31:49-54 too, when he writes to Jewish believers, "you were ransomed... not with perishable things such as silver or gold" (1 Peter 1:18). So this blessed truth is taught: God's dwelling place is founded on redemption, the redemption carried out through the precious blood of Christ.
Not all the silver went into the ground. Some of it became hooks out in the courtyard.
So the redemption price was the basis. The hangings of the court hung on hooks made of the silver atonement money, and those hangings separated the sanctuary service of God from the world. The copper sockets of the boards pictured the judgment of One who could not bear sin, and they gave a stability that could never be shaken. But grace in redemption was what everything hung on, and it shone on the tops of the pillars and their bands too, the ornament of the work. Both meet in Christ and His atoning death.
A believer's grasp of all this can be weak. That is not where the answer lies.
The tabernacle rested on that silver. So the silver testified, on behalf of the people of Israel, that atonement had been made for their souls. They may have grasped this blessed fact only faintly. But the memorial stood always before the Lord. The real question then, as now, is this: does He look on us as redeemed? Has He accepted our redemption price? If He is satisfied, we too may rest in peace.
- Counted — each man counted paid his own ransom. To belong to God, he had to be paid for.
- Fixed — God set the price by His own standard. Rich and poor paid the same, so no one could offer works, worthiness or feelings instead.
- Level — one price for all means the greatest servant and the weakest believer stand on the same ground of atonement.
- Foundation — the hundred talents became the sockets. God's dwelling rested on redemption.
- Memorial — the recorded sum stays before the Lord as proof that atonement has been made. He is satisfied, and that is the believer's peace.
a bekah the head -- half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that passed the numbering from twenty years old and upward, [of] the six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And there were a hundred talents of silver for casting the bases of the sanctuary, and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases of a hundred talents, a talent for a base.
The final accounts of the tabernacle stop to tell us what happened to the silver Israel paid in. A hundred talents were melted down into a hundred bases — one whole talent under each one. Where did that silver come from, and why did God want the foundation of His house made of it? (Where the writers quoted below say "sockets," the ESV says "bases.")
The silver under the boards had a history before it was cast.
Under these boards were sockets of silver. We learn afterwards (chapter 38:25-27) that the silver for the sockets came from the money taken from Israel as atonement money. God appointed that money for the service of the tabernacle (30:16), to be a memorial for them before the Lord. This may show us that a people numbered by God have their memorial in His sanctuary as a ransomed people, according to His grace.
That origin is what gives the bases their meaning.
So it is clear that the silver sockets, made up of the ransom money, are a figure of atonement — of the blood of Christ, which He gave as a ransom for many. (Matt. 20:28.) Peter alludes to this... when he writes to Jewish believers, "You were not redeemed with perishable things such as silver or gold." (1 Peter 1:18.) So we are taught this blessed truth: God's dwelling-place rests on redemption, the redemption Christ carried out through His precious blood. And God's dwelling-place is now made up of believers. So the church, and every believer in it, stands before God on the sure and effective foundation of accomplished atonement. The ground of every believer's standing is the precious blood of Christ.
God fixed the price Himself, and fixed it the same for everyone.
The need for this stands out: no one could be counted as His at all without the redemption money paid for each person. There was no exemption, and no one could offer an excuse. The rich were not allowed to pay more, nor the poor less, than the half shekel. If God is to have a redeemed people to live among, it must be on His terms, not theirs. The price is half a shekel, or ten gerahs, weighed by the shekel of the sanctuary — God's own valuation. A man might imagine that something else would suit his redemption better — his own works, his feelings, his worthiness, or his faithfulness. But God's holiness and righteousness would not let poor man be fooled in that way.
One writer draws meaning from both the round number and the word "talent" itself.
There were one hundred of them in all, 10 x 10 (Ex. 38:27), each of one talent, made from the redemption money of ten gerahs for each man. The word for "talent" is kikkar — a circle or globe, named perhaps because it is a complete, rounded-out sum... The factors of ten stand out so strongly here that they press home the great foundation fact of responsibility. We have failed in that responsibility completely, but our Lord met it in full on the cross, and glorified God by doing so.
The silver under the boards tells us who the boards picture.
We fell in the fallen head of the old race; in the risen One we stand upright. The boards stand before us here in the same way, rooted in their double sockets of silver, the witness of atonement (Ex. 30:15; 38:27). This silver of the atonement money, which they stand on, seems to show clearly that these boards do not picture Christ Himself, but His people in Him.
The bases of the veil, which this verse also names, carry the same meaning.
Because these four pillars rest on silver, we see that they, like the boards, speak of Christ's people as seen in Him.
Silver has a meaning of its own beside the gold within and the copper outside.
Suppose gold represents God's righteousness, which we approach within. Suppose copper, seen as a symbol, means His righteousness as applied to man outside, in His unchangeable judgment. What then is the force of silver here? Is it not His grace shown in man, even in the man Christ Jesus? So the redemption price was the basis... The copper sockets of the boards, which gave unchangeable stability, pictured the judgment of One who could not bear sin; but grace in redemption was what everything hung on.
- Paid — Every numbered Israelite handed in half a shekel as his ransom. The hundred talents under the sanctuary were that atonement money.
- Priced — Rich and poor paid the same amount, weighed by the sanctuary standard. The foundation rests on God's valuation, not on our works, feelings or faithfulness.
- Cast — The silver became a hundred solid bases, a full talent each, ten times ten: the measure of a responsibility we failed and Christ met in full.
- Placed — Every board, and every pillar of the veil, stood in that silver. It pictures not Christ Himself, but His people standing in Him.
- Standing — The boards stood because the bases held. God's house rests on redemption, and every believer stands on that same ground: the precious blood of Christ.
And of the thousand seven hundred and seventy-five [shekels] he made the hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their capitals, and fastened them [with rods].
This verse closes the tabernacle's silver accounts: the hundred talents had already become sockets, and what was left paid for the fittings of the courtyard wall. All of it was ransom money from every man counted in Israel — so why is redemption money at the outer boundary of God's house?
One fund, two uses: this verse records the second.
Redemption could not be bought by such a tiny payment. That small sum was simply the giver's acknowledgment of how he stood in God's presence, needing grace and pardon. Yet these small half shekels added up to a large quantity of silver, because every male Israelite of twenty years old and upward paid this levy. Exodus 38:25-28 tells us it came to 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. The 100 talents produced 100 sockets of silver. The 1,775 shekels provided the silver for the hooks for the pillars, and for overlaying the tops of the pillars and fitting them with connecting rods.
This was atonement money. Even the Hebrew word for silver carries a weight of feeling.
This silver made the sockets of the sanctuary, and the hooks of the pillars, and the connecting rods (chap. 38:25-28). It is worth noting that silver was very much the money people traded with. So (as in French today) "silver" and "money" were the same word (keseph). And that word comes from kahsaph, "to grow pale," as with longing, shame, or anxiety. Such thoughts gather around the atonement money.
A hook is a small thing, yet the courtyard curtains hung on nothing else. One writer takes that hanging as a picture of how a holy walk is held up.
The hooks, the capitals, and the "fillets," or connecting rods, carry a precious line of truth. The curtains hung from the silver hooks and connecting rods. The pillars themselves stood upon the solid copper foundation, but the top of each pillar was ringed with a silver crown. Silver points to redemption, the great truth that we have been bought with the precious blood of Christ. There can be no holy walk apart from redemption. The pillars with silver capitals point us to Christ crowned with the redemption He has won for us. The hooks and the connecting rods pass from one pillar to the next and hold everything firm. They speak of redemption, and the holy walk that is to glorify God hangs on it. Our walk must depend on the redemption of Christ, not on our own strength or character, as completely as the curtains hung from the silver hooks and rods.
Two metals meet in this wall, and each says something different: copper underneath, silver above.
The copper sockets of the boards gave unchanging stability. They stood for the judgment of One who could not bear sin. But grace in redemption was what everything hung from. It shone in the tops of the pillars and in the connecting rods too, the ornament of the work. Both unite in Christ and His atoning death.
That wall stood in plain sight, and it taught three things at once.
The curtains hung from silver rods. These rods joined the pillars together, and silver hooks fastened the curtains to them. Their material spoke of redemption. So the wall around the LORD's dwelling showed every eye purity, held up by lasting strength and hanging on redemption. For ourselves, with the whole of Scripture in our hands, the wall presents three truths together: God's purity, God's strength, God's redemption.
The same silver ran the whole way round the court. One writer turns that into a test.
- Source. The silver here is atonement money, a half shekel from every man counted. The whole list is an inventory of redemption, down to the last hook.
- Foundation. The hundred talents went under the building as sockets; the rest went into the court. Redemption holds up the house, and it also forms the outer wall.
- Suspension. Hooks carry weight downward. The courtyard hangings hung on silver, and so does the walk they picture: it rests on redemption, not on the strength of the one walking.
- Crown. Silver covered the tops of the pillars. Grace was the ornament of the work, seen at the highest point, not hidden in the foundation.
- Continuity. The connecting rods carried the same silver right round the court. Redemption runs through everything that is truly of God. Anything that leaves it out is not His.
And the copper of the wave-offering was seventy talents, and two thousand four hundred shekels.
Exodus weighs out the copper last of the three metals given for the tabernacle. Scripture counts it as carefully as the gold, and where that copper went says a great deal about how a sinner comes near to God.
The word often translated "brass" is not the metal we call brass today.
Brass, or more correctly copper, resists fire better than any other metal. The ancients had a way of hardening copper to a very high degree. The secret of it is unknown today. Copper shows the fierceness of God's wrath against sin… As another has said: "Gold is the righteousness of God for drawing near, where God is. Brass is the righteousness of God for dealing with man's evil, where man is."
This is not a mood in God. It belongs to who He is:
When we look at the altar glowing with its dark red copper, we are reminded that righteousness and judgment are the foundation of God's throne. He must judge sin. He would not be the God that He is if this were not so. So any picture of God that leaves out this unchanging judgment gives us a false God, not the true one.
The verses that follow list what was made from this total. All of it stood in the courtyard or at the door:
The weight of the copper was 70 talents and 2400 shekels, which would amount to about 8160 pounds. It went into sockets for the door of the tabernacle, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the sockets for the pillars of the court, and pegs.
The altar was the largest of them, and where it stood mattered:
This altar was big enough to burn up the largest sacrifice, such as a bull. It stood in the outer court, so that anyone who came in met it face to face at once. It declared that there was no way in until sacrifice met the claims of God's righteousness. So it pictured the death of Christ, which has satisfied every claim.
The change of metal at the tabernacle door was fitting:
It fits perfectly that copper is the main metal in the court outside the tabernacle, while inside the tabernacle it is gold… Copper is God's unbending holiness and justice shown in His dealings with His creatures. It means that if they are sinful creatures, He must deal with them in judgment. Or, if not with them, then with One who comes under judgment as their substitute. His grace put our blessed Lord there. He submitted Himself to God's righteous dealings with man because of sin.
Copper appeared at the doorway of the holy place too:
The sockets for the five pillars at the entrance of the tabernacle were made of that metal, while all the rest of its sockets were of silver. How perfectly this fitted. As the priest crossed the threshold of the holy place, he was reminded again of the righteousness of God in judgment. That righteousness had to be fully met before he could pass out of the sight of those in the court, behind the many-coloured curtain that screened the entrance of the tabernacle.
Some translations call this copper a "wave offering." Writers set that term beside the "heave offering":
A heave-offering meant taking up a part of something to offer it to God. A wave-offering carries a wider idea. It means the gift is set apart for God, for it was waved before the Lord.
The copper came in differently from the silver:
The gold and the brass came from free-will offerings. The silver came from the half-shekel, or bekah, that each male of twenty years and upward paid as atonement, under the law of Exodus 30:11-16.
A list of metal weights seems an odd thing for Scripture to keep. Yet God records such gifts on purpose:
He delights to record every little act of service, every little loving gift. He never forgets the smallest thing. And He does not only remember it Himself. He takes special care that untold millions will read the record.
- Copper. The metal is copper, not brass. It resists fire best — a picture of God's righteousness meeting man's evil where man is.
- Outside. None of it went into the holy place: altar, sockets, pegs, doorway bases. Gold belongs inside; copper belongs where the sinner stands.
- Altar. The biggest copper object stood in the way in. There is no entrance until sacrifice meets God's righteous claims.
- Substitute. That judgment falls either on the sinful creature or on One who takes his place — and grace put Christ there.
- Recorded. Freely given and then weighed to the shekel, because God keeps an exact account of every gift brought to Him.