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.