'Tabernacle' in the Bible

You shall construct it in accordance with everything that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture.

“Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle (sacred tent of worship) with ten [interior] curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric; you shall make them with [embroidered] cherubim, the handwork of a skillful craftsman.

You shall make fifty gold hooks, and fasten the curtains together with the hooks; and the tabernacle shall be one unit.

“Then you shall make [exterior] curtains of goats’ hair as a tent over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains in all.

You shall join five curtains by themselves and the other six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent [to make a closed door].

The overlapping part that is left over from the tent curtains, the half curtain that is left over, shall lap over the back of the tabernacle.

The cubit on one side and the cubit on the other, of what is left over in the length of the curtains of the tent shall lap over the sides of the tabernacle on one side and the other side, to cover it.

“Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright [as a trellis-like frame].

Make two dovetails in each board for fitting [them] together; you shall do the same for all the tabernacle boards.

You shall make the boards for the tabernacle [in the following quantities]: twenty boards for the south side.

for the north side of the tabernacle there shall be twenty boards,

For the back or west side of the tabernacle you shall make six boards.

Make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear [on both sides].

and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the rear end of the tabernacle, for the back wall toward the west.

You shall erect the tabernacle according to its plan [the direction corresponding to its meaning and purpose] which has been shown to you on the mountain.

You shall set the table [for the bread] outside the veil [in the Holy Place] on the north side, and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle.

“You shall make the court of the tabernacle. The south side of the court is to have curtains of fine twisted linen, a hundred cubits long for one side;

the tabernacle (sacred dwelling of God), its tent and its covering, its hooks, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets;

and the altar of incense and its carrying poles, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, the screen (curtain) for the doorway at the entrance of the tabernacle;

the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their cords;

All the skilled men among them who were doing the work on the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, with cherubim [worked into them], the work of an embroiderer, Bezalel made them.

He made fifty gold hooks and joined the curtains together with the hooks, so that the tabernacle became a unit.

Then he made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains in all.

Bezalel made boards of acacia wood for the upright framework of the tabernacle.

Each board had two tenons (dovetails), fitted to one another; he did this for all the boards of the tabernacle.

And [this is how] he made the boards [for frames] for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side;

For the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards,

And for the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, he made six [frame] boards.

And he made two boards for each corner of the tabernacle in the rear.

Bezalel made bars of acacia wood, five for the [frame] boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

All the pegs for the tabernacle and the court were bronze.

This is the sum of the things for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, as counted according to the command of Moses, for the work of the Levites, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

and the sockets of the court all around and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pegs of the tabernacle and all the pegs around the court.

Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished; and the Israelites did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; that is what they did.

They brought the tabernacle to Moses [for him to inspect]: the tent and all its furnishings, its hooks, its [frame] boards, its bars, its support poles, its sockets or bases;

the curtains of the courtyard, its support poles and sockets, and the screen (curtain) for the courtyard gate, its cords and pegs, and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people];

“On the first day of the first month (Abib) you shall set up the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting [of God with you].

You shall set the golden altar of incense in front of the ark of the Testimony [outside the veil], and put the [hanging] veil at the doorway of the tabernacle.

You shall set the [bronze] altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting.

Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture; and it shall be holy (declared sacred, separated from secular use).

Now it happened on the first day of the first month (Abib) in the second year [after the exodus from Egypt], that the tabernacle was erected.

Moses erected the tabernacle, laid its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars and erected its support poles.

He spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, just as the Lord had commanded him.

Moses brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up a veil (partition) for the screen (curtain), and screened off the ark of the Testimony, just as the Lord had commanded him.

Then he put the table in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil.

Then he put the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle.

Then he set up the screen (curtain) at the doorway of the tabernacle.

He set the altar of burnt offering before the doorway of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the Lord commanded him.

And he erected the courtyard all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung the screen (curtain) at the gateway of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.

Then the cloud [the Shekinah, God’s visible, dwelling presence] covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained on it, and the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

In all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out;

For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.

He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the sacred place [the courtyard of the tabernacle]; for the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy.

“Thus you shall separate the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.”

and has not brought it to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting to offer it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, that man shall be guilty of bloodshed. He has shed blood and shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].

But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle (sanctuary) of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings and all things that belong to it. They shall carry the tabernacle [when traveling] and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and camp around it.

When the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to [be set up for] camp, the Levites shall set it up. But the layman (non-Levite) who approaches the tabernacle shall be put to death.

But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, so that there will be no wrath against the congregation of the Israelites. The Levites shall be in charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.”

“On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan, by their armies; and Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai shall lead the sons of Dan,

They shall carry out the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, doing the service of the tabernacle.

They shall also take care of all the furnishings and utensils of the Tent of Meeting, and [attend to] the duties of the Israelites, doing the service of the tabernacle.

The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west,

Now the responsibilities of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting involved the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the curtain for the doorway of the Tent of Meeting,

and the hangings of the courtyard, the curtain for the doorway of the courtyard which is around the tabernacle and the altar, its tent ropes, and all the service concerning them.

The families of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle,

The leader of the fathers’ households of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. The Merarites were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.

Now the appointed responsibilities of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets or bases, and all the equipment, and all the service concerning them,

Now those to camp before the tabernacle toward the east, before the Tent of Meeting, toward the sunrise, were to be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, performing the duties of the sanctuary for whatever was required of the Israelites; and the layman (non-Levite) who approached [the sanctuary] was to be put to death.

“The responsibility of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual grain offering, and the anointing oil—the responsibility of all the tabernacle and everything that is in it, with the sanctuary and its furnishings.”

they shall carry the tent curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering and the covering of porpoise skin (fine leather) that is on top of it, and the curtain for the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle),

and the hangings of the courtyard, and the curtain for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their tent ropes, and all the equipment for their service; and all that is to be done, they shall perform.

This is what they are assigned to carry [on the march], according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the boards [for the framework] of the tabernacle and its bars and its pillars and its sockets or bases,

and the priest shall take holy water [from the sacred basin] in an earthenware vessel; and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.

On the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle and had anointed and consecrated it and all its furniture, and the altar and all its utensils; he also anointed them and consecrated them [for holy use].

They brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen; a cart for each two of the leaders and an ox for each one; and they presented them before the tabernacle.

Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected, the cloud [of God’s presence] covered the tabernacle, that is, the tent of the Testimony; and in the evening it was over the tabernacle, appearing like [a pillar of] fire until the morning.

At the Lord’s command the Israelites would journey on, and at His command they would camp. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle they remained camped.

Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep their obligation to the Lord and not set out.

Sometimes the cloud remained only a few days over the tabernacle, and in accordance with the command of the Lord they remained camped. Then at His command they set out.

If sometimes the cloud remained [over the tabernacle] from evening only until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would journey on; whether in the daytime or at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out.

Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud [of the Lord’s presence] lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the Israelites remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they set out.

When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side [of the tabernacle] shall set out.

On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year [since leaving Egypt], the cloud [of the Lord’s presence] was lifted from over the tabernacle of the Testimony,

Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, moved out.

Then the Kohathites moved out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before they arrived.

does it seem but a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

Everyone who approaches, who approaches the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”

Whoever touches a corpse, the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from Israel [that is, excluded from the atonement made for them]. Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

From the Israelites’ half [of the spoil] you shall take one out of every fifty of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, the flocks, and of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who are in charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.”

and from the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty, both of persons and animals, and gave them to the Levites, who were in charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then cross into the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle is situated, and settle down among us. But do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us by building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of the Lord our God [at Shiloh].

Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away from following the Lord this day, by building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle [in Shiloh].”

And Adonijah feared Solomon, and he got up and went [to the tabernacle on Mt. Zion] and took hold of the horns of the altar [seeking asylum].

So King Solomon sent [soldiers], and they brought Adonijah down from the altar [that was in front of the tabernacle]. And he came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

Now the news reached Joab, for Joab had supported and followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the [sacred] tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar [to seek asylum].

The king went to Gibeon [near Jerusalem, where the tabernacle and the bronze altar stood] to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

Hur became the father of Uri, and Uri became the father of Bezalel [the skillful craftsman who made the furnishings of the tabernacle].

They ministered with singing before the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon had built the Lord’s house (temple) in Jerusalem, performing their service in due order.