Willing Hearts and Skilled Hands
The work begins, and the only problem is abundance — the craftsmen tell Moses the people keep bringing more than enough, so he has to order them to stop. Then the curtains, clasps, frames and veil are made exactly to the pattern, the dwelling assembled piece by piece.
36 1Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person our Father gave skill and understanding to build the sanctuary must do all the work exactly as our Father commanded.
2Then Moses called Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person in whose heart our Father put skill, everyone whose heart moved them to come and do the work. 3They took from Moses all the offering the Israelites had brought for building the sanctuary. Still the people kept bringing him voluntary offerings morning after morning. 4So all the skilled workers doing all the sanctuary's work came, each from the task he was doing. 5They told Moses, "The people are bringing much more than enough for the work our Father commanded us to do."
6So Moses gave an order, and they sent word throughout the camp: "No man or woman is to make any more contributions for the sanctuary." And the people stopped bringing, 7for what they already had was enough to do all the work, and more than enough.
Ten Curtains of Linen and Gold
8The skilled workers made the tabernacle: ten curtains of finely twisted linen, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim, the work of a skilled designer. 9Each curtain was about forty-two feet long, six feet wide—one size for all curtains. 10He joined five curtains to each other, and the other five to each other. 11He put blue loops on the edge of the outer curtain in the first set, and the same on the edge of the outer curtain in the second set. 12He made fifty loops on the first curtain, and fifty on the edge of the curtain in the second set, loops opposite one another. 13He made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains with them, so the tabernacle became one.
14He made curtains of goat hair for the tent over the dwelling—eleven curtains. 15Each curtain was about forty-five feet long, six feet wide; all eleven curtains matched in size. 16He joined five of the curtains together, and the other six together. 17He made fifty loops on the outermost curtain's edge in the first set, and fifty loops on the curtain's edge in the second set. 18He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent as one. 19He made a covering for the tent from red-dyed ram skins, and a fine-leather covering above it.
20Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. 21Each frame was about fifteen feet long and twenty-seven inches wide. 22Each frame had two tenons, joined to one another; he made all the tabernacle's frames this way. a a v22 A tenon is a projecting wooden peg at the base of each frame that fits into a slot in the silver base, locking the frame upright. 23He made the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side. 24He made forty silver bases under the twenty frames: two bases under one frame for its two tenons, two bases under the next for its two tenons. 25For the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty frames, 26and their forty silver bases, two bases under one frame and two bases under the next frame. 27For the rear of the tabernacle, on the west, he made six frames. 28He made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear. 29Both were doubled at the bottom and joined into a single ring at the top; he did this with both, at the two corners. 30So there were eight frames with their silver bases—sixteen bases, two under each frame.
31He made bars of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle. 32Five bars for the frames on the tabernacle's second side, and five bars for the frames at the rear, westward. 33He made the middle bar to run through the frames from end to end. 34He overlaid the frames with gold, made gold rings to hold the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.
35He wove the curtain of blue, purple, scarlet yarn, and finely twisted linen, cherubim skillfully worked in. 36He made four acacia pillars for it, plated them with gold, gold hooks, and cast four silver bases for them.
37He made a screen for the tent's entrance, embroidered in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, 38and its five pillars with hooks; he covered their tops and connecting rods with gold, but their five bases were bronze.
