Exodus 26:31-37 (ESV)

“And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. And you shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side.

“You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them.”

The description of the tabernacle doesn’t mention one standard of the tent making craft – cross-pieces. The tabernacle has to have poles running from side to side connecting the frames. Without these cross-pieces holding the sides apart, the tension of the fabric would pull the sides inward and the whole thing would collapse. This is as obvious to a tent-maker as specifying that the linen for the veil must be woven into cloth. Many details like that are omitted here.

That helps clear up something in this passage. The text says, “you shall hang the veil from the clasps,” but the pillars don’t have clasps. And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. Also, these four pillars are about 5 feet apart. Hanging the veil on just the pillars would be hard on the fabric. There are lots of possible solutions – and we cannot know exactly how this was done – but it’s hard to imagine that they would hang the veil from just the hooks on the pillars. Involving the cross-piece seems obvious.

The veil and its pillars are ornate and similar to the fabric and frames of the tabernacle. The screen for the entrance of the tent and its five pillars of acacia are slightly less elaborate, signifying less holiness.

The veil that separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy and the screen for the entrance of the tent digitize the levels of holiness. Being just inside the veil is totally different from being just outside it. The same for the screen. Yet, walk from one end of the Holy Place to the other and you’re still in the Holy Place. Permission to be in these places is carefully fenced. Just wandering in could be fatal.

It’s the same with Christianity. You’re either a believer or you’re not. Thus, 1 Corinthians 11:27 fences communion, severely warning non-believers against partaking. Just wandering in could be consequential.

But there is a big difference. Getting into the Tabernacle’s Holy Place takes a lifetime of study and advancement. Becoming a Christian takes but an instant. What a shocking and glorious thing that is! Praise God for the marvelous way the gospel works. It’s intricate in the details, but simple in practice.

You don’t have to understand the details to join.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies