Exodus Chapter 38

(Exo 38:1 NASB)  Then he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits wide, square, and three cubits high.

Exo 38:1:      This chapter continues the construction.  The construction of Altar of Burnt Offering, the Laver, and other materials of the Tabernacle are discussed.

 

(Exo 38:2 NASB)  And he made its horns on its four corners, its horns being of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.
(Exo 38:3 NASB)  And he made all the utensils of the altar, the pails and the shovels and the basins, the flesh hooks and the firepans; he made all its utensils of bronze.
(Exo 38:4 NASB)  And he made for the altar a grating of bronze network beneath, under its ledge, reaching halfway up.

Exo 38:4:      The “he” spoken of here is Bezalel.  Elohim put in his heart the way to construct these items so he led the construction.

 

(Exo 38:5 NASB)  And he cast four rings on the four ends of the bronze grating as holders for the poles.
(Exo 38:6 NASB)  And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.
(Exo 38:7 NASB)  And he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks.
(Exo 38:8 NASB)  Moreover, he made the laver of bronze with its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

Exo 38:8:      In ancient times, mirrors were mainly of the kind held in the hand.  They were highly polished discs of molten metal, copper, or bronze.  They had handles of metal, wood, or ivory.  Most of these types of mirrors in that day in that part of the world were manufactured in Egypt.  Due to the high cost of metals in that day, they were virtually never discarded but were reused as they were here.
Apparently there were women that performed tasks at the entry way to the tent of meeting.

 

(Exo 38:9 NASB)  Then he made the court: for the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twisted linen, one hundred cubits;
(Exo 38:10 NASB)  their twenty pillars, and their twenty sockets, made of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.
(Exo 38:11 NASB)  And for the north side there were one hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty sockets were of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.
(Exo 38:12 NASB)  And for the west side there were hangings of fifty cubits with their ten pillars and their ten sockets; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.
(Exo 38:13 NASB)  And for the east side fifty cubits.
(Exo 38:14 NASB)  The hangings for the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets,
(Exo 38:15 NASB)  and so for the other side. On both sides of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets.
(Exo 38:16 NASB)  All the hangings of the court all around were of fine twisted linen.
(Exo 38:17 NASB)  And the sockets for the pillars were of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands, of silver; and the overlaying of their tops, of silver, and all the pillars of the court were furnished with silver bands.
(Exo 38:18 NASB)  And the screen of the gate of the court was the work of the weaver, of blue and purple and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen. And the length was twenty cubits and the height was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court.
(Exo 38:19 NASB)  And their four pillars and their four sockets were of bronze; their hooks were of silver, and the overlaying of their tops and their bands were of silver.
(Exo 38:20 NASB)  And all the pegs of the tabernacle and of the court all around were of bronze.
(Exo 38:21 NASB)  This is the number of the things for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were numbered according to the command of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
(Exo 38:22 NASB)  Now Bezalel, the son of Uri the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD had commanded Moses.
(Exo 38:23 NASB)  And with him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and a skillful workman and a weaver in blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and fine linen.

Exo 38:23:      The meaning here is likely that Bezalel and Oholiab were in charge of the construction, not the only ones involved in the construction.

 

(Exo 38:24 NASB)  All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the wave offering, was 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
(Exo 38:25 NASB)  And the silver of those of the congregation who were numbered was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary;

Exo 38:25:      There were 2,194 troy pounds of gold and 7,605 troy pounds of silver used in the construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings.
At today’s gold prices of $1,400/troy ounce, the value of the gold in the sanctuary was $36,895,200.  The value of the silver used in the sanctuary at today’s price of $28/troy ounce was a meager $2,555,280.

 

(Exo 38:26 NASB)  a beka a head (that is, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary), for each one who passed over to those who were numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.

Exo 38:26:      The one half shekel collected from each man twenty years old and older would have brought in 10,562 troy pounds.

 

(Exo 38:27 NASB)  And the hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil; one hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
(Exo 38:28 NASB)  And of the 1,775 shekels, he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their tops and made bands for them.
(Exo 38:29 NASB)  And the bronze of the wave offering was 70 talents, and 2,400 shekels.

Exo 38:29:      The amount of bronze used in the construction was about 5353 troy pounds.

 

(Exo 38:30 NASB)  And with it he made the sockets to the doorway of the tent of meeting, and the bronze altar and its bronze grating, and all the utensils of the altar,
(Exo 38:31 NASB)  and the sockets of the court all around and the sockets of the gate of the court, and all the pegs of the tabernacle and all the pegs of the court all around.