Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
) A house or dwelling-place (Job 5:24; 18:6, etc.). ) A portable shrine (comp. Acts 19:24) containing the image of Moloch (Amos 5:26; marg. , “Siccuth”). ) The human body (2 Cor. 5:1, 4); a tent, as opposed to a permanent dwelling. ) The sacred tent (Heb. mishkan, “the dwelling-place”); the movable tent-temple which Moses erected for the service of God, according to the “pattern” which God himself showed to him on the mount (Ex. 25:9; Heb. 8:5).
, where God promised to meet with Israel (Ex. 29:42); the “tabernacle of the testimony” (Ex. 38:21; Num. 1:50), which does not, however, designate the whole structure, but only the enclosure which contained the “ark of the testimony” (Ex. 25:16, 22; Num. 9:15); the “tabernacle of witness” (Num. 17:8); the “house of the Lord” (Deut. 23:18); the “temple of the Lord” (Josh. 6:24); a “sanctuary” (Ex. 25:8). A particular account of the materials which the people provided for the erection and of the building itself is recorded in Ex. 25-40.
The execution of the plan mysteriously given to Moses was intrusted to Bezaleel and Aholiab, who were specially endowed with wisdom and artistic skill, probably gained in Egypt, for this purpose (Ex. 35:30-35). The people provided materials for the tabernacle so abundantly that Moses was under the necessity of restraining them (36:6). These stores, from which they so liberally contributed for this purpose, must have consisted in a great part of the gifts which the Egyptians so readily bestowed on them on the eve of the Exodus (12:35, 36).
, reckoning a cubit at 18 inches) and in breadth and height about 15. Its two sides and its western end were made of boards of acacia wood, placed on end, resting in sockets of brass, the eastern end being left open (Ex. 26:22). This framework was covered with four coverings, the first of linen, in which figures of the symbolic cherubim were wrought with needlework in blue and purple and scarlet threads, and probably also with threads of gold (Ex. 26:1-6; 36:8-13).
Above this was a second covering of twelve curtains of black goats’-hair cloth, reaching down on the outside almost to the ground (Ex. 26:7-11). , the dugong, a species of seal), Ex. 25:5; 26:14; 35:7, 23; 36:19; 39:34. Internally it was divided by a veil into two chambers, the exterior of which was called the holy place, also “the sanctuary” (Heb. 9:2) and the “first tabernacle” (6); and the interior, the holy of holies, “the holy place,” “the Holiest,” the “second tabernacle” (Ex. 28:29; Heb. 9:3, 7).
The veil separating these two chambers was a double curtain of the finest workmanship, which was never passed except by the high priest once a year, on the great Day of Atonement. The holy place was separated from the outer court which enclosed the tabernacle by a curtain, which hung over the six pillars which stood at the east end of the tabernacle, and by which it was entered. The order as well as the typical character of the services of the tabernacle are recorded in Heb. 9; 10:19-22. , the oblong chest containing the two tables of stone, the pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded.
The holy place was the western and larger chamber of the tabernacle. Here were placed the table for the shewbread, the golden candlestick, and the golden altar of incense. Round about the tabernacle was a court, enclosed by curtains hung upon sixty pillars (Ex. 27:9-18). This court was 150 feet long and 75 feet broad. Within it were placed the altar of burnt offering, which measured 7 1/2 feet in length and breadth and 4 1/2 feet high, with horns at the four corners, and the laver of brass (Ex. 30:18), which stood between the altar and the tabernacle.
The whole tabernacle was completed in seven months. On the first day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus, it was formally set up, and the cloud of the divine presence descended on it (Ex. 39:22-43; 40:1-38). It cost 29 talents 730 shekels of gold, 100 talents 1,775 shekels of silver, 70 talents 2,400 shekels of brass (Ex. 38:24-31). The tabernacle was so constructed that it could easily be taken down and conveyed from place to place during the wanderings in the wilderness.
The first encampment of the Israelites after crossing the Jordan was at Gilgal, and there the tabernacle remained for seven years (Josh. 4:19). It was afterwards removed to Shiloh (Josh. 18:1), where it remained during the time of the Judges, till the days of Eli, when the ark, having been carried out into the camp when the Israelites were at war with the Philistines, was taken by the enemy (1 Sam. 4), and was never afterwards restored to its place in the tabernacle.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
The tabernacle was the tent of Jehovah, called by the same name as the tents of the people in the midst of which it stood. It was also called the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the congregation. The first ordinance given to Moses, after the proclamation of the outline of the law from Sinai, related to the ordering of the tabernacle, its furniture and its service as the type which was to be followed when the people came to their own home and “found a place” for the abode of God.
During the forty days of Moses’ first retirement with God in Sinai, an exact pattern of the whole was shown him, and all was made according to it. (Exodus 25:9,40; 26:30; 39:32,42,43; Numbers 8:4; Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5) The description of this plan is preceded by an account of the freewill offerings which the children of Israel were to be asked to make for its execution. I.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
TAB'ERNACLE probably means a tent or movable dwelling-place. Ex 25:9. In this sense it is used in Num 24:5; Job 11:14; Ps 22:23; Matt 17:4, but in the Scriptures generally it is applied to the structure which was prepared by Moses, under the divine direction, in which the Jews were to worship. T. of two sacred tabernacles, the one erected in the wilderness and the other that in which David put the ark, and where it remained until the completion of the temple. 2 Sam 6:17; 1 Kgs 8:1; 1 Chr 16:1. The old tabernacle, meanwhile, was at Gibeon.
It is uncertain whether Solomon removed it or the Davidic tabernacle into the temple - most likely the latter. 1 Kgs 8:4. Some commentators claim that prior to the Sinaitic tabernacle there was a tent used for divine worship. They appeal to Ex 33. The tabernacle there referred to was, they say, either the tent Moses had set apart for this purpose, or a sacred tent the Israelites had possessed in Egypt.
But if the Hebrew verbs, which are all in the future in this passage, are read in the future tense, then the tabernacle meant is that constructed in the wilderness after the divinely-revealed plan. See Lange, Commentary on Exodus, p. 137. Our Version often confounds "tent" and "tabernacle," as in Ex 33:7-11, where the word should be "tent" throughout. The importance of this distinction is manifest. The Bible account in regard to this structure is derived from Ex 26 and Ex 36:8-38. In this article we follow in the main Mr. Fergusson's article "Temple" in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible.
"The tabernacle comprised three main parts - the tabernacle, strictly so called, its tent, and its covering. " - Bible Commentary, in loco. South East view of the Tabernacle, covered by its Tent. ) The court of the tabernacle was surrounded by canvas screens. Those of the tabernacle were 5 cubits (about 8 feet) in height, and hung from brazen pillars, 8 feet apart, by hooks and fillets of silver. Twenty of these pillars were on each side, and ten on each end, , The space thus enclosed was 150 feet by 75.
The enclosure was only broken on the eastern side by the entrance, 30 feet wide, which was closed by a curtain of fine-twined linen with embroidered figures of cherubim. This curtain could be drawn up or aside at pleasure. The pillars were kept firm by cords and tent-pins of bronze, had their capitals overlaid with silver, and stood on bases of bronze. Ex 27:9-18. At the upper end of this enclosure, and facing the entrance, which was toward the east, stood the tabernacle itself. This tabernacle proper was 45 by 15 feet, and 15 feet high.
The sides and rear were enclosed with boards, and the front was open. Each of these boards was furnished with two tenons at its lower extremity, which fitted into silver sockets placed on the ground. At the top, at least, they were fastened together by bars of acacia-wood run through rings of gold. The middle bar, which reached from end to end, was, properly speaking, the ridge-pole of the tent. Accordingly, we must conceive of the tabernacle, not as having a flat roof, but a pitched one, like an ordinary tent.
See illustration, by which the arrangements of the coverings will also be understood. Over the top was thrown a rich, gorgeous fabric of various materials, the connection and disposition of which, as well as of the other parts of the covering, are prescribed with the utmost minuteness. Ex 26:1-30. The entrance or door of the tabernacle was covered with a beautifully-embroidered curtain suspended on five columns. The interior was subdivided into two apartments, separated, each from the other, by a richly-wrought curtain hanging entirely across and reaching from the top to the bottom.
This was called "the veil," or "second veil," Heb 9:3, because the first entrance was also curtained. " Heb 9:2-8. As to the furniture of the court, there were - (1) The altar of burnt-offering, which stood near the centre of the enclosure. See Altar. (2) The brazen laver, Ex 30:18, corresponding to the molten sea, 1 Kgs 7:23, which stood between the altar and the tabernacle, in its shape resembling an urn. It contained water for washing the hands and feet of the priests when they were about to enter the sanctuary. See Sea, Brazen.
As to the furniture of the tabernacle itself, there were - (1) The golden candlestick, standing on the left of a person entering the sanctuary. See Candlestick. (2) The table of shew-bread, opposite to the candlestick. See ShewBread. (3) The altar of incense, between the shew-bread and the candlestick, and in front of the ark. See Altar. (4) The ark of the covenant. See Ark. The tabernacle and its court were finished with perfect exactness according to the pattern or model supernaturally revealed to Moses. Heb 8:5.
It is estimated that the silver and gold used in its construction (to say nothing of the brass or copper, the wood, the curtains and canopies, the furniture, etc.) amounted in value to $1,250,000. When it was finished, after about nine months' labor, it was consecrated, with very solemn and imposing rites, to the service of Jehovah. Ex 30:23-33; Ex 40:9-11; Heb 9:21. While passing through the wilderness the tabernacle was always pitched in the midst of the camp.
The tents of the priests and Levites surrounded it in appointed order, and at some distance from them the residue of the tribes, in four great divisions consisting of three tribes each, and each division with its appropriate name and standard or banner. Num 2:2-34. The tabernacle and its furniture were so constructed as to be conveniently taken down, transported, and set up again, and particular individuals or classes had their respective duties assigned to them. Every encampment and removal, and even the order of the march, was directed expressly by Jehovah.
On the day the tabernacle was completed God revealed himself in a cloud, which overshadowed and filled it. By this cloud, assuming the shape of a pillar or column, their subsequent course was governed. When it rested over the tent the people always rested, and when it moved the tabernacle was taken down, and the whole host followed wherever it led. In the night this cloud became bright like a pillar of fire, and preceded them in like manner. Ex 40:35-38; Num 9:15-23.
When the journeyings of the people were ended and they entered Canaan, the tabernacle was erected at Gilgal, Josh 4:19, where it continued until the country was subdued, and then it was removed to Shiloh, 1 Sam 1:3, where it stood between three hundred and four hundred years. It was thence removed to Nob, 1 Sam 21:1-9, and thence, in the reign of David, to Gibeon, 1 Chr 21:29, where it was at the commencement of Solomon's reign, 2 Chr 1:1-13; and when the temple was finished some suppose the sacred fabric, with its vessels and furniture, was removed into it. See Temple.
The "tabernacles" spoken of in Am 5:26 as existing in the northern kingdom of Israel were probably portable, carried upon the shoulders, and contained the idol.