Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 27:6-8

6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.

7 And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.

8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

As with the Ark of the Covenant and the table of shewbread, the altar would have rings and staves. These staves were to be overlaid with brass, to match the metal of the altar, just as the previous staves had been overlaid in gold to match their respective counterparts.

The altar was considerably larger than either the table or the ark. It was probably quite heavy, even with its hollow interior. Of course, the length of the staves is not specified, and perhaps they extended far enough out for several men to lift each side. Presumably the rings on the side were very solid, so that they wouldn’t snap off under the weight.

There were other elements included as part of the tabernacle: the laver of water in the courtyard and the incense altar in the holy place, but we will not hear about these until chapter 30. For now, we are finished reading about the instruments of the tabernacle, and all that remains is to hear the description of the wall around the courtyard. We will move on to those with the next verses.

Note: It can be difficult to visualize some of the structures described in these verses. Here is an excellent and extremely focused series of animations that show the visual form of the temple and its instruments, built up verse-by-verse from the Exodus record: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpjohncRg94EZ55nJrbaKfi-lfeo3MFgl&si=6wm1J9Sdnu7LKYC_

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 46:5-7

5 And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

7 His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

Once Jacob put his young sons on camels and carried them to a new land, but now the roles have been reversed. Jacob is the one being carried by his sons to a new home now.

Jacob has not been the main character of the biblical record for a while, but this moment of him being carried by his sons really underscores that he is not the driving generation anymore. He has given his blessing to this change of residence, but he is dependent upon the power of others to make it so.

The sons carrying their father into Egypt is symbolic of them carrying the legacy and the burden of responsibility into their own domain. They are the generation of action now, and Egypt is the uncertainty of their own future, the terrain that they must carefully navigate. In short, it is the end of an era. Jacob held the burden of preserving God’s people in his time, but now it is their turn.