Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 27:9-11

9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:

10 And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.

11 And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

The external wall around the court of the tabernacle would be a long stretch of linen, twenty sheets long, covering a distance of 150 feet. This means that the tabernacle itself would be less than a third of the courtyard’s full length. There would therefore be a great deal of room for gathering and performing sacrifices at the altar.

This outer linen wall is typically said to have been white, though I cannot find an official verification of that in the scriptures. Undyed linen is usually a white or off-white color, so perhaps the assumption is that it would have been that color by default. If so, it would have stood out brightly against the earthy tones of the wilderness and would have been an obvious symbol of purity. If it were white, that does raise the question of how the parts of the tabernacle were maintained, cleaned, and replaced. The bible account does not shine a light there, though.

The linen wall was not a single, unbroken sheet, but was interrupted twenty time by pillars. We are not told the interior material of the pillars, but one would assume shittim wood, as with every other component. Interestingly, we are also not told of any metal overlay upon the pillar. We are told that its sockets would be brass, to match the rest of the courtyard elements, and its hooks would be of silver, but it would seem that the body of the pillar was just bare wood. The transition from bare wood pillars to gold-overlaid pillars seems like a symbol of the change of the naked, natural man being clothed by God’s grace and atonement, just like Adam and Eve as they left the garden of Eden.

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- Exodus 10:14-15

14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.

15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

These verses are full of dramatic phrases to describe just how great the multitude of locusts were. Verse 14 not only makes the point that they were more severe than had ever before been seen, but also the bold claim that neither would there be any swarm so severe ever again! Such a claim could only be made from a place of omniscience or prophecy. We are not told when and how the Lord told one of his servants that there would never be such a mass of locusts again, but apparently He did and the author was aware of that fact.

I’m captivated by the colorful imagery that verse 15 presents: “the land was darkened” by how the locusts “covered the face of the whole earth.” It then continues with the theme of light and color by further describing how “there remained not any green thing.” There is a clear picture being painted of how the locusts took away the color of the land, covering it in darkness.

Going back to the theme of how the curses represent the effects of sin, this description of the locusts seems to highlight how our sins cover and destroy all that was once beautiful, colorful, and growing. In environments of pervasive sin new creation is snuffed out. Think of the Dark Ages, a time where the words of Christ were made inaccessible to the common man, and at the same time innovation and invention halted and even moved backwards. Life became dark and dreary, without inspiration or beauty. Only as the words of scripture were translated, printed, and made available to all did the light of innovation and invention return to the people. When it prevails en masse, sin consumes all that is good and leaves the soul barren. When the truth prevails, it breathes life and color into all.