UNROLL
A craftsman’s workshop under a black goat-hair awning at dawn: a low bench with acacia planks, a thin sheet of hammered gold catching the light, bronze tools laid out.

The Book of

Exodus 31

God names the craftsmen who will build His house, gives a sign for His people, and hands Moses two tablets of stone.

18 verses≈ 3 min3 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–6Slaves in EgyptOppression and a deliverer
  2. 7–13The plaguesThe LORD against Pharaoh
  3. 14–18Through the seaRescued and led
  4. 19–24At SinaiThe covenant and the law
  5. 25–31A place to dwellThe tabernacle plannedChapter 31
  6. 32–40Broken and renewedThe calf, mercy, the glory

Bezalel and Oholiab

Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship,

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God

What they are to make

Everything God commanded

  1. The tent

    The tent, the ark, the mercy seat

    the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat upon it, and all the other furnishings of the tent—

  2. Holy Place

    Table, lampstand, incense altar

    the table with its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense,

  3. Courtyard

    Bronze altar and basin

    the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand—

  4. For the priests

    Garments for the priests

    as well as the woven garments, both the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests,

  5. Holy Place

    Anointing oil and incense

    in addition to the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place.

  6. All as I commanded

    They are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.”

Courtyard · 100 × 50 cubitsNGate · EastTent of MeetingBronze altarBasinThe tent, enlarged · 30 × 10 cubitsArkTableLampstandIncense altarVeilScreenMost Holy PlaceHoly Place

Plan to scale in cubits · north at the top

Where it stood

Everything to be made

God’s list runs from the inside out: first “the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat upon it,” then the table, the lampstand and the incense altar inside the tent, then the altar of burnt offering and the basin out in the courtyard. Every piece was to be made “according to all that I have commanded you.”

Question

Quick question

Before the work on God’s dwelling began, God named the man who would lead it, and said what He had given him.

Whom did God fill with His Spirit for the work of the tabernacle?

The Sign of the Sabbath

And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

Exodus 31:13

Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Anyone who profanes it must surely be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from among his people. For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

The Israelites must keep the Sabbath, celebrating it as a permanent covenant for the generations to come. It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”

Reflect

Even the holy work stopped

God had just given Moses every detail of His dwelling, and then He said, “Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you.” Even the work on God’s own house was to stop on the seventh day. Rest is a way of saying, ‘God holds the world, not me.’ What would you find hardest to put down for a day? Write it down, and write what stopping would say about your trust in Him.

Moses Receives the Tablets

Two small, plain, square-cornered stone tablets standing edge-on on a granite ledge high on the mountain, wrapped in soft, bright cloud.

When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

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Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

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Exodus 31

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A verse to carry with you

Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

Exodus 31:13

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