Exodus 35- 37
MOSES had been with God upon the mount a great many days. I have not told you what God was teaching him, but now you shall hear. God was showing him how to make a beautiful house.
Whose house was it to be? The house of God. God did not need a house, for His throne is in the sky; but He was so kind as to say that He would let the Israelites make Him a house in the wilderness.
When Moses came down from the mount, he called all the people around him. He wanted to speak to them. He wore his veil over his face while he spoke.
He said first, "God desires you to do no work on the Sabbath-day, but to worship Him, and He is going to have a beautiful house made, where you can come and pray to Him. Who will bring me things with which to make the house?”
Had the children of Israel any beautiful things that they could bring to Moses?
You remember that the women of Egypt had given them a great deal of gold and silver, and cloth and linen. They had made a calf with some of their gold, but they had a deal more beside.
But do you think they would give these things to God?—or would they say, "We cannot spare our things; we mean to make fine clothes, and to make our tents look pretty inside?" Do you think they would part with their pretty things? Yes, they would. They all went to their tents after Moses had spoken to them. They opened their boxes and their baskets, and they took out gold and silver rings and earrings, and they took out beautiful pieces of cloth; some were blue, some were purple, and some were scarlet; and a great deal of fine white linen, and skins of sheep and goats, and beautiful kinds of wood. They brought all these things to Moses. What a large heap there must have been! Some of the rich men had beautiful shining stones, and sweet spices, and oil; and they brought them to Moses.
Moses was pleased to see that the people would give their things to God, and most of all he was glad that they liked to give them. They did not feel sorry when they gave them, but they were glad that they had something to give. If we feel sorry when we give things, God is not pleased.
Who was to make the beautiful house? It was very hard to make such a beautiful house as God would choose to have.
Moses called the children of Israel, and said, "God has made two men very clever in cutting stones, in carving wood, and in making all kinds of curious things, and He has told me their names.”
Then Moses called these two men, and he gave them all the beautiful things, and said, "Now begin to make the house, and I will tell you what you shall make." And Moses called everyone to help them; and he told the two clever men to teach the others.
It is God Who makes people clever; so that when people can make beautiful things, they should not be proud; but they should thank God.
So all the people began to work. The women spun blue, and purple, and scarlet thread and worsted. The men made the thread into linen and cloth; they cut the wood with saws and hammers; they melted the gold and silver in the fire, and then made altars, and candlesticks, and shovels, and tongs, and basins, and many other things. They worked hard for many months till all the things were finished.
I will now tell you what sort of a house God had told Moses to make.
It was not a house made of bricks or stone; because this house would be moved from one place to another; so it was not fastened to the ground, but it was made like a tent, and it could be moved very easily.
You never saw so large a tent as this tent was. It was as big as a very large room. It was called "The Tabernacle.”
I will give you an account of this tent, that you may understand what kind of a place it was.
There were a great many boards that were placed upright on the ground, and close together. These boards were the walls of the house; but there were no boards at the top; curtains were thrown over the house to cover the top. There was no door to the house, but a curtain hung down in front, and that curtain was instead of a door.
There was no floor to the house; green grass was the only floor.
The house was very beautiful; for the boards were covered with gold, and the curtains were blue, purple, and scarlet, and there were five posts of gold in front, over which a curtain hung down for the door, of which I told you before.
The house had two rooms inside. The first room was the largest. I will now tell you about the beautiful things that were placed in it.
In the first room there were three very beautiful things.
1. In the middle an altar of gold; but no lamps were burned upon it, only sweet spices, which made the tabernacle smell most sweet. The burning spices were called "incense.”
2. On one side there was a golden table, and on the, table twelve loaves. They were called the shewbread, or holy bread. There was fresh bread put there every Sabbath-day.
3. On the other side there was a golden candlestick with seven lamps. There was no window in the tabernacle, but these lamps made it light.
This room was very beautiful and sweet, but there was another room still more beautiful.
It was the inner room, on the other side of the curtain. There was a curtain between the big room and the little room. This curtain was instead of a door. It was called "The Veil.”
In the little room there was a golden box, with golden angels on the top. This box was called "The Ark." Inside the box the book of stone was placed. But what made this room so glorious was, that God used to come down in His cloud, and fill this little room with His brightness.
The cloud rested between the golden angels on the top of the box.
The top of the box was called the mercy-seat, because God sat there, and God is full of love and mercy. This little room was called "The Holy of Holies.”
It had no window in it, and no candle, but yet it was light. The glory of God made it light, for God, you know, is brighter than the sun. What a sweet place this little room must have been! It makes me think of heaven, for there God lives, and there He shines. But heaven is not a little place. It is a very large place, and it will hold all the people who have loved God on earth, besides all the angels.
I will not tell you any more about the tabernacle now; but I will write down the names of the things in the tabernacle. Can you remember what they were? In the first room, —
1. The golden altar.
2. The table of show-bread.
3. The golden candlestick.
In the little room, or Holy of Holies,—
The Ark.
Hymn 26
There the angels' golden wings
O'er the ark together meet,
Sat enthroned the King of kings,
On His glorious mercy-seat.
Curtains all around were spread,
Shutting out the light of day
Neither lamp nor candle shed,
In its stead their feeble ray.
Yet there shone a fairer light
Than this earth could e'er afford;
Can the sun be counted bright,
When compared with the Lord?
'Tis His face makes heaven so fair
With fond rapture angels gaze,
Sweetest smiles forever wear,
Joyful songs forever raise,
The bright sun shall cease to shine,
Lamps and candles shall expire;
But the glorious face divine
Still shall bless the heavenly choir.
Soon shall earthly pleasures die,
Like the candle's feeble flame;
God can brighter joys supply,
Through eternal years the same.