"And he made a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers' skins above that." Ex. 36:19.
The verse refers to the tabernacle Moses was told to build as a place of worship for the Lord's people in the wilderness. The heavy, dense fur of the badger was a shield that protected everything inside the tabernacle from storms and severe weather.
Badgers are 20-pound animals, with short legs and black feet. They are tough and strong, about 30 inches long with short bushy tails. They are covered with a silver-gray fur. It is actually a mixture of white, black and brown. A single hair may have all three colors. Its cheeks and alert ears are white with dark stripes, and its dark snout and forehead have a white stripe from the nose to the neck. It is this white marking (badge) on the face that gives these animals their name.
Badgers are residents of deserts, mountains and treeless country. Being night hunters, their food includes rodents, rabbits, birds, snakes (including rattlers), lizards and fish. Coming across a bee hive, they rip it open for the honey, without worrying about the bees which cannot sting through their dense fur.
The Creator has provided many means of protection for badgers. For instance, if unable to otherwise escape an enemy, it can dig itself completely underground in less than a minute with its sharp claw. But actually they have few enemies to fear, for although timid, they are quite capable of routing dogs or coyotes with their claws and powerful teeth. Also being low to the ground, an attacker cannot get at their throats without itself being bitten first.
In the cold of winter, they sleep in a den some 25 feet from their runway entrance, sometimes even sharing their den with a fox.
The two furry babies, born in the den in the spring, are blind for a month or more. The mother raises the playful youngsters, training them to hunt and care for themselves. By summer's end they leave her.
The activities of these interesting animals are beneficial. Besides eating destructive rodents, even their digging loosens the soil, making it water-absorbent which helps to prevent floods.
When underground, badgers know that they are hidden from everything. But what they can't know is that an all-wise Creator sees them, for His eyes are always on every living thing.
The Bible tells us also, "For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings. There is no darkness... where the workers of iniquity [sin] may hide themselves." Job 34:21,22. Rather than foolishly trying to hide from God, He invites everyone to come with an open heart to Him, saying, "Those that seek Me early shall find Me" (Prov. 8:17), and "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." Prov. 12:15. In which of these groups are you?