BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Exodus 26 — The Tabernacle Structure and the Veil
Exodus 26 gives the construction blueprint for the wilderness tabernacle: layered curtains, acacia-wood frames, and an inner veil dividing the Most Holy Place.
Scripture
1Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim the work of the skilful workman shalt thou make them.
2The length of each curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits: all the curtains shall have one measure.
3Five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and the other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.
4And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is outmost in the second coupling.
5Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the second coupling; the loops shall be opposite one to another.
6And thou shalt make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to another with the clasps: and the tabernacle shall be one whole.
7And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make them.
8The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits: the eleven curtains shall have one measure.
9And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double over the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tent.
10And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops upon the edge of the curtain which is outmost in the second coupling.
11And thou shalt make fifty clasps of brass, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one.
12And the overhanging part that remaineth of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle.
13And the cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, of that which remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side, to cover it.
14And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sealskins above.
15And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up.
16Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board.
17Two tenons shall there be in each board, joined one to another: thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle.
18And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side southward.
19And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons:
20and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards,
21and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.
22And for the hinder part of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards.
23And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the hinder part.
24And they shall be double beneath, and in like manner they shall be entire unto the top thereof unto one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners.
25And there shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.
26And thou shalt make bars of acacia wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,
27and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the hinder part westward.
28And the middle bar in the midst of the boards shall pass through from end to end.
29And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold.
30And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which hath been showed thee in the mount.
31And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim the work of the skilful workman shall it be made:
32and thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, upon four sockets of silver.
33And thou shalt hang up the veil under the clasps, and shalt bring in thither within the veil the ark of the testimony: and the veil shall separate unto you between the holy place and the most holy.
34And thou shalt put the mercy-seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.
35And thou shalt set the table without the veil, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side.
36And thou shalt make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer.
37And thou shalt make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.
What this passage means
The chapter organizes the tabernacle into three structural layers. The innermost layer is a set of ten linen curtains woven with blue, purple, and scarlet, embroidered with cherubim (vv. 1–6). Over this goes a larger tent of eleven goats'-hair curtains (vv. 7–13), topped by two protective coverings of rams' skins dyed red and sealskins (v. 14). The repetition of dimensions—twenty-eight by four cubits for the inner curtains, thirty by four for the goats'-hair layer—emphasizes deliberate, measured design rather than improvised craft.
The frame is built from acacia-wood boards overlaid with gold, set in silver sockets and locked together by gold-ringed bars (vv. 15–30). Twenty boards line the south, twenty the north, six plus two corner boards close the west, producing a rectangular structure of precise symmetry. Verse 30 binds the whole together with the command to erect the tabernacle 'according to the fashion thereof which hath been showed thee in the mount,' tying execution back to revelation.
The chapter culminates in the veil (paroket) hung on four gold-covered pillars (vv. 31–33). This veil separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, where the ark with the mercy-seat resides (v. 34). The closing verses position the table outside the veil on the north and the lampstand opposite it on the south (v. 35), and provide an embroidered screen for the entrance (vv. 36–37). Spatial hierarchy is thus built into the very fabric of the structure.
Context
Exodus 26 sits inside the Sinai instructions (chs. 25–31) where God tells Moses how to build the tabernacle and its furnishings, and it is paired with execution accounts in Exodus 36–40. Cross references link this chapter backward to Exodus 25:9 and 25:40, which anchor the whole project in the divinely shown 'pattern,' and forward to Exodus 36:8, 36:19, 40:20, 40:22, 40:24, where the same elements are built and placed.
Hebrews 8:5 and Acts 7:44 both cite the 'pattern shown in the mount' formula that appears in verse 30, reading the tabernacle as a copy or figure of something heavenly. Matthew 27:51 stands as the counterpoint to verse 33: the veil that separated the holy from the most holy is described as torn at the crucifixion.
Key words in the original
- H4908 מִשְׁכָּן (miškān), 'tabernacle,' rendered here as 'the tabernacle' in verse 1. The chapter's building instructions turn this term into a concrete object of wooden boards and curtains rather than an abstract dwelling.
- H3407 יְרִיעָה (yərîʿāh), 'curtain' or 'hanging.' It appears repeatedly for the inner linen sheets (v. 2) and the goats'-hair tent (vv. 7–9), marking the layered fabric coverings as the chapter's recurring element.
- H3742 כְּרוּב (kərūḇ), 'cherub,' plural כְּרֻבִים (kəruḇîm) in verses 1 and 31. The cherubim are woven into both the inner curtains and the veil, marking the sacred fabric of the dwelling itself.
Related verses
- Exodus 25:40 This verse is the earlier statement of the principle restated in 26:30—'according to the pattern … showed thee in the mount.' It frames the construction details of chapter 26 as execution of a revealed model.
- Hebrews 8:5 Hebrews quotes the same 'pattern shown in the mount' formula as 26:30 and reads the tabernacle as 'a copy and shadow of the heavenly things,' giving the chapter a theological horizon beyond its immediate building instructions.
- Matthew 27:51 The tearing of the temple veil 'from the top to the bottom' is the dramatic counterpart to 26:33, where the veil separates the holy place from the most holy. The structural division drawn in this chapter is undone in that event.
Common questions
Why does Exodus 26 specify exact measurements and materials for the tabernacle?
The text itself states the reason in verse 30: the tabernacle is to be erected 'according to the fashion thereof which hath been showed thee in the mount.' The precise measurements, the named fabrics, and the gold-overlaid boards all mark the structure as the execution of a revealed pattern rather than an improvised construction.
What is the function of the veil described in verses 31–33?
The verse states explicitly that the veil 'shall separate unto you between the holy place and the most holy.' It is hung under the clasps on four gold-covered pillars, and the ark of the testimony is placed within it. The veil establishes a fixed spatial boundary inside the tabernacle between the two sacred zones.
How do chapters 36–40 relate to the instructions given in Exodus 26?
Within the supplied cross references, Exodus 36:8 reports Bezalel making the ten linen curtains 'with cherubim, the work of the skilful workman' exactly as verse 1 prescribes, and 36:19 records the rams'-skins-and-sealskins coverings of verse 14. Exodus 40:20 places the testimony in the ark, 40:22 sets the table northward outside the veil, and 40:24 puts the lampstand southward over against the table, fulfilling the positioning given in verses 34–35.