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1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. 3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, 4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, 5 And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, 6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, 7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. 8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. 10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. 12 And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. 13 And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. 15 The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. 16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. 17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. 23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. 25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about. 26 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. 27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. 28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. 29 And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them. 30 And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway. 31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. 32 And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: 33 Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. 34 And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. 35 And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. 36 Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. 37 And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. 38 And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. 39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. 40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
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[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Exodus 25:2
Firstfruits: Offerings of some of the best and choicest of their goods.
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Exodus 25:4
Scarlet cloth, twice dyed, was to be offered to adorn the tabernacle so that our love of God and neighbor might have the color of love in God’s sight. That person truly loves himself who loves his Creator completely. Scarlet cloth is twice dyed when a soul is set on fire toward itself and its neighbor as a result of its love of truth.

Source: HOMILY 17
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Exodus 25:5
Setim wood: The wood of a tree that grows in the wilderness, which is said to be incorruptible.
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Exodus 25:7
The ephod and the rational: The ephod was the high priest's upper vestment; and the rational his breastplate, in which were twelve gems, etc.
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Exodus 25:9
By saying [to him], “You shall make everything according to the model of the tabernacle that I will show you,” he first called it a model and a temporal tabernacle to indicate that it was transitory and that it would be replaced by the church, the perfect prototype which lasts forever. And so … they would esteem it because of its likeness to the heavenly tabernacle.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EXODUS 25:1
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Exodus 25:10
But when the passage about the equipment of the tabernacle is read, believing that the things described therein are types, some seek for ideas which they can attach to each detail that is mentioned in connection with the tabernacle. Now so far as concerns their belief that the tabernacle is a type of something they are not wrong. But in rightly attaching the word of Scripture to the particular idea of which the tabernacle is a type, here they sometimes fall into error.

Source: ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 4.2.2
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Exodus 25:12
What is symbolized by the ark but holy church? The orders are that it is to be provided with four rings of gold in the four corners—obviously because, being extended to the four parts of the world, it is declared to be equipped with the four books of the holy Gospels. And staves of setim wood are made and inserted into these rings for carrying, because strong and persevering teachers, like incorruptible timbers, are to be sought out, who, always adhering to the instructions of the sacred volumes, proclaim the unity of holy church, and, as it were, carry the ark, by their being let into the rings. Indeed, to carry the ark with staves is to bring holy church through preaching to the untutored minds of unbelievers. Furthermore, they are ordered to be overlaid with gold, that when the sound of their preaching goes forth to others, they may themselves shine in the splendor of their way of life.

Source: PASTORAL CARE 2.11
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Exodus 25:17
A propitiatory: a covering for the ark: called a propitiatory, or mercy seat, because the Lord, who was supposed to sit there upon the wings of the cherubims, with the ark for his footstool, from thence showed mercy. It is also called the oracle, ver. 18 and 20; because from thence God gave his orders and his answers.
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Exodus 25:18
We are told too that “the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the fire”; again, in another place “the tongue of the just” is said to be “as silver tried by fire.” And the cherubim are described as golden, because they are by interpretation the plentitude of knowledge. And it is commanded also that a candlestick of solid gold should be put in the tabernacle of the testimony; and that, it seems to us, is a type of the natural law in which the light of knowledge is contained. But what need is there to multiply proof texts when those who will can easily see for themselves from many Scripture passages that gold is applied to the intellect and mind, whereas silver is referred only to language and the power of speech?

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2:8
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Exodus 25:18
The two cherubim which covered the mercy seat beheld one another with their countenances turned toward it. The word cherubim means “fullness of knowledge.” What do the two cherubim signify but the two Testaments? And what does the mercy seat prefigure but the Lord become a man? John says of him, “For he is the expiation” for our sins.

Source: HOMILY 25
[AD 700] Isaac of Nineveh on Exodus 25:21
The same applied to the plate placed on top of the ark, from which the priest learned from God whatever was necessary by revelation once a year, when the high priest entered, at the solemn moment of prayer, while all the tribes of Israel were gathered and standing in awe and trembling in the outer tent in prayer. The high priest entered the inner sanctuary, and while he lay prostrate on his face, the utterances of God were audible from within that plate which was over the ark, by means of an awesome and ineffable revelation. How fearful was that mystery which was carried out on that occasion. It is the same with all the revelations and visions which have come to the saints: they have all occurred at the time of prayer.

Source: DISCOURSE 22
[AD 735] Bede on Exodus 25:23
A dividing wall of cedar planks, twenty cubits high, was built in the temple to separate the inner sanctuary, that is, the Holy of Holies, from the forepart of the temple. The innersanctuary was twenty cubits deep, twenty cubits wide and twenty cubits high. The [part of the temple] in front of the inner sanctuary was forty cubits long, and in it were tables and the golden candelabrum, as well as the golden altar near the door of the inner sanctuary. This was done so that when incense was offered upon it, the cloud of smoke might rise up and cover the inner sanctuary, where the ark of the covenant was, “and above it the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.”

Source: Homilies on the Gospels 25
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Exodus 25:23
A table: On which were to be placed the twelve loaves of proposition: or, as they are called in the Hebrew, the face bread, because they were always to stand before the face of the Lord in his temple: as a figure of the eucharistic sacrifice and sacrament, in the church of Christ.
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Exodus 25:29
Libations: That is, drink offerings.
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Exodus 25:31
A candlestick: This candlestick, with its seven lamps, which was always to give light in the house of God, was a figure of the light of the Holy Ghost, and his sevenfold grace, in the sanctuary of the church of Christ.
[AD 69] Hebrews on Exodus 25:40
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. [Exodus 25:40] But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Exodus 25:40
Moreover it was said to Moses himself, “See that you make all things according to the form and likeness which was shown to you in the mount.” It seems to me, therefore, that … in this earth the law was a kind of schoolmaster to those who by it were appointed to be led to Christ and to be instructed and trained in order that after their training in the law they might be able with greater facility to receive the more perfect precepts of Christ. So also that other earth, when it receives all the saints, first imbues and educates them in the precepts of the true and eternal law in order that they may with greater facility accept the precepts of heaven which are perfect and to which nothing can ever be added. And in heaven will truly exist what is called the “eternal gospel” and the Testament that is always new, which can never grow old.

Source: ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 3.6.8
[AD 311] Methodius of Olympus on Exodus 25:40
If, according to the apostle, “the law is spiritual” and contains within itself the images “of the good things to come,” then let us remove “the veil” of the letter which is spread over it and contemplate its true meaning stripped bare. The Jews were commanded to adorn their tabernacle as a proleptic imitation of the church, that through the things of sense they might be able to prefigure the image of things divine. For the exemplar which was shown forth on the mountain and on which Moses gazed when he constructed the tabernacle was in a way an accurate picture of the dwelling in heaven, to which indeed we pay homage insofar as it far surpasses the types in clarity and yet is far fainter than the reality. The fact is that the unmingled truth has not yet come to humanity as it is in itself, for here we would be unable to contemplate its pure incorruptibility, just as we cannot endure the rays of the sun with unshielded eyes. The Jews announced what was a shadow of an image, at a third remove from reality, whereas we ourselves clearly behold the image of the heavenly dispensation. But the reality itself will be accurately revealed after the resurrection when we shall see the holy tabernacle, the heavenly city, “whose builder and maker is God,” face to face, and not “in a dark manner” and only “in part.”

Source: BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 5.7
[AD 749] John Damascene on Exodus 25:40
Behold, the glorification of matter, which you despise! What is more insignificant than colored goatskins? Are not blue and purple and scarlet merely colors? Behold the handiwork of men becoming the likeness of the cherubim! Was not the meeting tent an image in every way? “And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.” Yet all the people stood around it and worshiped! Were not the cherubim kept where all the people could see them? Did not the people gaze upon the ark, and the lampstand, and the table, the golden urn and Aaron’s rod, and fall down in worship? I do not worship matter. I worship the Creator of matter, who became matter for me, taking up his abode in matter and accomplishing my salvation through matter.

Source: ON DIVINE IMAGES 14