Exodus 37 explained: Building the Gold Furniture

The ark chest (vv. 1-5)

The ark was a wooden chest covered in gold, roughly 1.1 meters long and 0.7 meters wide and high, made to hold the stone tablets of God's laws. Gold rings and poles let it be carried as the people traveled, so no one had to handle the chest itself.

The gold cover and cherubim (vv. 6-9)

The lid was solid gold, with two winged guardian figures called cherubim hammered from the same piece, facing each other with wings spread over it. It was treated as the place where God met his people and where blood was sprinkled once a year to cover their wrongs, which Christians later read as pointing to Jesus.

The table for bread (vv. 10-16)

This table, covered in gold, held the bread of the Presence, twelve loaves set out before God and replaced each week. Its gold plates, dishes, bowls and pitchers were used for the bread and for drink offerings poured out to God.

The lampstand (vv. 17-24)

The lampstand was hammered from one piece of pure gold, shaped like a branching almond tree in bloom, with seven lamps to light the outer room of the tent, where the priests served daily. It used a talent of gold, often estimated at around 30 kilograms, and the text never explains why it was hammered rather than cast.

Incense altar, oil, incense (vv. 25-29)

This small gold altar, about 45 centimeters square and 90 centimeters tall, was for burning sweet incense, and its raised corners are called horns. The chapter ends with the holy oil used to set apart priests and objects for God, and the incense, both blended with a perfumer's skill.

Key verse: Exodus 37:9

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether each detail of this furniture was meant to symbolize something about Jesus, or whether the main point is simply that the people built exactly what they were told.

Something to think about

What makes something feel worth doing with great care and precision, even when very few people will ever see it?