Exodus 26:19

26:15-30 The sockets of silver each weighed about 115 pounds; they were placed in rows on the ground. In every pair of these sockets, a strong board of shittim-wood, covered with plates of gold, was fitted by mortises and tenons. Thus walls were formed for the two sides, and for the west end. The wall was further held together by bars, which passed through rings of gold. Over this the curtains were spread. Though movable, it was strong and firm. The materials were very costly. In all this it was a type of the church of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone, Eph 2:20,21.

And thou shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards,.... Or bases (s), and which were properly the foundation of the tabernacle, on which it was settled and established; these sockets were the mortises for the two tenons of each board or plank to be placed in, and were as broad as the plank, and, joining each other, made one entire basis for the whole structure; each socket contained a talent of silver, and was made of the silver given at the numbering of the people, Exodus 38:25 , and a talent of silver, according to Bishop Cumberland, amounted to three hundred and fifty three pounds, eleven shillings and some odd pence of our money: by which may be judged the whole value of this silver foundation, which, with the four sockets of the vail, consisted of one hundred of them, which answer to the one hundred talents of silver collected at the above offering: two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons; and so in all the twenty boards, which took up the whole forty on the south side. (s) "bases", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator, Drusius.

Sockets - More literally, bases, or foundations. Each base weighed a talent, that is, about 94 lbs. (see Exodus 38:27 ), and must have been a massive block. The bases formed a continuous foundation for the walls of boards, presenting a succession of sockets or mortices (each base having a single socket), into which the tenons were to fit. They served not only for ornament but also for the protection of the lower ends of the boards from the decay which would have resulted from contact with the ground.

Verse 19 . - Forty sockets of silver . Nothing is said of the shape of these "sockets." They were certainly very massive, as each contained a silver talent ( Exodus 38:27 ), and thus weighed from eighty to ninety pounds. It has been supposed that they stood on the ground, and formed a sort of continuous base, out of which the planks rose. But this would have constituted a very unsafe structure. Kalisch is probably right in his view, that the sockets were let into the ground resembling those at the bottom of a gate, into which the bolt is pressed down. Each socket received one of the "tenons." Exodus 26:19

19 . sockets ] bases ( Ezekiel 41:22 RVm.), or pedestals (cf. Job 38:6 ‘foundations’; Song of Solomon 5:15 supporting pillars), i.e. solid blocks of silver—acc. to Exodus 38:27 weighing a talent (96 lbs.) each—resting on the ground, and, naturally, with ‘sockets’ in them to receive the ‘tenons.’ A talent of silver, of the sacred standard, weighed probably DB. iii. 422b, 419b) about 96 lbs. av.: so that, as a cubit ft. of silver weighs 655 lbs., the talent would amount to about 250 cubic inches, i.e. it might form a block about 7 in. square and 5 in. deep: two such blocks were to stand under each of the frames. Kennedy, however, discarding Exodus 38:27 as part of a late addition to P (see on Exodus 38:24-31 ), pictures each base as a square plinth, ¾ cubit on the side and a cubit high, the whole forming thus a continuous wall under the frames; the weight of each base in this case would be about 1240 lbs.

Ordinary gold is prescribed for the rim and rings, and for the gilding of the staves, of the Ark, table of Presence-bread, and incense altar ( Exodus 25:11-13 ; Exodus 24, 25, 26, 28; Exodus 30:3-5 ); for the cherubim on the mercy-seat ( Exodus 25:18 ); for the clasps of the curtains ( Exodus 26:6 ); for the gilding of the frames and of the bars outside, and of the pillars for the veil and for the screen ( Exodus 26:29 ; Exodus 26:32 ; Exodus 26:37 ); for the rings outside the frames for the bars ( Exodus 26:29 ); for the hooks attaching the veil and the screen to their pillars ( Exodus 26:32 ; Exodus 26:37 ); and for the gold thread, rosettes, rings for the sacred pouch, and bells, in the high priest’s dress ( Exodus 28:6 ; Exodus 28:8 ; Exodus 28:15 ; Exodus 11, 13, 20; Exodus 23, 26, 27; Exodus 33). Silver is prescribed for the sockets of the frames, and of the pillars for the veil ( Exodus 26:19 ; Exodus 26:25 ; Exodus 26:32 ); and for the hooks and fillets of the pillars of the court ( Exodus 27:10-11 ; Exodus 27:17 ); and copper for the altar of burnt-offering ( Exodus 27:2-4 ; Exodus 27:6 ); the sockets and pins of the court ( Exodus 27:10 f., 17–19); and the laver ( Exodus 30:18 ). brass ] bronze , or copper ( Genesis 4:22 RVm.), which, indeed, was the meaning of ‘brass’ in old English: in Holland’s Pliny , for instance, mention is made of ‘ mines of brass’ (cf. Deuteronomy 8:9 ).

15-30. thou shalt make boards … rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion … which was showed thee—The tabernacle, from its name as well as from its general appearance and arrangements, was a tent; but from the description given in these verses, the boards that formed its walls, the five (cross) bars that strengthened them, and the middle bar that "reached from end to end," and gave it solidity and compactness, it was evidently a more substantial fabric than a light and fragile tent, probably on account of the weight of its various coverings as well as for the protection of its precious furniture.

Twenty of these boards were to be prepared for the side of the dwelling that was turned towards the south, and forty sockets (אדנים foundations, Job 38:6 ) or bases for the pegs, i.e., to put the pegs of the boards into, that the boards might stand upright; and the same number of boards and sockets for the north side. תּימנה, "southward," is added to נגבּה לפאת in Exodus 26:18 , to give a clearer definition of negeb, which primarily means the dry, and then the country to the south; an evident proof that at that time negeb was not established as a geographical term for the south, and therefore that it was not written here by a Palestinian, as Knobel supposes, but by Moses in the desert. The form of the "sockets" is not explained, and even in Exodus 38:27, in the summing up of the gifts presented for the work, it is merely stated that a talent of silver (about 93 lb.) was applied to every socket.

[Reformed Biblical] rve the rest from the injury of the weather. Exodus 26:15 Exodus 26:16 Exodus 26:17 ## Two tenons , Heb. hands , i.e. parts of the boards, so cut and framed that like hands they may take hold of and be fastened into the sockets, Exo_26:19. Exodus 26:18 Exodus 26:19 ## Forty sockets , or bases, or pedestals, or feet , upon which the boards stood, and to which they were fastened. Exodus 26:20 Exodus 26:21 Exodus 26:22 Exodus 26:23 Which were of another fashion than the former, as may be gathered both from the distinct nomination and use of them, and from the laws of building. And whereas the rest were but single boards, these were double, for greater strength and conveniency of joining them together. Exodus 26:24 ## Coupled together , Heb. as twins , i.e. equal and equally joined together, and exactly answering one to the other. ## Unto one ring , which ring was exactly in the corner, and with the h elp of the b ars kept the corner boards, and with them the other boards of the tabernacle, close together. But you must note, that here were two rings in each corner, the one in the upper, the other in the lower parts. Exodus 26:25 Exodus 26:26 ## By bars you may understand either, 1. Several rows or orders of bars, one bar beginning at the end of the other, and each containing four cubits in length, and altogether twenty cubits, which was the length of the tabernacle ; or, 2. Single bars, which seem truer, 1. Because the wor