Exodus 38:21-31

Exodus 38:21-31

[21] This  is the sum  of the tabernacle,  of testimony,  as it was counted,  according to the commandment  of Moses,  for the service  of the Levites,  by the hand  of Ithamar,  son  to Aaron  the priest.  [22] And Bezaleel  the son  of Uri,  the son  of Hur,  of the tribe  of Judah,  made  all that the LORD  commanded  Moses.  [23] And with him was Aholiab,  son  of Ahisamach,  of the tribe  of Dan,  an engraver,  and a cunning workman,  and an embroiderer  in blue,  and in purple,  and in scarlet,  and fine linen.  [24] All the gold  that was occupied  for the work  of the holy  place, even the gold  of the offering,  was twenty  and nine  talents,  and seven  hundred  and thirty  shekels,  of the sanctuary.  [25] And the silver  of them that were numbered  of the congregation  was an hundred  talents,  and a thousand  seven  hundred  and threescore and fifteen  shekels,  of the sanctuary:  [26] A bekah  for every man,  that is, half  a shekel,  of the sanctuary,  for every one that went  to be numbered,  from twenty  years  old  and upward,  for six  hundred  thousand  and three  thousand  and five  hundred  and fifty  [27] And of the hundred  talents  of silver  were cast  the sockets  of the sanctuary,  and the sockets  of the vail;  an hundred  sockets  of the hundred  talents,  for a socket.  [28] And of the thousand  seven  hundred  seventy  and five  shekels he made  hooks  for the pillars,  and overlaid  their chapiters,  and filleted  [29] And the brass  of the offering  was seventy  talents,  and two thousand  and four  hundred  shekels.  [30] And therewith he made  the sockets  to the door  of the tabernacle  of the congregation,  and the brasen  altar,  and the brasen  grate  for it, and all the vessels  of the altar,  [31] And the sockets  of the court  round about,  and the sockets  of the court  gate,  and all the pins  of the tabernacle,  and all the pins  of the court  round about. 

What does Exodus 38:21-31 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Moses also recorded an estimate of the amount of metal used ( Exodus 38:21-31). Coined money did not exist until the eighth century B.C. when the Lydians in Anatolia (modern Turkey) invented it. [1] Consequently the shekel Moses referred to was a measure of weight (not quite half an ounce). [2] The materials included slightly over a ton of gold ( Exodus 38:24), almost four tons of silver ( Exodus 38:25-28), and about two and a half tons of bronze ( Exodus 38:29-31).