According to the Bible, God, one for Jews, Christians and Muslims, did not immediately lead people to the idea of building a temple for Him. The first indication can be considered the dream of Jacob, the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham, the same one who bought the birthright from his brother Esau for lentil stew. Having set out on a journey to avoid the wrath of his deceived brother, Jacob spent the night on the road and settled down to sleep right on the ground, using a stone instead of a pillow:
“And I saw in a dream: behold, a ladder stands on the earth, and its top touches the sky; and behold, the angels of God ascend and descend on it. And behold, the Lord stands on it and says: I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie will I give to you and to your descendants; and your descendants will be like the sand of the earth; and you will spread to the sea, and to the east, and to the north, and to the noonday; and in you and in your seed all families of the earth will be blessed; and behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go; and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. Jacob awoke from his sleep and said: Truly the Lord is present in this place; but I didn’t know!
And he was afraid and said: How terrible is this place! this is nothing other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob arose early in the morning, and took the stone which he had put for his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. And [Jacob] called the name of that place Bethel, but the former name of that city was Luz. And Jacob made a vow, saying: If [the Lord] God will be with me and keep me on this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I will return in peace to my father’s house, and the Lord will be mine God, then this stone, which I have erected as a monument, will be [for me] the house of God; and of all that You, O God, give me, I will give You a tenth.” (Gen. 28:12-22)
Thus, the shepherd Jacob, not yet able to build a real temple, outlined the main principles of temple construction. Firstly, he marked the place of the presence of higher powers by erecting a memorial sign. Secondly, he consecrated it by performing a special ritual of anointing the stone with oil (olive oil). Thirdly, he called this place the house of God. Finally, he gave this place another definition - “the gates of heaven,” that is, the place from which the path to another world opened. Since then, any sacred building of the Abrahamic religion can be recognized as such by the presence of these signs.
Landscape with Jacob's Dream. Painting by Michael Lucas Leopold Willmann. Around 1691 Wikimedia CommonsThe first real temple appeared among the Jews much later. Moreover, it was an easily dismountable camp structure, one might say, a temple-tent.
On the way out of Egyptian captivity, but long before finding the Promised Land, the people of Israel camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Moses climbed this mountain more than once, where he personally talked with God. There, on a cloud-hidden peak, the first Ten Commandments were given to humanity. In writing, inscribed on stone tablets. Along with them, Moses received detailed instructions on how and where to store them. Firstly, it was necessary to collect donations from the people: “wool of blue, purple and scarlet color...” (Ex. 35:6), flax and leather, valuable species of trees, a lot of gold, silver and copper. Master craftsmen were also needed. Here are the names of two of them mentioned in the Bible and forever remained in history: Bezaleel, the son of Uriah, the son of Hor, from the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan (Ex. 35:30, 34).
“He filled their hearts with wisdom to do all the work of a carver and a cunning weaver, and an embroiderer in blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen, and weavers who do all kinds of work and make cunning cloth.” (Ex. 35:35)
So, in accordance with the instructions of the Lord, a wooden box, lined with gold on all sides, was made to store the tablets. From above it was closed with a golden lid, decorated with winged figures of seraphim. Gold rings were attached to the corners, into which poles lined with precious foil were threaded. It turned out to be something like a stretcher - a convenient device for wandering through the desert. But most importantly, during the stays, this box with tablets - the Ark of the Covenant - had to be in a special tent, in the tabernacle.
Tabernacle. Drawing by an unknown author. 19th century Wikimedia Commons It is the tabernacle that is the ancestor of all temple buildings among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Judging by the description in the Bible, it was a large multi-layered tent made of pieces of fabric skillfully interlocked with each other and here and there hanging down from the edges with graceful draperies. Below lay fine linen, that is, most likely, linen, then wool, and on top, apparently as protection from the rain, goatskins. Unlike an ordinary tent, there were wooden walls inside - rows of vertical beams made of shittim (acacia) wood on silver sockets. The southern and northern sides consisted of 20 such beams, the western - of six plus two corner ones, connecting the structures at right angles. It turned out to be a room stretched from east to west, something like a basilica. Inside, a woven curtain on five pillars with copper bases divided the space into two parts, the larger of which, the first from the entrance, was called the sanctuary. It contained a golden seven-branched candlestick, a table for bread offered as a sacrifice to God, and a small altar for incense. A small, distant room - the Holy of Holies - was intended to store the Ark of the Covenant, and only the high priest could enter it. An integral part of the temple was a courtyard, fenced with woven curtains on pillars made of the same shittim wood, but on copper supports. In the courtyard there was the main altar, on which animals offered as gifts to God were burned, and a vessel for ablutions.
Construction of the Tabernacle. Engraving by Gerard Huth from the book “Figures de la Bible”. 1728 The artist managed to show on one sheet everything that is described in the fortieth chapter of the book of Exodus. Wikimedia Commons 
Tabernacle of Moses. Drawing from the Old Russian translation of Kozma Indikoplov’s book “Christian Topography”, 1495 In the interpretation of the Russian artist of the late 15th century, the tabernacle is precisely a tent, allowing the formation of the beautiful folds described in the Bible, and not a modest tent tightly fitting the wooden walls. Since then, prayer buildings of all Abrahamic religions have been built according to a three-part scheme: the vestibule - a courtyard or narthex (narthex), the main space of the temple itself and a special sacred area - an altar or simply a raised platform with a table or cabinet for sacred texts. This tent turned out to be not just a place for storing the tablets of the Testament, and not only a special territory where sacrifices were made before the tablets, as before idols. Now the tabernacle, and not the place once marked by Jacob's stone, became the house of God. The Jews could verify this literally: as soon as Moses assembled the tabernacle and consecrated it with oil, it disappeared into a divine cloud - a visual evidence of the divine presence. When the cloud lifted, it became clear to the desert wanderers that it was time to move on in search of the Promised Land; if it stopped, it was a sign that it was time to set up camp for rest.
It is interesting that the structure of the tabernacle is described in the Bible in the most detailed way. It is indicated how many spikes are needed on each pillar so that they connect to each other, how the gold-lined poles holding the structure together should lie; it is said that on each piece of fabric that serves as the covering of the tent, exactly 50 loops are needed and precisely blue, and the hooks that connect the loops to each other must certainly be cast from gold. However, it is quite difficult to imagine what the tabernacle actually looked like - at least the reconstructions of different researchers bear little resemblance to each other.
Having finally arrived in the Promised Land (promised by God), it would seem that the Jews immediately had to build a real, permanent temple. However, the question of building a full-fledged stone temple arose only with the advent of real state power: the first of the Jewish kings, Saul, was not yet up to architecture - he was completely consumed by jealousy of David’s military glory; David, in turn, being on the throne, became preoccupied with construction, but the honor of being considered the builder of the First Temple went to Solomon, the son of David.
“And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, which was shown to David his father, in the place that David had prepared, in the threshing floor of Orna the Jebusite.” (2 Chron. 3:1)
King Hiram of Tire undertook to help Solomon not only with materials, but also with skilled labor - he sent skilled stonemasons and an architect.
“And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have listened to what you sent to me for, and I will fulfill all your desire for cedar trees and cypress trees; my servants will bring them from Lebanon to the sea, and I will deliver them on rafts by sea to the place that you assign to me, and there I will lay them down, and you will take them; but you also fulfill my desire to deliver bread for my house.” (1 Kings 5:8-9)
Construction took seven years. The stones were delivered to the site already processed, and there was an important theological reason for this: even Moses was forbidden to build an altar from hewn stones. Then it was believed that materials defiled by the touch of iron were not suitable for holy work. Apparently, the builders of Solomon's Temple, realizing that they could not build a worthy building from shapeless material, tried to get around this prohibition by processing boulders far from the place of use. In addition, this solution preserved reverent silence on the construction site.
Temple of Solomon. Engraving from François Vatable's book "Biblia sacra". 1546 This is how Solomon's temple seemed to people in the 16th century. True, only to those who carefully read the Bible. Others saw it as round in plan. Wikimedia Commons Like the tabernacle, the temple is described in great detail in Scripture, yet it is difficult for us to imagine what it looked like. It is usually depicted in reconstructions as being close to Babylonian architecture, with characteristic crenellated decorations on the façade, which are also mentioned in the Bible. However, the general composition of the temple is quite obvious. In general, it repeated the structure of the tabernacle: a large courtyard, and in it an elongated room, divided by a curtain into the sanctuary and the holy of holies. The Ark, as before, was intended to be a cubic space into which the high priest could enter only once a year, on Yom Kippur (Judgment Day, the most important of the Jewish holidays). In the sanctuary there was a lampstand, an altar of incense, and a table for the showbread. The temple also had a vestibule and auxiliary premises. The decoration of the building was very rich: marble on the outside, cedar and cypress wood on the inside, trimmed with gold sheets.
The temple, according to the Bible, began construction 480 years after the Israelites fled from captivity in Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, and was completed in seven years. Most likely, there were still 950 years left before the birth of Christ, although there are other estimates.
As expected, during a special ritual the building was anointed with oil and consecrated. A solemn procession brought the Ark of the Covenant into the cave, as it seemed then, forever The temple was destroyed twice and was never restored after the second time. In addition, after the destruction of the First Temple, the main shrine, the Ark with the Tablets of Moses, disappeared.. The divine cloud again, as once in the tabernacle, filled the sanctuary and the holy of holies. The temple became the house of God, which was repeatedly confirmed by the Lord himself, appearing to Solomon.
An angel measures the walls of the Heavenly City with a golden cane. Drawing by Facundus from the book “Beato de Liébana”. 1047 Wikimedia Commons Of the representatives of the Abrahamic religions, only Christians were given the opportunity to learn in detail what the city built in heaven by the Lord himself looks like: an angel appeared to John, one of the closest disciples of Jesus, exiled by the persecutors of the followers of Christ to the island of Patmos to dictate the Revelation (Apocalypse) - the story of what the end of the world will be like and what should precede it. In particular, at the end of human history, the Heavenly City will descend to earth. It will be a square fortress made of precious stones, the height of the walls being equal to the width. Twelve gates - three on each side of the world - will admit only the righteous. And most importantly, as it was revealed to John the Theologian, there will be no temple at all in that City, for instead of it there will be the Lord himself.
“...And one of the seven angels came to me, who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, and said to me: Go, I will show you a wife, the bride of the Lamb. And he carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which came down from heaven from God. He has the glory of God. It shone like a most precious stone, like a crystalline jasper stone.
It has a large and high wall, has twelve gates and twelve Angels on them; On the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: on the east there are three gates, on the north there are three gates, on the south there are three gates, on the west there are three gates. The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. He who spoke to me had a golden reed to measure the city and its gates and its walls. The city is located in a quadrangle, and its length is the same as its latitude. And he measured the city with a reed for twelve thousand furlongs; its length and breadth and height are equal. And he measured the wall thereof to be one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, which is the measure of an angel. Its wall was built of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass. The foundations of the city wall are decorated with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation is jasper, the second is sapphire, the third is chalcedon, the fourth is emerald, the fifth is sardonyx, the sixth is carnelian, the seventh is chrysolite, the eighth is virill, the ninth is topaz, the tenth is chrysoprase, the eleventh is hyacinth, and the twelfth is amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was made of one pearl. The city street is pure gold, like transparent glass. But I did not see a temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to illuminate it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The saved nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates will not be locked during the day; and there will be no night there. And they will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations. And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one devoted to abomination and lies, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Rev. 21:9-27)
Heavenly Jerusalem. Tapestry of the Angers Apocalypse. Angers Castle Museum, France. 1373-1382 A series of tapestries of the so-called “Angers Apocalypse” represents scenes from the Revelation of John the Theologian. Created for Louis I of Anjou in the workshops of Nicolas Bataille, probably by master Robert Punchon. 74 tapestries have survived to this day and are exhibited in the Angers Castle Museum. Wikimedia Commons Prepared based on materials from the book by Sergei Kavtaradze, “Seven Books about Architecture,” which is being prepared for publication by the publishing house of the Higher School of Economics. We learn to see and understand.”
After this, Moses began to build a tabernacle in the middle of the camp, as the Lord had shown him on the mountain. This was the work of the entire people of Israel. " And all whose hearts were drawn to it, and all whose spirit was disposed, came and brought offerings to the Lord for the building of the tabernacle of meeting and for all its needs and for [all] the sacred garments."(Ex. 35.21). They erected the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, that is, exactly one year after leaving Egypt (Ex. 40.2).
The tabernacle consisted of three parts: Holy of Holies, sanctuary and yard (see Fig. 1.). The tabernacle itself, or sacred tent, stood in the middle of a quadrangular courtyard surrounded by bronze columns that were connected by crossbars. Linen throws hung from the cross beams, so that the area was covered on all sides by high curtains. The walls of the tabernacle were built of poles and beams of shittim (acacia) wood, and its roof was covered first with two woolen blankets with the image of cherubim, and then with two blankets of rams' skins.
Rice. 1. Reconstruction of the general view of the tabernacle (top) and the sacred objects located in it (right)
The sacred temple-tent was divided into two halves: the Holy of Holies and the sanctuary, separated from each other by a woolen curtain embroidered with gold. The Holy of Holies was the most important part of the temple. It contained the Ark of the Covenant (see Fig. 1), which was a box made of shittim wood, lined inside and outside with forged gold sheets. The lid of the Ark, called the atonement, was made of pure gold. At its ends were two images of cherubs. The Ark was considered the most important shrine of the temple. Moses, at the command of God, placed the tablets in the Ark, and placed a vessel with manna in front of the Ark.
There were three sacred objects in the sanctuary (see Fig. 1.). In the center of the sanctuary, opposite the Ark, stood an altar of incense, made of precious wood and overlaid with gold. On it, priests sacrificed incense or incense. To the right of the altar of incense stood a wooden table overlaid with gold with twelve showbreads, which were changed every Sabbath. To the left stood a golden lampstand, like a tree, with seven lamps in which oil burned.
In the courtyard, in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, there was an altar of burnt offering, bound in copper, and a large copper laver for washing the hands and feet of the priests before worship. The entrance to the tabernacle was on the east side, so that the Holy of Holies, in contrast to the pagan altars, faced the west.
The tabernacle without a courtyard was small in size. It was 30 cubits in length (i.e. 15.6 m; the sacred cubit was 52 cm), width and height - 10 cubits (5.2 m). When the tabernacle was completed, Moses consecrated it by anointing all its sacred objects with oil.
At the same time, Aaron and his sons from the tribe of Levi were chosen to perform divine services at the tabernacle. " And take unto you Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may be priest unto me, Aaron, and Nadab, and Abihu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron."(Ex. 28.1). If before the law was given to the Jews, any head of the family could perform priestly duties, that is, make sacrifices to God, but now only the descendants of Aaron could be priests. At the head of the priests was high priest(at first he was also called simply a priest, Ex. 28.1, or “an anointed priest,” Lev. 4.3, or “a great priest,” Lev. 21.10). The first high priest was Aaron, who was anointed by Moses (Ex. 40.12–15), then, after the death of Aaron, his son Eleazar became the high priest (Num. 20.26), then the grandson of Aaron and the son of Eleazar, Phinehas (Deut. 10.6), etc. To assist in the service of the priests at the tabernacle, the remaining representatives of the tribe of Levi (not the descendants of Aaron) - the Levites - were appointed (Num. 3.6-8).
When the tabernacle was built, then a cloud covered it, " and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle"(Ex. 40.34). The cloud over the tabernacle was a symbol of the presence of the Lord among Israel.
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Lives on earth, among the people of Israel;
והל העדות" - "tent of testimony").
Several places in the Bible combine both names into one mishkan ohel moed(“the seat of the tabernacle of meeting”) (Exod.).
This is explained by the fact that both of these words mishkan And ohel are synonyms in Hebrew. So, both of these words are used in one phrase: "How beautiful are your tents ( ohalekha), Jacob, your dwelling places ( mishkenotech), Israel"(Number).
Much less often in the Bible you can find other names for the Tabernacle: mikdash(“Sanctuary”) and ha-kodesh("Holy place").
In Judaism, there are two main opinions on the purpose of the Temple. On the one hand, the construction of the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, is seen as a kind of condescension to human nature, at best a kind of means; on the other hand, on the contrary, the Temple represents the pinnacle of all conceivable perfections. Both of these approaches are directly related to the disagreement regarding the dating of the receipt of the commandment to build the Tabernacle.
“It should be noted that the Torah does not say, “I will dwell in him", but "I will dwell in the middle of them“, that is, among people. This means that the Glory of God is manifested not so much through the Temple itself, but through the people who built it. It is not the Temple that is the reason for the revelation of the Glory of God, but the selfless desire of people to feel the hand of the Almighty, ruling the world everywhere.”
Soncino
“It is said: “Let them make a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell among [or: within] them.”(Ex.) - in them, people, and not in him, in the sanctuary. We must all build a Tabernacle in our hearts for God to dwell there.”
Malbim
Thus, the Jewish prophets and teachers of the law repeatedly emphasized the fact that the Temple was needed not by God, but by the people themselves.
“In the west stood the Ark of the Law with its lid decorated with cherubs; in the north - the Table of Showbread; in the south - a Menorah with lamps; the eastern side was facing the people, on that side there was an entrance, and there, one after another, there were altars that seemed to encourage people to joyfully selfless surrender of themselves to the Divine Torah awaiting them in the west. We believe that we will not be mistaken in supposing that the Western side was intended to personify the Torah and the Presence of God which it, and only it, embodies; north side - material life; southern - spiritual life; the eastern one is a specific people, the people of Israel, called to selfless service to God and His Torah.”
According to the text of Scripture, the functions of the Tabernacle can be divided into several main categories, which, first of all, are based on the fact that the main and most important purpose of the Tabernacle is based on the name “ mishkan“, that is, the Tabernacle is the place where the Shekinah of the Creator (Glory of God) dwells on earth, among the people of Israel.
This concludes the first part of the command to build the Tabernacle.
| And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Behold, I have called precisely Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. And I filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, understanding, knowledge and all skill, to create designs, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in carving stones to set, and in carving wood, to do all kinds of work. And behold, I appointed Aoliab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to him, and I have put wisdom in the heart of every wise man, and they will do everything that I have commanded you. The tent of the congregation and the ark of the testimony, and the cover thereof, and all the accessories of the tent; and the table, and all its utensils, and the clean lamp with all its utensils, and the altar of incense; and the altar of burnt offering with all its furnishings, and the laver, and its stool; and the vestments of office, and the vestments of the sacred for Aaron the priest, and the vestments of his sons for the priestly service; and the anointing oil and the spiced incense for the sanctuary: let them do according to all that I commanded you. |
They worked on the construction of the Tabernacle for about six months (from Tishri 11 to Nisan 1). When the work was completed and all the accessories of the Tabernacle were ready, God ordered the construction of the Tabernacle, the consecration of its utensils and the anointing of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood on the first of the month of Nisan (in which the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt took place), in the second year after the Exodus . Consecration consisted of anointing with a sacred composition of pure myrrh, cinnamon, fragrant cane, cassia and oil.
The erection of the Tabernacle is described in the last verses of the book of Exodus and ends with a description of the descent of the Glory of the Lord (Shekinah) onto the Tabernacle:
From then on, the cloud covered the Tabernacle throughout the entire journey of the Israelites through the desert. Every time the cloud separated from the Tabernacle, the Israelites took down their tents and set out, and where it stopped, there they pitched their camp.
Once the Tabernacle was built, it took a central place among the people of Israel - literally and figuratively - both during the crossing of the desert and during camps. The distance in the desert between the people and the Tabernacle was never more than 2000 cubits, so that on the Sabbath everyone had the opportunity to come to it for prayer.
Ref. - and Ex. - .
Detailed Location and Dimensions of the Tabernacle according to the Pentateuch
The tabernacle was located in accordance with the cardinal directions. The tent, 31x10 cubits, was located in the western part of the large courtyard ( hatzer), 120 cubits long and 60 cubits wide.
The distance from the curtains of the courtyard to the walls of the tent was 25 cubits from the north, south and west. The entrance to the Tabernacle was located on the eastern side and was covered with a special canopy, which was called Masach, with a total length of 20 cubits. The canopy was knitted from blue, purple and scarlet wool, as well as from woven linen. The canopy was patterned.
Hatzer) is quite large in size 120x60 cubits (about 1985 m², if we take a cubit as 52.5 cm), fenced with sixty (60) hollow pillars of Shiitim wood with copper bases. Embroidered curtains were stretched between the pillars ( we cry), skillfully woven from twined linen, forming walls 5 cubits high (about 2.6 m). Each such curtain was 5x5 cubits, and there were 56 in total.
Opposite the entrance to the tent, the five central pillars on the east side of the courtyard formed the gate of the Tabernacle. These pillars were covered with special canopies of blue, purple and scarlet wool, as well as of woven linen, which was called Masach. The gate curtains consisted of four parts, 5x5 cubits each, with a total length of 20 cubits.
There were 20 pillars in the north and south of the courtyard, 10 in the west, 3 in the east on each side of the entrance and another 4 supporting the canopy ( Masach).
In the courtyard, opposite the entrance, there was a large altar of burnt offering, made of copper-bound wood (which is why it was also called the “copper altar”). Sacrifices were made on it, and a fire had to burn on it constantly.
In the very center of the courtyard stood a copper washbasin ( kior
Detailed Location and Dimensions of the Tent according to the Pentateuch
The tent was a frame made of wooden planks overlaid with gold, covered with four blankets. Its device made it possible to disassemble the entire structure into wearable parts. The dimensions of the tent were 31 cubits long, 10 cubits wide and 10 cubits high. The tent was divided into two parts by a curtain ( parochet). Its back part (western part, measuring 10x10x10 cubits) was called the Holy of Holies ( Kodesh kodashim). In front of the Holy of Holies was a sacred space, the Sanctuary ( Kodesh), separated by a curtain ( Masach) from the front of the fenced yard ( Hatzer). Thus, the tent consisted of three wooden walls: two side walls, to the north and south, and a back wall, to the west, and was covered with a curtain on the east side. Both dividing curtains measured 10 x 10 cubits.
Covers were thrown over the walls and top of the tabernacle, representing its most important part and giving it the appearance of a tent. There were four of them.
The two special corner boards consisted of two boards of the same length, height, thickness and design as all the other boards of the tent. These two boards were bent into two identical hollow half-cylinders, and when they were joined together, they formed a single hollow cylinder, which became the corner board. Each of these boards was 10 cubits high, with an outer diameter of 1 cubit, an inner diameter of 3/π=0.9549 cubits, and a thickness of 0.5-(1.5/π)=0.0225 cubits.
The walls consisted of perpendicularly placed boards, 10 cubits high and 1.5 cubits wide, and the side (south and north) walls had 20 boards each, and the back (west) - 6, except for 2 special boards for the corners connecting it with side walls. The thickness of the board beams is easy to calculate: it was 0.5-(1.5/π) = 0.0225 cubits.
All boards were overlaid with gold. There were 48 boards in total, 46 straight and 4 curved, making up 2 corner boards.
From below, each board was inserted into two silver sockets ( adanim), which served to hold the boards in place. Each footstool was 3/4 cubits long, except for 4 curved footstools, 1.5 cubits each, under the two corner boards for the western wall.
The boards were also fastened with five horizontal transverse bolts at the bottom, top and middle on each side.
On the north and south sides, at a height of 1 and 9 cubits from the top of the walls, there were four bolts in two rows: two bolts of 10 cubits each on the western part of the walls and two bolts of 19 cubits each on the eastern part of the walls, with a gap of 1 cubit exactly in the middle. every wall. On the west side, at a height of 2 and 8 cubits from the top of the wall, there were four bolts in two rows, 4 cubits each, with an interval of 1 cubit exactly in the middle of the wall. The fifth, middle bolt, ran along the entire length of each wall, at a height of 5 cubits from the top of the walls. All the bolts were inserted into gold rings on the boards on the outside of the tabernacle. Each board had two rings for each bolt. The thickness of the bolts and rings is unclear.
All the bolts were overlaid with gold. The bolt rings were made of gold.
Masach
parochet), which consisted of the same two-layer woven material (yarn and fine linen in blue, purple and scarlet) as the lower cover, and measured 10x10 cubits. Parohet
Construction of the Tabernacle according to Jewish tradition (Talmud, Mishnah, etc.)
Tabernacle and camp. 19th century drawing.
Location of the tent and yard hatzer The tabernacle was located in accordance with the cardinal directions. The 30x10 cubits tent was located in the western part of the large courtyard ( Masach), 100 cubits long and 50 cubits wide. The distance from the courtyard fence to the tent was 20 cubits from the north, south and west and 50 from the east. The entrance to the Tabernacle was located on the eastern side and was covered with a special canopy, which was called , 20 cubits long. The canopy was knitted from twenty-four pieces of twisted thread, and on both sides were embroidered cherubim
(cherubs). Hatzer A rectangular courtyard was built around the Tabernacle ( we cry) quite large in size 100x50 cubits (about 1370 m²), fenced with pillars on copper bases. Embroidered curtains were stretched between the pillars (
), skillfully woven from fabric like a net, forming walls about 2.6 m high. Masach The gate of the courtyard of the Tabernacle was located on the east side, opposite the entrance to the tent. They were covered with a special canopy of wool, dyed blue, purple, scarlet and white, which was called
and was 20 cubits long. Masach) .
In the courtyard, opposite the entrance, there was a large Altar of Burnt Offering, made of acacia and bound with copper (therefore it was also called the “copper altar”). An unquenchable fire burned on it and sacrifices were made. Behind the altar stood a copper laver ( kior) for priests. All courtyard accessories were made of copper.
Only clergy (Levites and Kohanim) were allowed to enter the tent, while other Jews could only enter the courtyard.
The material for the Tabernacle was probably acacia wood ( shita, plural h. shittim), most common in the desert area around the Red Sea. Making all the parts of the Tabernacle from trees of this type is quite difficult, since it is difficult to find the right number of straight trunks, which are usually short in length and strongly curved.
The walls consisted of perpendicularly placed beams, 10 cubits high and 1.5 cubits wide, and the side walls had 20 beams each, and the back one - 6, except for 2 beams for the corners connecting it with the side walls. The thickness of the beams is not specified, but, according to the Talmud, it was equal to 1 cubit. All the beams were covered with gold leaf.
The bottom bars were cut so that they could be inserted into two silver sockets ( adanim), which served to hold the entire structure in place even on an uneven surface. The footstools were 3/4 cubits wide, 1 cubit long and high.
The beams were probably also cut out from above, so that additional adanim fastened them together. In addition, each beam was attached to its neighbor by means of upper and lower wooden tenons, which protruded from each board and was inserted into a hole made in the adjacent board. The beams were also secured with five horizontal transverse bolts on each side. From below and above (at a distance of 2.5 cubits) four bolts, each half the length of the wall, ran in two rows. These bars were set into gold rings on the outside of the tabernacle. An additional, middle bolt passed through holes made in the middle of the boards. According to one opinion, this bolt went horizontally from end to end of the Tabernacle (70 cubits) and miraculously supported its entire structure. The bolts were also plated with gold leaf.
At the entrance to the tent were installed five pillars of acacia, covered with gold leaf and mounted on copper bases, on which the curtain was attached ( Masach), blocking the entrance. This curtain was similar to the one that covered the gate of the court of the Tabernacle.
Inside the tent was divided into two unequal parts by another curtain ( parochet), which consisted of the same two-layer woven fabric (yarn and fine linen in blue, purple and scarlet colors) as the lower cover, and was 14x12 m in size. Parohet was fastened with gold hooks on four acacia pillars, covered with gold leaf and mounted on silver bases.
A Torah scroll written by Moses himself was kept next to the Ark. Also kept in the Holy of Holies was a vessel with manna, Aaron's rod that blossomed, the anointing oil, and later also the golden gifts of the Philistines.Tabernacle after the conquest of Canaan
Location of the Tabernacle
Tabernacle- a camp temple created by the sons of Israel by command after the conclusion of the Sinai Covenant. Other names: “tabernacle of meeting” (), “tabernacle of testimony” (), “house of the Lord” ().
When assembled, the Tabernacle was a tent or pavilion, 30 cubits long, 10 cubits wide and the same height. It consisted of two compartments, a larger and a smaller, separated by a heavy curtain “of blue, purple, and scarlet wool and fine woven linen,” depicting cherubim. At the same time, the curtain rested on four wooden pillars overlaid with gold, supported on silver bases (). The larger compartment, 20 cubits in length, began immediately behind the entrance and abutted the curtain. It was called the “Sanctuary” (“Holy Place”), and the smaller one was located immediately behind the larger one and was called the “Holy of Holies.”
The inner space of the Holy of Holies was in the shape of a cube with an edge length of 10 cubits. This was the main and most secret room of the Tabernacle, intended to store the Ark of the Covenant. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies and only once a year: on the Day of Atonement, with sacrificial blood.
The Holy Place (or Sanctuary) contained the table for the showbread, the altar of incense, and the lampstand. The priests entered there to perform the proper rites.
The supporting frame of the Tabernacle consisted of beams made of shittim wood overlaid with gold. Each beam was mounted vertically on two silver pedestals, and they were all fixed together by crossbars - gilded poles passed through gold rings attached to the beams. The northern and southern sides of the tent consisted of twenty posts each. Six racks made up the western wall, at the corners of which two more were additionally installed - to fasten the interlocking walls (). The entrance to the Tabernacle was from the east. If necessary, this entire structure was dismantled, moved and reassembled by people specially designated for these purposes.
The covering of the Tabernacle consisted of four layers. The inner one was made “of ten curtains of fine woven linen and of blue, purple and scarlet wool”, with the image of cherubs (). The second, coarser layer consisted of eleven goat hair blankets (). The two outer layers were: a cover “made of red mutton skins and another top cover made of blue skins” (). The entrance to the Tabernacle was covered with a curtain made of the same material as the inner covering. To secure it, five gilded pillars were installed on copper bases ().
The tabernacle was surrounded by a rectangular courtyard, the length of which was 100 cubits and the width - 50. Along the perimeter of the courtyard, the courtyard was fenced with a curtain, 5 cubits high, stretched on pillars (). In the courtyard there was an altar of burnt offering and a laver.
It is believed that after the completion of the forty-year wandering of the Jews in the desert and entering the Promised Land, the locations of the tabernacle were such geographical points as Shiloh (), Shechem (), Mizpah (), Bethel ().
It is difficult to say how long the tabernacle created under Moses lasted. During the reign of Saul, at least part of the sacred objects that were supposed to be kept in the Tabernacle were in Nob (). About David it is reported that he built a new Tabernacle: “And they brought the ark of God, and placed it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had built for him” (). And already under his son, Solomon, a majestic stone Temple was erected.
The significance of the Tabernacle for the Jewish people cannot be overestimated. In addition to serving as a unifying factor, it was a visible sign of God's guidance, a place of His special presence, a place where God revealed Himself to His people: “On the day that the tabernacle was pitched, a cloud covered the tabernacle of testimony, and from the evening it was as if it were over the tabernacle. the fire was visible until the morning. This is how it always was: a cloud covered it [during the day] and a likeness of fire at night. And when the cloud lifted from the tabernacle, then the children of Israel set out on their journey, and at the place where the cloud stopped, there the children of Israel camped” ().
During the wanderings of the Jews in the desert, the Tabernacle was always located in the center of the camp.
The Holy Scripture contains a detailed description of the Tabernacle down to the smallest detail; it is noted that the people who played the main roles during its creation, Bezalel and Aholiab, were appointed by God Himself and received a special blessing for this (). This emphasizes that the Tabernacle corresponded to God’s plans for it even formally: “And you shall build the tabernacle according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain” ().
Allegorically, the Tabernacle served as a prototype of the Church of Christ. The orientation of its entrance to the East indicated that the Old Testament was only awaiting the appearance of the Sun of Truth - Christ: “By this the Holy Spirit shows that the way to the sanctuary has not yet been opened, as long as the former tabernacle stands. She is an image of the present time, in which gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make the offerer perfect in conscience, and which, with food and drink, and various washings and rituals pertaining to the flesh, were established only until the time of correction. But Christ, the High Priest of future blessings, having come with a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, for such a dispensation, and not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His Blood, one day entered the sanctuary and acquired eternal redemption” ().
In a more detailed allegorical interpretation, we can say that the Sanctuary served as a prototype of the Church of God on earth, and the Holy of Holies symbolized Heaven. Again, being a place of special Divine presence, the Tabernacle represented the Mother of God, who carried the Only Begotten Son in her womb. Finally, the Tabernacle represented the Savior, under whose cover of flesh the Divinity was hidden.
Used by a number of names: mishkan(`abode`, `abode` [of God]), Mishkan Yah ve(`abode of Yah ve`), mishkan ha-'edut(`the seat of the testimony', that is, the Ark of the Covenant); oh ate(`tent`, `tabernacle`) - oh ate mo'ed(`tabernacle of meeting`), mishkan oh ate mo'ed(`the seat of the tabernacle of meeting`), and finally, mikdash(`sanctuary`), x a-kodesh(`holy place`).
The main information regarding the internal structure of the tabernacle is Ex. 25–31 and 35–40 are chapters that appear to belong to source P (see Pentateuch; Land of Israel (Eretz Israel). Historical sketch. Religious and cultural life in the era of the First Temple). The tabernacle, its utensils and the vestments of the high priest were made from a variety of materials voluntarily donated by the people (Ex. 25:2; 35:4) - gold, silver, copper, precious stones, acacia wood, fabrics, including purple, leather, etc. . n. The value of the material was determined by the holiness of the object made from it. The tabernacle was a flat rectangular structure - a tent made of leather, partly made of wood, inside it was divided by a curtain into two unequal parts; the smaller room in the back was called kodesh x ha-kodashim(`Holy of Holies`). A rectangular courtyard with an area of 100x50 cubits was built around the tabernacle, separated from the outside world by curtains. The Ark of the Covenant, the most holy item of the tabernacle, was located in the Holy of Holies. In the tabernacle (outside the Holy of Holies) there was a seven-barreled golden lampstand - a menorah and an altar for incense.
According to the biblical account, the tabernacle and its furnishings were created by Bezalel, who was assisted by Ocholiab and several other skilled craftsmen; They also made priestly vestments; The construction of the tabernacle was completed in the second month of the second year after the exodus from Egypt. The book of Exodus tells us that when the work was completed, “a cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle... the cloud of the Lord stood upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout their journey” (Exodus 40:34, 38). The dedication of the tabernacle and the dedication of the priests by Moses is described in Ex. 29 and Lev. 8–10. Once the tabernacle was built, it took center stage—literally and figuratively—among the people of Israel.
In the Bible, the functions of the tabernacle can be divided into three categories. First, the tabernacle is seen as God's dwelling place among the people of Israel (Ex. 25:8) and His visible symbol. Secondly, the tabernacle is a cult center where regular ceremonies and sacrifices take place. Third, the tabernacle is the place where God reveals His presence (Lev. 16:2) and from where He speaks to Moses (Exod. 25:22).
Researchers have noted the similarity of the narrative about the construction of the tabernacle with the narrative about the construction of the Temple by King Solomon in I Ts. 5–8: the internal layout of the tabernacle is very similar to the layout of the temple premises, the utensils in the tabernacle are similar to the utensils in Solomon’s Temple, in both sanctuaries the altars are the same in shape, menorahs, etc.
The biblical account of the tabernacle raises a number of exegetical problems (see Exegesis); one of the most important is why there are so few mentions of the tabernacle after the Israelites' conquest of Canaan. However, the most serious problem is the differences between those mentioned in Ex. 33:7–11 the tabernacle of meeting and the tabernacle described in Ex. 25–31 and 35–40. The Tabernacle of Meeting in Exod. 33 - an ordinary tent located outside the camp; nothing is said about worship in this tent. Bible scholars have made a number of suggestions regarding the different sources of these two accounts of the tabernacle and the discrepancies in their timing. The most recognized hypothesis is that of J. Wellhausen, according to which the biblical description of the tabernacle is not historical, but was compiled in the period after the return from the Babylonian captivity and essentially reflects the structure of the Jerusalem temple. It has recently been suggested that the description of the tabernacle in the book of Exodus is utopian in nature and reflects the architecture of the sanctuary of the God of Israel at Shiloh (I Sam. 1:7–24; Judg. 18:31). This sanctuary was built in the shape of a tent and contained the Ark of the Covenant; it served as a meeting place for the Israelites during the pre-monarchic period. At the same time, the description of the tabernacle contains many archaic details of the nomadic lifestyle of the Israelites before their settlement in Eretz Israel. In particular, the portable tent, which is constructed from desert acacia and red mutton skin, is reminiscent of a pre-Islamic Arabian red leather tent ( kubba).
After the conquest of Canaan, the fate of the tabernacle is not entirely clear (see above), but the further history of the Ark of the Covenant is reflected in the biblical narrative. The ark was placed at Shiloh, which may have served as an amphictyonic (see Tribes of Israel) sanctuary (Ib. 18:1; 19:51). In I Sam. 2:22, in Ps. 78:60 [in the Russian tradition 77:60] and in II Sam. 7:6 the sanctuary is still a tent ( oh ate, mishkan). However, in I Sam. 1:7 calls the sanctuary "the house of God," and 1:9 uses the word x was driving(`temple`). Said in II Sam. 7:6 suggests that the Ark of the Covenant continued to exist until the time of David. The tabernacle was transported from place to place in Eretz Israel (II Sam. 7:6; cf. Chron. 21:29; II Chron. 1:3–6), until finally it was installed in the Temple of Jerusalem built by Solomon (I Ts. 8 :4).
