Éxodo 36

VBL · Chapter 36/40

1“Así que Bezalel, Aholiab, y todos los demás artesanos con la experiencia necesaria y con la habilidad y la capacidad dadas por el Señor, deben trabajar para llevar a cabo todo el trabajo de construcción del santuario como lo ordenó el Señor”.

2Moisés convocó a Bezalel, a Aholiab y a todos los artesanos a los que el Señor les había dado habilidades especiales, para que vinieran a hacer el trabajo.

3Moisés les dio todo lo que los israelitas habían contribuido para llevar a cabo el trabajo de construcción del santuario. Mientras tanto el pueblo siguió trayendo ofrendas voluntarias cada mañana,

4tanto que todos los artesanos que trabajaban en el santuario dejaron lo que estaban haciendo

5y fueron a decirle a Moisés: “El pueblo ya ha traído lo suficiente para completar el trabajo que el Señor nos ha ordenado hacer”.

6Moisés dio la orden, y se hizo un anuncio en todo el campamento: “Hombres y mujeres, no traigan nada más como ofrenda para el santuario”. Así que se impidió que el pueblo trajera nada más,

7puesto que ya había más que suficiente para hacer todo el trabajo necesario.

8Los hábiles artesanos entre los trabajadores hicieron las diez cortinas para el Tabernáculo. Estaban hechas de lino finamente hilado junto con hilos azules, púrpura y carmesí, bordadas con querubines.

9Cada cortina tenía 28 codos de largo por 4 codos de ancho, y todas eran del mismo tamaño.

10Unieron cinco de las cortinas como un conjunto, y las otras cinco las unió como un segundo conjunto.

11Utilizaron material azul para hacer lazos en el borde de la última cortina de ambos juegos.

12Hicieron cincuenta lazos en una cortina y cincuenta lazos en la última cortina del segundo juego, alineando los lazos entre sí.

13También hicieron cincuenta ganchos de oro y unieron las cortinas con los ganchos, de modo que el Tabernáculo era una sola estructura.

14Hicieron once cortinas de pelo de cabra como una tienda de campaña para cubrir el Tabernáculo.

15Cada una de las once cortinas era del mismo tamaño, 30 codos de largo por 4 codos de ancho.

16Unieron cinco de las cortinas como un conjunto y las otras seis como otro conjunto.

17Confeccionaron cincuenta lazos en el borde de la última cortina del primer juego, y cincuenta lazos a lo largo del borde de la última cortina del segundo juego.

18Hicieron cincuenta ganchos de bronce para unir la tienda como una sola cubierta.

19Elaboraron una cubierta para la tienda con pelo de cabra y pieles de carnero curtidas, y colocaron una cubierta extra de cuero fino sobre ella.

20Hicieron un marco vertical de madera de acacia para el Tabernáculo.

21Cada marco tenía diez codos de largo por un codo y medio de ancho.

22Cada marco tenía dos clavijas para que los marcos pudieran conectarse entre sí. Hicieron todos los marcos del Tabernáculo así.

23Hicieron veinte marcos para el lado sur del Tabernáculo.

24Hicieron cuarenta soportes de plata como apoyo para los veinte marcos usando dos soportes por marco, uno debajo de cada clavija del marco.

25De manera similar para el lado norte del Tabernáculo, hicieron veinte marcos

26y cuarenta soportes de plata, dos soportes por marco.

27Hicieron seis marcos para la parte trasera (lado oeste) del Tabernáculo,

28junto con dos marcos para sus dos esquinas traseras.

29Unieron estos marcos de las esquinas en la parte inferior y en la parte superior cerca del primer anillo. Así es como hicieron los dos marcos angulares.

30En total había ocho marcos y dieciséis soportes de plata, dos debajo de cada marco.

31Fabicaron cinco barras transversales de madera de acacia para sostener los marcos en el lado sur del Tabernáculo,

32cinco para los del norte y cinco para los de la parte trasera del Tabernáculo, al oeste.

33Hicieron el travesaño central que se colocó a la mitad de los marcos y corrió de un extremo al otro.

34Cubrieron los marcos con oro, e hicieron anillos de oro para sostener las barras transversales en su lugar. También cubrieron los travesaños con oro.

35Confeccionaron un velo de hilo azul, púrpura y carmesí, y de lino finamente hilado, bordado con querubines por alguien que era hábil en este arte.

36Fabricaron cuatro postes de madera de acacia para ello y los cubrieron con oro. Hicieron ganchos de oro para los postes y fundieron sus cuatro soportes de plata.

37Hicieron un biombo para la entrada de la tienda usando hilos azules, púrpura y carmesí, y lino finamente hilado, y lo hicieron bordar.

38También hicieron cinco postes de madera de acacia con ganchos para colgar el biombo. Cubrieron la parte superior de los postes y sus bandas con oro, y sus cinco soportes eran de bronce.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Bezalel, Aholiab, and other craftsmen begin building the tabernacle; the people bring so many offerings that Moses has to order them to stop contributing, and the curtains, boards, and structures of the sanctuary are made according to the divine instructions.

Explanation

This chapter presents a rare and delightful detail in Scripture: for the first and only time in the entire sacred text, the people have to be stopped from continuing to give, because 'the people bring much more than enough' (v. 5) for the work of the tabernacle — a remarkable contrast to the usual stories of scarcity or reluctance to contribute. This overflow of generosity reflects a moment of genuine, collective spiritual enthusiasm, showing what can happen when a people commit wholeheartedly to a purpose they recognize as truly sacred. The detailed technical execution of the work, following precisely the specifications God gave Moses in earlier chapters, demonstrates faithfulness both in spiritual vision and in practical execution — true worship of God involves both the intention of the heart and excellence in the work carried out.

Fun facts

  • This is the only recorded case in the Bible where a leader has to publicly order the people to stop giving to a religious cause (v. 6), an episode sometimes cited in modern church administration contexts as a rare and positive 'problem of too much generosity.'
  • The near word-for-word repetition of the technical instructions already given in chapters 26-27, now describing their actual execution, is a common literary technique in the Old Testament for emphasizing the exact faithfulness with which God's work was carried out, without deviating from the original instructions.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Éxodo 36:1After all the preparation, the execution of the work begins: Bezalel, Oholiab, and the other talented craftsmen get to work following God’s instructions.
  2. Éxodo 36:2Moses formally summons each of the gifted craftsmen, gathering specifically those who felt personally moved to take part in the construction.
  3. Éxodo 36:3The craftsmen receive from Moses all the material already donated by the people, and offerings keep arriving spontaneously every morning, even with the work already underway.
  4. Éxodo 36:4The craftsmen themselves, busy with different parts of the work, have to stop and report an unexpected problem to Moses.
  5. Éxodo 36:5The problem is abundance: the people brought far more material than needed to complete the entire planned construction.
  6. Éxodo 36:6It’s a rare detail in the Bible: the people donated so much material voluntarily that Moses had to order the donations stopped, because there was already more than enough for the whole project. It shows the level of generosity and popular engagement in that particular project.
  7. Éxodo 36:7It confirms that the material really was more than sufficient, a rare case in the Bible of a surplus of donations instead of a shortage.
  8. Éxodo 36:8Here begins the practical execution of the instructions given earlier in chapters 25 and 26: the craftsmen actually made the curtains embroidered with cherubim just as they had been designed. It’s the start of the detailed account of how the orders were carried out, step by step.
  9. Éxodo 36:9It reproduces, now in the execution, the same measurement of the inner curtains already specified in chapter 26: about forty feet by less than six feet wide.
  10. Éxodo 36:10The craftsmen join the ten inner curtains into two sets of five, following the original plan to the letter.
  11. Éxodo 36:11Loops of blue fabric are sewn onto the edges of each set of curtains, exactly as specified before.
  12. Éxodo 36:12The fifty loops on each side are positioned precisely so they will fit together perfectly at the moment of final joining.
  13. Éxodo 36:13Fifty gold clasps, matching the number of loops, permanently join the two sets of curtains into a single covering.
  14. Éxodo 36:14The second layer of covering, made of goat hair, is also made at this point, with the eleven curtains called for in the original plan.
  15. Éxodo 36:15The goat-hair curtains follow the same measurements specified before, a bit larger than the inner linen curtains.
  16. Éxodo 36:16The craftsmen divide these eleven curtains into sets of five and six, exactly as God had instructed in chapter 26.
  17. Éxodo 36:17The same system of loops used on the inner curtains is repeated here to join the two sets of the outer covering.
  18. Éxodo 36:18Copper clasps, instead of the gold ones used on the inner layer, join this second goat-hair covering.
  19. Éxodo 36:19As in chapter 26, this is the execution of the tabernacle’s protective outer layer. The near-identical repetition between the order given earlier and the execution recounted here is a common style in the book of Exodus, reinforcing that everything was done exactly as commanded.
  20. Éxodo 36:20The rigid framework of acacia boards, which would form the tabernacle’s walls, is also built at this stage.
  21. Éxodo 36:21Each board is made following exactly the measurements specified before: about fifteen feet tall.
  22. Éxodo 36:22The joints at the base of each board are made to let them connect firmly to one another.
  23. Éxodo 36:23Twenty boards are set aside specifically for the south side of the structure, following the original plan to the letter.
  24. Éxodo 36:24Forty silver sockets are cast to support these twenty boards on the south side, two for each one.
  25. Éxodo 36:25The north side receives the same treatment, with another twenty boards made in the same configuration as the south side.
  26. Éxodo 36:26The silver sockets on the north side also total forty, following exactly the pattern already established.
  27. Éxodo 36:27The narrower west wall is closed off with just six boards, as specified in the original plan.
  28. Éxodo 36:28Two extra boards are set aside specifically to reinforce the rear corners of the structure.
  29. Éxodo 36:29These corner boards are fitted together in a special way, joined at the bottom and the top by a ring, exactly as planned.
  30. Éxodo 36:30In total, the west wall adds up to eight boards resting on sixteen silver sockets, confirming the faithful execution of the design.
  31. Éxodo 36:31Bars of acacia wood are made to run horizontally across the boards on each side of the structure.
  32. Éxodo 36:32Five bars are assigned to each of the three sides with boards—south, north, and west—completing the reinforcement system.
  33. Éxodo 36:33A center bar, longer than the others, is positioned to run through the boards from end to end.
  34. Éxodo 36:34The boards and bars are overlaid with gold, with gold rings made specifically to hold the bars in their proper place.
  35. Éxodo 36:35The veil that would separate the two parts of the sanctuary is woven with the same materials and the same cherubim pattern specified before.
  36. Éxodo 36:36Four acacia pillars overlaid with gold are made to support this veil, resting on silver sockets.
  37. Éxodo 36:37The entrance curtain of the tent is also made at this point, using the same combination of colored fabrics and fine linen.
  38. Éxodo 36:38This entrance curtain is fitted with five gilded acacia pillars, but with copper sockets, unlike the silver sockets used for the inner veil.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.