Exodus 25:1

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, etc.] When on the mount, and in the midst of the cloud with him: saying; as follows.”

“CONCERNING AN OFFERING. (Exo. 25:1-40) the Lord spake unto Moses, &c.--The business that chiefly occupied Moses on the mount, whatever other disclosures were made to him there, was in receiving directions about the tabernacle, and they are here recorded as given to him.”

“Yahweh had redeemed the Israelites from bondage. He had made a covenant with them and had given them laws. He had promised, on condition of their obedience, to accept them as His own “peculiar treasure,” as “a kingdom of priests and an holy nation” Exodus 19:5-6. And now He was ready visibly to testify that He made his abode with them. He claimed to have a dwelling for Himself, which was to be in external form a tent of goats’ hair Exodus 19:4, to take its place among their own tents, and formed out of the same material (see Exodus 26:7 note). The special mark of His presence within the tent was to be the ark or chest containing the Ten Commandments on two tables of stone Exodus 31:18,…”

“Doubtless when Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and abode there so long, he saw and heard glorious things, but they were things which were not lawful or possible to utter; and therefore, in the records he kept of the transactions there, he saith nothing to satisfy curiosity, but writes that only which he was to speak to the children of Israel. Probably there never was any house or temple built for sacred uses, before this tabernacle was erected by Moses. In this God kept his court, as Israel's king, and it was intended for a sign or token of his presence, that while they had that in the midst of them they might never again ask, Is the Lord among us or not? And because in the…”

“25:1–40:38 Unlike our churches, the Tabernacle functioned primarily as a residence or palace of God, the divine king, rather than as a place for people to congregate. In this respect, churches are more like the later Jewish synagogues (see also study note on 40:2). This last section of Exodus completes the revelation of God necessary for the people of Israel to come out of the theological darkness that had held them in bondage. This final section includes instructions for building the Tabernacle (chs 25–31), the story of the gold calf (a wrong attempt to secure God’s presence, chs 32–34), and the report of building the Tabernacle (the proper way to secure God’s presence, chs 35–40). God’s…”

“Exo 25:1-3 (cf. Exo 35:1-9). The Israelites were to bring to the Lord a heave-offering (תּרוּמה from רוּם, a gift lifted, or heaved by a man from his own property to present to the Lord; see at Lev 2:9), "on the part of every one whom his heart drove," i.e., whose heart was willing (cf. לבּו נדיב Exo 35:5, Exo 35:22): viz., gold, silver, brass, etc. Exo 25:4 תּכלת, ὑάκινθος, purple of a dark blue shade, approaching black rather than bright blue. ארגּמן, πορφύρα (Chald. ארגּון, 2 Chron, Exo 2:6; Dan 5:7, Dan 5:16; \- Sanskrit, rgaman or rgavan, colore rubro praeditus), true purple of a dark red colour. שׁני תּולעת, literally the crimson prepared from the dead bodies and nests of the…”