Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Exodus 25

Exo 25:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

The general authority for the types of Exodus is found:

1. as to the persons and events, in 1 Corinthians 10:1-11;
2. as to the tabernacle, in Hebrews 9:1-24.

Having the assurance that in the tabernacle everything is typical, the details must of necessity be received as such. Two warnings are necessary:

1. Nothing may be dogmatically asserted to be a type without explicit New Testament authority; and
2. all types not so authenticated must be recognized as having the authority of analogy, or spiritual congruity, merely.

The typical meanings of the materials and colours of the tabernacle are believed to be as follows:

• Gold, Deity in manifestation—divine glory;
• silver, redemption (Exodus 30:12-16; Scofield Exodus 38:27, note);
• brass, symbol of judgment, as in the brazen altar and in the serpent of brass (Numbers 21:6-9);
• blue, heavenly in nature or origin;
• purple, royalty;
• scarlet, sacrifice.

Exo 25:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.

willingly with his heart

Scofield 2 Corinthians 8:1, note.

Exo 25:5 And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,

shittim

i.e. acacia.

Exo 25:9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

pattern of the tabernacle

The tabernacle, speaking comprehensively, is explained in the N.T. as typical in three ways:

1. of the Church as a habitation of God through the Spirit (Exodus 25:8; Ephesians 2:19-22);
2. of the believer (2 Corinthians 6:16);
3. as a figure of things in the heavens (Hebrews 9:23, 24).

In detail, all speaks of Christ:

1. The ark, in its materials, acacia-wood (see Scofield Exodus 26:15, note) and gold, is a type of the humanity and deity of Christ.
2. In its contents, a type of Christ, as:
   1. having God's law in His heart (Exodus 25:16);
   2. the wilderness food (or portion) of His people (Exodus 16:33);
   3. Himself the resurrection, of which Aaron's rod is the symbol (Numbers 17:10).
3. In its use the ark, especially the mercy-seat, was a type of God's throne. That it was, to the sinning Israelite, a throne of grace and not of judgment was due to the mercy-seat formed of gold and sprinkled with the blood of atonement, which vindicated the law, and divine holiness guarded by the cherubim (Genesis 3:24; Scofield Ezekiel 1:5, note). See Propitiation, Scofield Romans 3:25, note.

Exo 25:10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

make an ark

The most inclusive type of Christ,

• Gold = Deity;
• wood = humanity.

History: Numbers 3:31; 10:33; Joshua 3:3-15; 6:11; Judges 20:27; 1 Samuel 3:3; 4:1-11; 5:1-10; 6:1-21; 1 Samuel 7:1, 2; 2 Samuel 6:2-17; 7:2; 15:24-29; 1 Kings 8:1-21 not carried to Babylon, 2 Kings 24:13; 2 Chronicles 35:3, not mentioned in Ezra or Nehemiah. Where is it? Revelation 11:19.

All begins with the ark, which, in the completed tabernacle, was placed in the holy of holies, because, in revelation, God begins from Himself, working outward toward man; as, in approach, the worshipper begins from himself, moving toward God in the holy of holies. The same order is followed in the Levitical offerings (Lev 1-5). In approach man begins at the brazen altar, type of the Cross, where, in the fire of judgment, atonement is made.

shittim

i.e. acacia.

cubit

One cubit = 1ft. 5.48in.; see also Exo 25:17, 23.

Exo 25:13 And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

shittim

i.e. acacia.

Exo 25:17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

mercy seat

See "Propitiation." Scofield Romans 3:25, note.

Exo 25:18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

cherubims

Scofield Ezekiel 1:5, note; 1Ki 6:23; Psa 99:1; Rev 4:6.

Exo 25:30 And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.

shewbread

Showbread, type of Christ, the Bread of God, nourisher of the Christian's life as a believer-priest (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6). In John 6:33-58 our Lord has more in mind the manna, that food which "came down"; but all typical meanings of "bread" are there gathered into His words. The manna is the life-giving Christ; the showbread, the life-sustaining Christ. The showbread typifies Christ as the "corn of wheat" (John 12:24) ground in the mill of suffering (John 12:27) and brought into the fire of judgment (John 12:31-33). We, as priests, by faith feed upon Him as having undergone that in our stead and for our sakes. It is meditation upon Christ, as in Hebrews 12:2, 3.

Exo 25:31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.

candlestick

Candlestick, type of Christ our Light, shining in the fullness of the power of the sevenfold Spirit (Isaiah 11:2; Hebrews 1:9; Revelation 1:4). Natural light was excluded from the tabernacle. Cf. 1 Corinthians 2:14, 15. See Scofield Genesis 1:16, note and John 1:4.

Or, lampstand. Cf. Rev 1:12, 13, 20.

Exo 25:39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.

a talent of pure gold

£6150, or $29,085 [In 1917].

Exo 25:40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

pattern

Cf. Heb 8:5.