And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers’ skins.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.
- BSB Also make a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of fine leather.
- NKJV “You shall also make a covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent, and a covering of badger skins above that.
- NASB And you shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of fine leather above.
- NLT Complete the tent covering with a protective layer of tanned ram skins and a layer of fine goatskin leather.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Two further coverings were added: rams' skins dyed red and a tougher outer layer of sea cow (or fine leather) hides. These weatherproof layers protected the whole tent.
Overview
Above the goats' hair came rams' skins dyed red and a durable hide covering, completing four layers over the dwelling. The plain, weather-resistant exterior concealed the rich beauty within. Many have seen in the red-dyed rams' skins a hint of sacrifice and covering, ultimately fulfilled in the blood of Christ that covers His people, though the text itself simply describes the materials.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Exod 36:19And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers’ skins above that.
- Exod 25:5And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,
- Ps 121:4–5Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
- Ps 27:5For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
- Num 4:10And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put it upon a bar.
- Ezek 16:10I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
- Isa 25:4For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
- Exod 35:7And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,
- Exod 35:23And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers’ skins, brought them.
- Isa 4:6And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
- Num 4:5And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:
- Exod 39:34And the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers’ skins, and the vail of the covering,
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 26:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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