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“You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim.
Exodus 26:31 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB “You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman shall it be made.
  • KJV And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:
  • BSB Make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.
  • NASB “You shall also make a veil of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skilled embroiderer.
  • NLT “For the inside of the Tabernacle, make a special curtain of finely woven linen. Decorate it with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skillfully embroidered cherubim.

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

A veil of fine linen in blue, purple, and scarlet, woven with cherubim, was to be made. This curtain separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

Overview

The richly woven veil, bearing cherubim like the inner curtains, marked the boundary of God's immediate presence. The cherubim recalled the guardians barring access to holiness since Eden. Hebrews and the Gospels show this veil's deep significance: at Christ's death it was torn, opening the way into God's presence (Matthew 27:51; Hebrews 10:19-20).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 24

  • Matt 27:51Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.
  • 2 Chr 3:14He made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and ornamented it with cherubim.
  • Exod 36:35He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful workman.
  • Lev 16:2and Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother, not to come at all times into the Most Holy Place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; lest he die: for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.
  • Exod 26:1“Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman you shall make them.
  • Exod 36:8All the wise-hearted men among those who did the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of the skillful workman, they made them.
  • Heb 9:3–8After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies,
  • 2 Chr 2:7–13“Now therefore send me a man skillful to work in gold, in silver, in brass, in iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave engravings, to be with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
  • Exod 40:21He brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
  • Exod 35:25All the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen.
  • Exod 25:18You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.
  • Exod 35:6blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair,
  • Ps 137:5If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.
  • Exod 25:4blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair,
  • Exod 35:35He has filled them with wisdom of heart, to work all kinds of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any workmanship, and of those who make skillful works.
  • Exod 28:15“You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, you shall make it.
  • Lev 16:15“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat.
  • Eph 2:14For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition,
  • Exod 38:23With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen.
  • Exod 40:3You shall put the ark of the testimony in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.
  • Mark 15:38The veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.
  • Heb 10:20–21by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
  • Luke 23:45The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
  • Song 7:1How beautiful are your feet in sandals, prince’s daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 26:31YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 26:31 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.