“You shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer.
Parallel translations
- KJV And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.
- BSB For the entrance to the tent, you are to make a curtain embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen.
- NKJV “You shall make a screen for the door of the tabernacle, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver.
- NASB “You shall also make a curtain for the doorway of the tent of violet, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver.
- NLT “Make another curtain for the entrance to the sacred tent. Make it of finely woven linen and embroider it with exquisite designs, using blue, purple, and scarlet thread.
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 screen of fine embroidered linen in blue, purple, and scarlet was to cover the tent's entrance. This formed the doorway into the Holy Place.
Overview
A beautifully embroidered curtain served as the entrance to the tabernacle, marking the way in to God's dwelling. Its rich colors echoed the veil and the inner curtains, though as an entrance rather than a barrier. The door granting entry into God's house quietly anticipates Christ, who said, 'I am the door' (John 10:9).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Exod 36:37He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer;
- Exod 40:28–29He put up the screen of the door to the tabernacle.
- 2 Sam 7:6For I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt, even to this day, but have moved around in a tent and in a tabernacle.
- Exod 26:31“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.
- John 14:6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
- Exod 35:11the tabernacle, its outer covering, its roof, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets;
- Num 3:25The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,
- Ps 78:60So that he abandoned the tent of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;
- John 10:9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.
- Exod 39:33They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent, with all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,
- Num 9:15On the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the Tent of the Testimony: and at evening it was over the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until morning.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 26:36 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.