You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains to one another with the clasps: and the tabernacle shall be a unit.
Parallel translations
- KJV And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle.
- BSB Make fifty gold clasps as well, and join the curtains together with the clasps, so that the tabernacle will be a unit.
- NKJV And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains together with the clasps, so that it may be one tabernacle.
- NASB You shall also make fifty clasps of gold, and join the curtains to one another with the clasps so that the tabernacle will be a unit.
- NLT Then make fifty gold clasps and fasten the long curtains together with the clasps. In this way, the Tabernacle will be made of one continuous piece.
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
Fifty gold clasps joined the two curtain sets so that the tabernacle became one unit. The unity of the structure was an essential part of its design.
Overview
The gold clasps fastened the loops, binding the curtains into a single covering — 'the tabernacle shall be a unit.' This repeated emphasis on oneness reflects that God dwells in a unified house among a unified people. The picture anticipates the church, joined together in Christ into one holy temple (Ephesians 2:21-22).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Exod 26:33You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil: and the veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you.
- 1 Pet 2:4–5coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.
- Eph 4:16from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
- Exod 36:13He made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps: so the tabernacle was a unit.
- Exod 26:11You shall make fifty clasps of brass, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one.
- Exod 36:18He made fifty clasps of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be a unit.
- Eph 1:22–23He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly,
- Exod 35:11the tabernacle, its outer covering, its roof, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets;
- Exod 39:33They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent, with all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 26:6 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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