Exodus 26:6

Fifty golden clasps were also to be made, to fasten the pieces of drapery (the two halves of the tent-cloth) together, "that it might be a dwelling-place." This necessarily leads to Bhr's conclusion, that the tent-cloth, which consisted of two halves fastened together with the loops and clasps, answering to the two compartments of the dwelling-place (Exo 26:33), enclosed the whole of the interior, not only covering the open framework above, but the side walls also, and therefore that it hung down inside the walls, and that it was not spread out upon the wooden framework so as to form the ceiling, but hung down on the walls on the outside of the wooden beams, so that the gilded beams were left uncovered in the inside. For if this splendid tent-cloth had been intended for the ceiling only, and therefore only 30 cubits had been visible out of the 40 cubits of its breadth, and only 10 out of the 28 of its length-that is to say, if not much more than a third of the whole had been seen and used for the inner lining of the dwelling, - that is to say, if not much more than a third of the whole had been seen and used for the inner lining of the dwelling, - it would not have been called "the dwelling" so constantly as it is (cf. Exo 36:8; Exo 40:18), nor would the goats'-hair covering which was placed above it have been just as constantly called the "tent above the dwelling" (Exo 26:7; Exo 36:14; Exo 40:19). This inner tent-cloth was so spread out, that whilst it was fastened to the upper ends of the beams in a way that is not explained in the text, it formed the ceiling of the whole, and the joining came just above the curtain which divided the dwelling into two compartments. One half therefore, viz., the front half, formed the ceiling of the holy place with its entire breadth o…

Moses here receives instructions, I. Concerning the inner curtains of the tent or tabernacle, and the coupling of those curtains (Exo 26:1-6). II. Concerning the outer curtains which were of goats' hair, to strengthen the former (Exo 26:7-13). III. Concerning the case or cover which was to secure it from the weather (Exo 26:14). IV. Concerning the boards which were to be reared up to support the curtains, with their bars and sockets (v. 15-30). V. The partition between the holy place and the most holy (Exo 26:31-35). VI. The veil for the door (Exo 26:36, Exo 26:37). These particulars, thus largely recorded, seem of little use to us now; yet, having been of great use to Moses and Israel, and God having thought fit to preserve down to us the remembrance of them, we ought not to overlook them. Even the antiquity renders this account venerable.