1. Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

2. The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and every one of the curtains shall have one measure.

8. And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined curtain, and blue, the purple, and scarlet; with cherubims of cunning work made he them.

9. The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; the curtains were all of one size.

3. The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.

4. And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make in the uttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.

5. Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second; that the loops may take hold one of another.

10. And he coupled the five curtains one unto another; and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another.

11. And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling; likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain in the coupling of the second.

12. Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second; the loops held one curtain to another.

6. And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches; and it shall be one tabernacle.

13. And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the taches; so it became one tabernacle.

"It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in, that bringeth princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity."

From the above measurements, it is clearly seen how snugly the 50 loops representing the HOLY MASTER, fit into the 50 buckles (taches) representing the LUNAR and SOLAR measurements of the HEAVENS.

The loops are 12.21 inches wide (or 11.1 x 11 inches). Note the similarity of combination with number 11 and HOLY MASTER (1221 = 111 x 11).

There's a space of 0.11 inches between each of the 50 loops.

The total space of the loops and the spaces between are 0.11 (one eleventh) of an inch short of the overall 616 inches width of the coupled curtains.

 

Each buckle might be 12.22 inches wide

Each of the 50 buckles has a space of about one tenth of an inch (0.1") between them.

The total space of the buckles and the spaces between them are 0.10 (one tenth) of an inch short of the overall 616 inches width of the coupled curtains.

The loops fit within one hundredth of an inch of each buckle (12.22" buckle size minus 12.21" loop size = 0.01 inch)

The buckle size reflects the SOLAR and LUNAR equivalent measures, in that there are 1222.5 solar years in 1260 lunar years.

It seems that the Linen Curtain is symbolic of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, in the Heavens and their relationship with Man on Earth. The numbers 5 and 7, and their combinations, indicate the perfection of God's creation and His grace towards mankind. The symbolic enormity of the possible design combinations for the coupling (joining) of the Linen Curtains, can be demonstrated by further alternative considerations ...

... And while we compare the alternative designs below, consider too the fine, skilful craftsmanship in moulding the frame of the gold buckles (taches) which may be anything up to only 0.05 or 0.055 of an inch thick.

What "cunning" workmanship the design of the tabernacle curtains reveals. The author of the Book of Exodus who described the tabernacle structure, carefully choses this word "cunning". In the Young's Concordance for the King James Version of the Bible, it indicates that throughout the Bible a total of five words from the Hebrew language are used for interpretation into the word "cunning". These are:

"daath" meaning "knowledge"
"chakam" meaning "wise, skilful"
"chashab" meaning "to think, devise, design"
"yada" meaning "to know, be acquainted with"
"machashebeth" meaning "thought, device, design"

 

The word used in Exodus chapters 20 and 36 in relation to the design of the tabernacle curtains was "chashab", meaning "to think, devise, design". This word is set well apart from the other four meanings of the word "cunning", in that the curtain craftsmen were required TO THINK - work things out - apply intelligent thought. What is the purpose of the linen curtain? Once known, one can work out how to make it within the framework of God's given instructions.

During this study of Moses' Tabernacle, it was easy to follow the biblical design from the measurements given, until I came to where the pillars were to be placed within the tabernacle to divide the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Had I followed the order of the instructions, then there may have not have been any problems in this regard, because the Bible says to begin with the design of the curtains. But I didn't follow the instructions; I began with the tabernacle framework, and so I came to a stalemate. The clue is given for pillar placement, by the design of the linen curtain, because the pillars are to be placed under the golden taches and blue loops which couple together the two sets of linen curtains. So here we are. But mathematically, how on earth could 50 taches (buckles) fit evenly across a curtain selvedge measurement of 616". What was the reason for this? Why didn't the Bible give us the detailed measurements? The answer - perhaps - was that God requires us TO THINK - "chashab".

Earlier in this study we referred to Bonnie Gaunt and her book "The Magnificent Numbers of the Great Pyramid and Stonehenge" (ISBN 0-9602688-1-2) where she gives the gematria for "Holy Master" referred to in Revelation 6.10. Youngs Concordance uses the Greek word "despotes", and in the English language it means "a despot, master". In the context of Revelation chapter 6, this "Holy Master" is the Lord Jesus Christ. The gematria is the number 1221, which is also the multiple of 111 x 11.

So let us ponder the spiritual significance of our relationship with God, as we hang the tabernacle curtains over tabernacle framework, and place the pillars under the 50 golden buckles which fasten the 50 blue loops in the selvedge of each curtain. Surely the gematria below is reflected in the alternative measurements considered here for the design of the linen curtains. The following gematria includes examples of the written WORD, and some ancient physical structures which are around the world today. (Some of these numbers are quoted from Bonnie Gaunt's works, and many more references can be found in her book described above.)

We are now ready to hang the Linen Curtain over the Tabernacle Framework, and despite the size we choose for the buckles and the spacing between them, one thing is certain - that is, that the coupling of the curtain is midway (440 inches) between the coupled length (880 inches) of the two curtains, and that it is underneath the curtain coupling, that the pillars are placed and the vail is hung.

 * The historian, Josephus (born 37 AD), in his writings on Moses' Tabernacle, wrote "it was necessary that its height should be equal to its breadth". According to this analysis, these equivalent measures would not be so. The treatment of the west wall with its six boards, plus two corner boards, assembled into an equivalent measure of eight boards was analysed earlier in this work (in Chapter 2). To reduce the width of the west wall from an eight-board width of

to 220 inches, then the two corner boards would need to measure only 11 inches wide:

The King James Version of the Scriptures clearly states that the west wall consisted of EIGHT boards. It is most unlikely that the width of the tabernacle was reduced to 220 inches (10 "sacred" cubits), but more likely that the width of the tabernacle would have been at least the width of eight boards (and maybe wider if one interprets the corner boards to be two extra boards in each corner to make ten boards).

My interpretation of the width of the Tabernacle's west wall seems to be a cry in the wilderness, as every text I referenced during this study, claims that the Most Holy Place within the Tabernacle was perfectly square in height, width, and length. After doing this intensive study of the Scriptures, I cannot see how this can be so.