Hide it Under a Bushel? No!

Exodus 25:31-40

So the last several sections are a painful reminder of deformed napkin holders and impractical miniature racecars from 8th grade woodshop. I'd have never made it as an Israelite...except that whole complaining thing- that's more my speed.

More carpentry class in this section as Moses is instructed on building a lampstand- pure gold this time. It's all to be one piece- with three branches coming out of each side of it. All six branches are to have three "almond flowers" patterns and each side of the lampstand is to have two golden flowers with buds and blossoms.

So it seems like there are three lamps on each side and one at the top for a total of seven lamps on the stand. The wick trimmers are also to be made of gold. In all about 75 pounds of gold are to be used for this project. King Midas, where are you?

I've always been told that seven is one of those mystical numbers that signifies completeness, but I have no idea where that comes from- and frankly, I don't put a whole lot of importance in the numerical symbolic signifiacance of things in scripture- I may be missing something major- but somehow I think that the way to heaven isn't contingent upon my algebra grade.

To be fair, I don't think it's contingent on a lot of other things that can be gleaned from scripture either though, and I'm confident that those numbers mean something, so maybe there's something there- it's just beyond me.

There's so much detail and specificity in these sections, which is a bit puzzling. I wonder though if it served to bring the people together. This was an undertaking large enough to involve many I would imagine. Was God trying to bring His people together? Teach them about the value of creating something holy? Contrasting the compicated law of Moses' time with the grace of Jesus'? Helping carpenters learn their trades?

I'm a little ready to leave the tedium of hand tools and sandpaper. However, I think we'll be blueprinting for a while yet.