What is the context?
Eleven curtains of goat hair form a tent over the linen tabernacle. They are longer than the inner curtains and are joined into sets of five and six, with the sixth folded double at the front. Bronze clasps join the sets. The extra material hangs over the back and sides to cover the structure beneath.
Above these curtains are coverings of ram skins dyed red and fine leather. The different layers belong to the tent’s construction and protection. The BSB’s fine leather translates a Hebrew term whose exact material or animal source is uncertain; Brown–Driver–Briggs records several proposals. The instructions do not require us to settle on a particular species to understand how the layers cover the tabernacle.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Readers generally recognize these as the sanctuary’s outer coverings. They differ over spiritual meanings assigned to the materials. Gill sees the protective layers as illustrations of God’s care for His people and connects the covering with Christ’s righteousness and blood. Calvin questions the practice of interpreting the ram skins as Christ’s blood while having no sound explanation for every other layer. His emphasis is restraint in drawing meanings that the text does not state. These are different approaches among individual Christian commentators, not competing descriptions of how the tent was assembled.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.
Where can I study this further?
No deeper study linked yet.