EXODUS CHAPTER 36 ~ 40

EXODUS 36

1 "Bezalel and Aholiab,
And every gifted and not drab
Artisan in whom YHWH has put
Wisdom and understanding's foot,
To know how to do all kinds of
Work for the service and the love
Of the sanctuary, shall do
Accordingly as all that YHWH
Commanded." 2 Then Moses called to
Bezalel and Aholiab,
And every gifted and not drab
Artisan in whose heart YHWH had
Put wisdom, every maid and lad
Whose heart was stirred, to come and do
The work. 3 And they received from Moses
All the offering in gold and roses
Which the children of Israel had
Brought for the work of making glad
In service of the sanctuary.
So they continued bringing merry
To him freewill offerings each morning.
4 All the craftsmen who were not scorning
To do all work of sanctuary
Came, each from the work he was doing,
5 And they spoke to Moses, and suing,
"The people bring much more than what
We can use in the service cut
Out for the tasks which YHWH commanded
To do." 6 So Moses gave outlanded
Commandment, and they caused it to
Be proclaimed in the camp and through,
Saying "Let neither man nor maid
Do more, let the work now be stayed
For offering of the sanctuary."
And the folk were stopped in the quarry
From bringing, 7 for the things they'd brought
Were enough for the work they'd sought,
And more than enough to be sharey.

Here is the greatest barrier I claim
For any modern man to know Your name,
Beloved, by reading in the sacred book.
We are so different today, just look
How different we are. Those who forsook
Your law heard personally by the mount
Are an incredible source and a fount
Of unselfishness and desire to give.
That is not now the way the noble live.
We only give a fraction and in charity.
No fundraiser today says "Stop, let be!"
With greed the best today are blocked and blind,
So nothing of Your word can enter mind.
We understand the opposite You see.

8 All gifted artisans among
Them who'd worked on the tent and sung
Made ten curtains woven of fine
Linen, and blue, purple in line,
And scarlet thread, with fine design
Of cherubim they made them shine.
9 Length of each curtain: twenty-eight
Cubits, and the width without weight
Of each curtain four cubits, so
The curtains were all the same size.
10 And he coupled five curtains' row
To one another, and this wise
The other five curtains he joined
To one another. 11 He purloined
Loops of blue on the curtain edge
Of one set and on the selvedge,
Likewise he did the outer edge
Of curtain of the second set.
12 Fifty loops he made there to get
On one curtain, and fifty loops
He made on the edge of the groups
Of curtain on the second end,
The loops held each one to its friend.
13 And he made fifty clasps of gold,
And coupled the curtains all told
To one another with the clasps,
That it might be one tent with hasps.

By Your command, Beloved, the artists came
Made tapestry to glorify Your name,
A tapestry toward which each who bowed
In prayer to You bowed also to a crowd
Of shining cherubim embroidered on
A field of blue and scarlet, purple drawn.
Did You not once deny on Mount Sinai
The right to make images of the sky,
Of earth or what's in them, and worse to bow
Before them in worship and service now?
How then do You command the making of
Images toward which all should bow in love?
There are distractions in prophetic word
That leave the law of Sinai cut and stirred.

14 He made curtains of goats' hair for
The canopy of tent and floor,
He made eleven curtains more.
15 Thirty cubits each curtain's length,
And four cubits each curtain's strength
In width, eleven curtains all,
Each of one size and where they fall.
16 Then he coupled by themselves five
Curtains, and by themselves six drive.
17 He made fifty loops on the edge
Of the curtain on outer edge
In one set, and fifty loops he
Made on the edge of that which be
The curtain of the second set.
18 He made also to join where met
The tent together to be one.
19 He made a covering when done
For the tent of ram skins dyed red,
And covering of badger skins
Above. 20 For the one in its stead
He made standing boards upright pins,
Acacia wood. 21 The length of each
Board was ten cubits, and the reach
Of width for each board was just one
And a half cubits. 22 Each board done
Had two tenons for binding one
To another. Thus he made for
All the boards of the tent and door.
23 He made boards for the tabernacle,
Twenty boards for the south side tackle.
24 Forty sockets of silver he
Made to go underneath the tree
Of twenty boards: two sockets to
Go under each of the boards two
Tenons. 25 And again for the other
Side of the tabernacle's brother,
The north side, he made twenty boards
26 And their forty sockets of hoards
Of silver: two sockets for each
Under the boards far as to reach.
27 For the west side of the tent he
Made six boards there to carry. 28 He
Also made two boards for the two
Back corners of the tent to do.
29 And they were coupled at the foot
And coupled together and put
At the top by one ring. Thus he
Made both of the two corners free.
30 So there were eight boards and their sockets,
Sixteen sockets of silver pockets
Two sockets under each board there,
Silver and white, shining and fair.
31 He made bars of acacia wood:
Five for the boards on one side good
Of the tent, 32 five bars for the boards
On the tent's other side with cords,
And five bars for the tent boards on
The far side westward against dawn.
33 And he made the middle bar pass
Through the boards from one end en masse
Unto the other, 34 overlaid
The boards with gold, and then he made
Their rings of gold holders for bars,
And overlaid with gold the bars.

Bind up my heart, Beloved, in linen shroud
And in sockets of silver stand a crowd
Of boards in rings and bars of gold,
And thus keep from all view and cold
The heart I give as Your abode. Stand west
And east, and south and north to show the best
In covering from the sun and moon and cloud.
Let nothing but a guiding star allowed
Peer in beneath the whitened veils to see
The burning candles and the shewbread be
Upon the tables of my chambered room.
And let encircling linen arms till doom
Be barrier to blowing sand and storm.
The desert nights enclosed by once more warm.

35 And he made a veil of blue and
Of purple, and scarlet thread, fine
Woven linen, worked with design
Of cherubim artistically.
36 He made for it and out of hand
Four pillars of acacia tree,
And overlaid them all with gold,
Withal also their hooks of gold,
And cast four silver sockets there.
37 He made screen for the tent door too,
Of blue and purple, scarlet too,
And fine woven linen, made by
A weaver, 38 its five pillars nigh
With their hooks. And he overlaid
Their capitals and rings that stayed
With gold, five sockets bronze were made.

EXODUS 37

1 Bezalel made the ark of wood,
Acacia wood just as he should,
Two and a half cubits in length,
A cubit and a half for strength
In width, and a cubit and half
In height. 2 He overlaid the raff
With pure gold inside and outside,
And made a gold moulding in stride
And all around. 3 He cast for it
Four rings of gold to be set fit
In its four corners: two rings on
One side, and two other rings on
The other side of it. 4 He made
Acacia wood poles overlaid
With gold. 5 And he put the poles in
The rings at the sides of the bin
To bear the ark. 6 He also made
The mercy seat of pure gold paid,
Two and a half cubits in length
A cubit and a half in strength
Of width. 7 He made two cherubim
Of beaten gold, and he made them
Of one piece at the two ends of
The mercy seat to stand above:
8 One cherub at one end on this
Side, and the other cherub's bliss
At the other end on that side.
He made the cherubim to bide
At the two ends of mercy seat.
9 The cherubim spread out their neat
Wings above, and covered the seat
Of mercy with their wings. They faced
One another, the faces placed
Of cherubim toward mercy seat.

Idols made of the pagan god-flesh gold
Are lawful, my Beloved, when they are told
By You Yourself to do the thing. Complaint
I bring, Beloved, not that I am a saint,
But being more papal than pope himself,
I note the prohibition on the shelf
Of making such (unless the cherubin
Are things not found in heaven above nor in
The earth beneath or waters under earth.)
And furthermore, they sit empowered with worth
Precisely where the people prostrate praying.
Do You, Beloved, hear what Your servant's saying?
Prophetic word I take, but sometimes I
Am crossed by what that word seems to imply.

10 The table of acacia wood
He made two cubits long for good,
A cubit in its width, and height
A cubit and a half and sleight.
11 He overlaid it with pure gold,
And all around the top a mould.
12 He also made a handbreadth frame
All around it, and of the same
Gold made a moulding around it.
13 And he cast four gold rings for it,
And put the rings on the four corners
At its four legs as its forewarners.
14 The rings were put close to the frame,
As holders for the poles by name
To bear the table. 15 And he made
The acacia wood poles arrayed
To bear the table, overlaid
Them with gold. 16 He made of pure gold
The utensils laid out and told
Upon the table there: its dishes,
Its cups and its bowls as one wishes,
And its pitchers for pouring cold.
17 He also made of its pure gold
The lampstand, of hammered work he
Made the lampstand, its shaft to be,
Its branches, bowls, its fine knobs, and
Its flowers were of a piece and brand.
18 And six branches came out beside:
Three lampstand branches out one side,
And three branches of the lampstand
Out of the other side and hand.
19 There were three bowls made like almond
On one branch, with a fine knob honned
And a flower, and three bowls made like
Almond on the other branch spike,
With a fine knob and flower, and so
For the six branches that would go
Out of the lampstand. 20 And upon
The lampstand itself four bowls drawn
Like almond, its knob and flower on.
21 A knob under the first branch pair,
A knob under the second pair,
And a knob under the third pair,
Made according to six in all
Branches extending from the ball.
22 Their knobs and their branches were of
One piece, one hammered piece above,
Of pure gold. 23 And he made its lamps
In seven, its wick-trimmers' damps,
And its trays of pure gold, 24 in all
Of a talent of pure gold tall
He made with its utensils all.

You give, Beloved, instructions for my life
And temple, every detail of its strife
And peace, each blossom, nut, and cunningly
Engraved fruit, every bowl and faithfully
Made box and table, altar, mould and trim.
Of gold and purple all, and cherubim.
You give exactly width and breadth of all,
And tell for altar and table how tall.
But for the lampstand You give only weight
In gold, and no height for its mate and state.
The height of my brightness and light depends
On my free will, or that free will that bends
To Your love: the height of my lamp gold rises
More each day as the hammering apprises.

25 He made the incense altar of
Acacia wood. Its length was of
A cubit and its width was too,
A square, and two cubits its height.
Its horns were with it one piece right.
26 He overlaid it with pure gold:
Its top, its sides all around told,
And its horns. He also made gold
Moulding for it all around bold.
27 He made two rings of gold for it
Under its moulding, by its fit
Two corners on both sides of it,
As holders for the poles with which
To carry it. 28 And without stitch
He made the poles acacia wood,
And overlaid them with gold good.
29 He also made the holy oil
Of the anointing not to spoil,
And the pure incense of sweet spices,
And by the perfumer's devices.

Beloved, let there be in my heart and way
Altar of incense where my prayers each day
Arise as sweet perfumes before Your face.
Beloved, give me today that golden grace.
Covered with golden rings to bear withal,
Let that sweet altar be before my call.
Some lift their golden rings to self's conceit,
And some for idols in their church deceit,
But purify the temple of my heart
To bear with golden rings Your incense art.
With oil and sweet perfume let my life be
A prayer to You anointed faithfully,
And let Your answer in the silence grow
To be all sweetness in the things I know.

EXODUS 38

1 He made the altar of burnt offering
Acacia wood, five cubits proffering
Its length and of five cubits wide,
Square also was it on each side,
And its height was three cubits done.
2 He made on its four corners horns,
The horns were with it one piece spun.
With bronze he overlays, adorns.
3 He made all the utensils for
The altar: the pans, what is more,
The shovels, basins, forks, firepans,
All its bronze utensils by plans.
4 And he made a grate of bronze netting
For the altar and not forgetting,
Under its rim, midway from base.
5 He cast four rings upon the face
For the four corners of bronze grating,
As holders for the poles instating.
6 He made the poles acacia wood,
And overlaid them with bronze good.
7 Then he put the poles in the rings
On the sides of the altar springs,
With which to bear it. And he made
The altar hollow, boards inlaid.
8 He made the laver of bronze and
Its base of bronze, from the bronze hand
Mirrors of the women in serving
Assembled at the door of meeting.

The courtyard of my life is made for two
Activities in everything I do.
Some actions are a sacrifice to You,
And others purify the face in dew.
My life consists in whirling on the floor
Of slaughter ground before the meeting door.
I whirl from sacrifice and back again
To wash my hands and face and feet and then
Whirl on again in burning sacrifice,
A glowing spark before Your paradise.
The shining mirrors of bronze flash and play
The lights of morning and the blaze of day,
The evening colours and the dusty cloud
That rises from my feet, a living shroud.

9 He made the court on the south side,
The hangings of the court were wide
Of fine woven linen, in length
One hundred cubits. 10 There for strength
Were twenty pillars for them, and
With twenty bronze sockets' demand.
The hooks of the pillars and their
Bands were silver. 11 On the north share
One hundred cubits long the veils
With twenty pillars and their pales
With twenty bronze sockets. The hooks
Of the pillars and bands were looks
Of silver. 12 And on the west side
Hangings of fifty cubits wide,
With ten pillars and sockets ten.
The hooks of the pillars and then
Their bands were silver. 13 For the east
Side fifty cubits, veils decreased.
14 The hangings of the one side of
The gate fifteen cubits above
With their three pillars, sockets three,
15 And the same for the other three
Of the court gate, on this side and
On that hangings of fifteen spanned
Cubits, with their three pillars and
Their three sockets. 16 And all the veils
Of the court all around in tails
Were of fine woven linen scales.
17 The sockets for the pillars bronze,
The hooks of pillars, for by-gones,
And their bands silver, overlay
Of their tops was silver in pay,
And all the pillars of the court
Had bands of silver for the fort.
18 The veil for the gate of the court
Was woven of blue, purple sort,
And scarlet and of linen fine
Woven, and with the length in twine
Of twenty cubits, and the height
Along its width five cubits sight,
Just like the hangings of the court.
19 And there were four pillars in sort
With their four sockets of bronze and
Their silver hooks, and every band
And overlay of their tops spanned
With silver. 20 All the ten pegs of
The tent and court around, above,
Were made of bronze and made with love.

The court is a dergah, a slaughtering floor,
Surrounded by white linen and a door.
Within this world enshrouded for my death
I seek Your name, Beloved, from breath to breath.
Measured with whirling step and parted with
Each silver capped column of wood and myth,
The floor on which I stand, a slaughtered sheep,
Has linen shrouds around me and to keep
The way to heavenly sacrifice and tale.
The courtyard is of linen built, not mail,
And yet the rushing of the desert gale
Against unpitied shrouds has no avail.
Beloved, I seek Your name as I pass through
The courtyard and its veils to come to You.

WEEK 23

21 This is the sum of the whole tent
Of testimony as it went
And counted by commandment to
Moses, for the work that should do
The Levites by Ithamar's hand,
Son of Aaron the priest to stand.
22 Bezalel Uri's son, the son
Of Hur, of the tribe and well done
Of Judah, made all that YHWH had
Commanded Moses as He bade.
23 And with him was Aholiab
The son of Ahisamach, swab
Of the tribe of Dan, an engraver
And a designer, and a weaver
Of blue, and purple, scarlet thread,
And of fine linen in good stead.
24 And all the gold that was used in
All the work of the holy bin,
That is, the gold of the offering,
Was twenty-nine talents to bring
And seven hundred thirty shekels,
According to sanctified shekels.
25 And the silver from those who were
Numbered of congregation's fer
Was one hundred talents and one
Thousand seven hundred and done
Seventy-five shekels, according
To sanctuary shekel hoarding,
26 A bekah for each man, that is,
Half a shekel, by holy weight,
For every single one of his
Included in the numbered state,
From twenty years old and above,
For six hundred three thousand love,
And five hundred and fifty men.
27 And from the hundred talents of
Silver were cast the sockets of
The sanctuary bases then
For the veil: from one hundred of
Talents one hundred sockets, each
Socket a talent weight to each.
28 Then from the one thousand and seven
Hundred and seventy-five to heaven
Of shekels he made pillar hooks,
Overlaid their tops, and for looks
Made bands for them. 29 The offering of
Bronze was seventy talents love
And two thousand four hundred shekels.
30 And with it he made without speckles
Sockets for the meeting tent door,
The bronze altar, and the bronze shore
Of grating for it, all the tools
For the altar, 31 the socket stools
For the court all around, the bases
For the court gate, all pegs and maces
For the tent, and all the pegs for
The court around from door to door.

Four are the holy tasks and four professions
That enter in the four gates with confessions.
The priest and the engraver each with skill,
Designer and the weaver fit the bill.
There ought to be a baker for the cakes,
Unless that's one task the priest's helper takes.
There is no Sabbath shown unless shewbread
Is changed upon the table at the head.
But that's a task unmentioned here because
It has no part in making of the straws.
Four gates keep the divine professions going
From law to truth, love and awareness showing.
Beloved, I see the sum of the tent's making,
And come within Your embraces unshaking.

EXODUS 39

1 Of blue, purple, and scarlet thread
They made garments of service dread,
For ministering in holy place,
And made the holy garments trace
For Aaron, as YHWH had commanded
Moses. 2 He made the ephod banded
Of gold, blue, purple, scarlet thread,
And of fine woven linen spread.
3 They beat the gold into thin sheets
And cut it into threads, such feats
To work it in with cloth of blue,
Purple, and scarlet thread to do
The fine linen in fine designs.
4 They made shoulder straps where it joins
Together, it was joined at both
Edges. 5 And the fine woven troth
Of his ephod that was on it
Was of the same craft and was fit,
Gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread,
And of fine woven linen spread,
As YHWH had told Moses to do.
6 And they set onyx stones, a few
Enclosed in gold settings, engraved,
As signets are engraved, and paved
With the names of all Israel's sons.
7 He put them on the shoulder duns
Of the ephod, memorial stone
For Israel's sons, as YHWH alone
Had told Moses to interpone.

Who knows where that golden breastplate is now
That carried memory stones upon its brow
For each of Israel's sons and their descendants.
It may have since been turned into ear-pendants.
More than two hundred fifty years ago
Onesimus made like breastplate for show
And no one now knows where its costly stones
Are hidden with or without prior's bones.
Let me, Beloved, wear also on my heart
The memory of the sacred names and chart,
Not graved in stone that disappears with time,
But whispered in a fleeting word and rhyme,
Until Your name returns from breath to breath
In timely syllable and shibboleth.

8 And he made the breastplate, woven
Finely like ephod's craft and in
Gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread,
And of fine woven linen spread.
9 They made the breastplate square in two
Folded, a span its length came to
And a span its width folded over.
10 And they set in it treasure trover
Four rows of stones: a row with stones
Of sardius, topaz, no bones,
An emerald on the first row,
11 The second row, a turquoise show,
A sapphire, and a diamond glow,
12 The third row, a jacinth, an agate,
An amethyst, 13 and not to drag it
The fourth row, a beryl, an onyx,
And a jasper the whole thing fix.
Enclosed in gold settings mounted,
14 Twelve stones according to the id
And ego of Israel's twelve sons:
According to their names and runs,
A signet, each one with its own
Name by the twelve tribes set alone.

The sacred number twelve is caught in light
And precious stones forever man's delight.
The sacred names, both known and hidden are
Presented in the glowing stones like star.
The many coloured faces sing their songs
Of many-coloured fashions, rights and wrongs.
Beloved, the topaz and the diamond set
Beside the purple majesties that get
The amethyst and jasper shining there
Bind eye and mind to simple earth and air.
Therefore I jump into the rushing stream
That polishes the stones that glance and gleam.
I name the secret twelve before I find
Your name is one and all for good and kind.

15 And they made chains for the breastplate
At the ends, like braided cords' mate
Of pure gold. 16 They also made two
Settings of gold and two gold rings,
And put the two rings on the two
Ends of the breastplate as for kings.
17 And they put the two braided chains
Of gold in the two rings in lanes
On the ends of the gold breastplate.
18 The two ends of the two chains mate
They braided, fastened in the two
Settings, put on the shoulder crew
Of the ephod in front, 19 made two
Rings of gold and put on the two
Ends of the breastplate, on its edge,
Which was upon the inward hedge
Of the ephod. 20 They also made
Two other gold rings where they stayed
On the two shoulder straps, beneath
The ephod toward its front for wreath,
Right at the seam above the fine
Woven band of ephod's design.
21 And they bound the breastplate by means
Of its rings set as go-betweens
To the rings of the ephod by
A blue cord, so it would be shy
Above the finely woven band
Of the ephod, and that the grand
Breastplate would not be loosened from
The ephod, as YHWH had in sum
Said to Moses and by command.

Two braided chains of gold, Hasan, Husayn,
Hold with two principles that well retain
All other names on earth for glory's reign.
Hasan accommodates to evil's power
And leaves to You, Beloved, to choose the hour
Of Your deliverance, and so sets up
The first great way to cross usurper's cup.
Husayn rebels against usurper's crown
And shows the bloody path out of the town.
These two chains hold all true integrity,
And give the choice of action to the free.
Beloved, as I respond in frailty
To the usurper's mandate and his bill,
Teach me which chain to grasp for good or ill.

22 He made the ephod robe of work
All of blue woven without shirk,
23 And opening in middle of
The robe, like opening above
A coat of mail, with woven binding
All round the opening unwinding,
So that it would not tear. 24 They made
On the hem of the robe that stayed
Pomegranates of blue, purple, and
Scarlet, and of fine woven band.
25 And they made bells of pure gold, and
Put bells between pomegranates on
Hem of the robe all round between
The pomegranates: 26 a bell upon
It and a pomegranate, then seen
A bell and a pomegranate, round
The hem of the robe to the ground
In which to do service, as YHWH
Commanded Moses what to do.
27 They made tunics, well woven of
Fine linen, for Aaron above
And for his sons, 28 a turban of
Fine linen, exquisite hats of
Fine linen, and short trousers of
Fine woven linen, 29 and a sash
Of fine woven linen with splash
Of blue, purple, and scarlet thread,
Made by a weaver, and well spread,
As YHWH commanded Moses to.
30 They made the plate of holy crown
Of pure gold, and wrote on a few
Words like a signet graven down:
Holiness to YHWH, 31 and they tied
To it a blue cord, fast abide
Above on the turban, as YHWH
Had commanded Moses to do.

Bells of gold and pomegranates of purple,
Blue and scarlet thread make the priest's hem full.
I cannot help but wonder what sounds make
The golden bells, such golden bells at stake.
They say the golden bells let people know
The High Priest would not die nor fail to show
From the most holy place when he went in
To make atonement for the last year's sin.
But in between the bells there also hang
The silent threaded fruits that never sang,
Inlayed with coloured stuff that shimmer swing.
Beneath the light reflected on the wing
I can't help curious wonder, wondering
What fills the heart-core of that fruitless ring.

32 All the work of the meeting tent
Was finished as Israel's folk went
According to all that YHWH told
Moses, so they did brave and bold.
33 And they brought to Moses the tent,
The tent and all its furnishment:
Its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars,
Its sockets, and all of its fillers,
34 The covering of ram skins dyed red,
The covering of badger skins spread,
And the veil of the covering,
35 The ark of the covenant's wing
With its poles, and the mercy seat,
36 The table, all its tools complete,
And the showbread, 37 the pure lampstand
With its lamps that in order stand,
All its utensils, and the oil
For lighting and not for turmoil,
38 The golden altar, and the oil,
For the anointing and incense
Sweet smelling, the screen recompense
For the tent door, 39 and the bronze grate
Of altar, grate, poles, and its plate,
The laver with its base, 40 the veils
Of the court, its pillars and trails
Of sockets, the screen for the gate
Of the court, its cords, and its pegs,
All the utensils and their legs
For the tent service, for the tent
Of meeting, 41 and holy garment
For service and to minister
In the holy place: to prefer
The holy clothes for Aaron , priest,
And his sons' garments not the least
To minister as priests. 42 By all
That YHWH told Moses to recall,
So Israel's folk did all the work.
43 Then Moses looked at all the work,
And indeed they had done as YHWH
Had commanded, to that were true,
And Moses blessed them for their due.

I bring the products of my life of prayer
And duty to Your golden heavenly stair
And lay them all in sacrifice to You,
Reluctant to bring my poor rags and few.
And as I wait beside the shining rungs
A sudden rising of the fiery tongues
Of glory strikes the ground of sacrifice
And turns the barren earth to paradise.
The weak and feeble breathings of my praise
Turn into towers majestic that upraise
In Psalms and songs a house and throne above
Where You deign to sit down and reign in love.
My meagre sacrifice of love and tears
In Your hands becomes greater than appears.

EXODUS 40

1 Then YHWH spoke to Moses, and said
2 "On the first day of first month spread
You shall set up the tent of meeting.
3 "You shall place there without defeating
The ark of covenant, and then
Veil off the ark from sight of men.
4 "You shall bring in the table and
Arrange the things that are at hand
To be set in order on it,
And you shall bring the lampstand fit
And light its lamps. 5 "You shall also
Set the altar of gold to glow
With the incense before the ark
Of testimony, and then park
The screen for the tent door before.
6 "Then you shall set before the door
Of the tent of meeting the altar
Of the burnt offering and not falter.
7 "And you shall set the laver there
Between the tabernacle fair
Of meeting and the altar, and
Put water in it there to stand.
8 "You shall set up the court around,
And hang up the screen to the ground
At the court gate. 9 "And you shall take
Anointing oil, and for its sake
Anoint the tabernacle and
All that is in it, on the sand,
And you shall sanctify it and
All its utensils, holy band.
10 "You shall anoint the altar of
The burnt offering also above
All its utensils, consecrate
The altar to most holy state.
11 "And you'll anoint the laver and
Its base, and consecrate the stand.
12 "Then you shall bring Aaron and his
Sons up to where the tent door is,
The tabernacle of meeting
And wash with water everything.
13 "You shall put the holy garments
On Aaron , and before the tents
Anoint him and consecrate him,
That he may minister not dim
To Me as priest. 14 "And you shall bring
His sons and clothe them all with coats.
15 "You shall anoint them as they sing,
As you anointed in his floats
Their father, that they may serve Me
As priests, for their anointing shall
Surely be priesthood eternal
Throughout their generations' sea."

Beloved, I doubt not the wisdom divine
That chose Aaron and even bent the vine
Of his descendants for a priestly role.
You set them out with baptisms of soul
And inundations of oil everywhere.
You clothe them with insignia of the fair.
Well washed and polished, brushed and decked
I do not doubt the whole regal effect
Was to the good of soul and body of
The folk that You deigned to pick out and love.
But was it wise to promise to keep this
Hierarchy of the blessed and blessed with bliss
For generations untold but to come?
Where is the priesthood now and where's the rum?

16 Thus Moses did, according to
All that YHWH had told him to do.
17 It happened in the first month of
The second year, the first day of
The month, the tabernacle was
Raised up. 18 So Moses was the cause
Of raising up the tent with socket,
And setting up its boards and locket,
Putting in bars and raising pillars.
19 And he spread out the tent for fillers
Over the tabernacle and
Put covering of the tent in band
On top of it, by YHWH's command
To Moses in a desert land.

Within the tabernacle beaten gold
Unseen lies underneath the covering's fold.
Embroidered cherubim forever dance
Veiled from the curious eye and human glance.
Towards heaven the sacred incense makes its way,
But soon's enmeshed in linen overlay.
No locks prevent, no thieving powers invent
The unguessed treasure in a tattered tent.
My prayers too go no higher than this room.
Infinities of heavens stretch out to doom.
No treasure from my heart meets any eye,
While pageants of the universe go by.
The heavens my praises reach are all within,
All hidden under rams' and badgers' skin.

20 He took the testimony and
Put it into the ark to stand,
Put in the poles through the ark rings,
And put the mercy seat with wings
On top of the ark. 21 And he brought
The ark in tent as he was taught,
Hung up the veil of covering there,
Divided off the ark and where
The tables of the covenant
Were placed to rule the firmament
As YHWH had told Moses to do.
22 He set the table up on cue
In tabernacle of meeting,
On the north side of the tent wing,
Outside the veil, 23 and he set bread
In order on it before YHWH,
As YHWH had told Moses and said.
24 He set up the lampstand within
The tabernacle of meeting,
Across from the table and bin,
On the south side of the tent wing,
25 And he lit the lamps before YHWH,
As YHWH had told Moses to do.
26 He put the golden altar in
The tabernacle of meeting
In front of the veil, 27 and he burned
Sweet incense on it, as concerned
YHWH had told Moses what to do.
28 He hung up the screen at the door
Of the tabernacle before,
29 And put the altar of burnt offering
Before the door of the tent proffering
A place of meeting, and offered
Upon it the burnt offering cured
And the food offering, as YHWH had
Commanded Moses, a good lad.
30 He set the laver there between
The tabernacle of meeting
And the altar, and for washing,
31 And Moses, Aaron , and were seen
His sons washing their hands and feet
With water from it as a treat.
32 Whenever they went in the tent
Of meeting there, and when they went
Near the altar, they washed, as YHWH
Had commanded Moses to do.
33 And he raised up the court around
The tabernacle on the ground
And the altar, and hung the screen
Of the court gate there to be seen.
So Moses finished the work clean.

Before I come before Your throne in prayer
I also wash my hands and feet to spare
Me from the soul impurity that comes
Creeping across the landscape of my sums.
But water cannot ever cleanse the soul,
And as Your purity is my soul's goal,
As I pass by the mirrored laver's sea,
I pray You, my Beloved, that You cleanse me.
This slaughter ground that is my home a while
If for the offering of my self of guile
And seeing in the washing mirrors here
Reflections of Your divine grace and fear.
I enter in the dergah to meet You,
Beloved, and wash to see what will ensue.

34 Then the cloud covered up the tent
Of meeting, and the glory went
From YHWH and filled up all the tent.
35 And Moses was not able to
Enter the tabernacle true
For meeting, because the cloud rested
Above it, and glory invested
From YHWH had filled the sacred tent.
36 When the cloud was taken up from
Above the tent to rise and come,
The children of Israel would go
Onward in all their journeys slow.
37 But if the cloud did not go up,
They journeyed not till it went up.
38 For the cloud of YHWH was above
The tabernacle by day's love,
And fire was over it by night,
Before all the house and in sight
Of Israel through their journeys' plight.

At morning light I look toward the cloud
Of guidance You have dropped down in a crowd
To lead my footsteps through the weary maze
Of contemplative nights and busy days.
Sometimes Your cloud bids me to stand me still,
And other times gives me a task to fill,
Sometimes it is a shade from blistering heat
Of opposition to obedient feet,
Sometimes it is a fiery lamp to show
The way that my unwilling feet should go.
Beloved, I look toward the cloud each day
And pray that You will guide my wandering way
Toward a fair and promised land afar
Or toward its temple in this chambered star.


AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

To purchase the books, please go to: http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-genesis-to-maccabees/paperback/product-20136835.html http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-job-to-revelation/paperback/product-20050862.html