Exodus 26

Exodus 26 describes the tabernacle's structure in three layers. The innermost covering is ten curtains of fine twisted linen in blue, purple, and crimson, embroidered with cherubim — joined in two sets of five by loops and gold clasps. Over these go eleven curtains of goat hair, also clasped together, hanging over the linen layer with an overlap at the rear and front. Over the goat hair go coverings of ram skins dyed red and then of fine leather — the outer weather protection for a structure designed for desert travel.

The structural frame is forty-eight upright planks of acacia wood, each overlaid with gold and set in silver bases — two bases per plank as feet — with gold rings for the gold-covered crossbars that hold them rigid. The arrangement creates a three-sided rectangle open at the east end. Inside, the veil of blue, purple, and crimson with cherubim divides the space: the outer holy place, where the table and lampstand stand, from the inner most holy place, where the ark is placed behind the veil. Scholars of ancient Near Eastern religion recognise the concentric holiness structure — accessible sanctuary, restricted inner sanctuary, innermost divine space — as widespread, but note the theological distinctiveness of the Israelite version: no idol occupies the centre; only the ark of the covenant, the container of the law.