I don't seem to find any mention of the seal skins in the Bible. This quote does give an approximate dimension to the whole thing. It also tells us the curtains were arranged to give "complete protection." Protection from what? Does this merely signify protection from view? or does it include protection from the elements? If there were any precipitation, what keeps it from puddling up and entering the holy or most holy?

Twelve cubits in width would equal about 18 feet given 18 inches per cubit. So Ellen White seems to indicate that the structure was 12 cubits wide. We know the walls were only 10 cubits tall. Are the curtains two cubits above them?

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

From the SDABC on Exodus 25:5

Thanks, APL. That helps explain it.

Here's the explanation of the Hebrew word according to blb.org.


Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

I never really studied into the exact details how everything fit together so this is rather new territory for me.

Mathematically the curtains do work if the dimensions of the tabernacle are 30 X 10 x 10.

Now you bring up the subject of the boards that make up the actual walls of the tabernacle.

The Boards each had an individual standing in the two silver sockets, but they were strongly connected together by the Bars.
Each board was 10 cubits high and 1 1/2 cubits wide.
The sides had 20 boards sitting in 40 silver sockets. That would equal 30 cubits.
The back had six boards, that would equal 9 cubits.

Now we still have two corner boards -- where do they go?




So it seems to me these corner boards did not add any width to the structure, they were placed in the inside corners as a DOUBLE to strengthen the corners. These extra Boards strengthened the corners.

There is no mention of anything which would cover the trangular opening at the outside ends that would occur if the tabernacle had a sloping roof.
It may very well have had a slight lift in center if they had a ridge pole running the length of the tabernacle. This would have given the roof stability as well as the ability to shed water without adding a lot more width to cover. But I haven't found any verification of that.

I'm not sure I see how the "double" portion of the corner means it was placed against the normal boards. Why would this not be taken to mean that the corner board was a "double" board, such that each of the two boards were placed at 90 degree angle to each other, forming the corner? That is what seems logical to me.

Regarding the "silver sockets," it appears the sockets were in the sides of each board such that it fit snugly into the board beside it. The Bible uses the word "under", but that is a relative term when you do not know from which direction you are looking at the board. Recall that the board is also said to be 10 cubits long, when that is actually its height once put in place. The "tenons" are what fit into the sockets, and a little online research of these taught me that they are most often used to snugly put boards together in side-by-side fashion. So there would have been no way for the boards to shift around. My first thought when I saw "tenons" was attachment for ropes with which to tether it to the ground via stakes. Some artist conceptions show such a design. But it appears that no stakes were needed for the boards.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

The silver sockets seem to be the base.
The boards were held together by the crossbars

I guess I see the two "double" end boards as I do because the dimensions fit. While the other way the coverings are too small.

Some links that might be helpful

Assemblying the Tabernacle

http://www.domini.org/tabern/boards.htm

Anothr Tabernacle construction LINK

The interesting thing is, if the silver sockets are the base, there is no mention of what they are attached to. On the contrary, the sockets are specified as being a part of the same board in which the tenons are made. In other words, each board had two tenons and two sockets positioned opposite those tenons that would correspond to the board right beside it. A little bit like legos.



It really does sound to me like the sockets belong to the board itself.

Look up images of "tenons" online and see what they look like.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

But, I wonder, are the silver sockets the receiving side of the tenons?
Or do the tenons, which are part of the boards, fit into sockets that are not just "holes".
Why would the sockets be made of silver, if they were just the "holes" into which the tenons fit?

In setting up the sanctuary it has been suggested the silver sockets were first arranged on the ground, then each board (which had two tenons at the bottom end) were stood up in their two silver sockets. (The silver sockets, not only receiving the tenons but acting as "feet") Thus the boards could stand by themselves until they could get the crossbars in to firmly link them together.



Messiah's Mansion (a life size model of Moses sanctuary) will be at our camp meeting this summer, so will be interesting to see how they put it together.
Though everyone's concept of what it looked like is a little different, never having seen the original.

If I remember correctly from Leslie Hardinge's With Jesus in His Sanctuary:

The tabernacle was 30x10x10 cubits on the inside. The boards for the walls were 1 cubit thick. So if you measure the outside width, it would be 12 cubits, making the back wall fit perfectly.

Arnold, I have not checked this, but I believe you mean 1 cubit wide.

One cubit thick (~18 inches) would be beams quite impossible to manage on the wilderness journey.

Does this make sense?

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