“And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet , and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.”
My Notes
What Does Exodus 26:36 Mean?
"And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework." The entrance to the tabernacle was marked by a curtain of extraordinary beauty — blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, decorated with skilled needlework. These colors had significance: blue represented heaven, purple represented royalty, scarlet represented sacrifice and blood. The combination at the entrance meant that everyone who approached God's dwelling passed through a reminder of heaven, kingship, and atonement.
The "needlework" (ma'aseh roqem) was ornamental embroidery — skilled artistic work. God's house wasn't utilitarian. It was beautiful. The entrance to God's presence was designed to be aesthetically stunning, reflecting the God who created beauty itself.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does your experience of beauty in worship compare to God's design for the tabernacle?
- 2.Why did God make beauty such a priority in the construction of his dwelling?
- 3.What does the combination of blue, purple, and scarlet communicate about the God who lives inside?
- 4.How might your approach to worship change if you valued beauty as much as God apparently does?
Devotional
Blue, purple, and scarlet. Every time someone approached God's tent, they walked through a curtain that was a sermon in thread. Blue — the color of the sky, of heaven reaching down. Purple — the color of royalty, of the King who dwelt inside. Scarlet — the color of blood, of the sacrifice that made approach possible.
God didn't have to make the tabernacle beautiful. A plain curtain would have functioned just as well. But God is not merely functional. He is an artist. And the entrance to his home was designed to take your breath away before you even stepped inside.
The needlework was skilled artisan work — not mass-produced, not hastily thrown together. God cared about the craftsmanship of his dwelling. He called specific artists by name (Bezalel and Oholiab) and filled them with his Spirit to do this work. Creativity in God's service isn't a secondary gift. It's a Spirit-empowered calling.
If you've ever dismissed beauty as unnecessary — if you've treated aesthetics in worship as frivolous or indulgent — the tabernacle challenges that. God designed his own house with painstaking beauty. He chose colors that meant something. He hired artists. He wanted the approach to his presence to be an experience that engaged your eyes before it engaged your theology.
Beauty matters to God. It's not a luxury. It's a language he speaks.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
(Compare Exo. 36:8-33.) The tabernacle was to comprise three main parts, the tabernacle Exo 26:1-6, more strictly…
A hanging for the door of the tent - This may be called the first veil, as it occupied the door or entrance to the…
Two veils are here ordered to be made, 1. One for a partition between the holy place and the most holy, which not only…
Exodus 36-7 (Exo 26:36-37). The screen, to cover the entrance to the Dwelling. This was of the same materials as the…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture