Moses

tabernacle dimensions
tabernacle curtains

The Tabernacle of Moses (also known as the Portable Tent in the Wilderness) was the Hebrews' "movable temple" as they wandered the Levant.

First, the large outer court of the Tabernacle was a perfect double square, measuring 100 x 50 Hebrew cubits; put differently, it consisted of two squares of 50 x 50 Hebrew cubits (compare the 500 x 500 pyramid base and court of Ezekiel's Temple).

Also, the hall area of the tabernacle was a double-square on plan, 20 x 10 Hebrew cubits. Architectural precedent for this reaches back to the earliest appearances of stone architecture, long before the Tabernacle.   With half the weight of the largest structure ever built bearing down on it, the central King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid measures exactly 20 x 10 Royal cubits, the same as the Tabernacle hall.

Yet, so far as is known, no one knew that the King's Chamber even existed until 820 A.D. when the Arab caliph Al Mamun dislodged a stone from the tunnel ceiling as he forced his way into the pyramid. Ancient historical sources on the pyramid are silent about any such a passage.  Since no one knew about it, the King’s Chamber represents a “pure” example of sacred measure in Egyptian studies that survived untouched (not to mention unknown) for over than 3000 years.

Obviously, the Hebrews had no way to know that this chamber was inside the pyramid.  So why do the King's Chamber and the Tabernacle hall have exactly the same measures?

Most significantly, the Tabernacle shrine area, the holiest part, measures (L x W x H) 10 x 10 x 10 Hebrew cubits, i.e. unity. Evidently, the idea that there is "one" god lent mystical support to this chamber (drop the zeroes).

 

THIS PAGE: Tabernacle of Moses dimensions.

       
     

© 2005 Chris Graves

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