Bible Commentaries
Exodus 38

Verses 1-20

The furniture, vessels, and courtyard 37:1-38:20

The ark of the covenant Exodus 37:1-9 (cf. Exodus 25:10-22)

The table of showbread Exodus 37:10-16 (cf. Exodus 25:23-30)

The lampstand Exodus 37:17-24 (cf. Exodus 25:31-40)

The altar of incense Exodus 37:25-28 (cf. Exodus 30:1-10)

The anointing oil and incense Exodus 37:29 (cf. Exodus 30:22-28)

The brazen altar Exodus 38:1-7 (cf. Exodus 27:1-8)

The laver Exodus 38:8 (cf. Exodus 30:17-21)

The courtyard Exodus 38:9-20 (cf. Exodus 27:9-19)

Verses 21-31

The raw materials 38:21-31

Moses also recorded an estimate of the amount of metal used (Exodus 38:21-31). Coined money did not exist until the eighth century B.C. when the Lydians in Anatolia (modern Turkey) invented it. [Note: The New Bible Dictionary, 1962 ed., s.v. "Money," by A. F. Walls.] Consequently the shekel Moses referred to was a measure of weight (not quite half an ounce). [Note: Unger’s Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed., s.v. "Metrology," by E. McChesney, revised by Merrill F. Unger, pp. 720-25.] The materials included slightly over a ton of gold (Exodus 38:24), almost four tons of silver (Exodus 38:25-28), and about two and a half tons of bronze (Exodus 38:29-31).