Thread by @JoelBaden

#Exodus 26:31-37

What...the curtains?

The sacred space in the Tabernacle is marked off by the fancy curtains, made of the rarest colors - blue, crimson, and purple - and the finest weaves and designs. These are basically the doors - remember, the desert Tabernacle is a tent.

Hey remember that bit in the Ten Commandments that some people think means that you couldn’t have any images of anything anywhere in ancient Israel? Explain the depictions of the cherubs declaring the curtain in the holiest space in Israel, then. (Don’t really try, please.)

I said before that gradations of holiness in the Tabernacle are signaled by the metals used in its construction, and here’s a good example. Silver sockets for the inner curtain, copper for the outer curtain. Is it super important? No. Is it a thoughtful detail? Sure.

The inner curtain is a big deal. For all the priests other than the high priest, that’s the boundary - no one can go past that curtain and into the holy of holies. (It’ll be a while I’m afraid until we get to the circumstances of the high priest’s exception to this rule.)

The important point here is that these curtains are decidedly not decorative. They’re crucial dividers of space, holiness, and access.