Exodus 26:32

And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(32) Four pillars.—These seem to have been true pillars or columns, and not tent-poles. They were probably of equal height, and equally spaced, and were perhaps connected at the top by a cornice or beam. Together with the vail they formed a screen, which shut off the “Holy of Holies” from the outer chamber. They were, doubtless, of the same height as the boards, i.e., fifteen feet (Exodus 26:16).

Their hooks.—Each pillar was to have a hook near the top, whereto the vail was to be attached.

Upon the four sockets.—Heb., upon four sockets.—Each pillar was to have its “socket,” into which it was to be inserted, and which was itself probably to be sunk into the ground.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

26:31-37 A vail, or curtain, separated the holy place from the most holy place. It was hung upon pillars. This vail was for a partition between the holy place and the most holy; which forbade any to look into the holiest of all. The apostle tells what was the meaning of this vail, Heb 9:8. That the ceremonial law could not make the comers thereunto perfect, nor would the observance of it bring men to heaven; the way into the holiest of all was not made manifest, while the first tabernacle was standing. Life and immortality lay hidden till they were brought to light by the gospel; which was signified by the rending of this vail at the death of Christ, Mt 27:51. We have now boldness to enter into the holiest, in all acts of worship, by the blood of Jesus; yet such as obliges us to holy reverence. Another vail was for the outer door of the tabernacle. This vail was all the defence the tabernacle had. God takes care of his church on earth. A curtain shall be, if God please to make it so, as strong a defence to his house, as gates of brass and bars of iron. With this typical description of Christ and his church before us, what is our judgment of these matters? Do we see any glory in the person of Christ? any excellence in his character? any thing precious in his salvation? or any wisdom in the doctrine of the cross? Will our religion bear examination? and are we more careful to approve our hearts to God than our characters toward men?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Vail - Literally, separation (see Exodus 35:12 note).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15-30. thou shalt make boards … rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion … which was showed thee—The tabernacle, from its name as well as from its general appearance and arrangements, was a tent; but from the description given in these verses, the boards that formed its walls, the five (cross) bars that strengthened them, and the middle bar that "reached from end to end," and gave it solidity and compactness, it was evidently a more substantial fabric than a light and fragile tent, probably on account of the weight of its various coverings as well as for the protection of its precious furniture.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The hooks were fastened to the tops of the pillars, as the veil was fastened to them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold,.... For it was ten cubits long, and as many broad; and being of such a stiffness and thickness as it was, required so many pillars to support it: these pillars may signify the deity of Christ, which is the support of his human nature, and in which it has its personal subsistence, and gives all its actions and sufferings virtue and efficacy; and being of "shittim wood", which is incorruptible, may denote his eternity, and being covered with gold, his glory:

their hooks shall be of gold; which were upon the tops of the pillars on which the vail was hung: and the pillars were

upon the four sockets of silver; which were properly the pedestals or feet of the pillars; and these sockets, into which the pillars were let and placed, and the hooks the vail hung by, may hint to the union of the two natures in Christ, who is God and man in one person, God manifest in the flesh; see Sol 5:15.

Geneva Study Bible

And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their {k} hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

(k) Some read heads of the pillars.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

32. four bases of silver] such as the frames rested upon, v. 19 ff.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 32. - Four pillars. The contrast between these four pillars of the interior, and the "five pillars" at "the door of the tent" (vers. 36, 37), is striking, and justifies the supposition that the veil in the tabernacle did not completely divide the holy of holies from the holy place, but formed a screen, above which the space was open. If the veil had been hung from the top of the tented roof, so as completely to separate the two places, there must have been fire pillars, or at any rate an odd number, m the interior. Their hooks shall be of gold. These are hooks attached to the pillars, for the purpose of their having the curtains hung upon them. Upon the four sockets. The word "sockets" has no article. Translate - "Thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold, with their hooks of gold, and standing upon four sockets of silver. The pillars probably had "tenons," like the boards (ver. 17), which were inserted into silver sockets, let into the ground. Exodus 26:32

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

To divide the dwelling into two rooms, a curtain was to be made, of the same material, and woven in the same artistic manner as the inner covering of the walls (Exodus 26:1). This was called פּרכת, lit., division, separation, from פּרך to divide, or מסך פּרכת (Exodus 35:12; Exodus 39:34; Exodus 40:21) division of the covering, i.e., to hang this "upon four pillars of gilded acacia-wood and their golden hooks, (standing) upon four silver sockets," under the loops (קרסים) which held the two halves of the inner covering together (Exodus 26:6). Thus the curtain divided the dwelling into two compartments, the one occupying ten cubits and the other twenty of its entire length.