lling
attention to this fact, Mr. Fergusson succeeded in solving all the
problems connected with the measurements of the tabernacle, and bringing
order into what was little more than chaos before (_Smith's Bible
Dict._, "Temple").

The inner tabernacle was of acacia wood, which was the only timber of
the sanctuary. Each board stood ten cubits high, and was fitted by
tenons into two silver sockets, which probably formed a continuous base.
Each of these contained a talent of silver, and was therefore more than
eighty pounds weight; and they were probably to some extent sunk into
the ground for a foundation (xxxviii. 27). There were twenty boards on
each side; and as they were a cubit and a half broad, the length of the
tabernacle was about forty-five feet (16-18). At the west end there were
six boards (22), which, with the breadth of the two posts or boards for
the corners (23-4) just gives ten cubits, or fifteen feet, for the width
of it. Thus the length of the tabernacle was three times its breadth;
and we know that in the Temple (where all the proportions were the same,
the figures being doubled throughout) the subdividing veil was so hung
as to make the inner shrine a perfect square, leaving the holy place
twice as long as it was broad.

The posts were held in their places by wooden bars, which were overlaid
with gold (as the boards also were, ver. 29) and fitted into golden
rings. Four such bars, or bolts, ran along a portion of each side, and
there was a fifth great bar which stretched along the whole forty-five
feet from end to end. Thus the edifice was firmly held together; and the
wealth of the material makes it likely that they were fixed on the
inside, and formed a part of the ornament of the edifice (26-9).

When the two curtains were fastened together with clasps, they gave a
length of sixty feet. But we have seen that the length of the boards
when jointed together was only forty-five feet. This gives a projection
of seven feet and a half (five cubits) for the front and rear of the
tent beyond the tabernacle of boards; and when the great curtains were
drawn tight, sloping from the ridge-pole fourteen cubits on each side,
it has been shown (assuming a right-angle at the top) that they reached
within five cubits of the ground, and extended five cubits beyond the
sides, the same distance as at the front and rear. The next
instructions concern the veil which divided the two chambers of the
sanctuary. This was