You shall raise my contribution from every man whose heart moves him (Exodus 25:2).
The phrase “whose heart moves him” indicates that this contribution was a free-will contribution. No amount was required, but the people were to give as they desired. The offering bowl shown here is inscribed with the word “holy” (Heb. qodesh), indicating that it is set aside for a cultic purpose. This bowl was photographed at the Israel Museum.
This is the offering which you shall collect from them: gold and silver and bronze (Exodus 25:3).
The gold items would have been Egyptian, as the Israelites obtained them from their Egyptian neighbors (cf. Exod 12:35-36). This broad collar exhibits some of the skill held by the Egyptians around this time. It comes from Tomb 93 at Enkomi on the island of Cyprus and was photographed at the British Museum.
And blue and purple and scarlet material (Exodus 25:4).
The term “purple” (Heb. argaman) probably refers to wool dyed with the excretion of murex shells. It can have a fairly wide range of color, from shades that tend toward the blue range to those trending more toward reds. The display shown here includes three murex shells and a potsherd stained with purple dye. The shells were discovered at Beth-shean in the Late Bronze II levels (ca. 1350–1200 BC), and the sherd is from Sarepta and dates to the Iron Age II (1000–586 BC).
And fine linen (Exodus 25:4).
Linen was the standard material used for clothing in Egypt. It did not take dye well, so it was most often worn white. This gabled wooden chest was discovered in the tomb of Hatnefer at Thebes with about 30 linen items inside. Some were items of clothing; others were simply linen sheets. This image comes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is in the public domain.
And acacia wood (Exodus 25:5).
The dense wood of the slow-growing acacia tree is suitable for building and was accessible to the Israelites in the region of the Sinai. It is prevalent in the Sinai peninsula and in the areas around the Dead Sea. It is likely, however, that the Israelites were not building the tabernacle with moist, freshly-cut wood, but rather with boards brought from Egypt that had already been dried. Acacia wood was used frequently by Egyptian carpenters, who devised methods of joining small boards together in larger constructions. Shown here is an acacia tree in the Wilderness of Sin.
