Discovery BoxExodus 36:14 
Context36:14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. 1
Exodus 36:16
Context36:16 He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves.
Exodus 26:7
Context26:7 “You are to make curtains of goats’ hair 2 for a tent over the tabernacle; 3 you are to make 4 eleven curtains.
Exodus 36:10
Context36:10 He joined 5 five of the curtains to one another, and the other 6 five curtains he joined to one another.
Exodus 26:3
Context26:3 Five curtains are to be joined, 7 one to another, 8 and the other 9 five curtains are to be joined, one to another.
Exodus 26:9
Context26:9 You are to join five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. You are to double over 10 the sixth curtain at the front of the tent.
1 tn Heb “eleven curtains he made them.”
2 sn This chapter will show that there were two sets of curtains and two sets of coverings that went over the wood building to make the tabernacle or dwelling place. The curtains of fine linen described above could be seen only by the priests from inside. Above that was the curtain of goats’ hair. Then over that were the coverings, an inner covering of rams’ skins dyed red and an outer covering of hides of fine leather. The movement is from the inside to the outside because it is God’s dwelling place; the approach of the worshiper would be the opposite. The pure linen represented the righteousness of God, guarded by the embroidered cherubim; the curtain of goats’ hair was a reminder of sin through the daily sin offering of a goat; the covering of rams’ skins dyed red was a reminder of the sacrifice and the priestly ministry set apart by blood, and the outer covering marked the separation between God and the world. These are the interpretations set forth by Kaiser; others vary, but not greatly (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:459).
3 sn This curtain will serve “for a tent over the tabernacle,” as a dwelling place.
4 tn Heb “you will make them”
5 tn The verb is singular since it probably is referring to Bezalel, but since he would not do all the work himself, it may be that the verbs could be given a plural subject: “they joined.”
6 tn The words “the other” have been supplied.
7 tn This is the active participle, not the passive. It would normally be rendered “joining together.” The Bible uses the active because it has the result of the sewing in mind, namely, that every curtain accompanies another (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 348).
8 tn Heb “a woman to her sister,” this form of using nouns to express “one to another” is selected because “curtains” is a feminine noun (see GKC 448 §139.e).
9 tn The phrase “the other” has been supplied.
10 sn The text seems to describe this part as being in front of the tabernacle, hanging down to form a valence at the entrance (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 284).
