Exodus 35:15

It was said in general (Exo 34:32), Moses gave them in commandment all that the Lord has spoken with him. But, the erecting and furnishing of the tabernacle being the work to which they were now immediately to apply themselves, there is particular mention of the orders given concerning it.
I. All the congregation is summoned to attend (Exo 35:1); that is, the heads and rulers of the congregation, the representatives of the several tribes, who must receive instructions from Moses as he had received them from the Lord, and must communicate them to the people. Thus John, being commanded to write to the seven churches what had been revealed to him, writes it to the angels, or ministers, of the churches.
II. Moses gave them in charge all that (and that only) which God had commanded him; thus he approved himself faithful both to God and Israel, between whom he was a messenger or mediator. If he had added, altered, or diminished, he would have been false to both. But, both sides having reposed a trust in him, he was true to the trust; yet he was faithful as a servant only, but Christ as a Son, Heb 3:5, Heb 3:6.
III. He begins with the law of the sabbath, because that was much insisted on in the instructions he had received (Exo 35:2, Exo 35:3): Six days shall work be done, work for the tabernacle, the work of the day that was now to be done in its day; and they had little else to do here in the wilderness, where they had neither husbandry nor merchandise, neither food to get nor clothes to make: but on the seventh day you must not strike a stroke, no, not at the tabernacle-work; the honour of the sabbath was above that of the sanctuary, more ancient and more lasting; that must be to you a holy day, devoted to God, and not be spent in common business. It is a sabbath of rest. It is a sabbath of sabbaths (so some read it), more honourable and excellent than any of the other feasts, and should survive them all. A sabbath of sabbatism, so others read it, being typical of that sabbatism or rest, both spiritual and eternal, which remains for the people of God, Heb 4:9. It is a sabbath of rest, that is, in which a rest from all worldly labour must be very carefully and strictly observed. It is a sabbath and a little sabbath, so some of the Jews would have it read; not only observing the whole day as a sabbath, but an hour before the beginning of it, and an hour after the ending of it, which they throw in over and above out of their own time, and call a little sabbath, to show how glad they are of the approach of the sabbath and how loth to part with it. It is a sabbath of rest, but it is rest to the Lord, to whose honour it must be devoted. A penalty is here annexed to the breach of it: Whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Also a particular prohibition of kindling fires on the sabbath day for any servile work, as smith's work, or plumbers, etc.
IV. He orders preparation to be made for the setting up of the tabernacle. Two things were to be done: -
1. All that were able must contribute: Take you from among you an offering, Exo 35:5. The tabernacle was to be dedicated to the honour of God, and used in his service; and therefore what was brought for the setting up and furnishing of that was an offering to the Lord. Our goodness extends not to God, but what is laid out for the support of his kingdom and interest among men he is pleased to accept as an offering to himself; and he requires such acknowledgements of our receiving our all from him and such instances of our dedicating our all to him. The rule is, Whosoever is of a willing heart let him bring. It was not to be a tax imposed upon them, but a benevolence or voluntary contribution, to intimate to us, (1.) That God has not made our yoke heavy. He is a prince that does not burden his subjects with taxes, nor make them to serve with an offering, but draws with the cords of a man, and leaves it to ourselves to judge what is right; his is a government that there is no cause to complain of, for he does not rule with rigour. (2.) That God loves a cheerful giver, and is best pleased with the free-will offering. Those services are acceptable to him that come from the willing heart of a willing people, Psa 110:3.
2. All that were skilful must work: Every wise-hearted among you shall come, and make, Exo 35:10. See how God dispenses his gifts variously; and, as every man hath received the gift, so he must minister, Pe1 4:10. Those that were rich must bring in materials to work on; those that were ingenious must serve the tabernacle with their ingenuity; as they needed one another, so the tabernacle needed them both, Co1 12:7-21. The work was likely to go on when some helped with their purses, others with their hands, and both with a willing heart. Moses, as he had told them what must be given (Exo 35:5-9), so he gives them the general heads of what must be made (Exo 35:11-19), that, seeing how much work was before them, they might apply themselves to it the more vigorously, and every hand might be busy; and it gave them such an idea of the fabric designed that they could not but long to see it finished.

Exodus 35:4-19

4. And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying,

4. Dixitque Moses ad universam synagogam filiorum Israel, his verbis, Hoc est verbum quod praecepit Jehova, dicendo:

5. Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,

5. Accipite a vobis oblationem Jehovae: omnis spontaneus corde suo afferet eam oblationem Jehovae, aurum, argentum, et aes:

6. And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,

6. Et hyacinthum, et purpuram, et vermiculum cocci, et byssum, et caprarum pilos:

7. And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,

7. Et pelles arietum rubricatas, et pelles taxorum, et ligna sittim.

8. And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,

8. Et oleum pro luminari, et aromata pro oleo unctionis, et ad suffimentum aromaticum.

9. And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

9. Et lapides onychinos, et lapides pro ephod et pro pectorali.

10. And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded;

10. Et omnes sapientes corde in vobis venient, et facient quaecunque praecepit Jehova:

11. The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,

11. Tabernaculum, tentorium ejus, et operimentum ejus, et circulos ejus, et tabulas ejus, vestes ejus, columnas ejus et bases ejus:

12. The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,

12. Arcam et vectes ejus, propitiatorium, et velum tentorii.

13. The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,

13. Mensam, et vectes ipsius, et omnia vasa ejus, et panem facierum:

14. The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,

14. Et candelabrum luminaris et vasa ejus, et lucernas ejus, et oleum luminaris:

15. And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle,

15. Et altare suffimenti et vectes ejus, et oleum unctionis, et suffimentum aromaticum, et aulaeum ostii pro ostio tabernaculi:

16. The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,

16. Altare holocausti, et cribrum ejus aeneum, et vectes ejus, et omnia vasa ejus, et concham et basin ejus:

17. The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court,

17. Cortinas ipsius atrii, columnas ejus, et bases ejus, et aulaeum portae atrii,

18. The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,

18. Paxillos tabernaculi, et paxillos atrii, et funiculos eorum,

19. The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office.

19. Vestes ministerii ad ministrandum in sanctuario, et vestes sanctas Aharonis sacerdotis, et vestes filiorum ejus ad fungendum sacerdotio.

5. Take ye from among you an offering. I have introduced a passage from chapter 35, wherein Moses again requires what he had before prescribed; but he goes more into detail, and treats at greater length of the parts of the tabernacle. In the former passage he employed a verb, where he here uses a noun, "willing or voluntary of heart." There is, however, no ambiguity in the meaning; since in both places God requires a cheerful zeal, so that they may not only contribute abundantly, but willingly. He will afterwards use a different form of expression, viz., that they did their duty, whose heart roused, or stirred them up, so as to distinguish them from the indifferent and slow. -- 5:21.

10. And every wise-hearted among you. Thus he denominates the artificers, who excelled in shrewdness of intellect, and so, after having commanded them severally of their private means to supply the materials, he now exhorts others to contribute their industry for shaping and joining them together. He then briefly enumerates the parts of the Tabernacle, a longer explanation of which will be seen in chapter 26. This is, therefore, a kind of epitome of all those things, of which he before spoke more in full, since it was necessary to spur them on afresh to the performance of what they had been clearly instructed in. For we know that instruction is very often coldly received without the addition of exhortations. It might indeed seem strange, [133] how so much wealth could be possessed by a miserably pillaged people, and long driven to servile work; unless it may be inferred from the abundance which is here described, that they were incredibly enriched at their departure from Egypt by the booty which God gave them. The kingdom of Egypt was very wealthy; and its people, as we know, had always been devoted to pleasures and luxuries. What, then, they had accumulated by their rapacity in many years, flowed away from them by the secret influence of God, when they were suddenly made prodigal. But, just as He had blinded the Egyptians, that they should profusely give all they had, so He now directed the minds and hearts of His people, that, mindful of so great a benefit, they should willingly expend, at His command, what they had obtained of His mere grace.

Footnotes:

[133] "Particular stress is laid on the contrast, which the condition of the Israelitish nation at that time presents to the splendor and speedy completion of the tent. That tent was certainly splendid, but, in point of fact, exceedingly simple in its construction. If we compare it with the monuments of Egyptian architecture, its relative simplicity must strike us in a much greater degree. As to the materials that were required for it, it admits of proof that the Israelites might well have been possessed of them at that time. The wilderness even might supply them with many of these things. With respect to other things, the metals, precious stones, etc, we must keep in view the condition of a people that had just come out of Egypt. History describes that country as having mercantile transactions with Asia, even from the earliest times. The people had acquired property, in part at least, in Egypt; the description in Exodus 32, leaves us no doubt as to the possessions, and even wealth, that they had gained there. They had not gone out of Egypt empty-handed, but richly provided with silver and gold, 12:36. -- "Havernick, Introd. to Pentat. Edin., 1850, pp. 284-285.

The incense altar - The golden altar, see Exo 30:1-10.

And the incense altar, and his staves,.... Which were overlaid with gold; hence this altar was called the golden altar, of which see Exodus 30:1.

and the anointing oil and sweet incense; each of which were made of various spices, see Exodus 30:23.

and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle; at the east end of it, there being there, as Jarchi observes, neither boards nor curtains; see Exodus 27:16.