PeKudei Slides (pdf)
Pekudei Notes (pdf)
Overview of P’Kudai (“Accounts”) (Exodus 38:21 – 40:38)
Over the last several weeks we have seen Yehovah give Moses the instructions to construct the Tabernacle and all its furnishings. This week Moses assembled the High Priests garments. Then, starting on Nisan 1 (the first day of the New Year) Moses carefully assembled every item in the Tabernacle and also the Priestly garments. This entire process started shortly after Moses returned from his second trip up Mt Sinai Yom Kippur, and it has been completed now less than six months later! When all had been assembled, the Glory of the LORD fell on the Tabernacle. This scene sets the stage perfectly to lead into the Book of Leviticus!
And as we read the final verses of Exodus, we say, “Chazak, chazak, v’nit chazek!” “Be Strong, Be Strong and We Shall Be Strengthened!”
Chapter 38 The Accounting for the Tabernacle Project
Chapter 38 ends with Moses making an accounting of all of the materials that were used in the construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings. …just like any good project manager would do today! Please refer to the P’kudai notes to see the value of the materials in today’s prices.
Notice in Exodus 38:25-27 that the silver collected from the “ransom” of each man (Exodus 30:11-16) was used to make the sockets upon which the Tabernacle structure sat. This is a picture of the blood of Messiah (represented by the silver) is the foundation of the Body of Messiah! Everything about the Tabernacle shows us Yeshua.
Chapter 39 The High Priest’s Garments & Completion of the Tabernacle
Just as with the Tabernacle, we see here that Moses constructed the garments of the High Priest exactly as Yehovah had instructed in Exodus 28.
This chapter ends with Moses inspecting all of the work to insure it was according to Yehovah’s specifications (another function of a project manager!), and he blessed everything that had been made…just like Elohim blessed His creation in Genesis 1.
Chapter 40 Assembling the Tabernacle
Moses himself assembled the Tabernacle and all of its furnishings on the first day of the first month…less than six months after starting the project on the 15th day of the seventh month. What an amazing accomplishment…there were obviously no delays for environmental impact studies or all of the other permitting that today’s governments require!
The chapter (and the Book) ends with the kavod , the Glory of Yehovah, filling the Tabernacle so that no one could enter it. When the Glory rested, Israel camped; when the Glory started moving, Israel packed up and followed it.
The Haftarah Reading (I Kings 7:51 – 8:21)
The Haftarah reading from three weeks ago (in I Kings 6) told us of Solomon and the King of Tyre gathering the materials for the First Temple, and its completion. This week’s reading parallels the Torah Portion as it describes the consecration of the Temple, the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant, and the transfer of authority from David to Solomon. We read from I Kings 7:51 – 8:2 & 12-21:
“So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of the LORD was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD. Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the City of David, which is Zion. Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month………. Then Solomon spoke: “The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud. I have surely built You an exalted house, and a place for You to dwell in forever.” Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. And he said: “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying, ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there; but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’ Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel. But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’ So the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; and I have filled the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised; and I have built a temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel. And there I have made a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.’”
The Brit Chadashah Reading
This week’s Torah Portion concludes the construction and assembly of the Tabernacle and all its furnishings. It will house the Ark of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments, and it will also be Yehovah’s Earthly dwelling place – His apartment while He is “away from Home.” The Tabernacle will become the central point of the Aaronic (Levitical) Priesthood. But we Believers are not part of the Aaronic Priesthood – we follow our High Priest, Yeshua, of the Order of Melchizidek. And our focus is not upon the Tabernacle…but rather the New Jerusalem. We read of John’s vision of the New Jerusalem from Revelation 21:1-8:
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”