Exodus 26:1 – “Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman . . . Make curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven altogether. All eleven curtains are to be the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide . . . The tent curtains will be a cubit longer on both sides; what is left will hang over the sides of the tabernacle so as to cover it. Make for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of hides of sea cows…”
TENT OF MEETING – This structure, commonly called the “Tabernacle,” contained both the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies or Most Holy Place. After passing through outer gates of the court, past the bronze altar, and bronze basin (all covered in other lessons) the priests would be standing before this Holy Place. It was made of boards overlaid with gold. Covering the gold structure were layers of curtains.
Four coverings or layers covered the Tabernacle. The first was made of ten panels of finely twisted linen in various colors adorned with embroidery. Each panel was 4 cubits x 7 cubits, 28 square cubits. They were five on each side. The second layer was eleven panels of goat hair, each 30 cubits long and 4 wide, joined together in two pieces and fastened by loops and clasps of brass. The third layer was rams’ skins dyed red, and the fourth was of sea cows or dugongs, which were not very attractive. The outer layers were larger than the innermost layers so the inner layers were completely hidden.