Sacred Furniture [45:57m]:
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Exodus 37:1-29 [+/-]Exodus 37
[37:1]Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits
and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth,
and a cubit and a half its height. [2]And he overlaid it
with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of
gold around it. [3]And he cast for it four rings of gold
for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings
on its other side. [4]And he made poles of acacia wood and
overlaid them with gold [5]and put the poles into the rings
on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. [6]And he made a
mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its
length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. [7]And he made
two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the
two ends of the mercy seat, [8]one cherub on the one end,
and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the
mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. [9]The
cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the
mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to
another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the
cherubim.
[10]He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits
was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half
its height. [11]And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made
a molding of gold around it. [12]And he made a rim around
it a handbreadth wide, and made a molding of gold around
the rim. [13]He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened
the rings to the four corners at its four legs. [14]Close
to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to
carry the table. [15]He made the poles of acacia wood to
carry the table, and overlaid them with gold. [16]And he
made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table,
its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and
flagons with which to pour drink offerings.
[17]He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the
lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups,
its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it.
[18]And there were six branches going out of its sides,
three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and
three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of
it; [19]three cups made like almond blossoms, each with
calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like
almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other
branch--so for the six branches going out of the lampstand.
[20]And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like
almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, [21]and a
calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six
branches going out of it. [22]Their calyxes and their
branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a
single piece of hammered work of pure gold. [23]And he made
its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold.
[24]He made it and all its utensils out of a talent of pure
gold.
[25]He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its
length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was
square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of
one piece with it. [26]He overlaid it with pure gold, its
top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a
molding of gold around it, [27]and made two rings of gold
on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as
holders for the poles with which to carry it. [28]And he
made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
[29]He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure
fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer. (ESV)
Most of us have something like this in our houses: that piece or pieces of furniture that have special, almost sacred significance. In some cases it may be structure of the piece that makes it special but in most cases it is the stories behind them. We have those pieces of furniture in several places in our house and behind each one of them is a story that is rich in importance to us. Four pieces of furniture in our family have been handed down through multiple generations to the eldest son. One of those pieces is our dining room table that is by now tattered and torn but I never sit at that table without having memories both made and made up from experiences around this table. Made from what I can remember and made up from people from the past that sat at this table whom have not seen and do not know. We all have something like that in our homes that are part of who we are here and now but tie us to what has come before us. They remind us that we are not the first ones to perform upon this stage nor will we be the last; those items in our dining room will be passed on to our son.
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