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Composition in the Wilderness |
by David Bowman
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The first architecture described in the Bible is the Tabernacle (Heb: MShKN, Mishkan, another name used is Heb: AHL, Eleh, tent), a simple portable sanctuary described twice in Exodus (Exo 26, 36), that could be disassembled and re-erected elsewhere. The descrption of the Tabernacle comes directly from It was composed of simple wooden boards and different coverings or curtains. The Tabernacle consisted of two rooms: the hall, and the cubical oracle containing the ark of covenant. This disposition was also exactly reproduced in later Temple of Solomon.
A symbolic nature of this proto-composition is reflected also in the name of the appointed architect in charge for the construction. The gematric value of Heb: BTzLAL, Betzalel (translated as "in the shade of the Lord") is the 17th trianguar number, 153. This number is also mentioned in the New Testament, counting the number of fishes in the net that Simon Peter drew from the sea of Tiberias (Joh 21:11).
Exo 26:15 And thou shalt make boards for
the tabernacle [of] shittim wood standing up.
Exo 26:16 Ten cubits [shall be] the length of a board,
and a cubit and a half [shall be] the breadth of one board.
Exo 26:18 And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty
boards on the south side southward.
Exo 26:20 And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side [there
shall be] twenty boards:
Exo 26:22 And for the sides of the tabernacle westward thou shalt make six boards.
Exo 26:23 And two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle
in the two sides. |
The basic framework of the Tabernacle is a completely modular composition, made of shittim wood boards, ten cubits high, and 1.5 cubits wide. There are 20 boards for the south and north side, which makes the total length of 30 cubits. Westward side is made of six boards or 9 cubits, together with the supposed width of the side boards of 1/2 of a cubit makes a total of 10 cubits. The composition is therefore very simple - 3:1:1 - just the three cubes.
Eleven curtains of goats' hair produce an overall covering of 30 x 44 cubits. Forty-four written in Hebrew is DM, which is also a word for "blood", and 44 cubits of seven spans is also 77 feet, which is a gematrical value of OZ, he-goat.
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Three cubes outline main dimensions of Tabernacle |
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| Eze 40:5 And behold a wall on the outside of
the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits
[long] by the cubit and an hand breadth: so he measured
the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed. |
A regular cubit consists of six hand-breadths, while Ezekiel describes a cubit, which is seven hand-breadths long, usually called a sacred cubit. If we translate the main dimensions of the Tabernacle from cubits into hand-breadths (h.b.), we calculate 70 h.b. for the width and 210 h.b for the length of composition. Both dimensions added 70 + 210 = 280, wile the diagonal of this rectagle is if taken rounded 220 h.b.. Both numbers come from the main dimensions of the Great Pyramid: the base is 440, and the height is 280 royal cubits.
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