Matthew Henry on Exodus 25:23-30
Here is, 1. A table ordered to be made of wood overlaid with gold, which was to stand, not in the holy of holies (nothing was in that but the ark with its appurtenances), but in the outer part of the tabernacle, called the sanctuary, or holy place, Heb 9:2, Heb 9:23, etc. There must also be the usual furniture of the sideboard, dishes and spoons, etc., and all of gold, Exo 25:29. 2. This table was to be always spread, and furnished with the show-bread (Exo 25:30), or bread of faces, twelve loaves, one for each tribe, set in two rows, six in a row; see the law concerning them, Lev 24:5, etc. The tabernacle being God's house, in which he was pleased to say that he would dwell among them, he wo…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 25:24
crown--the moulding or ornamental rim, which is thought to have been raised above the level of the table, to prevent anything from falling off.
Adam Clarke on Exodus 25:23
Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood - The same wood, the acacia, of which the arkstaves, etc., were made. On the subject of the ark, table of shew-bread, etc., Dr. Cudworth, in his very learned and excellent treatise on the Lord's Supper, has the following remarks: -
"When God had brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, resolving to manifest himself in a peculiar manner present among them, he thought good to dwell amongst them in a visible and external manner; and therefore, while they were in the wilderness, and sojourned in tents, he would have a tent or tabernacle built to sojourn with them also. This mystery of the tabernacle was fully understood by the learned Nachmanides…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Exodus 25:26
And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold,.... As the ark had, and for the same use as the rings of that were, though whether cast, as they were, is not said:
and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof; as there were four feet at the four corners of the table, to each foot a ring was fastened; the use of these follows.
