Instructions for the Tabernacle Courtyard

Not every Israelite could enter the tabernacle, but only the priests, who came from Aaron’s family (see Ex. 28). Yet that did not mean that ordinary Israelites were completely barred from worshiping at the house of God. They had to bring their sacrifices to the tabernacle, where they would be offered on the altar outside the tent of meeting. There, the animals and grains would be burned, and the priests and sometimes even the worshipers would eat part of the sacrifice, depending on the offering (see, e.g., Lev. 6–7). In keeping with the fact that tent dwellers cook and eat their meals outside their tent homes, the sacrifices and eating did not occur in the tabernacle. Instead, all this occurred in the outer courtyard of the tabernacle complex, and today’s passage describes this courtyard.

We read in Exodus 27:9–19 that the courtyard was enclosed by a fence of fine linen curtains measuring one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and five cubits high (Ex. 27:18). In modern measurements, this means that the dimensions of the courtyard were 150 feet long by seventy-five feet wide, and the border was about seven and a half feet high. The tabernacle proper was about fifteen feet tall (Ex. 26:15–30), so it was visible even outside the courtyard. Pillars, probably made of acacia wood, held up the curtains that made up the courtyard fence, and these pillars were inserted into bronze bases and had silver hooks for the curtains (Ex. 27:10–15). The text does not specify the color of most of the fence, but it does say that the curtain that served as the gate of the courtyard was made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework (Ex. 27:16). Thus, it looked like the tabernacle curtains except that it did not have images of cherubim (see Ex. 26:1). Probably the curtain that served as the gate to the courtyard was closed only at night and kept open during the day for the worshipers to come and go.

The courtyard provided limited access to God’s presence, and John Calvin comments on the theological significance of the Israelites’ being able to enter the courtyard but not the tabernacle. He writes: “It is the court of the people which is here referred to, where they consecrated the victims, offered their prayers, and were reconciled to God. In this manner the condition of mankind was shown to the Israelites, by their being forbidden to enter the Temple, whilst at the same time they were reminded that men, although unworthy outcasts, are received by God, if only they seek Him simply, and with due humility, mindful of their own unworthiness.”