Curtains

How Nave’s arranged it

• For the tabernacleExodus 26Exodus 27:9–18Exodus 36:8–18
• In the palace of AhasuerusEsther 1:6
• See Tabernacle
• See Tapestry
• FIGURATIVEIsaiah 40:22Isaiah 54:2Jeremiah 4:20Jeremiah 10:20Jeremiah 49:29

The passages, in Bible order (9)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 9 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Exodus 26:1

   “You are to construct the tabernacle itself with ten curtains of finely spun linen, each with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and cherubim skillfully worked into them.

   ›Commentary on Exodus 26:11 voice

   “(Compare Exo. 36:8-33.) The tabernacle was to comprise three main parts, the tabernacle Exo 26:1-6, more strictly so-called, its tent Exo 26:7-13, and its covering Exo 26:14 (Compare Exo 35:11; Exo 39:33-34; Exo 40:19, Exo 40:34; Num 3:25, etc.). These parts are very clearly distinguished in the Hebrew, but they are confounded in many places of the English Version (see Exo 26:7, Exo 26:9, etc.).

   Everything gathered on Exodus 26:1→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Exodus 27:9–18

   You are also to make a courtyard for the tabernacle. On the south side of the courtyard make curtains of finely spun linen, a hundred cubits long on one side,

   ›Commentary on Exodus 27:9–181 voice

   “The court of the tabernacle - (Compare Exo 38:9-20) Exo 27:9 The south side southward - The south side on the right. See Exo 26:18. Exo 27:10 Sockets - Bases. See Exo 26:19. Fillets - Rather, Connecting rods; curtain-rods of silver connecting the heads of the pillars. The hangings were attached to the pillars by the silver hooks; but the length of the space between the pillars would render it most probable that they were also in some way fastened to these rods. Exo 27:13 The east side eastward - On the front side eastward.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 27:9–18→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Exodus 36:8–18

   All the skilled craftsmen among the workmen made the ten curtains for the tabernacle. They were made of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim skillfully worked into them.

   ›Commentary on Exodus 36:8–182 voices

   “This house was not made of timber or stone, but of curtains curiously embroidered and coupled together. This served to typify the state of the church in this world, the palace of God's kingdom among men. Though it is upon the earth, yet its foundation is not in the earth, as that of a house is; no, Christ's kingdom is not of this world, nor founded in it.

   “Cherubims of cunning work - See on Exo 25:18 (note). Probably the word means no more than figures of any kind wrought in the diaper fashion in the loom, or by the needle in embroidery, or by the chisel or graving tool in wood, stone, or metal; see Clarke on Exo 25:18 (note). This meaning Houbigant and other excellent critics contend for.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 36:8–18→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Esther 1:6

   Hangings of white and blue linen were fastened with cords of fine white and purple material to silver rings on the marble pillars. Gold and silver couches were arranged on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and other costly stones.

   ›Commentary on Esther 1:62 voices

   “Where were white, green, and blue hangings,.... Or curtains of fine linen, as the Targum, which were of these several colours; the first letter of the word for "white" is larger than usual, to denote the exceeding whiteness of them. The next word is "carpas", which Ben Melech observes is a dyed colour, said to be green.

   “White, green, and blue hangings - It was customary, on such occasions, not only to hang the place about with elegant curtains of the above colors, as Dr. Shaw and others have remarked, but also to have a canopy of rich stuffs suspended on cords from side to side of the place in which they feasted. And such courts were ordinarily paved with different coloured marbles, or with tiles painted, as above specified. And this was the origin of the Musive or Mosaic work, well known among the Asiatics, and borrowed from them by the Greeks and the Romans.

   Everything gathered on Esther 1:6→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Isaiah 40:22

   He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 40:222 voices

   “It is he--rather, connected with last verse, "Have ye not known?"--have ye not understood Him that sitteth . . .? (Isa 40:26) [MAURER]. circle--applicable to the globular form of the earth, above which, and the vault of sky around it, He sits.

   “(Vers. 21 seqq.) Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? He sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He spreads out the heavens like nothing, and expands them as a tent to dwell in. He makes secret things known as if they were not. He has made the rulers of the earth as nothing. They are not planted, nor are they sown, nor do their roots take hold in the earth.

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 40:22→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Isaiah 54:2

   “Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 54:22 voices

   “Enlarge the place of thy tent - The same idea occurs in Isa 49:19-20 (see the notes at that chapter). The curtains of thy habitations. The word ‘curtain’ does not quite express the sense here. It is commonly with us used to denote the cloth hanging round. a bed or at a window, which may be spread or drawn aside at pleasure, or the hanging in theaters to conceal the stage from the spectators.

   “Let us come to spiritual understanding. He who is in a tabernacle does not possess a firm and permanent dwelling; but he always changes places and hastens to go further, saying in the psalm: 'I will pass to the place of the wonderful tabernacle' (Ps. XLI, 5), forgetting the things that are past and extending himself into the future, until he reaches the reward of the heavenly calling. We read about this tabernacle and in another place: How lovely are your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 54:2→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Jeremiah 4:20

   Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.

   ›Commentary on Jeremiah 4:202 voices

   THE sorrow of the weeping prophet was exceeding heavy when he uttered these words of bitter lamentation. A great and present burden from the Lord is weighing so heavily upon our hearts this morning, that we cannot spare so much as a moment for sympathy with the griefs of past ages. God has visited our land, and his strokes have been exceeding hard. We are constrained to take up a wailing, and cry aloud, “Suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.”

   “(Verse 19, 20.) My belly, my belly is in pain: the feelings of my heart are troubled within me. I will not be silent because my soul has heard the sound of the trumpet, the cry of battle. Destruction upon destruction is called out, and the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in an instant. When we stood by Symmachus, we were troubled, and in Hebrew it is written, Homa (); the Septuagint and Theodotion used the word μαιμάσσει, which I do not know the meaning of to this day.

   Everything gathered on Jeremiah 4:20→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Jeremiah 10:20

   My tent is destroyed, and all its ropes are snapped. My sons have departed from me and are no more. I have no one left to pitch my tent or set up my curtains.

   ›Commentary on Jeremiah 10:201 voice

   “(Verse 20.) My tent has been devastated, all my ropes have been torn (or all my skins have been ripped), my sons have left me (or my sheep), and there is no one left ((Alternatively: remaining)): there is no one to extend my tent any further (or there is no place beyond my tent) and to set up my skins. Jerusalem laments the ease with which its city is overthrown, not by walls and fortifications completely destroyed, but by the removal of tents and tabernacles. The tabernacle, he says, that is, my dwelling, was suddenly taken away.

   Everything gathered on Jeremiah 10:20→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Jeremiah 49:29

   They will take their tents and flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. They will take their camels for themselves. They will shout to them: ‘Terror is on every side!’

   ›Commentary on Jeremiah 49:292 voices

   “Curtains - The hangings of the tents. Fear is on every side - Magor-missabib (see Jer 6:25 note); a cry, indicating the panic which followed the unexpected onset of the enemy.

   “No marvel there are fears on every side when there are foes on every side. What they have will be a prey to the Chaldeans; they shall take to themselves their curtains and vessels; though they are but plain and coarse, and they have better of their own, yet they shall take them for spite, and spoil for spoiling sake.

   Everything gathered on Jeremiah 49:29→

   Verse page →Original language →