You Shall Have No Other Gods:
The Book of Exodus

Lesson 20 God Asks the Israelites to Make a Sanctuary
the book of Exodus 25:1—26:37

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)*
New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)*
Catechism of the Catholic Church
ex libris (in our library)
glossary for the book of Exodus
cross references in the book of Exodus
next lesson: Holy Garments for the Priests

This material coordinates with Lesson 20 on pages 97–101 in the study book You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”—the book of Exodus 20:1–6

welcome to our in-depth study of the book of Exodus
We invite interested groups and individuals to check out the sample first lesson from this 28-lesson Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study. These online study pages link to our free lesson video overviews, as well as to a glossary and cross references in the biblical text. Other study aids include maps, additional commentary, and prayers based on the primary Scripture in each lesson. You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus has been granted an imprimatur and can be purchased from our website shop. If you have a Bible-study question or comment, click on one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons on any online study page.

open with prayer
It’s always wise to begin any Bible study with prayer, whether reading the Scriptures alone or meeting with others in a discussion group. You can pray using your own words or use one of the opening prayers on our website. We especially like the following:

Lord Jesus, you promised to send your Holy Spirit to teach us all things.
As we read and study your word today,
allow it to touch our hearts and change our lives. Amen.

let’s review—the book of Exodus 23:20—24:18
In Lesson 19 The Blood of the Covenant, the LORD tells Moses exactly what the people can expect if they agree to enter into covenant with God. Since leaving Egypt, they’ve several times expressed their distrust in God’s intentions and even in God’s ability to care for and protect them. They surprisingly  agree to the terms of the covenant, calling into question whether they realize the seriousness of this  relationship with the LORD. Of interest is the LORD’s promise to send an angel who has the ability to forgive transgressions and also has God’s name. The promises the LORD makes if the people uphold his covenant represent a best-case scenario. There are no options for the people to back out of covenant, however. If they fail, the LORD will arrange for them to get back on track. This may not be pleasant for the people. Moses prepares a sacrifice, the point of which appears to be to obtain blood to sprinkle on the people. The blood, which represents life, is a sign that the people agree to the terms of the covenant. Those terms allow for them to enter eternal life—if they keep their end of things. There’s no question that the LORD will keep his end. After the Israelites agree to the covenant, a number of their leaders are invited to meet with God. Surprisingly, they’re able to see God and not die. Then Moses is called up onto the mountain where he waits 40 days before meeting with God.

what does it mean to sanctify something? (40:19)
In the video for this lesson, Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps looks at creating a separate or holy space in which people can encounter God. The tabernacle represents such a space, and it’s significant that God specifically asks that a movable tent-sanctuary be built for him rather than a permanent building. This underscores that God expects his people to be on the move. This still is true and is reflected in the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews 13:14: “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come.” Jesus demonstrates what a meeting place between humanity and divinity looks like, and in his First Letter to the Corinthians 6:19, Paul writes: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?” This section of the book of Exodus introduces the idea that God doesn’t intend for his people to get too comfortable in any one location.


The Scripture ranges for the videos that accompany this Catholic Bible study from Turning to God’s Word match the Scripture ranges for the sets of questions in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus. You can follow along as Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps discusses Lesson 20, “God Asks the Israelites to Make a Sanctuary,” on pages 97–101 in the study book.

the first thing the LORD requests
Immediately after asking the people to make valuable offerings for construction of a sanctuary, the LORD describes the way in which the ark is to be constructed. Everything holy will be related to this ark, which essentially is a gold-covered box. What makes it holy is what’s in it. In the book of Exodus 25:16, the LORD specifies that the covenant, which God is going to give to Moses carved on stone tablets, is to go inside the ark. Because of this, the ark will become known as the ark of the covenant.

what’s in the ark?
A discrepancy related to the contents of the ark occurs between what Moses is told to put into it and what’s described in the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews 9:3-5. It’s significant that the Letter to the Hebrews includes the caveat: “Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.” That author clearly is writing many years after the ark first was constructed, and it’s entirely possible that he’s relying on reports of things that were added to the ark at a later date. The ark isn’t accessible in the present day—sorry, Indiana Jones—so it’s impossible to check to see what’s in there now. Consider what the ark of the covenant was supposed to represent for the descendants of Jacob, and what might fulfill the same purpose today for Christians. You can learn more about Christian interpretation of the importance of the Old Covenant in Lesson 10 Mediator of the New Covenant in the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study The Letter to the Hebrews: An Explanation of the Mechanism of Our Salvation.

what makes things inside the tabernacle valuable?
Consider whether the requirements that the ark be covered in gold and the utensils kept nearest it be made of gold are more for the sake of God or for the Israelites.

why does the tabernacle need to be built containing layers?
The design of the tabernacle is intended to keep layers of abstraction between God and most people most of the time—not unlike the way the mountain did. The Israelites are doing away with the mountain part because God is coming down to dwell with them, but they’re keeping the separation it imposed through various layers and curtains rather than through height. Now a person goes farther in instead of going up, but the result of meeting God is the same. The closer one gets to God, the more valuable the things around the area become. Our present-day churches keep some form of this structure and division with the sanctuary and the altar area—and in most cases the sanctity surrounding the tabernacle. What is kept in the tabernacle in present-day Christian churches?

mercy—you could look it up in our archives
In this section of the book of Exodus, the lid of the container for the ark of the covenant and the earthly resting place for God is described as a “mercy seat.” Although the God of the Old Testament often is mistakenly thought of as a vengeful God in contrast to the loving God of the New Testament, there are many Old Testament references to the LORD’s mercy. To learn more about how the concept of mercy is viewed by Christians, read Lost in Translation, an online column in which Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps helps readers connect with ideas expressed in the original languages of the Scriptures. New Lost in Translation entries are posted on Mondays, and past entries are archived on our website. Contact us if you’d like to receive Lost in Translation by email every week.

what exactly is a mercy seat & why are there cherubim?
This phrase isn’t really descriptive today, but the biblical authors seem to think it means something fairly obvious. Some scholars suggest that instead of “mercy seat” the Hebrew be rendered as “atonement cover.” Possibly mercy comes about through the idea that in containing God’s presence an individualnow is able to stand to be near the ark. In the book of Genesis 3:24, the LORD places cherubim to guard the entrance to the garden. In the book of Exodus, perhaps the cherubim hover over the mercy seat to stand guard where God is present inside the ark. You can learn more about humanity being exiled from the garden of Eden in Lesson 3 The Fall of Adam & Eve in the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis.

measurements of the tabernacle
It can be difficult to visualize the tabernacle and outer court based on the instructions God gives to Moses in the book of Exodus. This has led to no small amount of scholarly dispute. The scale drawling (left) is on the back page (156) of the study book You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus. It can be enlarged by clicking on it. It’s relatively easy for biblical scholars to agree on the measurements of the outer court. The tabernacle itself is much more difficult. Part of what makes this so confusing is that the tabernacle (sometimes referred to in the book of Exodus as the tent of meeting or the holy place) that holds the ark of the covenant, the altar of incense, the table for the showbread, and the lampstand with seven lamps is made of linen but covered by a larger tent made of goats’ hair. In the book of Exodus, the area of the holy place that’s separated by a veil and contains the ark of the covenant is called the most holy place. When Solomon builds his Temple based on the layout of the tabernacle shown to Moses by God, the most holy place in the Temple is called the Holy of Holies.

Contributing to the confusion are the instructions concerning the east and west sides of the tabernacle, which end up measuring one cubit longer (10 cubits) on the outside than they do inside of the tent. The diagram on the back page of You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus shows an external measurement of 10 cubits for those sides. That measurement isn’t labeled but is accurate to scale with the rest of the diagram.

what’s a cubit?
A further factor contributing to the confusion is uncertainty about the exact length of a cubit, which in the ancient world was defined as the length from a person’s elbow to the tip of their middle finger. This measurement could vary widely—usually from approximately 17 to 19 inches. Most scholars consider a biblical cubit to represent a length of 18 inches. That would make the outer court about 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. (For comparison purposes, the size of a football field is 360 feet long and 160 feet wide.) The external measurements of the tabernacle, without considering its covering of goats’ hair, would then have been about 45 feet long and 15 feet wide.

the best Catholic commentary about Scripture
To find out more about how Church teaching is supported by Scripture passages in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus, check out the Index of Citations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Links (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE*]) to the primary Scripture passages in the lesson and relevant paragraphs in the Catechism are provided here. Not every passage in the biblical text for this Catholic study is referenced in a Catechism paragraph, however.

the book of Exodus 25:10–22—paragraph 2130
the book of Exodus 25:16—paragraph 2058
the book of Exodus 25:22—paragraph 433

ways our glossary might prove helpful
In addition to providing extra information about geographical locations, our glossary also points out when a person or place is mentioned in the biblical text under more than one name or more than one spelling. If you can remember a name but aren’t sure in which lesson it shows up, you can find it in the glossary, which lists every proper noun that appears in the biblical text for every lesson in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

to learn more, read more Scripture
If you’re having difficulty with a particular passage of Scripture, it can be helpful to read the relevant cross references—but looking these up can take time. To make that easier, we’ve compiled the cross references from the Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE)—the translation that we reprint in our study books. That list can be found at the top of every online study page accompanying this study, and it includes links to each of the cross references in the primary biblical text for You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus.

don’t forget about our indexes & extra online material
If you’re trying to locate information about a specific Scripture passage, you can look it up in the index at the back of the study book or sample lesson. If you want to find a particular commentary, you can look up its title in the topics index. To learn more about another book of the Bible for which there’s a Turning to God’s Word study, visit the online study directories to read the commentaries and watch any accompanying videos. Finally, if you have a question or would like to make a comment about any of our studies, you can use one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons to email our authors.

ex libris—Church documents & books about religious topics
Link to magisterial documents referred to in our Bible studies at ex libris—magisterial documents. This listing includes significant recent encyclicals as well as a number of historical Church documents. Recommended books related to Scripture study can be found at ex libris—main bookshelf.

wondering how to pronounce some of these words?
The following link is to a reading from the New International Version (NIV) Bible. To listen, open the link and click on the audio icon above the printed text. Although not taken from the translations used in our study materials, the NIV reading provides an audio guide to pronunciation of words in this lesson’s primary biblical text. A close online version of the translation of the Bible used in Catholic liturgy in the United States as well as an audio guide for daily Mass readings for the current month can be found on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

the book of Exodus 25:1—26:37 (NIV)

round black doveclose with Bible-based prayer related to this lesson
Many of our Catholic study groups like to conclude their discussions with a prayer based on the scriptural focus of their lesson, and some participants include Scripture-specific prayer in their individual study. If you’re uncomfortable composing your own Bible-based prayers, you can follow our four easy steps. If you prefer, you can use the following short prayer based on this lesson’s text from the book of Exodus.

Father, you asked the Israelites in the wilderness
to construct a dwelling place for you
so that you could travel with your people
as they journeyed to the Promised Land.
Allow us to make ample room for you to dwell in our hearts
on our journey to the Promised Land of heaven.
We ask this in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Lesson 21 Holy Garments for the Priests, the book of Exodus 27:1—28:43
Lesson 19 The Blood of the Covenant, the book of Exodus 23:20—24:18

you also may like our study of the Gospel According to John
The Gospel According to John: An Encounter with Grace & Truth, a 25-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, examines the Fourth Gospel’s view of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, with special emphasis on the institution of the sacraments of the Church as the means by which Christians are purified and made holy. This recently revised study includes maps and additional commentary, and takes a closer look at the way in which Jesus relates to individual men and women. Click on the book’s cover to view a sample lesson.

start a Turning to God’s Word Bible study
Thank you for your interest in You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus. Information about beginning a Turning to God’s Word Bible study can be found at start a Bible study. Tami, Matthew, and I are available to answer your questions and to offer support. You may use this email to contact us directly if you’re interested in starting a Turning to God study or in having your study schedule listed with other TtGW study groups on our website. —Jennifer

*There are seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament—the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and First and Second Maccabees, as well as some passages in the Books of Esther and Daniel. Protestants usually refer to these works as “apocryphal,” a word that means “outside the (Protestant) canon” because they’re excluded from most Protestant Bibles. The word “deuterocanonical” means “second canon”; Catholics use that word to refer to any section of the Catholic Old Testament for which there are no extant, or existing, Hebrew manuscripts. All of the deuterocanonical books appear in the Septuagint, the earliest remaining versions of which date to the 1st century B.C. This Greek translation of the Old Testament was in common use by Jews at the time of Jesus—but the same books aren’t found in existing Hebrew manuscripts, which aren’t as old as the oldest version of the Septuagint. Learn more by reading How Do Catholic & Protestant Bibles Differ?

Turning to God’s Word printed Bible studies use the 2006 Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE) translation for all Scripture references except those to the Psalms, which are taken from The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and published in 2020 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). All Scripture links for the online study pages for You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus are to the 1966 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) translation. The New International Version (NIV) audio recordings follow the same chapter and verse numbering as the RSV Catholic translations, but the NIV translation doesn’t include the deuterocanonical books and passages.

The 1966 RSVCE uses archaic pronouns and verb forms such as “thee,” “thou,” “didst” in the Psalms and in direct quotations attributed to God. The 2006 RSV2CE replaces those with more accessible English. The few significant translation changes in the RSV2CE include rendering almah as “virgin” in the Book of Isaiah 7:14 and restoring the term “begotten” in the Gospel According to John 3:16.

Numbering varies for some passages in this Bible study. Turning to God’s Word studies (print and digital) follow the numbering in the Revised Standard Version Catholic translations (RSV2CE and RSVCE). Discrepancies in the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) are noted in the Index of Scripture Citations in the study book and the online sample.

You can learn more about the Psalms by viewing a sample lesson from the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. The second part of that study, Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline, is scheduled for publication in 2025. Some verse numbers may vary in different translations of the Psalms.