The west end was fifty cubits wide and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. The east end, toward the sunrise, was also fifty cubits wide. Curtains fifteen cubits long were on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, and curtains fifteen cubits long were on the other side of the entrance to the courtyard, with three posts and three bases. All the curtains around the courtyard were of finely twisted linen. The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver; so all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands. Exodus 38:12-17

When God communicated the dimensions of the tabernacle, a portable temple for the Israelites in the wilderness, he was very precise with the dimensions, the materials and the assembly of all the items.  Why?

EXCELLENCE: First of all, the tabernacle needed to be made with excellence. Cutting corners and using substandard materials would reflect a lack of reverence for God.

PORTABILITY: The tabernacle practically needed to assemble and disassemble quickly when God called them to move and to stop in the wilderness. It snapped together so well because it was made with precision.

OBEDIENCE: God also tested their obedience. If the Israelites followed these instructions, they could follow other instructions about how to live their life.

PRECISION: God is very precise when it comes to other things, like sin. There are no gray areas. He doesn’t ask us to do the best we can and get most of the commandments right. We have to be perfect as he is perfect. When Romans says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, it is a matter of inches and feet. . .and it makes all the difference.

NOTE: The tabernacle was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and weighed in with 2,193 pounds of gold, 7,544 pounds of silver and 5,310 pounds of bronze.