Catholic Commentary
The Outer Coverings of the Tabernacle
14He made curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the tabernacle. He made them eleven curtains.15The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits the width of each curtain. The eleven curtains had one measure.16He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.17He made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the coupling, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which was outermost in the second coupling.18He made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together, that it might be a unit.19He made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.
Exodus 36:14–19 describes the construction of the goat-hair curtains and outer coverings for the Tabernacle, including eleven goat-hair curtains joined with bronze clasps, topped with ram-skin and sea-cow-hide coverings. These outer layers progress from plain and utilitarian to increasingly refined materials, with the asymmetrical arrangement of the goat-hair curtains specifically designed to create an entrance overhang, demonstrating precise obedience to divine architectural specifications.
God conceals his glory in the plain, the ordinary, the unremarkable—a spatial parable that teaches us to look inward, not outward, to find him.
Commentary
Exodus 36:14 — The Tent of Goats' Hair The first and innermost of the outer coverings is made from goats' hair — a coarser, more utilitarian material than the finely woven linen of the inner curtains (cf. Ex 36:8–13). This covering is called the "tent" (ohel) proper in the Hebrew, distinguishing it from the inner "dwelling" (mishkan). Goats' hair was a traditional material for Bedouin tent-making in the ancient Near East, associating this layer with Israel's nomadic life in the wilderness. The number eleven is significant: the inner linen curtains numbered ten, while the goat-hair curtains number eleven — one extra to create an overlap that folds back over the entrance, partially draping down the front, as God later specifies (Ex 26:9). This architectural detail signals intentional, ordered design rather than improvisation.
Exodus 36:15 — Uniformity of Dimension Each curtain measures thirty cubits by four cubits (approximately 45 feet by 6 feet). The uniformity — "the eleven curtains had one measure" — is theologically resonant: the house of God is characterized by harmony, proportion, and unity. Nothing is mismatched or irregular. This mirrors the moral and liturgical order God desires of his people: the sameness of measure speaks to equality of devotion and the absence of carelessness in sacred work.
Exodus 36:16 — The Grouping of Five and Six Unlike the inner linen curtains (coupled as two sets of five), the goats' hair curtains are divided into a set of five and a set of six. The asymmetry is functional: the extra curtain in the second set creates the overhang at the entrance. Bezalel follows the divine instructions precisely (cf. Ex 26:9), demonstrating that the Spirit-filled craftsman (Ex 35:31) works not from personal creativity but from faithful reception of the divine word. The Church Fathers saw in this obedient craftsmanship a model for priestly ministry.
Exodus 36:17 — Fifty Loops Fifty loops are made along the outermost edge of each group, mirroring exactly the construction of the inner linen curtains (Ex 36:11–12). The number fifty in Scripture often signals completion, jubilee, and the fullness of divine gift (cf. Lev 25:10–11; Acts 2:1). The loops are positioned precisely at the joining point — they are instruments of unity, not ornament. They face each other across the seam, waiting to be clasped together.
Exodus 36:18 — Fifty Bronze Clasps: Unity from Multiplicity Where the inner curtains are joined by gold clasps (Ex 36:13), the goat-hair tent is joined by bronze — a harder, more resilient metal associated with strength and endurance. The express purpose is stated: "that it might be a unit" (echad). This echo of Israel's foundational monotheistic confession (Deut 6:4, "the LORD is one") in a constructional context is striking. The entire tent, though composed of many pieces of varying dimensions, becomes one thing through the clasps. The Fathers and later scholastics would see here an image of the Church: many members, one Body.
Exodus 36:19 — The Double Outer Shell: Rams' Skins and Sea Cow Hides Two final coverings complete the Tabernacle's exterior. Ram skins dyed red (me'oddamim, from adom, red/reddened) form the penultimate layer. The ram recalls the sacrificial animal of the burnt offering and of the binding of Isaac (Gen 22:13), and the red dye — likely produced from the animal's own blood or a red mordant — reinforces the sacrificial connotation. The outermost layer of tahash hides (translated variously as "sea cow," "dugong," "badger," or "fine leather") is the most debated material in the passage. Whatever its precise identification, it is the plainest, most undistinguished exterior layer — a deliberately unremarkable face presented to the world, masking the radiant glory within.
The Typological Arc The layered structure moves from plain without to glorious within: rough hide → blood-red rams' skin → goats' hair → linen embroidered with cherubim. This inward ascent from drab to resplendent is a spatial parable of divine revelation: God is not found on the surface. Origen (Homilies on Exodus) and Jerome saw the layers as figures of the spiritual journey — the outer coverings represent the literal/historical sense of Scripture, while the embroidered inner curtains represent the allegorical and mystical senses awaiting those who enter further in. The Tabernacle's hiddenness thus mirrors the hiddenness of Christ in the world: outwardly unremarkable ("no beauty that we should desire him," Is 53:2), yet containing within the fullness of the Godhead.
Catholic Commentary
Catholic tradition reads the layered coverings of the Tabernacle as a rich figure of multiple theological realities, held together by the Church's four-sense method of interpretation.
The Incarnation and the Hiddenness of God. The plain exterior of sea cow hide, yielding inward to gold and embroidered glory, is a type of the Incarnation: the eternal Word took on the "covering" of human flesh, appearing to the world as an ordinary man from Nazareth. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "the Word became flesh to be our model of holiness" (CCC 459), and that this condescension involved a real concealment of divine glory beneath human weakness. St. John Chrysostom wrote that God veils his majesty precisely so that humanity might approach him without being annihilated.
The Church and Her Sacraments. The unity achieved by the bronze clasps — making many curtains "one" — anticipates the ecclesiology of Ephesians 4:4–6. The Catechism affirms: "The Church is one because of her source… this mystery of unity is already present in the assembly of Israel" (CCC 813). The Tabernacle's unity is thus a proto-ecclesiological sign.
The Sacrificial Dimension. The ram skins dyed red directly prefigure the sacrificial blood of Christ. The Council of Trent (Session XXII) and CCC 1366 teach that the Eucharist is the unbloody renewal of Calvary. The blood-red covering over the Tabernacle — the dwelling of God — proclaims that access to God has always been mediated through sacrifice.
Sacred Liturgy. Vatican II's Sacrosanctum Concilium (§2) teaches that the liturgy is the privileged place of encounter with God. The Tabernacle's graduated architecture, moving from exterior plainness to interior splendor, supports the Church's tradition that liturgical space and vestments should reflect the progressive mystery of approach to the Holy — "full, conscious, and active participation" is a movement inward, not merely outward.
For Today
The layered coverings of the Tabernacle challenge a contemporary Catholic tendency to mistake visibility for value, and plainness for absence. In a media-saturated world that equates glamour with significance, the Tabernacle reminds us that God habitually hides himself in the ordinary: in water, bread, wine, and oil; in the unremarkable exterior of a parish church; in the poor person who stands before us. The deliberate drabness of the outer hide is an invitation to cultivate the habit of looking inward and deeper.
Practically, this passage speaks to how Catholics approach the Mass. The elaborate vestments and vessels of the liturgy are not the outermost layer — they are already the inner sanctum. What appears to the world as a routine Sunday gathering conceals an encounter with the living God. The discipline of arriving prepared, observing silence, and attending to the liturgy with sober intentionality is the spiritual equivalent of passing through the Tabernacle's coverings. The question these verses pose is concrete: Am I content to remain at the level of the outer hides — the aesthetic surface of religion — or am I pressing inward toward the embroidered cherubim and the Mercy Seat?
Cross-References