The Mishqan and the Aron Qodesh

 

When I read the daily aliyah this morning, something caught my eye. It was Sh'mot 36:9:

אֹ֜רֶךְ הַיְרִיעָ֣ה הָֽאַחַ֗ת שְׁמֹנֶ֤ה וְעֶשְׂרִים֙ בָּֽאַמָּ֔ה וְרֹ֙חַב֙ אַרְבַּ֣ע בָּֽאַמָּ֔ה הַיְרִיעָ֖ה הָאֶחָ֑ת מִדָּ֥ה אַחַ֖ת לְכׇל־הַיְרִיעֹֽת׃

The length of each cloth was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each cloth was four cubits, all cloths having the same measurements

Mathematics is not my forte, but with the help of Google, I managed to work out that 28 cubits is 12.8 metres and 4 cubits is 1.8 metres. This is the length and width of each of the 10 curtains for the outer wall of the mishqan, so there we have aproximately 51 metres of length for the tabernacle in the wilderness. So because we know that the mishqan was oblong in shape and not square - I think - let's take 1 metre for the back of the structure, leaving us with 25 metres of length for the two long sides of the tabernacle, as the front curtain was made seperately.

    I could very well have the horse backwards here, but the thing that struck me was the sheer SIZE of the mishqan. I haven't looked closely at the measurements before, but HaShem pointed them out to me this morning. Even if I have my calculations wrong, this structure is much bigger than it's been in my mind for many years!

    In addition, I remembered something I had read on Yodeya about the Ark of the Covenant being exactly the same size as the Holy of Holies, even though the Torah says there were 10 cubits of space on each side of it, so I went looking for it and found it. Here it is:

Here is the link as well, in case you're interested:

https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/136881/what-would-distance-measurements-in-the-holy-of-holies-have-been

    The details of the construction of the mishqan and its furnishings have never had me so engrossed before. It is so fascinating to consider that the Ark of the Covenant took up no real space in the Holy of Holies. This idea lends itself to thoughts of the inner sanctuary in the wilderness - as indeed, the Temple Mount also - being a sort of portal to the heavenlies, as stated by Jacob our Father on his way to Paran: "Surely, this is the gate to the heavens".

    We've been reading that for years without giving it another, deeper thought. At least I have. Not any more.