Exodus 36: Moses Called Bezalel and Crew
2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work. 3 And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning.
God called Bezalel and Aholiab by name (Exodus 31:2; 35:30). And thus it is for all of the baptized, redeemed of God, in the Christian era. "But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;’" (Isaiah 43:1-3)
Then Moses called them along with "every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work.” "Those are to be called to the building of the gospel tabernacle, whom God has by his grace made in some measure fit for the work, and free to it: ability and willingness, with resolution, are the two things to be regarded in the call of ministers." (Wesley Notes)
God called them, and qualified them by His Spirit. Here Moses called them…Some see here the sending out by the church. “See Acts 13:1-3. Ministers also must have an outward calling too, [Hebrews 5:4] and be sent ere they preach. [Romans 10:15] And whereas in 1 Corinthians 14:31 it is said, 'Ye may all prophecy,' the meaning is, All ye that are prophets, may. 'But are all prophets?.' [1 Corinthians 12:29]." (Trapp)
"Doth not this call of Moses correspond to the gospel call? 2 Timothy 1:9."(Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
"He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,"
But it is likely that it is only meant that "Moses summoned Bezaleel, Aholiab, and their chief assistants, into his presence, and committed to them the offerings which he had received from the people (Exodus 36:3)—the gold, the silver, the bronze, the shittim wood, the thread, the goats’ hair, the rams’ skins, the seals’ skins, the precious stones, the oil, the spices, &c. 'They received of Moses all the offering that had been hitherto brought.'"(Ellicott's Commentary)
4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, 5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which Yahweh commanded us to do.”
6 So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much.
Oh that we all were called of God and anointed of His Spirit, before being commissioned for a particular office of the church. “It is hard to say which is most to be wondered at, the great liberality of the people in contributing so freely and bountifully, and continuing to do so without being urged, or even asked; or the honesty of the workmen, one and all, who might have gone on to have received the gifts of the people by the hands of Moses, and what was superfluous might have converted to their own use; but instead of this, they agree as one man to let Moses know how the state of things was, and prevent the people from making any more contributions.” (Gill’s Exposition)
Exodus 36: Building the Tabernacle
8 Then all the gifted artisans among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen, and of blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim they made them. 9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the curtains were all the same size. 10 And he coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11 He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set; likewise he did on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. 12 Fifty loops he made on one curtain, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain on the end of the second set; the loops held one curtain to another. 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle.
14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains were the same size. 16 He coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 17 And he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain of the second set. 18 He also made fifty bronze clasps to couple the tent together, that it might be one. 19 Then he made a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red, and a covering of badger skins above that.
20 For the tabernacle he made boards of acacia wood, standing upright. 21 The length of each board was ten cubits, and the width of each board a cubit and a half. 22 Each board had two tenons for binding one to another. Thus he made for all the boards of the tabernacle. 23 And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. 24 Forty sockets of silver he made to go under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. 25 And for the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards 26 and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. 27 For the west side of the tabernacle he made six boards. 28 He also made two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. 29 And they were coupled at the bottom and coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus he made both of them for the two corners. 30 So there were eight boards and their sockets—sixteen sockets of silver—two sockets under each of the boards.
31 And he made bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle on the far side westward. 33 And he made the middle bar to pass through the boards from one end to the other. 34 He overlaid the boards with gold, made their rings of gold to be holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.
35 And he made a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen; it was worked with an artistic design of cherubim. 36 He made for it four pillars of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four sockets of silver for them.
37 He also made a screen for the tabernacle door, of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver, 38 and its five pillars with their hooks. And he overlaid their capitals and their rings with gold, but their five sockets were bronze.
This and the next chapter are "an account of the making of the tabernacle, its curtains, coverings, boards, sockets, and bars, the vail for the most holy place, and the hangings for the tabernacle, exactly as they are ordered to be made…” (John Gill) in Exodus 26, after the pattern of the "true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man." (Hebrews 8:2)
"Let no man look upon this and the following chapter as an idle repetition; nor say, as one said once,... Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus. ['Even good old Homer nods.'] But know that here is set forth a table, index, or inventory, of what Moses and the workmen did in obedience to God’s command, for every particular about the sanctuary. This inventory was taken by Ithamar, at the commandment of Moses,... and so laid up in the charter house of the Church for the use of posterity.” (John Trapp)
"It needs God's inspiring wisdom to teach a man to build a earthly temple [after the Heavenly pattern], just as it needs God's grace to make a builder of the true temple, or to fit a Christian for any of the duties and responsibilities of the Christian character. God inspired Bezalel and Aholiab with understanding to work; inspired Joshua with bravery and wisdom to fight; inspired Moses with instruction from on high to lay down plans; he inspired evangelist to write, apostles to preach. Every grace and gift is from above, even from the Father and Fountain of all wisdom and of all light. The word 'wise-hearted,' applied to those that worked, corresponds more probably to another word now employed; we say, a 'skilled labor,' meaning one who is not only a clever laborer, but one who knows the subject of the work, or trade, or handicraft, in which he is employed." (John Cumming)