Exodus 26:33

33. Hang up the vail under the taches What taches are here meant? The only use of this word has been to describe the gold and brass hooks which were to couple the tabernacle and tent curtains . Exodus 26:6; Exodus 26:11. If these are referred to, the gold taches of Exodus 26:6 would be most naturally understood, and the vail that separated the two holy places would have hung directly under the coupling of the great tabernacle-cloth . This again would indicate that the sanctuary was divided into two rooms of equal size, which appears to be contrary to all tradition . There seems, however, no insuperable objection to making these taches identical with the hooks mentioned in the preceding verse . There is nothing in the immediate context to suggest the taches of the tabernacle curtain, mentioned Exodus 26:6; so that, if they were intended, there should have been added here some qualifying word . In the absence of such word the most natural reference seems to be to the hooks ( ווים ) just mentioned . The innermost room formed by this dividing vail was the appointed place for the ark of the testimony, (see Exodus 25:10-22, notes,) and was known as the most holy, or, more literally, the holy of holies . Like “the oracle,” the corresponding apartment in the temple, it has been commonly supposed to have been in the form of a perfect cube, (see 1 Kings 6:20, note,) and this is believed to have prompted the description of “the holy Jerusalem” in Revelation 21:16.