Hebrews 9:2

2. A tabernacle Or tent, yet a different term in the Hebrew from the ordinary word for tent; as if the word became consecrated to this sacred tent. It was the temporary travelling temple during the wilderness age, subsequently replaced by the temple of Solomon at Jerusalem. Note on Matthew 21:12.

The first There were two apartments to the tabernacle; the front one, curtained by the veil, (instead of a door,) which was called the sanctuary, or the holy place, or the holy. In this apartment our apostle enumerates three furnishings.

The candlestick The candelabrum, or chandelier, fully described in Exodus 25:31-40. It consisted of a central shaft, erected on a base, with three arms or branches extending on each of its two sides, thus forming the sacred number seven. On the summit of shaft and of each arm was a lamp, thus giving to the holy place a sevenfold light. Into the lamps every evening was poured pure olive oil to the amount of about two wine glasses full each, and the wicks, made of cotton, were lighted by the priests. In Solomon’s temple the number of chandeliers was increased to ten, but in the Herodian temple the number again was one.

This last chandelier was carried by Titus to Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem; and there is still extant a representation of it in the triumphal “Arch of Titus” in that city. The ordinary reckoning of the three furnishings of the holy place was, the table, the altar of incense, and the candlestick; our apostle postpones the altar to the holy of holies, and reckons the table and bread as two.

The table Made (Exodus 25:23-30) of the durable shittim wood, or acacia, overlaid with pure gold. It was two cubits long, a cubit broad, and a cubit and a half high, with rings for the insertion of bars for carrying: and with its furniture of dishes, bowls, and spoons, was of pure gold.

Showbread Hebrews, the bread of faces; that is, the “presence bread,” or bread before the face of the divine Resident between the cherubim. The Greek phrase in full, here, signifies the setting forth of the bread; meaning, not the act but the position of the bread, as set forth, or presented before the present Jehovah. By Luther it was translated schau brode; whence our English showbread, indicating its exhibition or presentation before God. There were twelve loaves, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel. They were placed in double rows of six, and were renewed every week; those of the previous being eaten by the priests in the holy place, from which it was unlawful to remove them.

Sanctuary The Greek αγια , sanctuary, or holy place, is the same word as in Hebrews 9:1, (in a different grammatical number,) and as is rendered holiest in Hebrews 9:8.