Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Exodus 38:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Within Exodus 38:1–8, 38:1 contributes “And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth…,” so the line belongs to “Bezalel Makes Bronze Altar and Basin” rather than an isolated slogan.
Read It With
- Exodus 38:1–8
Read Exodus 38:1 with 38:1–8. Within Exodus 38:1–8, 38:1 contributes “And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth…,” so the line belongs to “Bezalel Makes Bronze Altar and Basin” rather than an isolated slogan. The whole unit shows: The burnt-offering altar, utensils, grate, rings, and poles are completed, and women's mirrors become the bronze basin at the tent entrance.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The bronze altar and basin bring earlier approach-and-washing instructions into completed material form. Within the book's larger movement, this unit makes the following contribution: The burnt-offering altar, utensils, grate, rings, and poles are completed, and women's mirrors become the bronze basin at the tent entrance. At 38:1, the wording “And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth…” makes this verse's contribution precise. Within Exodus 38:1–8, 38:1 contributes “And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth…,” so the line belongs to “Bezalel Makes Bronze Altar and Basin” rather than an isolated slogan.
What Remains True
Because Exodus 38:1 contributes “And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth…” to “Bezalel Makes Bronze Altar and Basin,” its proportionate enduring truth is: Materials, design, skilled labor, boundaries, and willing gifts are ordered toward the stated purpose of divine presence among the people.
How It Can Shape Life
- At Exodus 38:1, the line “And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth…” serves this contextual meaning: The burnt-offering altar, utensils, grate, rings, and poles are completed, and women's mirrors become the bronze basin at the tent entrance. The bounded action is: A proportionate application of “Bezalel Makes Bronze Altar and Basin” is this: For any sacred or public project, trace the purpose through budget, sourcing, labor credit, accessibility, craftsmanship, maintenance, and limits on leaders' benefit.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Exodus 38:1–8 — Bezalel Makes Bronze Altar and BasinSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Exodus 38:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 38:1–8
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12
Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 38:1–8
Open source ↗