ram skins dyed redIn the ancient Near Eastern context, ram skins were a valuable commodity, often used for making durable and weather-resistant coverings. The dyeing of these skins red could symbolize sacrifice and atonement, as red is often associated with blood and purification in biblical symbolism. This imagery foreshadows the sacrificial system that would be established in the Mosaic Law and ultimately points to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, whose blood was shed for the atonement of sins. The use of dyed skins also reflects the Israelites' access to skilled craftsmanship and trade, as dyeing was a complex process requiring specific resources and knowledge.
and fine leather
The term "fine leather" is sometimes translated as "badger skins" or "porpoise skins," though the exact animal is uncertain. This material was used for the outermost covering of the tabernacle, providing protection from the elements. The use of fine leather signifies the importance of durability and protection in the construction of the tabernacle, which was to be a mobile sanctuary for the Israelites during their wilderness journey. This covering can be seen as a type of Christ, who is our protector and covering, shielding us from the judgment of God through His righteousness.
acacia wood
Acacia wood, known for its durability and resistance to decay, was abundant in the Sinai region. It was used extensively in the construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings, including the Ark of the Covenant, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense. The incorruptible nature of acacia wood symbolizes the incorruptible nature of Christ, who is sinless and eternal. The use of this wood also highlights the practical aspects of God's instructions, as it was a readily available resource for the Israelites. Acacia wood's resilience and beauty serve as a reminder of the enduring and unchanging nature of God's covenant with His people.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
MosesThe leader of the Israelites who received the instructions for the Tabernacle from God on Mount Sinai.
2.
IsraelitesThe people of God who were instructed to bring offerings for the construction of the Tabernacle.
3.
TabernacleThe portable sanctuary where God would dwell among His people during their journey through the wilderness.
4.
Mount SinaiThe mountain where Moses received the law and instructions for the Tabernacle from God.
5.
Acacia WoodA durable and resistant wood used in the construction of the Tabernacle, symbolizing strength and endurance.
Teaching Points
Obedience to God's InstructionsJust as the Israelites were to follow God's specific instructions for the Tabernacle, we are called to obey God's Word in our lives.
Symbolism of MaterialsThe materials used in the Tabernacle, such as acacia wood and dyed skins, symbolize purity, strength, and the covering of sin, reminding us of Christ's redemptive work.
God's PresenceThe Tabernacle was a physical representation of God's desire to dwell among His people, encouraging us to seek His presence in our daily lives.
Generosity in GivingThe Israelites were to bring offerings willingly, teaching us the importance of giving generously and joyfully to God's work.
Preparation for WorshipThe detailed preparation for the Tabernacle underscores the importance of preparing our hearts for worship and service to God.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Exodus 25:5?
2.How does Exodus 25:5 emphasize the importance of specific materials in worship?
3.Why are "ram skins dyed red" significant in the context of the Tabernacle?
4.What connections exist between Exodus 25:5 and the sacrificial system in Leviticus?
5.How can we apply the principle of offering our best to God today?
6.In what ways does Exodus 25:5 reflect God's attention to detail in worship?
7.Why does Exodus 25:5 specify the use of ram skins dyed red for the tabernacle?
8.What is the significance of acacia wood in Exodus 25:5?
9.How do the materials listed in Exodus 25:5 reflect God's holiness?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Exodus 25?
11.Nehemiah 5:7 suggests interest-taking was widespread despite Mosaic Law prohibitions (e.g., Exodus 22:25); how can this contradiction be reconciled?
12.Amos 5:25 - How can Amos assert that Israel did not offer sacrifices in the wilderness when Exodus and Leviticus detail extensive sacrificial ordinances?
13.Exodus 25:10 - Does using acacia wood and gold overlay for the Ark raise practical or scientific concerns about weight and portability for a traveling community?
14.(Exodus 35) From a historical or archeological standpoint, where did the wandering Israelites obtain such large quantities of gold, silver, and other precious materials?What Does Exodus 25:5 Mean
Ram skins dyed redExodus 25:5 includes “ram skins dyed red.”
• Literal supply: the people brought actual rams, skinned them, and the hides were dyed a deep crimson, then spread as the second covering of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:14).
• Protective layer: as leather it kept out desert wind and rain, preserving everything beneath—an early picture of God’s preserving grace (Psalm 91:4).
• Atonement picture: rams were regularly offered for consecration and substitution (Genesis 22:13;Exodus 29:15-19). Their red-dyed hides reminded Israel of shed blood—“without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).
• Foreshadowing Christ: the ram caught in the thicket (Genesis 22:13) and these blood-colored skins both point to “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Fine leatherRight after the dyed hides the verse adds “and fine leather.”
• Outermost covering: placed above the ram skins, forming a tough, weather-proof shield (Numbers 4:25).
• Term varies in translations (badger, dolphin, goat), but the point is durability; the tabernacle was literally wrapped in God-given resilience.
• Symbolic meaning: the Lord clothes His people with lasting protection, just as He said to Jerusalem, “I made sandals of fine leather for you” (Ezekiel 16:10).
• Typology: what looked plain from the outside concealed gold and glory within—mirroring Jesus, who had “no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2) yet housed the fullness of God (Colossians 2:9).
Acacia woodThe list ends with “acacia wood.”
• Readily available in the wilderness; hard, dense, and resistant to rot—ideal for the ark, altars, and boards (Exodus 26:15-30).
• Incorruptibility: its natural resistance to decay pictures the sinless humanity of Christ, the “Holy One [who] will not see decay” (Psalm 16:10;Acts 13:35-37).
• Union of humanity and deity: acacia boards overlaid with gold (Exodus 26:29) represent Jesus’ flawless flesh joined to divine glory (John 1:14).
• Serviceable strength: acacia formed the poles used to carry the furniture (Exodus 25:13, 28), reminding believers we are called to bear His presence wherever we go (2 Corinthians 2:14-15).
summaryExodus 25:5 names three simple materials, yet each points far beyond itself. Ram skins dyed red highlight the necessity and power of atoning blood. Fine leather speaks of God’s faithful protection and the hidden majesty of Christ. Acacia wood illustrates incorruptible humanity yoked to divine glory and steady service. Literally and prophetically, these gifts equipped Israel’s tabernacle and still direct our eyes to the perfect, protective, and incorruptible Savior who dwelt—and now dwells—among His people.
(5)
Rams' skins dyed red.--North Africa has always been celebrated for the production of the best possible leather. Herodotus describes the manufacture of his own times (
Hist. iv. 189). Even at the present day, we bind our best books in
morocco.Brilliant colours always were, and still are, affected by the North African races, and their "red skins" have been famous in all ages. It is probable that the Israelites had brought with them many skins of this kind out of Egypt.
Badgers' skins.--The badger is not a native of North Africa, nor of the Arabian desert; and the translation of the Hebrewtakhashby "badger" is a very improbable conjecture. In Arabic,tukhashordukhashis the name of a marine animal resembling the seal; or, perhaps it should rather be said, is applied with some vagueness to a number of sea-animals, as seals, dugongs, dolphins, sharks, and dog-fish. The skins here spoken of are probably those of some one or more of these animals. They formed the outer covering of the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:14).
Shittim wood.--That theshittah(plural,shittim) was a species of Acacia is now generally admitted.
It was certainly not the palm; and there are no trees in the Sinaitic region from which boards could be cut (seeExodus 26:15) except the palm and the acacia. The Sinaitic acacia (A. Seyal) is a "gnarled and thorny tree, somewhat like a solitary hawthorn in its habit and manner of growth, but much larger" (Tristram). At present it does not, in the Sinaitic region, grow to suchasize as would admit of planks, ten cubits long by one and a half wide, being cut from it; but, according to Canon Tristram (Nat. Hist. Of the Bible,p. 392), it attains such a size in Palestine, and therefore may formerly have done so in Arabia. The wood is "hard and close-grained, of an orange colour with a darker heart, well adapted for cabinetwork."
Verse 5. -
And rams' skins dyed red. The manufacture of leather was well-known in Egypt from an early date, and the Libyan tribes of North Africa were celebrated for their skill in preparing and dyeing the material (Herod. 4:189). Scarlet was one of the colours which they peculiarly affected (
ibid.). We must suppose that the skins spoken of had been brought with them by the Israelites cut of Egypt.
And badgers' skins. It is generally agreed among moderns that this is a wrong translation. Badgers are found in Palestine, but not either in Egypt or in the wilderness. The Hebrew
takhash is evidently the same word as the Arabic
tukhash or
dukhash, which is applied to marine animals only, as to seals, dolphins, dugongs, and perhaps sharks and dog-fish. "Seals' skins" would perhaps be the best translation. (Compare Plin.
H.N. 2:55; Sueton.
Octav § 90.)
Shittim wood. It is generally agreed that the Shittah (plural Shittim) was an acacia, whether the seyal (
Acacia seyal) which now grows so abundantly in the Sinaitic peninsula, or the
Acacia Nilotica, or the
Serissa, is uncertain. The seyal wood is "hard and close-grained of an orange colour with a darker heart, well-adapted for cabinet work;" but the tree, as it exists nowadays, could certainly not furnish the planks, ten cubits long by one and a half wide, which were needed for the Tabernacle (
Exodus 35:21). The
Serissa might do so, but it is not now found in the wilderness. We are reduced to supposing either that the seyal grew to a larger size anciently than at present, or that the serissa was more widely spread than at the present day.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
ramאֵילִ֧ם(’ê·lim)Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 352:Strength, strong, a chief, a ram, a pilaster, an oak, strong treeskinsוְעֹרֹ֨ת(wə·‘ō·rōṯ)Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 5785:Skin, hide, leatherdyed redמְאָדָּמִ֛ים(mə·’ād·dā·mîm)Verb - Pual - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 119:Flush, turn rosyand fine leather;תְּחָשִׁ֖ים(tə·ḥā·šîm)Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 8476:Perhaps porpoise (a kind of leather or skin)acaciaשִׁטִּֽים׃(šiṭ·ṭîm)Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 7848:Acacia (a tree and a wood)wood;וַעֲצֵ֥י(wa·‘ă·ṣê)Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 6086:Tree, trees, wood
Links
Exodus 25:5 NIVExodus 25:5 NLTExodus 25:5 ESVExodus 25:5 NASBExodus 25:5 KJV
Exodus 25:5 BibleApps.comExodus 25:5 Biblia ParalelaExodus 25:5 Chinese BibleExodus 25:5 French BibleExodus 25:5 Catholic Bible
OT Law: Exodus 25:5 Rams' skins dyed red sea cow hides (Exo. Ex) 
