Context No. 88 of 4322 · Numbers
Context · Reflection
Numbers 4:24-28: in context
24“This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens: 25they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, the covering of sealskin that is on it, the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, 26the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the gate of the court which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. They shall serve in there. 27At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities. 28This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Numbers assigns each Levite family its share of carrying the tabernacle whenever Israel breaks camp. An earlier reading in this series gave Merari the frame, the boards and bars and sockets. This passage gives the Gershonites the soft goods: the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent and its coverings, the screen at the door, the hangings of the courtyard, the screen at the gate, and all the cords.
Fabric and rope. The Kohathites carried the ark and the holy vessels, which is the assignment anyone would want. Gershon carried the tent itself, the walls of the thing, and the cords that held it upright in the wind. Their work was done under the direction of Aaron's son Ithamar, and the text says their whole burden was to be assigned to them by name.
The tabernacle was a tent, so the curtains were not decoration around the sanctuary. They were the sanctuary's walls. Someone had to fold them, load them, carry them across the desert, and set them up again at the next stop, and that person was never going to be described as handling anything holy. What in my life is being held up by someone whose contribution would not be listed if I described the thing to a stranger?
Sources
- Numbers 4:21-28: the Gershonites assigned the curtains, coverings, screens, and cords
- Numbers 4:1-20 and 4:29-33: the Kohathites carrying the holy objects and Merari the frame
- Exodus 26: the curtains and coverings that formed the walls of the tabernacle