Exodus 36 · a question people ask
Why does Exodus describe the tabernacle all over again?
Exodus doesn't give a reason. What it does is show the commands kept, one by one, and then say so: "According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work" (39:42). The second telling isn't a copy, though. In the LORD's instructions, the making began at the centre, with the ark (25:10), and the tabernacle's curtains came after (26:1). The making begins with the tabernacle (36:8), and the ark comes next: "Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood" (37:1). Moses' list when he called the workers starts the same way, with "the tabernacle, its outer covering" (35:11) and then "the ark, and its poles" (35:12).
The verses
“According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work.”
““They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.”
““Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. You shall make them with the work of a skillful workman.”
“All the wise-hearted men among those who did the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet. They made them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.”