Thirteen Gifts of the Tabernacle Repay God's Adornments in Egypt

"And this is the priestly offering that you shall take from them" (etc.), "and blue, and purple" (etc.), "and rams' skins" (etc.), "oil for the light" (etc.) (Exodus 25:3, 4, 5, 6). Rabbi Judah bar Rabbi Simon said: Do not suppose that you are repaying Me with thirteen things, corresponding to the thirteen things that I set apart for you in Egypt. And these are they: "And I clothed you with embroidery, and shod you with tachash-skin, and I girded you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk. And I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring upon your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a crown of glory upon your head" (Ezekiel 16:10, 11, 12); "And My bread which I gave you, fine flour and oil and honey I fed you" (ibid., same chapter, verse 19). Behold, the thirteen that I set apart for Myself correspond to the thirteen things that I set apart for you in Egypt. In the time to come I shall repay you corresponding to these thirteen things, as it is said: "And the Lord will create over [every] dwelling-place of Mount Zion" (etc.), "and there shall be a booth for a shadow in the daytime" (etc.) (Isaiah 4:5, 6).