Fire From Heaven and the Multitude Within Fifty Cubits

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 420:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

See the miracles that the Holy One, blessed be He, performed for them, that all those multitudes stood within fifty cubits for if you come to reckon, it would require more than four mil and all those thousands and myriads stood in the courtyard of the Tabernacle and saw the fire descending from heaven like a pillar and entering the tent of meeting, coming out and crouching there upon the altar and consuming the fats and standing in its place, as it is said, "And fire came out from before the LORD," and so on (Leviticus 9:24). And all of them saw the great miracle and fell prostrate on their faces, and each one had room of four cubits, and the holy spirit rested upon them and they spoke song and praise, as it is said, "And all the people saw and they shouted for joy" (ibid.). And what song and praise did they say? "Sing for joy, O righteous, in the LORD" (Psalms 33:1). And of that day it is said, "Go forth and gaze" (Song of Songs 3:11). The tent was extended thirty cubits, set within the inner fifty cubits, with twenty boards on the south. Each board was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide, with two tenons at the bottom of each, sunk into two silver sockets; above, their tops were overlaid with gold and set into rings of gold. They had three bars, set in three rows within the ten cubits, and one bar ran from end to end, thirty cubits long, placed east and west, and two bars on the outside, on this side and that, fifteen cubits long. Each board had two rings, set across the width of the board, half a part on this side and a part in the middle, so that between ring and ring in all the boards the measure was equal. And a hollow tube of reed was between ring and ring, and the bar entered through them. The boards were overlaid with gold, and the bars were of acacia wood, entering through the tube and the rings, so they were all found overlaid with gold, as it is said, "And he overlaid the boards," and so on (Exodus 36:34). And the middle bar was hidden within the boards from beginning to end; it was seen neither from inside nor from outside. And as the construction of the southern boards, so the northern. And eight boards on the west, six facing the cavity of the tent and two facing its corners. The lower curtains were blue and purple and scarlet. The length of each was twenty-eight cubits and its width four cubits, five on the east and five on the west. The width of each set was twenty cubits, reaching to the middle of the tent.

Themes

MiraclesTabernacleDivine Presence

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