This is the offering—gold and silver and brass. Gold was needed for the overlaying of the boards, whereof the ark was composed (Exodus 25:11); for the "crown of gold," which surmounted it (ibid.); for the "rings" (Exodus 25:12); the "mercy-seat" (Exodus 25:17)—the cherubim (Exodus 25:18); the dishes, the spoons, the covers, the bowls (Exodus 25:29); the candlestick (Exodus 25:31); the tongs and snuff dishes (Exodus 25:28); the hooks and taches (Exodus 26:6, Exodus 26:32); for the covering of the table of shew bread (Exodus 25:24); and of the staves and pillars (Exodus 26:28: Exodus 26:32, Exodus 26:37); and also for many parts of the dress of the High Priest (Exodus 28:6, Exodus 28:8, Exodus 28:11, Exodus 28:14, etc.). Silver was required for the sockets which supported the hoards of the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:19); and for the "hooks" and "fillets" of the pillars of the court (Exodus 27:10) Brass, or rather bronze, was wanted for the "taches" which coupled together the curtains of the tent (Exodus 26:11); for the "sockets" which received the pillars or tent-poles (Exodus 26:37); for the external coating of the altar (Exodus 27:2); for the vessels and utensils of the altar (Exodus 27:3); for the covering of its staves (Exodus 27:6); for the sockets of the pillars of the Court (Exodus 27:10); for the "pins" of the Court (Exodus 27:19); and generally for the vessels of the Tabernacle (ibid.). To understand how the Israelites could supply all that was wanted, we must remember,
1. That they had a certain amount of ancestral wealth, as that which Joseph had accumulated, and what Jacob and his sons had brought with them into Egypt.
2. That they had received large presents of gold and silver from the Egyptians just before their departure (Exodus 12:35); and
3. That they had recently defeated, and no doubt despoiled, the Amalekites (Exodus 16:8-13). Whether they had further made money by trade since they entered the Sinaitic peninsula, may be doubted. The supposition is not at all needed in order to account for their wealth.