The Dwelling (the Ohel Moed or Tent of Appointment) where all the sacrifices were made must have been beautiful.

The boards for the walls and floor were made of acacia, a wood that is still used for furniture today.  Here is a picture of acacia wood:

As beautiful as that wood is, the boards were even fancier:  they were covered with gold! And each board had a base of silver.

There was a curtain of red/blue, purple and red linen.  On the curtain were winged sphinxes.  Here is a picture of a sphinx:

Imagine a red and purple curtain all decorated with winged creatures, hanging in a Dwelling of shining gold walls!

Then we have the Ark.  It was made of acacia wood, but it was covered with pure gold, both inside and out.  It had poles for carrying it, also overlaid with gold.  The cover of the Ark had two golden sphinxes with wings pointing to each other like this:

Bezalel, the craftsman, made a table covered with gold.  He made seven lampstands of pure gold, decorated with cups, knobs, blossoms and stems.  Here is how one artist showed it:

Bezalel made a place for burning incense.  Then he made an altar.  There was a basin of bronze and mirrors (that women made).  Then there was a courtyard with many columns, with hangings of twisted linen and a screen of red and purple.

Imagine how impressive it must all have looked!

Food for Thought

Why did the Israelites have to build such an elaborate and expensive structure to worship God?