“Yahweh said to Moses: ‘Tell the Israelites to take for me an offering. From all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me. This is the offering that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine linens, goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, fine leather, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and for the breastplate. Have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them. In accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.’”
Yahweh told Moses to make him a sanctuary, so that he could dwell among them. This sanctuary, apparently, is some sort of tabernacle, some sort of container, where Yahweh would be present, much like the later medieval Christian tabernacles. How are they going to build this sanctuary? The people will make an offering. What is going to be given and how is it to be used? Now the list is long with all kinds of precious metals, garments, and spices. This is a lot of stuff and some of the Israelites must have had these things to give. Apparently, they had the typical valuable metals like gold, silver, and bronze. Blue, purple and crimson yarn was in favor, as well as the skins of goats, rams, and cows that would make good offerings. There also was wood, spices, and jewelry as offerings.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 