Exodus 38 Bible study questions help a small group, Sunday class or solo reader work through the chapter’s inventory of the tabernacle’s bronze altar, courtyard and metalwork. Exodus 38 is less a story than a careful accounting, and these questions show how its details point to worship, generosity and faithful service. Use them in order, or pick the set that fits your time.
Exodus 38 at a Glance
The chapter moves outward from the center of worship. It opens with the bronze altar of burnt offering and its vessels (verses 1-7), then describes the basin made from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance (verse 8). From there it measures the courtyard enclosure on each side and lists its pillars, sockets and linen hangings (verses 9-20).
The closing verses function as a ledger. They record the materials used for the Tabernacle, the gold, silver and bronze offered, and the names of Bezalel and Oholiab, who carried out the craftsmanship (verses 21-31). Keep that structure in mind as you lead the questions, since the chapter’s shape is part of its message.
Observation Questions
Begin here to establish what the text actually says before anyone offers an interpretation. Let group members read the passage aloud or silently, then answer from the words on the page. Keep answers short and grounded in the verses.
Exodus 38:1-2
1 He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. It was square. Its length was five cubits, its width was five cubits, and its height was three cubits. 2 He made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with brass.
(WEB)
Reading the altar’s description aloud at the start of the session anchors the group in the chapter’s central object of worship and invites close attention to its measurements.
Exodus 38:8
He made the basin of brass, and its base of brass, out of the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
(WEB)
This verse surprises most readers, so hearing it aloud helps the group sit with the unusual origin of the basin and discuss what it reveals about ordinary offerings.
Exodus 38:21
This is the amount of material used for the tabernacle, even the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
(WEB)
Reading this verse marks the transition into the accounting section and reminds listeners that the entire record was kept under the commandment of Moses.
Exodus 38:22-23
22 Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses. 23 With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen.
(WEB)
Hearing these names read aloud gives the group a chance to honor the skilled workers the chapter remembers and to talk about how God values particular gifts.
Exodus 38:30-31
30 With this he made the sockets to the door of the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, all the vessels of the altar, 31 the sockets around the court, the sockets of the gate of the court, all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins around the court.
(WEB)
These closing verses bring the list of bronze items back to the entrance and the altar, a good reading for ending the study with a sense of completion.
Memory Verse for Exodus 38
Exodus 38:22
Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.
(WEB)
This verse names Bezalel and states that he made all the LORD commanded, a short and memorable reminder that faithful work done as God directs is worthy of remembrance.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we thank you that you care about the smallest details of our lives and that nothing we bring to you is too ordinary to be used. Thank you for the skilled hands and generous hearts that built your dwelling place, and for the faithful service that the chapter remembers with such care. Teach us to offer what we have, whether time, skill, money or a simple mirror from our own home. Help us to work with excellence and honesty in every task, knowing that you see and honor it. Guide what we have discussed here into our daily choices this week. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
