8/24/2016

BiblicalTabernacleisNothingLikeWhatYouThink:BibleSavvyEngineerIsraelNews

Biblical Tent of Meeting May Have Been an Astonishing SixStory Dome, Engineer Reveals [PHOTOS]
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz August 23, 2016 , 11:30 am

Andtheycame,everyonewhoseheartstirredhimup,andeveryonewhomhisspirit
madewilling,andbroughtHashemsoffering,fortheworkofthetentofmeeting,and
foralltheservicethereof,andfortheholygarments.Exodus35:21(TheIsraelBible)

New model of the dome Tabernacle. (Courtey Andrew L. Hoy)

The Biblical Tabernacle, or Tent of Meeting, may have been not a modest rectangular tent as scholars
have believed for centuries, but an enormous circular structure six stories tall, proposes a Wisconsin
engineer who has spent years studying the intricacies of the Biblical texts describing the desert
structure.
Andrew Hoy, a trained mechanical engineer from Milwaukee currently in Israel to investigate his
theory, has developed a concept which challenges every known belief about the portable central
structure Israel used to served God for 400 years until the First Temple was built.
Hoy has a head for numbers and a passion for the Bible. Raised in the Lutheran Church, his personal
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journey led him to leave that church. He studied in yeshiva (religious seminary) in Jerusalem for a
period, where he concentrated on learning Hebrew in order to study the Bible in its original form.
When Hoy read the sections in Exodus dealing with the construction of the Tabernacle, listing in detail
the materials used, it raised many questions for him. He was familiar with the full-scale models of the
Tabernacle at Timna Park and Ariel in Israel, and realized that there were many discrepancies between
these examples and the Biblical text.

Model of the traditional Biblical Tabernacle (Tent of Meeting) in Israels Timna Park. (Wikimedia
Commons)

Most scholarly theories describing the Tabernacle as a rectangular tent. The 11 sheets described in the
Bible, each measuring four cubits by 30, were attached to each other, with loops on opposite edges.
Using the loops to attach the sheets, the Bible instructs to join all sheets together into a single sheet,
and to fold the eleventh sheet back over upon itself.
Fivecurtainsshallbecoupledtogetheronetoanotherandtheotherfivecurtainsshall
becoupledonetoanother.Exodus26:3

It is traditionally assumed that these curtains are joined together in a top-to-bottom arrangement to
make one large rectangular sheet that becomes a rectangular tent. This rendition, however, fails to
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comply with the exact Exodus specifications, which offers no provisions for unjoined edges, and
describes all sheets as having loop joints on both edges.

Setting up the Tabernacle. (1911 Illustrated History of the Bible by John

Kitto)

Hoy approached this as an engineering problem. The sum of the 11 sheets, measuring 30 cubits,
minus the end sheet overlap, and minus the nominal one cubit overlap adjustment is expressed as
([30 x 11] [30 / 2] 1).
Andasfortheoverhangingpartthatremainethofthecurtainsofthetent,thehalf
curtainthatremainethovershallhangoverthebackoftheTabernacle.Exodus26:12

Hoys eureka moment came when he realized that the final length arranged to enclose a circle would
give a circumference of 314 cubits, which is a near perfect multiple of the mathematical constant
known as PI or . The dimensions for the courtyard created by this circular arrangement conform
perfectly to the Biblical description of being exactly 100 cubits long (i.e., in diameter), with the north
and south portions each measuring 50 cubits wide (i.e., radius). The Tabernacle enclosed,
constructed in a similar manner, became a decagon.
Who makes a tent that is four layers thick in the desert, with walls made out of beams two feet thick?
Hoy asked rhetorically. The rectangular version uses a lot of material they just dont have permission
in the Bible to use, he explained to Breaking Israel News.

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He was also perplexed by the methods most scholarly works described for construction of the walls
for the courtyard, describing walls made of solid timber connected by rods.
Its cumbersome, and uses a lot more wood than listed in the Bible. The biggest problem comes in
using silver as a base for the timbers, Hoy noted. They were permitted 100 talents of silver, weighing
a total of four tons. Making the bases out of silver would require many more tons of silver that were
just not accounted for in the Bible. As an engineer, I understood the silver and brass as being used for
struts, as part of a domes structure.
Hoy envisioned a circle of linen and wool sheets capped by a huge leather enclosure. Using his
engineering skills and adhering to the exact quantities of wood and silver specified in the Bible, he
designed a tent similar to the traditional yurts used in Mongolia. Hoys version, based on the Bibles
technical instructions, is an astounding six stories tall.

A model of the circular Tabernacle imposed over an image of the traditional Tabernacle. (Courtesy
Andrew L. Hoy)

Hoy has created a complete set of plans for the circular Tabernacle on design software, down to the
tiniest hardware, in the hopes of creating a scale model based on his circular concept. He has spent
hundreds of hours checking his theory from an engineering perspective and also for Biblical
adherence.
There are many practical reasons Hoy believes in a circular Tabernacle.
Practically, a yurt stands up better to high winds than a square tent, Hoy stated. It makes more
sense to order the tribes in a circular camp than in rectangles with gaps in the corners. Also, the
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Tabernacle impressed the other nations. A six story tall dome would certainly do that.
His trip to Israel has two purposes: to investigate archaeological clues to substantiate his theory of a
circular Tabernacle and to gain support for it. The Tabernacle accompanied the Jews wandering in the
desert, but stood in Shiloh for over 300 years. As a theoretically portable structure dismantled 3,000
years ago, the first goal is improbable at best.

How the traditional Tabernacle mighthave looked in use. (Wikimedia Commons)

His second goal is proving even more difficult, since one look at his architectural designs challenges
Biblical scholars to reconsider so much of what they thought about the Tabernacle and the sociopolitical aspects of Israel connected to it.
I think that restoration of personal study is really important, to look at the text for yourself with a
critical eye, Hoy told Breaking Israel News. I wasnt looking for this, but when I began to study the
verses about the Tabernacle, this is what became clear to me as being the absolute truth.

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Breaking Israel News offers news from Israel from an Orthodox Jewish perspective to both Jewish and
Christian readers. We encourage open dialogue and welcome respectful questions. However, since we are an
Orthodox Jewish site, our content is meant to stay focused on our shared heritage of the Hebrew Bible, and
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12Comments

Sortby Newest

Addacomment...

ZachWeixelbaum
WhataboutthearchaeologicalevidenceinShilohofarectangularstructuretherethatwesayis
wheretheMishkanstoodfor369years?
LikeReply4hrs

WayneKanelopoulosPartner/OwneratAWNauticalGifts
Icanseeit.
LikeReply5hrs

MagiHarbingerMilwaukee,Wisconsin
Goodtheory.Alotofsuppositionandsubjectivityinhishypothesis.
Itappearsthathe'signoringsomeoftheverydirectdirectionsthattheLordgaveMosesin
constructingtheTabernacle.
TheLord'sdescriptionisdueeastduenorthduesouthdueWest.Andthedimensionsthathe
givesareparallelwhichcausesforarectangularstyletentnotacircularone.
Interestingthought.ButtheJewswerequitemeticulouswhenitcomesdowntotheirhistory.And
thecurrentTabernaclestructureanddesignsweremadefromthepatternoftheTabernacle.So
there'salotofevidencefromJewishhistorythatsupportstherectangularStyle.
IdounderstandhisengineeringdifficultiesbutbasedontheBible'sdesignsfortheTabernacleit
appearsthatmorethanlikelyitwasrectangularindesign...
LikeReply14hrs

LindaB.WilliamsGallifreyTechnicalInstitute
Thankyouformentioningthe"engineeringdifficultites."
WhenIreadthat,IwasremindedofadiscussionIhadwithaguyinIndianawhomadea
scalemodelofthetabernacleusingallaccuratemetalsandcloth(itwasvaluedatabout
$30,000).OneofthemoreintersetingaspectsofhisemodelwasHOWitwassetupfirst,
heplacedtheArk,thenerectedtheHolyofHoliesaroundit,thenplacedthetraysand
lampstands,thenerectedthetentaroundthat,etc.
HecommentedthathestronglysuspectedthisisHOWtheIsraeliteswouldalsohave
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HecommentedthathestronglysuspectedthisisHOWtheIsraeliteswouldalsohave
movedtheTabernacletheHolyofHolieswouldbesetwherethepillaroffirestopped,
andtheTabernacleestablishedaroundit,inlayers.andthenthecamparoundthe
TabernacleaccordingtotheTorahdetails.
A6storyhighdomewouldNOTbeeasilybrokendown,NORwoulderectingitprovide
thesametypeofvisualmetaphorthatarectangularTabernacleoffers.
LikeReply8hrs

PhilipHornBotha
ItsallTentativespeculationatthisstage
LikeReply

5Aug23,20169:35pm

ChrisCalfeeUniversityofTennessee
FromSherry:Astonishingarticlethat'shardtowrapmybrainaround.Anyone,rememberan
articleinBAR1520yearsabouttheTabernacleinthepatternofpharoah'stentwhentraveling?
LikeReply

1Aug23,20168:51pm

KimViola
SoancientIsraelworeagiantkippa
LikeReply

9Aug23,20165:04pm

ThomasGreyGaillardWorksatAlabamaSouthernCommunityCollegeOfficialCollegePage
Myquestionis:Ifthehangingsare100cubitsontheSouthside(Exo27:9),100cubitsonthe
Northside(Exo27:11),50cubitsontheWestside(Exo27:12),and50cubitsontheEastside
(Exo27:13),wouldn'tthestructurebeanovalandnotacircle?
LikeReply

1Aug23,20163:55pm

HectorBritoChiefExecutiveOfficeratWellnessResonanceatwellnessresonance.com
Ifyoucutaroundpiesothat2sectionsaresmallerthantheother2sectionsandthe
ratiois50%less,itisacircleandnotanoval.Sidevssidewardsuchassouthwardvs
westwarddoesn'tnecessarilyconstituteanoblongrelationship.
LikeReply

2Aug23,20169:38pm

ThomasGreyGaillardWorksatAlabamaSouthernCommunityCollegeOfficial
CollegePage
HectorBritoCouldyougiveadiagramofcuttingapieintothosesections?I'mhaving
troublevisualizingthis.
LikeReply

117hrs

StephenMorganDeVryInstituteofTechnology
Interesting,butnotworthdebatingorarguingabout.Idobelieveifitwerecirculurthatthe
measurementsintheTorahwouldhavebeendifferent.Thereissomethingtobesaidofthe
symbologyofcirculurthemesinTorah.Butmostlikely...itwasrectangular!Icanwaittofindout
whenitdecendsintoJerusalemontheDayoftheLord.
LikeReply

6Aug23,201612:57pm

HectorBritoChiefExecutiveOfficeratWellnessResonanceatwellnessresonance.com
Thisisnotaboutdebate,ratheradeeperunderstandingofmicrocosmsandthatthemost
highhasmadeaplantogivehiscreationapaternandaoriginaldesignhiddeninplain
site
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site

LikeReply

3Aug23,201610:33pm

TomerDevorahEastJerusalem
WegetourinformationfromtheOralTorahaswellastheWrittenTorahandthewordsofour
SageswhowereeitherprophetsorattheveryleastinspiredwithRuachHaKodesh.
LikeReply

2Aug23,201611:25am

AraxiMangou
What'sthedifference,roundrectangular,squaretall.Lookforward,Yeshuahiscoming.
Maranatha!
LikeReply

6Aug23,201611:07am

TomerDevorahEastJerusalem
Takeadeepbreath.Nowholdit....
LikeReply

4Aug23,201611:25am

BobbySparks
Unfortunately,theyurtsinMongoliadidnotdesignthetabernacle.Thetemplewasbuiltonthe
sameorder,onlytwicethesize.DoesHoymakethetemplearoundfigure?Thisdesignisnotthe
resultoftrueengineeringandBibleanalysis.Itistheworkofapersonwhowantstoboostshis
egobyacclaimingtohavedescoveredsomethingnooneelseonearthwassmartenoughto
figureout.
LikeReply

5Aug23,201610:27am

RichSchoenbaumAmes,Iowa
Exactly!AllthemeasurementsaregivenintheBible,whatelsedoyouneed?
LikeReply

5Aug23,201612:06pm

HectorBritoChiefExecutiveOfficeratWellnessResonanceatwellnessresonance.com
RichSchoenbaumthatistheverypointofdiscussion.11sheets5&5and1foldedinhalf.
Hardtomakeanythingelsethanacircumference
LikeReplyAug23,201610:43pm

HenrikLarsson
http://project314.org/betzalelstory/thediscovery
LikeReply13hrs

MichaelJ.WeedBeitShemesh,Yerushalayim,Israel

LikeReplyAug23,20167:02am
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