Bezalel supervised the workers very carefully. They were making holy things for the rituals of worship. Gold leaf was to be used on many of the items in the tabernacle and on the priests’ adornments. The gold metal had to be beaten flat, then cut and shaped. The sound of the hammers continued day and night until all the articles were finished.
The Hebrew word used in the Book of Exodus for this work of making gold leaf is ra-kee-ah. It is the same root word used in Genesis 1:6-7, “And God said, “Let there be an expanse (a rakeeah) in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse.” The literal interpretation of this creative event was that God made a structure [dome, solid support, firmament] around the earth. We don’t know if the ancient peoples actually thought of the sky, stars, sun, and moon as being an actual dome around the planet or not, but whatever ideas they might have had, there was a spiritual meaning to it, that has impact for us today. God hammered out a protective shield, a rakeeah, around the earth to keep out the chaos of primary forces, according to God’s designs.
In the Bible, water is often a descriptive image of dangerous and chaotic powers. As the planet took shape the primitive substance of the earth was separated from the expanding universe, or as Genesis puts it, a rakeeah separating waters from waters. God took a special interest and protective concern for this third rock from the sun. The chaos of the formative planet was protected from the elements around it because God had special plans for this world and the eventual creation of human beings upon it. The rakeeah, as we know today, was not a physical dome around the earth but a figurative way of describing God’s care for the earth. In the midst of the unleashed creative forces there was a special plan for this sphere in the future of the universe.
Continuing this imagery, the prophet Isaiah wrote that at the end of this world, the heavens above us will be rolled up like a scroll and the rakeeah will no longer protect the earth from the chaos of the end of all things. What was once hammered out by God to protect will, one day, be eliminated so that a new heaven and a new earth can be created from the destruction of the old.
Out of all the planets, galaxies, and systems in the universe God has a particular affection for this planet and the people that inhabit it. When Job challenged God’s ways of concern the Lord responded, “Consider the wondrous works of God . . . Can you rakeeah out the skies hard as a cast metal mirror?” God was reminding Job that the Lord does care and knows what is happening in the world and the lives of people, but it is beyond our comprehension to understand it all. Eventually all will work out according to God’s designs. And as St. Paul proclaimed, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him, give us all things.” [Romans 8:32]
So, we could still say today that there is a protective dome, a rakeeah, surrounding the earth, that assures us that nothing will happen in the future to this world unless God has it in the plans. Rest assured that whatever may come upon us cannot unleash a destruction that is beyond God’s ability to turn into a good future.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
