Numbers 4:21 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the work assigned to the other two Levite families. Their service was not as honored as the first family’s task, but it was still necessary and had to be done faithfully.

The Gershonites were given care of the tabernacle’s cloth parts, the curtains, hangings, and the coverings made of fine skins (Numbers 4:22-26). When the cloud moved, they were to take these down after the ark and the other holy things were carried out, then pack them and carry them along. When the cloud stopped, they were to set everything up again. Aaron and his sons gave each man his own task, so that each person knew what he had to do and there would be no confusion (Numbers 4:27). Ithamar, Aaron’s son, was especially placed over their work (Numbers 4:28).

The Merarites were put in charge of the heavier items, the boards, bars, pillars, sockets, pins, and cords, and these were listed out for them by name (Numbers 4:31, 4:32). They received an inventory of every piece, so that nothing would be missing when the tabernacle needed to be set up again. These items may have seemed less important than the holy furnishings, but even they were carefully watched. This teaches us to guard all of God’s commands with exact care, and to make sure nothing is lost.

It also shows God’s care for his church and for each person in it. The good shepherd calls his own sheep by name (John 10:3). Thousands of men were used for this work, even though fewer could have carried the loads. But the tabernacle had to be taken down and put up quickly, and many hands could do that best, especially when each man knew his task.

These men also had their own tents and families to care for, and younger men under thirty and older men over fifty could have served there. Yet Scripture does not mention that here, because God’s house must come before our own. Those act wrongly who build and decorate their own houses while God’s house lies in ruins (Haggai 1:4, Haggai 1:9).

The death of believers is pictured as taking down the tabernacle and putting off a tent (2 Corinthians 5:1, 2 Peter 1:14). The soul, like the most holy things, is first covered and taken away, carried unseen by angels under the care of the Lord Jesus, our Eleazar, meaning “God helps.” The body is also carefully kept. Its skin and flesh are like the curtains, and its bones and sinews are like the bars and pillars. None of these will be lost. God has spoken about the bones, and made a covenant with the dust. All of it is kept safe, and all will be brought forth on the great day, when this tabernacle is set up again and these lowly bodies are made like the glorious body of Jesus Christ.