“All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the wave offering, was 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary” (Exod 38:24).

The single greatest cluster of the word “gold” in Scripture appears in the Tabernacle Narrative (97x's) and twenty-four of the twenty-seven occurrences of the phrase “pure gold” also appears in Exodus' description of the Tabernacle. And just in case we miss the extent of gold he has continued flashing in front of our faces since Exodus 25, the narrator does a final tally in Exodus 38:24: The tabernacle was made of over one ton of gold (not to mention all the other precious stones, metals, fabrics, and spices).

God obviously goes out of his way to ensure that Israel would always make his presence among them their greatest national treasure, and the worship of him their single greatest investment.

Invest right

Yeshua transposes the main point of this 64.3 million dollar tally (according to the value of gold in 2023) into very practical and personal terms: “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21). Jesus is saying, “Tell me where you invest most of your time and money and I'll tell you who or what you worship.” I pray that this new year God will open our eyes to recognize his infinite worth so that we will invest the earthly resources that we cannot keep into the eternal treasures we will never lose!

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matt 13:45-46).