Thus much as to Gershon and his work. He, with his brother Merari, had to carry “the tabernacle;” whereas Kohath was called to bear “the sanctuary,” as we read in chapter x. “And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon, and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing _the tabernacle_.... And the Kohathites set forward, bearing _the sanctuary_; and the other [_i. e._ the Gershonites and the Merarites] did set up the tabernacle against they came.” (Ver. 17, 21.) There was a strong moral link connecting Gershon and Merari in their service, although their work was perfectly distinct, as we shall see from the following passage:— “As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers; from thirty years old and upward, even unto fifty years old, shalt thou number them, every one that entereth into the service, to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. And this is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation: the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and sockets thereof, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden. This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the tabernacle of the congregation, under the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.” (Chap. iv. 29-33.) All this was clear and distinct. Gershon had nothing to do with the boards and pins, and Merari had nothing to do with the curtains or the coverings. And yet they were very intimately connected, as they were mutually dependent. “The boards and sockets” would not do without “the curtains,” and the curtains would not do without the boards and sockets. And as to “the _pins_,” though apparently so insignificant, who could estimate their importance in keeping things together, and maintaining the visible unity of the whole? Thus all worked together to one common end, and that end was gained by each attending to his own special line. If a Gershonite had taken it into his head to abandon “the curtains” and address himself to “the pins,” he would have left his own work undone and interfered with the work of the Merarite. This would never do. It would have thrown every thing into hopeless confusion; whereas by adhering to the divine rule, all was maintained in the most exquisite order.