Exodus 26:37

Five pillars. There is some difference of opinion as to whether the tabernacle had a flat or a gable roof. The weight of evidence leads to the conclusion that it was probably flat:

1. The outside curtains (v. 8) were 30 cubits long, the exact length required to provide a flat roof and to extend down either side as a covering for the gold-plated board walls. A gable roof would increase the length of covering required for the roof and correspondingly decrease the remaining length available for covering the sides. More or less of the lower portion of the gold-plated boards would thus be left exposed. But gold was otherwise reserved for the interior of the structure. The fact that the inner curtain was two cubits shorter than the outer three which covered it implies that the outer curtains were designed to protect it, and that they probably reached nearly to the ground.

2. No ridgepole is mentioned, nor is the use of one implied. Furthermore, there is nothing to indicate that the five “pillars” varied in length.

3. No mention is made of any means of covering triangular gable ends, and it would be highly improbable that the ends were left open. Incidentally, the curtain which separated the holy place from the most holy did not extend to the top of the building, so that light from the Shekinah might be partially visible above it from the first apartment of the sanctuary.

4. The tabernacle was a temporary, portable structure designed for use during the wilderness wanderings, until the erection of a more permanent building in the Promised Land. The insignificant amount of rainfall in the arid, wilderness would not make a flat roof an inconvenience.

Thus, while there is no positive evidence, it appears probable that the roof was flat. Sketches of the tabernacle showing a gable roof are based on the artist’s mental picture of it.