How Did the Israelites Get Sealskins?

● We often associate seals with the Arctic and the Antarctic regions, but the Bible says that the Israelites, when they were on the Sinai Peninsula, used sealskins in building the Tabernacle. (Ex. 36:19) How was that possible? Some seals favor warmer climates and even today the monk seals inhabit part of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as other warmer waters. Over the centuries man has greatly reduced the number of seals and whales, so undoubtedly in Bible times seals were very abundant in the Mediterranean and in the Red Sea. The ancient Greek geographer Strabo is cited by M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia to show that seals were numerous on the shores of the peninsula of Sinai. (Strabo, Geography, xvi. 776) Even as late as 1832 Calmet’s Dictionary of the Holy Bible stated: “On many of the small islands of the Red Sea, around the peninsula of Sinai, are found seals.”

The ancient Egyptians carried on commerce on the Red Sea and, of course, received goods from many of the Mediterranean regions. So the Egyptians would have access to sealskins, which, on account of their durability, could be used to protect valuable things from the weather. When the Israelites left Egypt, they would have taken with them the sealskins they already had, and more of these skins were likely obtained when the Egyptians gave into the hands of the Israelites an abundance of valuable things. Later, some of these sealskins were used, according to Jehovah’s direction, for constructing the Tabernacle.