Exodus 25:11
ESV
You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it.
NIV
Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it.
NASB
You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it.
CSB
Overlay it with pure gold; overlay it both inside and out. Also make a gold molding all around it.
NLT
Overlay it inside and outside with pure gold, and run a molding of gold all around it.
KJV
And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
NKJV
And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around.
What does Exodus 25:11 mean?
The main body of the ark (Exodus 25:10) is to be overlaid with gold. The sides, themselves, are to be made of acacia wood. Most golden objects seen in museums are not solid metal. Large objects were usually made of wood and "gilded:" coated in a thin layer of gold. Gold can be hammered into extremely thin sheets. Ancient Egyptian gold leaf has been measured at six microns thick. This is roughly one tenth the width of a human hair. To cover a box the size of the ark would require skill, but not an outrageous amount of gold. Other sacred items will be made of pure gold (Exodus 25:31, 38–39).The ark is also to have a "molding." This is a decorative border. Most likely, this followed the corners and edges of the box. The molding would have been made of wood and gilded like the rest of the ark.
