Porpoise

The Hebrew word tachash — rendered "badgers' skins" in older English versions and "porpoise" in some revisions' margins — appears in UPDV as sealskin. The hide is named in only two settings: the tabernacle's outermost covering (with related lists of donated materials) and a single image in Ezekiel where Yahweh recounts clothing Jerusalem like a bride.

Materials for the Tabernacle Covering

When the materials for the sanctuary are first listed, sealskin appears beside rams' skins dyed red and acacia wood:

"and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia wood," (Ex 25:5).

The construction order specifies sealskin as the outermost layer of the tent — the protective covering laid above the rams' skins:

"And you will make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sealskins above." (Ex 26:14).

The freewill-offering list in Exodus 35 repeats the donated materials in the same sequence:

"and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia wood," (Ex 35:7).

The fabrication report in Exodus 36 confirms that the workmen made the covering exactly as commanded:

"And he made a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sealskins above." (Ex 36:19).

The summary inventory in Exodus 39 closes the same loop, listing the sealskin covering among the finished components delivered to Moses:

"and the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of sealskins, and the veil of the screen;" (Ex 39:34).

Transport on the March

When the Levites break down the sanctuary for the march, sealskin appears as the wrapping for the holy furniture. Over the table of showbread:

"and will put on it a covering of sealskin, and will spread over it a cloth of all blue, and will put in its poles." (Nu 4:6).

The Gershonites carry the curtains, the tent, and the sealskin covering that was over the whole structure:

"they will bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin that is above on it, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting," (Nu 4:25).

In both cases sealskin is the outer protective layer — the hide that meets the weather while the inner fabrics meet the holy things.

Sealskin Sandals in Ezekiel

The single non-tabernacle use of tachash in scripture appears in Ezekiel's allegory, where Yahweh recounts how he clothed the foundling Jerusalem when she came of age:

"I clothed you also with embroidered work, and put sandals on you with sealskin, and I girded you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk." (Eze 16:10).

The image deliberately recalls the costliest sanctuary materials — embroidered work, fine linen, sealskin — and turns them into a personal trousseau. The hide that had covered the tabernacle here covers the bride's feet.