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And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.
Exodus 36:20 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB He made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up.
  • BSB Next, he constructed upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle.
  • NKJV For the tabernacle he made boards of acacia wood, standing upright.
  • NASB Then he made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright.
  • NLT For the framework of the Tabernacle, Bezalel constructed frames of acacia wood.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The vertical wooden frames of the tabernacle were made of acacia, an enduring desert wood. They formed the rigid structure that held the curtains in place.

Overview

Acacia wood, overlaid later with gold, combined common material with precious covering, a frequent pattern in the sanctuary. The upright boards gave the portable tent stability and form. This construction follows the divine instruction of Exodus 26:15, again stressing obedience to God's revealed pattern.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • Exod 25:5And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,
  • Num 25:1And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
  • Exod 40:18–19And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars.
  • Exod 25:10And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
  • Exod 26:15–29And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up.
  • Deut 10:3And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 36:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.

How Exodus 36:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.