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And 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.
Exodus 40:18 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Moses raised up the tabernacle, and laid its sockets, and set up its boards, and put in its bars, and raised up its pillars.
  • BSB When Moses set up the tabernacle, he laid its bases, positioned its frames, inserted its crossbars, and set up its posts.
  • NKJV So Moses raised up the tabernacle, fastened its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars, and raised up its pillars.
  • NASB Moses erected the tabernacle and laid its bases, and set up its boards, and inserted its bars, and erected its pillars.
  • NLT Moses erected the Tabernacle by setting down its bases, inserting the frames, attaching the crossbars, and setting up the posts.

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

Moses set up the structural framework of the tabernacle—sockets, boards, bars, and pillars. The careful construction shows that God's dwelling was built exactly to His design.

Overview

This verse details the assembly of the tabernacle's load-bearing components in the order God specified. Every part had its appointed place, reflecting the orderliness and intentionality of God's instructions on Sinai. The tabernacle's design pointed beyond itself to God's plan to dwell with His people, ultimately fulfilled in Christ, in whom the fullness of God dwelt bodily.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Gal 4:4But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
  • Matt 16:18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
  • Ezek 37:27–28My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
  • Lev 26:11And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
  • Exod 26:15–30And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up.
  • 1 Tim 3:15But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
  • Exod 36:20–34And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.
  • Isa 33:24And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
  • Exod 40:2On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
  • Rev 21:3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
  • 1 Pet 1:5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
  • John 1:14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

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 40:18YouTube · 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 40:18 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.