THE BOARDS & BARS

The Boards and their Bars were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, as were the pillars of the entrance Door to the Sanctuary. There were twenty Boards on each of the North and South sides and six Boards on the West side of the Tabernacle, plus two Boards to strengthen the western wall at its corners. The Boards were held together by five Bars, the middle one of which passed through the centre of the Boards, as you can see (just!).

Before we consider the Sanctuary’s construction details, it is helpful to see the significance of God’s dwelling place in the Bible.

• Made of shittim wood. Exodus 26:15; Exodus 36:20
• Ten cubits high by one and a half broad. Exodus 26:16; Exodus 36:21
• Had each two tenons fitted into sockets of silver. Exodus 26:17, 19; Exodus 36:22-24
• Twenty on south side. Exodus 26:18; Exodus 36:23
• Twenty on north side. Exodus 26:20; Exodus 36:25
• Six, and two corner boards for west side. Exodus 26:22-25; Exodus 36:27-30
• Supported by bars of shittim wood resting in rings of gold. Exodus 26:26-29; Exodus 36:31-33
• With the bars, covered with gold. Exodus 26:26-29; Exodus 36:34
• The door of, a curtain of blue and purple suspended by gold rings from five pillars of shittim wood. Exodus 26:36-37; Exodus

PILLARS

This view is reinforced by the presence in front of the curtain of the five golden pillars that give it support. The pillars were made from acacia wood overlaid with gold; the beauty is gold, the structure is wood. This bespeaks the mystery of Christ’s Person: He is both God and man, divine and human, Son of God and son of man. The child born is called the Mighty God, the son given is called the Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6). The government of God’s kingdom is upon the shoulders of such a Person (Isaiah 9:6-7). He is the Son Who is over God’s house (Hebrews 3:6).

At the feet of the pillars were sockets of bronze, again reminding us of God’s judgement. The line of thought in the book of Hebrews continues here too. The writer has shown Christ is God the Son in chapter 1. Then in chapter 2 he quotes from Psalm 8, concerning the exaltation of Jesus Christ, the son of man, “crowned with glory and honour, set over all the works of Your (God’s) hands, You (God) have subjected all things under His feet” (Hebrews 2:7-8). The bronze sockets for the pillars speak to us clearly of total judgement, that “in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing unsubjected to Him” (Hebrews 2:8). Such is the strength and magnitude of Christ’s victory on the cross: “He made a public spectacle of the principalities and powers, triumphing over them in the cross” (Colossians 2:15).

• The supports of a building. Judges 16:29
• The vail and hangings of the tabernacle supported by. Exodus 26:32, 37;
Exodus 36:36, 38