God's Holy Lego Set Text: Exodus 26:15-25
Introduction: Divine Specifications in an Age of Slop
We live in an age that despises blueprints. Our generation is allergic to instructions. The modern spirit, which is nothing more than the ancient spirit of rebellion in skinny jeans, wants to build its own world, its own morality, its own identity, using its own feelings as the architectural plans. The result is not a beautiful, bespoke civilization, but rather the spiritual equivalent of a shantytown, cobbled together with driftwood, hubris, and duct tape. It is a world of leaky roofs and collapsing walls, because it is a world built on the sandy foundation of human autonomy.
Into this chaotic and slipshod construction project, the book of Exodus speaks with the glorious and terrifying precision of a divine architect. After the thunder of Sinai, after the giving of the moral law which frames all of reality, God now gives the intricate details for His own dwelling place. Many modern readers, even well-meaning Christians, tend to let their eyes glaze over in these chapters. We see cubits and tenons, acacia wood and silver bases, and we think it is little more than a tedious inventory list. But this is a grave mistake. We are not reading the minutes from an ancient building committee meeting. We are reading the gospel in wood and metal. We are seeing a detailed schematic of our salvation.
Every detail here is a polemic. It is a direct assault on the slapdash, man-made religions of the surrounding nations, and by extension, a direct assault on the slapdash, man-made worldviews of our own day. God is showing Israel, and us, that He is not a generic deity to be worshiped in any old way we see fit. He is the holy Lord of all creation, and He specifies the exact manner in which He will dwell with His people. He cares about the materials. He cares about the measurements. He cares about how it all fits together. Why? Because the tabernacle is a scale model of the cosmos, a picture of the coming Christ, and a blueprint for the Christian church. If we ignore these details, we are not just ignoring ancient history; we are ignoring the very grammar of our redemption.
In this passage, we see the very framework of the house of God. We see what it is made of, what it stands on, and how it is held together. And in these precise instructions, we find a glorious picture of the Church of Jesus Christ, built of redeemed saints, founded on His ransom, and held together in unshakeable unity.
The Text
"Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. Ten cubits shall be the length of each board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board. There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus you shall do for all the boards of the tabernacle. You shall make the boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side. You shall make forty bases of silver under the twenty boards, two bases under one board for its two tenons, and two bases under another board for its two tenons; and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards, and their forty bases of silver; two bases under one board and two bases under another board. For the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, you shall make six boards. You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear. They shall be separated beneath, but together at their completion at its top, at the first ring; thus it shall be with both of them: they shall form the two corners. There shall be eight boards with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under one board and two bases under another board."
(Exodus 26:15-25 LSB)
Incorruptible Saints, Standing Upright (vv. 15-17)
We begin with the basic building blocks of the structure.
"Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. Ten cubits shall be the length of each board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board. There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus you shall do for all the boards of the tabernacle." (Exodus 26:15-17 LSB)
The first thing to notice is the material: acacia wood. This was not just any wood. Acacia is a hard, dense, and durable wood, famously resistant to decay and insects. It was the perfect wood for building something that had to endure the harsh conditions of the Sinai wilderness. But the physical properties point to a spiritual reality. This wood is a type of humanity. But it is not fallen, decaying humanity. It is humanity glorified and made incorruptible. Ultimately, it points to the perfect, sinless, incorruptible humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate building block of God's house. And by extension, it points to us, the believers. We who were once rotting timber, destined for the fire, have been taken by the divine craftsman and made into something solid, durable, and lasting. In Christ, we are made of resurrection wood.
Notice their posture: "standing upright." This is not merely an architectural note. It is a theological statement. God is building His house with people who have been made to stand. Before grace, we were fallen. We were prone, groveling in the dust of our sin. But in salvation, God stands us up. "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again" (Prov. 24:16). The church is not a collection of spiritual invalids slouching against one another; it is an assembly of upright pillars in the house of God (Rev. 3:12).
And how do they stand? They are "fitted to one another" with two tenons on each board. A tenon is a projection on the end of a piece of wood that is inserted into a corresponding hole, or mortise, in another piece to form a joint. This is a picture of the church's corporate reality. We are not a mere collection of individuals, a pile of sanctified lumber. We are a building. We are fitted together. Each believer is designed by God to connect with other believers. The radical individualism of our age is a direct denial of this divine blueprint. God saves individuals, yes, but he saves them into a body, a structure, a house. Your sanctification is a community project.
Founded on Redemption's Silver (vv. 18-21, 25)
A building is only as strong as its foundation. And the foundation of God's house is glorious.
"You shall make forty bases of silver under the twenty boards, two bases under one board for its two tenons... and for the second side... their forty bases of silver... There shall be eight boards with their bases of silver, sixteen bases..." (Exodus 26:19, 21, 25 LSB)
Where did all this silver come from? The text doesn't say here, but Exodus 30 and 38 make it plain. This silver was the "atonement money," a half shekel paid by every man of Israel who was numbered in the census. It was the ransom price (Ex. 30:12). This is absolutely crucial. Every single upright board in the tabernacle stood on a foundation of redemption money. Each believer, represented by these boards, has their standing in the house of God based entirely on the fact that a ransom has been paid for them.
You do not stand in God's presence because you are made of good quality wood. You do not stand because you have managed to hold yourself upright. You stand because your foundation is solid silver, the price of your redemption. Your two feet, your two tenons, are planted firmly in two sockets of pure, purchased grace. This demolishes all pride, all self-righteousness. Your stability in the Christian life, your very inclusion in the church, is not based on your performance but on Christ's payment. The Church is a society of the ransomed, and our foundation is the precious blood of Christ, typified by this silver.
Notice the stability. Each board, just one and a half cubits wide, stands on two solid silver bases. This is a picture of a firm and secure foundation. God does not build a wobbly house. Those who are truly part of His church are secure, held fast by the price He paid. He does not lose any of His materials.
The Unbreakable Unity of the Corners (vv. 22-24)
The strength of any structure is often found at its corners, where the walls meet. God gives special attention to the corners of His house.
"For the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, you shall make six boards. You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear. They shall be separated beneath, but together at their completion at its top, at the first ring; thus it shall be with both of them: they shall form the two corners." (Exodus 26:22-24 LSB)
This is a fascinating bit of divine architecture. The corner boards have a unique design. At the bottom, they are distinct, "separated beneath." But as they rise, they come together, joined and made one at the top by a single ring. This is a powerful metaphor for the unity of the Church.
God builds His church out of disparate peoples. In the Old Covenant, it was the twelve tribes. In the New Covenant, it is Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, from every tribe and tongue and nation. Down here on the ground, "beneath," we are distinct. We have different backgrounds, different cultures, different personalities. We are "separated." But in Christ, we are brought together. As we rise toward Him, we find our unity. He is the "first ring" at the top that joins us together. As Paul says, He has "made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation" (Eph. 2:14). The corners are what give the building its three-dimensional strength and stability. And the church's strength is found in this Christ-forged unity, where different people are held together by one Lord, forming one structure.
This is not the flimsy, sentimental unity of the modern ecumenical movement, which tries to create unity from the bottom up by ignoring doctrinal differences. This is a top-down unity. We are not united by agreeing to ignore God's Word, but by being joined together at the top, in Christ, through His Word. True Christian unity is a supernatural reality created by God, not a political compromise negotiated by men.
Conclusion: You Are God's Building Project
It is easy to read these chapters in Exodus as if they are describing something entirely disconnected from us. But the New Testament will not allow us to do that. Paul looks at the Corinthian believers and says, "you are God's field, you are God's building" (1 Cor. 3:9). Peter tells us that we, "as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:5).
This passage is about you, Christian. You are the acacia wood, once dead in your trespasses, but now made incorruptible in Jesus Christ. You have been raised up to stand upright in His righteousness. You are not meant to be a solitary plank, but a board with tenons, fitted into the lives of your brothers and sisters in the local church.
Your entire position, your entire stability, rests not on your own strength, but on the silver bases of Christ's atoning work. You were bought with a price. And you are being joined together with saints very different from you, held fast at the corners, united at the top by the Lord Jesus Himself. He is the ring that binds us. He is the cornerstone that gives us strength.
Therefore, do not despise the details of God's Word, and do not despise the details of God's work in your life and in your church. He is a meticulous builder. He is fitting you into His glorious dwelling place, a tabernacle that will become a temple, a temple that will fill the whole earth with His glory. He has the blueprints, He has the materials, and He will bring His construction project to its glorious completion.