Commentary - Exodus 26:26-30

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Exodus, we are given the detailed blueprints for the structural integrity of the tabernacle walls. Having been told how to make the individual boards, God now instructs Moses on how to bind them all together into a unified whole. This is not merely an architectural footnote; it is a profound theological statement written in wood and gold. The passage details the creation of bars of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, which would run through golden rings on the boards to make the walls strong and stable. The central theme here is unity and strength. The many individual boards are made one by the bars that run through them. This points forward to the nature of the church, where many individual members are made one body in Christ. The entire structure is built precisely "according to its plan which you have been shown in the mountain," a constant reminder that God's dwelling place, and by extension, God's people, are to be ordered by His specific revelation, not by human ingenuity.

The materials themselves are freighted with meaning. The acacia wood, strong and incorruptible, speaks of the robust humanity of the Lord Jesus. The gold, a symbol of divinity and glory, speaks of His divine nature. The two are brought together, wood overlaid with gold, a beautiful type of the hypostatic union. This entire structure, therefore, is a picture of Christ, who is the true tabernacle, the place where God dwells with man. And it is a picture of His body, the Church, which is held together and glorified in Him.

Outline

Context In Exodus

These instructions come in the heart of a much larger section (Exodus 25-31) where God gives Moses the detailed plans for the tabernacle and its priesthood. This follows the ratification of the covenant at Sinai (Exodus 24). The sequence is crucial: first redemption from Egypt, then the giving of the law, then the establishment of the covenant, and now the provision for God's dwelling in the midst of His people. The tabernacle is the central feature of the Mosaic covenant, the place where heaven and earth meet. These specific verses about the bars are part of the instructions for the main structure of the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. They are the solution to the problem of how to make a large, stable building out of many individual planks of wood that also needed to be portable. This section provides the structural skeleton that will support the beautiful curtains and enclose the holy furniture, making it a fitting, glorious, and stable place for the presence of Yahweh.

Key Issues

Held Together in Glory

It is one thing to have a pile of high-quality materials. It is another thing entirely to have a house. You can have a stack of beautiful, gold-overlaid boards, but without a unifying structure, you just have a very expensive lumber yard. The issue at hand in this text is how to take the many and make them one. How do you take forty-eight individual boards and make them into a single dwelling for the living God?

The answer God provides is a system of bars and rings. The bars slide through the rings, locking the individual boards into a solid, unified wall. This is a lesson in spiritual engineering. The church is made up of many individuals, "living stones" as Peter calls us. But what keeps us from being just a pile of stones? It is Christ Himself, who, like this middle bar, runs through the entire structure, holding it all together. And it is the Spirit, working through the ministry of the Word and the bonds of fellowship, that unifies us. The strength of the tabernacle was not in the individual boards, but in the way they were bound together. Likewise, the strength of the church is not in the giftedness of its individual members, but in their unity in the gospel. This passage is a detailed, practical instruction, but it is also a glorious picture of how God builds His house, the church.

Verse by Verse Commentary

26 “Then you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle,

The instruction begins with the raw material: acacia wood. This was a common tree in the Sinai wilderness, a hard, dense wood resistant to decay. In Scripture, wood often speaks of humanity, and this incorruptible wood is a fitting type for the perfect, sinless humanity of Jesus Christ. He is the strong and enduring man who cannot see corruption. But the bars are not for Himself alone; they are for the boards of the tabernacle. Christ's strength is for His people. He is the one who undergirds and supports the entire structure. The number five here, as often in Scripture, can be associated with grace. It is by grace that the house is held together.

27 and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the rear side to the west.

The instruction is symmetrical. Five bars for the north side, five for the south side, and five for the west side at the back. The eastern side was the entrance and did not have this solid wall. This repetition emphasizes the completeness and sufficiency of the support system. God does not do things by half-measures. The structure is to be secure on all sides. This comprehensive support system speaks to the way Christ upholds all of His church, in all places and at all times. There are no weak sides or forgotten corners in the house that God builds.

28 The middle bar in the center of the boards shall pass through from end to end.

One bar is singled out for special attention. The middle bar was to be unique. While the other four bars were likely shorter, spanning sections of the wall, this central bar was to be a single piece, running the entire length of the wall from one end to the other. This is a magnificent type of Christ. He is the central and unifying reality of the church. He is not a partial support; He runs from end to end, from the beginning of the age to the end, from the first saint to the last. He is the one who "holds all things together" (Col. 1:17). This middle bar, passing through the center of the boards, provides the primary source of stability and unity for the whole wall. Without it, the structure would buckle and fall. Without Christ, the church would disintegrate into a thousand factions.

29 You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold.

Now we move from the substance to the surface. Everything is to be covered in gold. The boards, the rings that hold the bars, and the bars themselves. Gold is the metal of deity, of glory, of the divine presence. The acacia wood, representing Christ's perfect humanity, is completely covered with gold, representing His divinity. You could not see the wood for the gold, yet the wood gave the gold its form and strength. This is a picture of the incarnation. In Christ, humanity and divinity are inseparably joined. He is the God-man. And this glory is not just for Him, but it transforms the entire structure. The church, in Christ, is also part of this glorious reality. We are the wooden boards, but in Him, we are overlaid with the gold of His righteousness and glory. The rings, which facilitate the unity, are also of gold, teaching us that our fellowship and unity are a divine and glorious gift.

30 Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to its plan which you have been shown in the mountain.

This final verse is a concluding charge that echoes throughout this entire section of Exodus. It is the great principle of all true worship and all true church-building. We are not to be spiritual entrepreneurs, inventing our own blueprints for the church based on what seems effective or culturally relevant. We are to build according to the pattern God has revealed. Moses was shown the plan on the mountain, and we have been shown the plan in the Scriptures. All our doctrine, worship, and government must conform to the Word of God. The power and blessing are not in our cleverness, but in our faithful obedience to the divine blueprint. God knows how to build His own house, and our job is simply to follow the instructions.

Application

The lessons from these ancient blueprints are intensely practical for the church today. First, we must recognize that the unity of the church is not a human achievement, but a divine gift established in Christ. He is the middle bar, holding us all together. Our task is not to create unity, but to maintain the unity the Spirit has already given us in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3). We do this by keeping our eyes fixed on Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Second, we must appreciate the glory of the church. We are frail and fallible people, like plain acacia wood. But in Christ, we have been overlaid with gold. We are partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). We should therefore live lives that reflect this glorious calling, putting off sin and pursuing holiness, not to earn our standing, but because of the glorious standing we have already been given. We are a temple of the living God, and we must not defile that temple.

Finally, we must be committed to the principle of sola Scriptura. We must build the church according to the pattern. This means our preaching must be biblical, our worship must be regulated by the Word, and our lives must be submitted to its authority. The world is full of innovative church-growth strategies and man-made programs for spiritual success. But God's house is to be built God's way. When we are faithful to His blueprint, we can be confident that He will bless the work of our hands and erect a glorious dwelling for His name.