Exodus 36:20 Meaning: Standing Upright

The Hebrew word translated "boards" is qeresh, not a simple plank but a framed panel, carefully constructed with tenons to fit into silver sockets. It suggests something solid and intentional, not makeshift. The word for "tabernacle" is mishkan, literally "dwelling place." This is where God promised to meet with His people, a portable home that moved with them through the desert. And the phrase "standing up" comes from the verb amad, which carries meanings of standing, enduring, and being steadfast. The same word is used later of God's covenant standing firm. These boards were not lying flat or leaning; they were set upright, firm and ready. Together, these words picture a dwelling that is stable, prepared, and enduring, a place where heaven and earth meet.

Christian readers across traditions have seen more than raw lumber in these boards. Some see the acacia wood, a hard, desert tree resistant to rot, as a picture of Christ's humanity, incorruptible and overlaid with the gold of divinity. Others, following the New Testament image of the church as God's temple, understand the boards as believers, fitted together by the Spirit and standing firm in faith. Earlier interpreters, like the Geneva Bible annotators, simply noted the obedience: the work was done exactly as God had said. All traditions agree that this was not casual construction. The tabernacle was built with care because it housed the presence of the living God.

Some readers assume these "boards" were thin planks like modern lumber, and that the tabernacle was essentially a wooden shed. In fact, the Hebrew qeresh refers to a substantial framed panel, nearly fifteen feet tall and over two feet wide, with two tenons each. They were overlaid with gold and set into heavy silver sockets. This was not a simple tent or a crude shack. It was a carefully engineered structure, designed to be both portable and beautiful, a worthy dwelling for God.

The details of acacia wood and standing upright may seem small, but they ask a quiet question: what are you building your life with? The boards were made from a hard, desert tree, not from something that would rot or warp quickly. And they stood upright, fixed into silver bases, ready to hold the weight of the covering and the presence of God. Maybe this week you can ask yourself: where do I need to be more solid, more steady? Not flashy, just faithful. Not perfect, but prepared. God used wood from the wilderness to make a home. He can use what is ordinary in your life too, if you let Him set it upright.