Section 113 of 12736:20–38Exodus

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King James VersionExodus 36:20–38

And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.

The length of a board was ten cubits, and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half.

One board had two tenons, equally distant one from another: thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

And he made boards for the tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward:

And forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

And for the other side of the tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards,

And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

And for the sides of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.

And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.

And they were coupled beneath, and coupled together at the head thereof, to one ring: thus he did to both of them in both the corners.

And there were eight boards; and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets.

And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward.

And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other.

And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.

And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver.

And he made an hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework;

And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets with gold: but their five sockets were of brass.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Exodus 36:20–38

The Workers Build Frames, Veil, and Screen

Boards, sockets, bars, veil, and screen are built

They make standing boards, silver sockets under paired tenons, corner boards, bars with the middle bar through, gold overlay and rings. The cherubim veil hangs on four pillars; the door hanging on five pillars with brass sockets.

Structure and access now exist as objects

What chapter 26 ordered as fashion shown on the mount is here a standing frame and ordered thresholds. Stability and graded entry are no longer only speech. The holy place can actually be reared.

How this should shape us

Inspect the frame and the door, not only the textiles. A dwelling that cannot stand, or that has no honest gate, is not yet the work this chapter reports.

Teach it back

Explain Exodus 36:20–38 in your own words. Include both movements, its place in Exodus, one historical or compositional uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one conclusion the complete context rules out.

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Where do careful interpreters disagree?

Best judgment: Careful interpreters agree that the received text states the following: Frames, bases, bars, veil, pillars, and entrance screen are made to produce stable structure and ordered access. They disagree over source layers, date, historical recovery, archaeology, Hebrew details, ritual development, legal use, and canonical relationship in different proportions; this study treats the final form directly while marking those alternatives as probable or uncertain rather than settled fact.

How certain? probable

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.

Exodus 36:20–38, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.

Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 36:20–38

NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes

Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.

NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 36:20–38

Sinai Study Guide

Supports: Mountain location uncertainty, covenant and treaty comparison, source plurality, mediation, Decalogue, covenant blood, and priestly dwelling instruction.

Yale Bible Study, 'Sinai,' complete study guide pp. 1–6, covenant, Moses and the mountain, Decalogue, Exodus 24, and tabernacle framing; applied to Exodus 36:20–38

The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

Supports: Architectural and ritual comparanda, pattern language, movement, possible historical models, and explicit reconstruction limits.

Homan, 'The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context,' complete article sections on form, furnishings, shown pattern, temple-building parallels, portability, and historical-versus-literary models; applied to Exodus 36:20–38

The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling

Supports: Material-source theology, skilled labor, voluntary gifts, half-shekel assessment, manufactured holiness, and the limits of idealized production language.

Ben-Dov, 'The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling,' complete article sections on Exodus 20 and 25–40, donated and assessed materials, craft, manufactured objects, and divine presence; applied to Exodus 36:20–38

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.

Exact location: Exodus 36:20–38, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 36:20–38

Open source ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12

Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.

Exact location: NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 36:20–38

Open source ↗

open university course study guide

Sinai Study Guide

Joel S. Baden and John J. Collins

Yale Bible Study, 2019 course edition

Supports: Mountain location uncertainty, covenant and treaty comparison, source plurality, mediation, Decalogue, covenant blood, and priestly dwelling instruction.

Exact location: Yale Bible Study, 'Sinai,' complete study guide pp. 1–6, covenant, Moses and the mountain, Decalogue, Exodus 24, and tabernacle framing; applied to Exodus 36:20–38

Open source ↗

ancient near eastern comparative architecture study

The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

Michael M. Homan

TheTorah.com, 2018

Supports: Architectural and ritual comparanda, pattern language, movement, possible historical models, and explicit reconstruction limits.

Exact location: Homan, 'The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context,' complete article sections on form, furnishings, shown pattern, temple-building parallels, portability, and historical-versus-literary models; applied to Exodus 36:20–38

Open source ↗

modern jewish scholarly material and literary study

The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling

Jonathan Ben-Dov

TheTorah.com, 2017

Supports: Material-source theology, skilled labor, voluntary gifts, half-shekel assessment, manufactured holiness, and the limits of idealized production language.

Exact location: Ben-Dov, 'The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling,' complete article sections on Exodus 20 and 25–40, donated and assessed materials, craft, manufactured objects, and divine presence; applied to Exodus 36:20–38

Open source ↗

Exodus 36:20–38, King James Version

Boards, sockets, bars, veil, and screen are built

Structure and access now exist as objects

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

Where do careful interpreters disagree?

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus

NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes

Sinai Study Guide

The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling