What Does Exodus 26:15 Mean?

And you shall make boards for the dwelling of shittim wood, standing up.

Exodus 26:15 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up.

THE KEY

The tabernacle’s name means “dwelling,” and its boards are literally “standing”, the dwelling takes form as what stands.

THE MEANING

The dwelling takes shape through boards of shittim wood standing upright. Its form is concrete: it is made from pieces set to stand.

THE ROOT

מִשְׁכָּן

mishkan

GROWS FROM

שׁכן

sh-k-n

To dwell, settle, or remain.

The word translated “tabernacle” is a dwelling place, from the same root as the verb “dwell.” The verse names the structure by what happens there: dwelling takes shape in a place made to stand.

ALSO GROWS

shakan: To dwell or settle.

שָׁכַן

This verb shares the seed of “tabernacle” and reveals the structure’s purpose within its name.

shakhen: A neighbor or resident.

שָׁכֵן

A resident is one who dwells nearby; this branch carries the root from a dwelling place to the one who inhabits it.

עֹמְדִים

ʿomdim

GROWS FROM

עמד

ʿ-m-d

To stand or take one’s position.

“standing up” in this verse is ʿomdim. The boards are described with a word from the root “stand.” A related word means “pillar,” so the root connects the boards’ posture with the kind of support that makes a structure stand.

ALSO GROWS

ʿamad: To stand or take one’s stand.

עָמַד

This is the verb behind “standing up,” making the boards’ upright position explicit in Hebrew.

ʿammud: A pillar or column.

עַמּוּד

This related word names an upright support, echoing how the boards stand as part of the dwelling’s frame.

THE PATTERN

A dwelling becomes visible through distinct parts set into a structure that stands.

And Moses raised up the dwelling, and set its bases, and set its boards, and set its bars, and raised up its pillars.

Exodus 40:18 · SDVThe boards, bars, sockets, and pillars come together as a standing dwelling.

A Song of degrees for Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders toil in emptiness. Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in emptiness.

Psalm 127:1 · SDVA house takes shape through building, while its enduring life rests with the one who builds and keeps it.

You also, as living stones, are built up into a house of breath, a set-apart priesthood, to carry up sacrifices of breath, well received by God through Jesus, the Anointed One.

1 Peter 2:5 · SDVDistinct members are built together into a dwelling, echoing the boards that form the tabernacle.

THE THREAD

And let them make me a set-apart place, that I may pitch my tent among them.

Exodus 25:8 · SDV

“Tabernacle” here is ⁨מִשְׁכָּן⁩ (mishkan, dwelling place), from ⁨שׁכן⁩ (sh-k-n, to dwell); Exodus 25:8 uses that same root in “that I may dwell among them.” The structure is named for the dwelling it makes possible.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us