The boards and their bars were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, as were the pillars of the entrance door to the sanctuary. There were twenty boards on each of the North and South sides and six boards on the West side of the Tabernacle, plus two boards to strengthen the western wall at it corners. The boards were held together by five bars, the middle one of which passed through the center of the boards.
The two-fold composition of the boards and bars is explained as follows:
gold: the first mention of gold in the Bible is in Genesis 2:11-12. It was 'in the hills' already, as created by God, and is spoken of as good, just as God said of everything He had made in Genesis chapter 1. Because it is precious and was created directly by God, gold stands for 'divine'
wood: because wood grows out of the earth, and because Adam was made by God from something He had already made (the dust of the earth), wood stands for 'human', as in Psalm 1:1-3
In the wording of Exodus 26:15-30, the boards are mentioned being made of acacia wood as early as verses 15-16. God specifies to Moses the size of each board, the number of boards, the fact that they are to be standing upright, how they are fixed into silver sockets to stand, the number of boards on each wall and how to strengthen the corners are all specified. Then the wood of the bars is mentioned. Only right at the end of the account is it specified "you shall overlay the boards with gold" (Exodus 26:29), the bars too. The delay in mentioning the gold overlay gives us an indication that the wood (signifying the human element) has to be worked on and fitted, qualified in order to have the gold, the 'divine' element, as its overlay. Peter gives us the reason: we humans must have "escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" and realize we "have been given precious and exceeding great promises, that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).
We must be the wooden boards that are standing up in the silver sockets, not lounging around in or harping back to the garlic and onions of Egypt (Numbers 11:5-6). The wood is no longer growing in soil or even in the desert sand. Between the boards and the desert is a significant quantity of silver; two silver sockets, each weighing 125 lbs, form the base for each board. Silver in the scriptures is used as the purchase/redemption price of a life (20 silver shekels for Joseph in Genesis 37:28, 30 silver shekels for Jesus in Matthew 26:14-15). When the wood is robustly standing in the silver sockets it means that we have a testimony that we belong to God; we concede "we are not our own, we have been bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). When many boards together have the same testimony, we are "those who have obtained a like precious faith in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:1). Then comes the gold overlay "that you might become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4) and "glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:20).
There were two extra boards, strengthening the corners of the western side. This west facing wall is called the 'thigh' in Hebrew (Exodus 26:23), implying strengthened standing in the body of Christ. these extra boards strengthened the corners, the weakest part of the structure, in the same way as the pillars at the door of the sanctuary and the veil.
The boards each had an individual standing in the two silver sockets, but they were strongly connected together by the bars. There were five bars, four of which passed through rings on the outside of the boards, plus the middle bar which passed through the center of each board. there are interpretations of the five Bars:
1. they refer to the lowliness, meekness, patience and love plus the uniting bond of peace, In Ephesians 4:1-3, that are required for us all to walk worthily of our calling
2. they refer to the five classes of gifted persons the ascended Christ gave to equip the saints for building: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, in Ephesians 4:11.
God's plan of salvation and His purpose in building are not individualistic in the book of Exodus. The wood may have come from different acacia trees, but all the boards ended up fashioned and fitly framed together in one structure, that was God's dwelling place (Ephesians 2:21). The children of Israel numbered many hundreds of thousand in their family Passover meals and exit from Egypt. Yet God brought them out into the wilderness to experience one food source and one water source, with one goal of God's speaking, the one center for worship, one building - the tabernacle: "Let them build Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8). The dwelling place of God is the one purpose for which we have been purchased by God with the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ.
There are two long walls of boards, one signifying the Jews and the other the Gentiles. Neither could profit under the law, neither could keep the commandments of God. The only hope was the promised Messiah, in whose blood all might be brought near again. All the boards stand in His redemption only. Now any man in Christ is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold they have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The new creation in Messiah of one new man (Ephesians 2:15) is corporate: Jewish believers and Gentile believers are saved by His grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8) that nobody may boast. Through Jesus we both have access in one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). In Him we are fitted together as the boards in the tabernacle so that God may have His dwelling place in the (one) Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). God is operating powerfully in us to accomplish this, "to Him be the glory in the church and Christ Jesus for evermore" (Ephesians 3:20-21).
