Context No. 4114 of 4322 · Exodus

Exodus 26:15-25: in context

15“You shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. 16Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board. 17There shall be two tenons in each board, joined to one another: thus you shall make for all the boards of the tabernacle. 18You shall make twenty boards for the tabernacle, for the south side southward. 19You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. 20For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards, 21and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 22For the far side of the tabernacle westward you shall make six boards. 23You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle in the far side. 24They shall be double beneath, and in the same way they shall be whole to its top to one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. 25There shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

Among the instructions for the tabernacle are directions for its wooden frames, the upright boards that formed its walls, each fitted with tenons and set into bases of silver. Every frame stood upright, but not on its own; each rested on a firm foundation of silver sockets that held it in place.

It is a small detail, but there is a picture in it. The upright boards, standing tall to form the walls of God's dwelling, could not stand on their own; each needed a base, a foundation, to rest in and be held steady. Without the silver sockets beneath them, the frames would have toppled. So it is with us. However upright we seek to stand, we cannot stand securely on our own; we need a foundation to rest on. And Scripture is clear about what that foundation must be: no one can lay any foundation other than Jesus Christ. Our standing, our stability, our ability to remain upright through the storms of life, does not come from our own strength but from being grounded on a firm foundation.

Am I resting my life on the firm foundation of Christ rather than trying to stand upright on my own strength, knowing that, like the tabernacle frames in their silver bases, I can only remain standing when I am grounded on him?

Sources

Exodus 26:19: "You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons."
Exodus 26:15: "You shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright."
1 Corinthians 3:11: "For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ."