Bible Strands
Exodus 38:20
All the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the surrounding courtyard were bronze.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Levites compile the construction inventory at Moses’ command under Ithamar’s supervision. This verse closes the materials list for the tabernacle’s structural hardware.
The words — The text uses נְחֹשֶׁת (nechoshet) to identify bronze as the material for every peg. It pairs this with כָּל־הַיְתֵדֹת (kol-haytedot) to specify that all tent pegs for both the sanctuary and its surrounding courtyard were forged from this alloy.
The thread — This detail fulfills the earlier directive in Exodus 27:19 regarding the tabernacle and courtyard pegs. The bronze construction stands in contrast to the gold nails described in 2 Chronicles 3:9.
Why it lands — The text explicitly records that bronze formed the complete structural foundation of the worship site. Readers must recognize that the sanctuary’s stability depended on uniform, durable hardware rather than ornamental metal.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.
Cross-references
- Exodus 27:19 All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, including all its tent pegs and the tent pegs of the courtyard, shall be made of bronze.
- 2 Chronicles 3:9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
- Ezra 9:8 But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the LORD our God to preserve for us a remnant and to give us a stake in His holy place. Even in our bondage, our God has given us new life and light to our eyes.
- Ecclesiastes 12:11 The words of the wise are like goads, and the anthologies of the masters are like firmly embedded nails driven by a single Shepherd.
- Isaiah 22:23 I will drive him like a peg into a firm place, and he will be a throne of glory for the house of his father.
- Isaiah 33:20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up, nor will any of its cords be broken.
- Ephesians 2:21 In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
- Colossians 2:19 He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.