Exodus 25:10

*Acacia* — Hebrew shittim (or shittah singular), translated shittim wood in the KJV — is the wood God specifies for nearly every wooden item in the Mosaic tabernacle: the ark of the covenant, the table of showbread, the altar of burnt offering, the altar of incense, the poles, the boards, and the bars (Exodus 25–27 and 35–38, more than two dozen mentions in all). The choice is partly practical. Acacia tortilis and Acacia seyal are the dominant hardwoods of the Sinai and Negev — durable, dense, insect-resistant, and the only timber substantial enough for the sanctuary's furniture available within walking distance of the Israelite camp. The choice is also theological: the same God who calls a covenant nation out of slavery uses the materials of their wandering, not the cedar of Lebanon or the cypress of Tyre, to build the place where he will dwell among them. The acacia appears once more, prophetically. In Isaiah 41:19, the LORD promises to plant the shittah alongside the cedar, the myrtle, and the oil tree in the wilderness — a vision of the desert flowering into a new sanctuary when the people return from exile. The wood of the first tabernacle becomes the image of the second.

• Exodus 26
• Exodus 37
• Deuteronomy 10
• Isaiah 41