Bar (2)
Bars as Security for Gates and Cities
In the ancient world, bars were essential security devices used to bolt city gates shut. Fortified cities relied on massive wooden or metal bars placed across their gates to prevent enemy entry. Moses described the cities of Og, king of Bashan, as having "high walls, gates, and bars" (Deuteronomy 3:5). The strength of a city's defenses was measured partly by the quality of its bars. God promised to strengthen the bars of Jerusalem's gates (Psalm 147:13), signifying His protection over His people. Conversely, when judgment fell, the bars of a city's gates were broken or consumed, leaving it defenseless (Lamentations 2:9; Amos 1:5).
Bars in the Tabernacle
Bars played a crucial structural role in the tabernacle. God instructed Moses to make bars of acacia wood to hold together the tabernacle's forty-eight upright boards (Exodus 26:26-29). Five bars ran along each side and the back of the tabernacle, with the middle bar running the entire length through the center of the boards (Exodus 36:31-34). These bars were overlaid with gold and slid through gold rings attached to the boards. This ingenious design allowed the tabernacle to be assembled and disassembled for transport during Israel's wilderness wanderings (Numbers 3:36; 4:31).
Bars as Symbols of Confinement and Boundaries
Scripture uses bars figuratively to describe confinement and God's sovereign control over boundaries. God asks Job, "Who shut up the sea behind doors... when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place?" (Job 38:10). Here bars represent God's authority to set limits on the chaotic sea. Jonah describes his near-death experience in the belly of the great fish as descending to a place where "the bars closed upon me forever" (Jonah 2:6), using bar imagery for the gates of death and the underworld.
Breaking Bars: Divine Liberation
One of the most powerful images involving bars is God breaking them to set captives free. Isaiah prophesied that God would "break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron" (Isaiah 45:2), a promise fulfilled when Cyrus conquered Babylon and released the Jewish exiles. The psalmist celebrates that God "broke the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron in two" (Psalm 107:16). Samson dramatically tore loose the gates of Gaza, bars and all, carrying them to the top of a hill (Judges 16:3), foreshadowing divine power that shatters every barrier.
The Bars of Sheol
Job speaks of the "bars of Sheol" (Job 17:16), referring to the gates of the realm of the dead from which there is no natural escape. This imagery appears again in Isaiah 38:10 when Hezekiah laments being consigned to "the gates of Sheol." The New Testament transforms this imagery when Jesus declares that the gates of Hades will not prevail against His church (Matthew 16:18), and through His resurrection, He holds the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18).
Biblical Context
Bars appear in the tabernacle construction narrative (Exodus 26, 36), in descriptions of fortified cities (Deuteronomy 3:5; 2 Chronicles 8:5; Nehemiah 3:3-15), in wisdom literature (Proverbs 18:19; Job 38:10; 17:16), in prophetic oracles of liberation (Isaiah 45:2; Amos 1:5), in psalms of deliverance (Psalm 107:16; 147:13), and in Samson's story (Judges 16:3).
Theological Significance
Bars in Scripture represent human attempts at security and God's ultimate sovereignty over all boundaries. No bar can keep God out or hold His people captive when He moves to deliver. The tabernacle bars show God's attention to structural detail in worship. The bars of Sheol represent death's seemingly inescapable grip, which Christ's resurrection decisively shattered. The imagery teaches that true security comes from God, not human fortifications.
Historical Background
Archaeological excavations of ancient Near Eastern cities reveal massive gate systems with slots for wooden and bronze bars. The gates of Balawat from Assyria, dating to the ninth century BC, had elaborate bronze bands showing their importance. City gates typically had multiple sets of bars for layered defense. The tabernacle's bar-and-socket system reflects sophisticated portable architecture known from other ancient nomadic cultures.