79 Bible Verses about Tents

Adah gave birth to Jabal; he became the father of those [nomadic herdsmen] who live in tents and have cattle and raise livestock.

Then he moved on from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].

Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled in the cities of the valley and camped as far as Sodom and lived there.

Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the terebinth trees of Mamre [in Hebron], while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.

When the boys grew up, Esau was an able and skilled hunter, a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet and peaceful man, living in tents.

Now Moses heard the people weeping [in self-pity] throughout their families, every man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses regarded their behavior as evil.

So the Philistines fought; Israel was defeated and every man fled to his tent. It was a very great defeat, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.

There happened to be there a worthless and wicked man named Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet [to call Israel to revolt] and said,“We have no portion in David
And no inheritance in the son of Jesse,
Every man to his tents, O Israel!”

So when all [the ten northern tribes of] Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people replied to the king, saying,“What portion do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
To your tents, O Israel!
Look now after your own house, David!” Then Israel went back to their tents.

Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah [in marriage], and she became his wife, and he loved her; therefore Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he came out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.

But Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me! Have no fear.” So he turned aside to her [and went] into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.

They brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

So they brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.”

David built houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.

For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, and they would come in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were innumerable. So they came into the land to devastate it.

“May God enlarge [the land of] Japheth,
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.”

When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling a dream to his friend. And he said, “Listen carefully, I had a dream: there was a loaf of barley bread tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.”

I [Habakkuk, in my vision] saw the tents of Cushan under distress;
The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.

They burned all the cities where they lived, and all their encampments with fire.

So the Arameans set out and fled during the twilight, and left their tents, horses, and donkeys, even left the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives. When these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried away from there silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. Then they went back and entered another tent and carried [some valuable things] from there also, and went and hid them.

Then David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

when I saw among the spoils [in Jericho] a beautiful robe from Shinar (southern Babylon) and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I wanted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and they saw the stolen objects hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. And they took them from the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and spread them out before the Lord.

Nor shall you build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard or own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners (temporary residents).’

By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land, as in a strange land, living in tents [as nomads] with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. For he was [waiting expectantly and confidently] looking forward to the city which has foundations, [an eternal, heavenly city] whose architect and builder is God.

But Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the terebinth trees of Mamre [in Hebron], while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he raised his eyes and looked up, behold, three men were standing [a little distance] from him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down [with his face] to the ground, and Abraham said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass by your servant [without stopping to visit]. read more.
Please let a little water be brought [by one of my servants] and [you may] wash your feet, and recline and rest comfortably under the tree. And I will bring a piece of bread to refresh and sustain you; after that you may go on, since you have come to your servant.” And they replied, “Do as you have said.” So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, get ready three measures of fine meal, knead it and bake cakes.”

When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This kindness and loyalty you can show me: at every place we stop, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather as much of it as he needs. Take an omer for each person, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’”

Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at his tent door, and look at Moses until he entered the tent.

But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle (sanctuary) of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings and all things that belong to it. They shall carry the tabernacle [when traveling] and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and camp around it.

“Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
And the tents of the wicked will be no longer.”

He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he was uncovered and lay exposed inside his tent.

And he said to the congregation, “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away in all their sin.”

They went out at noon, while Ben-hadad was getting drunk in the temporary shelters, he and the thirty-two kings who were helping him.

‘Is not their tent-cord drawn up within them [so that the tent collapses]?
Do they not die, and yet without [acquiring] wisdom?’

If sin is in your hand, put it far away [from you],
And do not let wrongdoing dwell in your tents;

“The tents of the destroyers prosper;
And those who provoke God are [apparently] secure,
Whom God brings into their power.

“For the company of the godless is barren,
And fire consumes the tents of bribery (wrong and injustice).

“The light will be dark in his tent,
And his lamp beside him will be put out.

“For you say, ‘Where is the house of the noble man?
And where is the tent, the dwelling place of the wicked?’

“If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up [and restored];
If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else];
I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God
Than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.

and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them; and they worked together for they were tent-makers.

“Then you shall make [exterior] curtains of goats’ hair as a tent over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains in all.

Then he made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains in all.

You shall make a third covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a fourth covering above that of porpoise skins. “Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright [as a trellis-like frame]. The length of each board shall be ten cubits and the width of each board shall be one and a half cubits. read more.
Make two dovetails in each board for fitting [them] together; you shall do the same for all the tabernacle boards. You shall make the boards for the tabernacle [in the following quantities]: twenty boards for the south side. You shall make forty silver sockets under the twenty boards, two sockets under each board for its two dovetails, and two sockets under another board for its two dovetails; for the north side of the tabernacle there shall be twenty boards, and their forty silver sockets, two sockets under each board. For the back or west side of the tabernacle you shall make six boards. Make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear [on both sides]. They shall be joined together underneath, and joined together on top with one ring. So shall it be for both of them; they shall form the two [rear] corners. There shall be eight boards and sixteen silver sockets; two sockets under each board. “Then you shall make [fifteen] bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the rear end of the tabernacle, for the back wall toward the west. And the middle bar in the center of the boards shall pass through [horizontally] from end to end. You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold to hold the bars. You shall overlay the bars with gold.

He made a [third] covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and above it a [fourth] covering of porpoise skins. Bezalel made boards of acacia wood for the upright framework of the tabernacle. Each board was ten cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. read more.
Each board had two tenons (dovetails), fitted to one another; he did this for all the boards of the tabernacle. And [this is how] he made the boards [for frames] for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side; and he made under the twenty boards forty silver sockets; two sockets under one board for its two tenons (dovetails), and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. For the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards, and their forty silver sockets; two sockets under [the end of] each board. And for the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, he made six [frame] boards. And he made two boards for each corner of the tabernacle in the rear. They were separate below, but linked together at the top with one ring; thus he made both of them in both corners. There were eight boards with sixteen silver sockets, and under [the end of] each board two sockets. Bezalel made bars of acacia wood, five for the [frame] boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle’s other side, and five bars for the boards at the rear side to the west. And he made the middle bar pass through [horizontally] halfway up the boards from one end to the other. He overlaid the boards and the bars with gold and made their rings of gold as holders for the bars.

All the tabernacle’s utensils and instruments used in all its service, and all its stakes, and all the stakes for the court, shall be of bronze.

the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their cords;

All the pegs for the tabernacle and the court were bronze.

the curtains of the courtyard, its support poles and sockets, and the screen (curtain) for the courtyard gate, its cords and pegs, and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people];

and the hangings of the courtyard, the curtain for the doorway of the courtyard which is around the tabernacle and the altar, its tent ropes, and all the service concerning them.

and the pillars around the courtyard with their sockets or bases and their pegs and their cords (tent ropes), with all their equipment and with all their [accessories for] service; and you shall assign each man by name the items he is to carry [on the march].

But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, and came up quietly to him and drove the peg through his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.

In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “the peg (Eliakim) that was driven into the firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

“From them (Judah) shall come the Cornerstone,
From them the tent peg,
From them the bow of battle,
From them every ruler, all of them together.

You shall make a third covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a fourth covering above that of porpoise skins.

My tent is destroyed,
And all my [tent] cords are broken;
My children have been taken from me [as captives] and are no more.
There is no one to stretch out my tent again
And to set up my [tent] curtains.

So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord [in prayer]. He pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Then he bought the piece of land on which he had pitched his tents from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.

Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the terebinth tree in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof [of the king’s palace], and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

[You are the One] who covers Yourself with light as with a garment,
Who stretches out the heavens like a tent curtain,

Yet their voice [in quiet evidence] has gone out through all the earth,
Their words to the end of the world.
In them and in the heavens He has made a tent for the sun,

For we know that if the earthly tent [our physical body] which is our house is torn down [through death], we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

I think it right, as long as I am in this earthly tent, to inspire you by reminding you, knowing that the laying aside of this earthly tent of mine is imminent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

Have them build a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them. You shall construct it in accordance with everything that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture.

“Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle (sacred tent of worship) with ten [interior] curtains of fine twisted linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric; you shall make them with [embroidered] cherubim, the handwork of a skillful craftsman. The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all of the curtains shall measure the same. The five curtains shall be joined to one another, and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. read more.
You shall make loops of blue on the outer edge of the last curtain in the first set, and likewise in the second set. You shall make fifty loops on the one curtain, and fifty loops on the edge of the last curtain that is in the second set. The loops on one curtain correspond to the loops on the other. You shall make fifty gold hooks, and fasten the curtains together with the hooks; and the tabernacle shall be one unit. “Then you shall make [exterior] curtains of goats’ hair as a tent over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains in all. Each curtain shall be thirty cubits long and four cubits wide. The eleven curtains shall all measure the same. You shall join five curtains by themselves and the other six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent [to make a closed door]. Make fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. “You shall make fifty bronze hooks and put the hooks into the loops and join the tent together so that it may be one unit. The overlapping part that is left over from the tent curtains, the half curtain that is left over, shall lap over the back of the tabernacle. The cubit on one side and the cubit on the other, of what is left over in the length of the curtains of the tent shall lap over the sides of the tabernacle on one side and the other side, to cover it. You shall make a third covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a fourth covering above that of porpoise skins. “Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright [as a trellis-like frame]. The length of each board shall be ten cubits and the width of each board shall be one and a half cubits. Make two dovetails in each board for fitting [them] together; you shall do the same for all the tabernacle boards. You shall make the boards for the tabernacle [in the following quantities]: twenty boards for the south side. You shall make forty silver sockets under the twenty boards, two sockets under each board for its two dovetails, and two sockets under another board for its two dovetails; for the north side of the tabernacle there shall be twenty boards, and their forty silver sockets, two sockets under each board. For the back or west side of the tabernacle you shall make six boards. Make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear [on both sides]. They shall be joined together underneath, and joined together on top with one ring. So shall it be for both of them; they shall form the two [rear] corners. There shall be eight boards and sixteen silver sockets; two sockets under each board. “Then you shall make [fifteen] bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the rear end of the tabernacle, for the back wall toward the west. And the middle bar in the center of the boards shall pass through [horizontally] from end to end. You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold to hold the bars. You shall overlay the bars with gold. You shall erect the tabernacle according to its plan [the direction corresponding to its meaning and purpose] which has been shown to you on the mountain. “You shall make a veil [to divide the two rooms] of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and fine twisted linen, skillfully worked with cherubim on it. You shall hang it on four pillars (support poles) of acacia wood overlaid with gold, with gold hooks, on four silver sockets. You shall hang the veil from the hooks [that connect the curtains together], and you shall bring the ark of the Testimony there within the veil. The veil shall separate for you the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the Testimony in the Holy of Holies. You shall set the table [for the bread] outside the veil [in the Holy Place] on the north side, and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle. “You shall make a screen [to provide a covering] for the doorway of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and finely woven [embroidered] linen, the work of an embroiderer. You shall make five pillars (support poles) of acacia wood to support the hanging curtain and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five [base] sockets of bronze for them.

Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished; and the Israelites did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; that is what they did.

In the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people], outside the veil which is in front of the [ark of the] Testimony [and sets it apart], Aaron [the high priest] and his sons shall keep the lamp burning from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual statute [to be observed] throughout their generations on behalf of the Israelites.

Now Moses used to take his own tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting [of God with His own people]. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the [temporary] tent of meeting which was outside the camp.

The various articles of clothing shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the Tent of Meeting, or when they approach the altar [of incense] to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. It shall be a statute forever to Aaron and to his descendants after him.

“Then you shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the bull’s head. Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord by the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.

And so the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his attendant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying,

The Lord spoke [by special revelation] to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) on the first day of the second month in the second year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, saying,