Due to its highly optimized structure across several length scales, wood exhibits a very complex mechanical behavior at the macroscale and a high variability of its material properties. Both constitute major obstacles to a broader application of this material for engineering purposes. The combination of multiscale modeling and powerful material models implemented in numerical simulation software such as the finite element method is considered as efficient strategy to overcome these limitations and to improve reliability and capabilities of current timber engineering design. Examples of such models and their application to numerical analysis of a dowel joint are shown in this paper.