A delignified wood template with hydrophilic characteristics and high porosity was obtained by removal of lignin. Gelatin was infiltrated into the delignified wood and further crosslinked with a natural crosslinker genipin to form hydrogels. The composite hydrogels showed high mechanical strength under compression and low swelling in physiological condition. The effect of genipin concentrations (1, 50 and 100 mM) on structure and properties of the composite hydrogels were studied. A porous honeycomb structure with tunable pore size and porosity was observed in the freeze-dried composite hydrogels. High elastic modulus of 11.82 ± 1.51 MPa and high compressive yield stress of 689.3 ± 34.9 kPa were achieved for the composite hydrogel with a water content as high as 81%. The equilibrium water uptake of the freeze-dried hydrogel in phosphate buffered saline at 37 °C was as low as 407.5%. These enables the delignified wood structure an excellent template in composite hydrogel preparation by using infiltration and in-situ synthesis, particularly when high mechanical strength and stiffness are desired.