1 And make an altar of hard wood, a square altar, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high.
The altar of burned offerings he made of hard wood; a square altar, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, And he put horns at its four angles made of the same, plating it all with brass; And brass was used for all the vessels of the altar, the baskets and the spades, the basins and the meat-hooks and the fire-trays; all the vessels he made of brass And he made a network of brass for the altar, under the frame round it, stretching half-way up; And four rings for the four angles of this network, to take the rods. The rods he made of hard wood plated with brass. He put the rods through the rings at the opposite sides of the altar for lifting it; he made the altar hollow, boarded in with wood.
Make for me an altar of earth, offering on it your burned offerings and your peace-offerings, your sheep and your oxen: in every place where I have put the memory of my name, I will come to you and give you my blessing. And if you make me an altar of stone do not make it of cut stones: for the touch of an instrument will make it unclean. And do not go up by steps to my altar, for fear that your bodies may be seen uncovered.
And put oil on the altar of burned offering, and make it and all its vessels holy; this altar is to be most holy.
And at the door of the House of the Tent of meeting, he put the altar of burned offerings, offering on it the burned offering and the meal offering, as the Lord had given him orders.
Then he made a brass altar, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.
And these are the measures of the altar in cubits: (the cubit being a cubit and a hand's measure;) its hollow base is a cubit high and a cubit wide, and it has an overhanging edge as wide as a hand-stretch all round it: And from the base on the earth level to the lower shelf, the altar is two cubits high and a cubit wide; and from the smaller shelf to the greater shelf it is four cubits high and a cubit wide. And the fireplace is four cubits high: and coming up from the fireplace are the horns, a cubit high. And the fireplace is twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide, square on its four sides. And the shelf is fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, on its four sides; the edge round it is half a cubit; the base of it is a cubit all round, and its steps are facing the east.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 27
Commentary on Exodus 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 27
Ex 27:1-21. Altar for Burnt Offering.
1, 2. altar of shittim wood—The dimensions of this altar which was placed at the entrance of the sanctuary were nearly three yards square, and a yard and a half in height. Under the wooden frame of this chest-like altar the inside was hollow, and each corner was to be terminated by "horns"—angular projections, perpendicular or oblique, in the form of horns. The animals to be sacrificed were bound to these (Ps 118:27), and part of the blood was applied to them.
3. shovels—fire shovels for scraping together any of the scattered ashes.
basons—for receiving the blood of the sacrifice to be sprinkled on the people.
fleshhooks—curved, three-pronged forks (1Sa 2:13, 14).
fire-pans—A large sort of vessel, wherein the sacred fire which came down from heaven (Le 9:24) was kept burning, while they cleaned the altar and the grate from the coals and ashes, and while the altar was carried from one place to another in the wilderness [Patrick, Spencer, Le Clerc].
4. a grate of network of brass—sunk latticework to support the fire.
four brazen rings—by which the grating might be lifted and taken away as occasion required from the body of the altar.
5. put it under the compass of the altar beneath—that is, the grating in which they were carried to a clean place (Le 4:12).
6, 7. staves … rings—Those rings were placed at the side through which the poles were inserted on occasions of removal.
9-19. the court of the tabernacle—The enclosure in which the edifice stood was a rectangular court, extending rather more than fifty yards in length and half that space in breadth, and the enclosing parapet was about three yards or half the height of the tabernacle. That parapet consisted of a connected series of curtains, made of fine twined linen yarn, woven into a kind of network, so that the people could see through; but that large curtain which overhung the entrance was of a different texture, being embroidered and dyed with variegated colors, and it was furnished with cords for pulling it up or drawing it aside when the priests had occasion to enter. The curtains of this enclosure were supported on sixty brazen pillars which stood on pedestals of the same metal, but their capitals and fillets were of silver, and the hooks on which they were suspended were of silver also.
19. pins—were designed to hold down the curtains at the bottom, lest the wind should waft them aside.
20, 21. pure oil olive beaten—that is, such as runs from the olives when bruised and without the application of fire.
for the light … Aaron and his sons—were to take charge of lighting it in all time coming.
21. shall order it from evening to morning—The tabernacle having no windows, the lamps required to be lighted during the day. Josephus says that in his time only three were lighted; but his were degenerate times, and there is no Scripture authority for this limitation. But although the priests were obliged from necessity to light them by day, they might have let them go out at night had it not been for this express ordinance.