Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 27:1 - 27:8
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Altar
v. 1. And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare, a form which gave it great solidity; and the height thereof shall be three cubits.
v. 2. And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof, hornlike projections which were firmly attached to the altar, as though growing out of it. They are often mentioned, and their significance appears from the fact that the blood of the sin-offering was put upon them, and that people fleeing for their life took hold of them for their protection, Lev_4:7; 1Ki_1:50. His horns shall be of the same, that is, made of acacia wood, like the body of the altar; and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
v. 3. And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, the vessels which were used in removing the ashes of the fat, and his shovels, and his basins, or bowls, used for sprinkling the blood of the sacrifices, and his flesh-hooks, the great prongs for spearing the meat, and his fire-pans, in which the live coals for the kindling of the fires were carried: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass, of copper or one of its common alloys.
v. 4. And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass, probably for the purpose of catching such pieces of the sacrifices as fell from the altar; and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof, as sockets for the poles with which the altar was carried.
v. 5. And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, the projecting ledge, or shelf, on which the priest stepped when engaged in sacrificing or when replenishing the fire, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.
v. 6. And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass, with the same metal of which all the instruments and dishes of the altar were made.
v. 7. And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be put upon the two sides of the altar to bear it.
v. 8. Hollow with boards shalt thou make it; as it was showed thee in the mount, so shall they make it. It is probable that the hollow space inside the altar was always filled with earth, Exo_20:24, the place for the fire being in the center of this square and far enough from the wooden walls to obviate the danger of setting these afire. This altar was always in plain sight before all the children of Israel, reminding them of the fact that an expiation of sins was needed. The altar of the Christians is the cross of Christ, on which He bare our sins, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness, 1Pe_2:24; Heb_13:10.