The document describes the specifications for the altar of burnt offerings as instructed in Exodus 27, detailing its dimensions, materials, and significance. This altar, made of acacia wood and overlaid with bronze, stood before the tabernacle and was used for animal sacrifices to sanctify the offerings brought by the people. It serves as a type of Christ, representing His role as the ultimate sacrifice and altar for believers.

1. EXODUS 27 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
The Altar of Burnt Offering
1 “Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits[a]
high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five
cubits wide.[b]
BAR ES, "(Compare Exo_38:1-7.) The great altar which stood in the court
immediately in front of the tabernacle was commonly called the altar of burnt-offering,
because on it were burnt the whole burnt-offerings, and all those parts of the other
animal sacrifices which were offered to the Lord. It was also called the brazen altar,
because it was covered with bronze, in distinction from the golden altar or altar of
incense Exo_39:38-39; Exo_40:5-6.
CLARKE, "Thou shalt make an altar - ‫מזבח‬ mizbeach, from ‫זבח‬ zabach, to slay:
Septuagint, θυσιαστηριον, from θυσιαζω, to sacrifice or from θυω to kill, etc. See Clarke’s
note on Gen_8:20.
Four square - As this altar was five cubits long and five broad, and the cubit is
reckoned to be twenty-one inches, hence it must have been eight feet nine inches square,
and about five feet three inches in height, the amount of three cubits, taken at the same
ratio.
GILL, "And thou shall make an altar of shittim wood,.... This is a different altar
from that made of earth before the tabernacle was built, Exo_20:24 and from the altar of
incense, Exo_30:1 this was to offer burnt offerings on, and was placed at the door of the
tabernacle, in the court of the people, where they brought their sacrifices to the priests to
offer for them: it stood in the open air, as it was proper it should, that the smoke or the
sacrifices might ascend up and scatter. This altar was not typical of the altar of the heart;
though indeed all the saints are priests, and every sacrifice of theirs should come from
the heart, and particularly love, which is more than all burnt offerings; but the heart is
not this altar of brass to bear the fire of divine wrath, which none can endure; nor does it
sanctify the gift, it being itself impure: nor of the Lord's table, or the table on which the
Lord's supper is set; that is a table, and not an altar, a feast, and not a sacrifice; is not
greater than the gift, nor does it sanctify: nor of the cross or Christ, on which he died,

2. bore the sins or his people, and sanctified them by his blood; but of Christ himself, who
by his office as a priest, his human nature is the sacrifice, and his divine nature the altar;
and he is that altar believers in him have a right to eat of, Heb_13:10 his divine nature is
greater than the human, is the support of it, which sanctifies and gives it virtue as a
sacrifice, and which makes the sacrifices of all his people acceptable to God. This altar of
burnt offering is said to be made of "shittim wood", a wood incorruptible and durable;
Christ, as God, is from everlasting to everlasting; as man, though he once died, he now
lives for evermore, and never did or will see corruption; his priesthood is an
unchangeable priesthood, and passes not from one to another, and particularly his
sacrifice is of a continual virtue and efficacy:
five cubits long, and five cubits broad: the altar shall be square: as to the length
and breadth of it, which were alike, two yards and a half each, according to the common
notion of a cubit. The altars of the Heathens were made in imitation of this, they were
square as this was. Pausanias makes mention of an altar of Diana, that was τετραγωνος
"square", sensibly rising up on high. And this figure may denote the perfection of
Christ's sacrifice, and the permanency of it; though the altars in Solomon's temple, and
in the visions of Ezekiel, are much larger, and which also were square, 2Ch_4:1. Christ's
sacrifice is large and extensive, making satisfaction for all his people, and for all their
sins; and he is an altar large enough for all their sacrifices to be offered up to God with
acceptance:
and the height thereof shall be three cubits; a proper height for a man to minister
at; for as Aben Ezra observes, the height of a man is but four cubits ordinarily; so that a
man serving at the altar would be a cubit, or half a yard more above it, and would have
command of doing on it what he had to do.
HE RY 1-8, "As God intended in the tabernacle to manifest his presence among his
people, so there they were to pay their devotions to him, not in the tabernacle itself (into
that only the priests entered as God's domestic servants), but in the court before the
tabernacle, where, as common subjects, they attended. There an altar was ordered to be
set up, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer
them to God: and this altar was to sanctify their gifts. Here they were to present their
services to God, as from the mercy-seat he gave his oracles to them; and thus a
communion was settled between God and Israel. Moses is here directed about, 1. The
dimensions of it; it was square, Exo_27:1. 2. The horns of it (Exo_27:2), which were for
ornament and for use; the sacrifices were bound with cords to the horns of the altar, and
to them malefactors fled for refuge. 3. The materials; it was of wood overlaid with brass,
Exo_27:1, Exo_27:2. 4. The appurtenances of it (Exo_27:3), which were all of brass. 5.
The grate, which was let into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of it, in which the
fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt; it was made of network like a sieve, and hung
hollow, that the fire might burn the better, and that the ashes might fall through into the
hollow of the altar, Exo_27:4, Exo_27:5. 6. The staves with which it must be carried,
Exo_27:6, Exo_27:7. And, lastly, he is referred to the pattern shown him, Exo_27:8.
Now this brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins: the
wood would have been consumed by the fire from heaven if it had not been secured by
the brass; nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the wrath of God if it had
not been supported by a divine power. Christ sanctified himself for his church, as their
altar (Joh_17:19), and by his mediation sanctifies the daily services of his people, who
have also a right to eat of this altar (Heb_13:10), for they serve at it as spiritual priests.

3. To the horns of this altar poor sinners fly for refuge when justice pursues them, and they
are safe in virtue of the sacrifice there offered.
JAMISO , "Exo_27:1-21. Altar for Burnt Offering.
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 (Psa_118:27), and part
of the blood was applied to them.
K&D 1-3, "The Altar of Burnt-Offering (cf. Exo_38:1-7). - “Make the altar (the altar
of burnt-offering, according to Exo_38:1) of acacia-wood, five cubits long, and five
cubits broad ( ַ‫בוּע‬ ָ‫ר‬ “foured,” i.e., four-sided or quadrangular), and three cubits high. At
its four corners shall its horns be from (out of) it,” i.e., not removable, but as if growing
out of it. These horns were projections at the corners of the altar, formed to imitate in all
probability the horns of oxen, and in these the whole force of the altar was concentrated.
The blood of the sin-offering was therefore smeared upon them (Lev_4:7), and those
who fled to the altar to save their lives laid hold of them (vid., Exo_21:14, and 1Ki_1:50;
also my commentary on the passage). The altar was to be covered with copper or brass,
and all the things used in connection with it were to be made of brass. These were, - (1)
the pans, to cleanse it of the ashes of the fat (Exo_27:3 : ‫ן‬ ֵ ִ , a denom. verb from ‫ן‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֶ the
ashes of fat, that is to say, the ashes that arose from burning the flesh of the sacrifice
upon the altar, has a privative meaning, and signifies “to ash away,” i.e., to cleanse from
ashes); (2) ‫ים‬ ִ‫ע‬ָ‫י‬ shovels, from ‫ה‬ ָ‫ע‬ָ‫י‬ to take away (Isa_28:17); (3) ‫ּות‬‫ק‬ ָ‫ר‬ְ‫ז‬ ִ‫,מ‬ things used for
sprinkling the blood, from fzarq to sprinkle; (4) ‫ּות‬‫ג‬ ָ‫ל‬ְ‫ז‬ ִ‫מ‬ forks, flesh-hooks (cf. ‫ג‬ ֵ‫ל‬ְ‫ז‬ ַ‫מ‬ 1Sa_
3:13); (5) ‫ּת‬ ְ‫ח‬ ַ‫מ‬ coal-scoops (cf. Exo_25:38). ‫וגו‬ ‫יו‬ ָ‫ל‬ ֵⅴ‫ל־‬ ָ‫כ‬ ְ‫:ל‬ either “for all the vessels
thereof thou shalt make brass,” or “as for all its vessels, thou shalt make (them) of
brass.”
CALVI , "1.And thou shalt make an altar. The altar of whole burnt-offerings
(holocaustorum) is here described, which, however, it was called by synecdoche, for
not only entire victims were burnt there, but also parts of them only, as we shall see
in Leviticus. The burnt-offerings received their name from their ascending, (147)
whereby the Israelites were reminded that they had need to be purified, that they
might ascend to God; and at the same time were instructed that whatever
corruption there might be in the flesh did not prevent the sacrifices from being
acceptable and of a sweet savor to God. It is clear that from the first beginning of
the human race there were burnt-sacrifices, suggested by the secret inspiration of
God’s Spirit, since there was no written Law; nor can we doubt but that by this
symbol they were taught that the flesh must be burnt by the Spirit, in order that
men may duly offer themselves to God; and thus they acknowledged, under this
type, that the flesh of Christ must receive this from the divine power, so as to

4. become a perfect victim for the propitiation of God; thus, as the Apostle testifies, he
offered himself through the Spirit. (Hebrews 9:14.) But fuller mention of this
subject will be made elsewhere. The altar was so constructed that the sacrifices
might be cast upon a grate placed within it, and thus they were covered by its
external surface. The ashes were received into a pan, so that they should not fall
about upon the ground and be trodden under foot, but that reverence might be
inculcated even towards the very remnants of their holy things. (148) That the
victims were bound to the four horns, which stood out from the four corners, is
plain from the words of Psalms 118:27, “Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the
horns of the altar.” And this also is the beginning of a proper offering of spiritual
sacrifices, that all the lusts of the flesh should be subdued, and held captive as it
were unto the obedience of God. Wherefore even Christ, although in Him there was
nothing which was not duly regulated, was nevertheless bound, in order to prove
His obedience; as He had said, “ ot as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39.)
The altar was carried on staves, to obviate the necessity of having more than one;
else there would have been danger of their being compelled, by the very difficulty of
carrying it, to leave it behind after it was made, if they were setting about a long
journey; and this would have been the seed or ground of superstition, whilst no
other could be built which was not spurious.
BE SO , "Exodus 27:1. Thou shalt make an altar — As God intended in the
tabernacle to manifest his presence among his people, so there they were to pay their
devotions to him; not in the tabernacle itself, into that only the priests entered as
God’s domestic servants, but in the court before the tabernacle, where, as common
subjects, they attended. There an altar was ordered to be set up, to which they must
bring their sacrifices; and this altar was to sanctify their gifts; from hence they were
to present their services to God, as from the mercy-seat he gave his oracles to them:
and thus a communion was settled between God and Israel. This altar was placed at
the entrance of the sanctuary, and is termed the altar of burnt-offering, and the
great altar: it was almost three yards square, and above a yard and a half in height.
It was made of wood rather than of solid brass, that it might not be too heavy. But
notwithstanding that it was overlaid with brass, (Exodus 27:2,) had it been of
common wood, it must soon have been consumed to ashes by the continual heat:
hence Le Clerc conjectures that this shittim-wood might be the larch-tree, which
bears the fire like stone.
ELLICOTT, "THE ALTAR OF BUR T OFFERI G.
(1) Thou shalt make an altar.—Heb., the altar. It is assumed that a sanctuary must
have an altar, worship without sacrifice being unknown. (See Exodus 5:1-3; Exodus
8:25-28; Exodus 12:27; Exodus 18:12; Exodus 20:24-26, &c.)
Of shittim wood.—This direction seems at first sight to conflict with those given in
Exodus 20:24-25, where altars were required to be either of earth or of unhewn
stone. But the explanation of the Jewish commentators is probably correct, that
what was here directed to be made was rather an “altar-case” than an altar, and
that the true altar was the earth with which, at each halt in the wilderness, the

5. “case” of shittim wood covered with bronze was filled. (So Jarchi, Kalisch, and
others.)
Foursquare.—Ancient altars were either rectangular or circular, the square and the
circle being regarded as perfect figures. A triangular altar was discovered by Mr.
Layard in Mesopotamia, but even this had a circular top. In Hebrew architecture
and furniture curved lines were for the most part avoided, probably as presenting
greater difficulties than straight ones.
The height thereof . . . three cubits.—A greater height would have made it difficult
to arrange the victims upon the altar. Otherwise the notion of perfection in form
would probably have led to the altar being a cube.
COFFMA , "Verse 1
Exodus 27 details the instructions for the Great Bronze Altar that occupied the
prime position in the Court of the Tabernacle (Exodus 27:1-8), also the instructions
for the making of the court itself (Exodus 27:9-19), and finally the instructions for
the perpetual light in the Sanctuary, which could be none other than that provided
by the golden candlestick (Exodus 27:20-21).
THE GREAT BRO ZE ALTAR
"And thou shalt make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits
broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.
And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof; and the horns
thereof shall be of one piece with it: and thou shalt overlay it with brass. And thou
shalt make its pots to take away its ashes, and its shovels, and its basins, and its
fleshhooks, and its firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. And
thou shalt make for it a grating of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou
make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof And thou shalt put it under the
ledge round the altar beneath, that the net may reach half way up the altar. And
thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with
brass. And the staves thereof shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon
the two sides of the altar, in bearing it. Hollow with planks shalt thou make it: as it
hath been showed thee in the mount, so shall thou make it."
The symbolism of this Great Bronze Altar has to do with the death of Christ as an
Atonement for the sins of the whole world; and although the exact location of it was
not here given, it evidently stood somewhere near the grand entrance into the court
of the tabernacle, being by far the most important thing that fell upon the eyes of
anyone entering the court.
"The bronze (brass) speaks of manifested divine judgment ( umbers 21:9; John
3:14; Revelation 1:15). At Calvary, Christ met the burning heat of divine justice
against sin. Upon this altar the burnt offering was completely consumed, portraying
Him who knew no sin, yet was `Made ... sin for us, enduring the full wrath of God (2
Corinthians 5:21).'"[1]

6. Dominating as it did the entrance area of that enclosure typifying the whole world,
it was an effective symbol of the sublime truth that Jesus Christ in his mission of
salvation for all men through his vicarious sacrificial death, dominates all human
history. o other event of like importance ever occurred. All of the correspondence,
publications, newspapers, treaties, and legal business of the whole world are dated
with reference to His birth; and this goes on and on without interruption in every
city of mankind! Behold the Sacrifice for our sin!
"Thou shalt make the altar ..." The Hebrew text here does not speak of "an altar"
but of the altar.[2] This was the "place where" the Lord recorded his name, and
here was where he promised to meet and to bless the people (Exodus 20:24).
"Five cubits ... three cubits ..." The dimensions of the ark in feet would have been 7
1/2 feet square by 4 1/2 feet in height.
"The horns of it ..." These were very unusual for an altar. In fact, "They seem to
have been peculiar to the Israelites."[3] This should be no surprise to us, because
God who designed this altar did not need to consult the pagan nations around Israel
for any element of its design. The speculations mentioned by Dummelow that, "The
horns of the altar had some connection with the worship of Jehovah in the form of a
bull,"[4] are the grossest type of superstition. There is absolutely nothing in the
Word of God to suggest that these "horns" of the sacred altar had any resemblance
or connection whatever with bulls' horns. These horns were nothing more than
turned up corners of the altar itself; and it is significant that in the Far East today
one may notice this same upward thrust of the corners of prominent buildings, and
that a religious meaning to this design is understood by Orientals to have been
involved in the origin of the custom. This custom, so widespread on earth, doubtless
had its origin in this altar. One native who explained this phenomenon to this writer
said, "Well, it is as if the building itself were praying to God for protection and
help." This is what the altar did, not only for Israel, but is what the Great Antitype
is still doing "in heaven interceding!" Horns were symbols also of power,
productivity, glory, strength, etc.
"Pots to take away the ashes ..." The Hebrew here carries the idea of "the ashes of
the fat,"[5] meaning the ashes that came from the burning of the fat. All of the tools
here were to be made of brass, the same being a common symbol of judgment
throughout the Bible. When Christ, the Judge of all people, appears as the Final
Judge in Revelation, "His feet were like unto burnished brass" (Revelation 1:15).
"A grating of network of brass ..." Keil thought this was a bench-like projection
going completely around the outside of the altar, about half way up the altar from
the ground, and that, "The priest stood upon this,"[6] when placing wood, or
arranging the offering. Leviticus 9:22 appears to confirm this view; but it cannot be
received as certain. Such an arrangement would have been, in the eyes of some, a
violation of God's requirement concerning "no steps" to his altar (Exodus 20:26).
Keil refuted that view by supposing that the level of the grating was reached by

7. means of an earthen ramp, and not steps.
"Staves ... overlay ... with brass ..." These were devices for carrying the altar, being
similar in all ways to the staves of the several articles of furniture within the
tabernacle itself, except that these were to be overlaid with brass. There was a
progression from that which is less precious to that which is more precious as the
worshipper moved from the entrance of the court to the Holy of Holies, as indicated
by the brass overlay here, and the gold overlay within.
"Hollow with planks shalt thou make it ..." These planks were covered over with
brass; and that fact coupled with God's instructions, "An altar of earth shalt thou
make unto me" (Exodus 20:25) have led to the conclusion that what is called "the
altar" here was actually the bronze overlaid box that was filled with earth to
provide the actual altar. We see nothing unreasonable in such an assumption.
COKE, "Verse 1
Exodus 27:1. And thou shalt make an altar of shittim-wood— The altar for the
common service of sacrifices is next described; which the use whereto it was
appointed rendered necessary to be formed of baser and stronger materials than the
ark and table before mentioned. Accordingly, though constructed of the same wood
with them, it was to be overlaid with brass, and all the furniture about it was to be
made of the same metal. It was to be four-square, five cubits long, and five broad,
and three cubits high; i.e. about three yards square at the top, and about five feet in
height, according to Bishop Cumberland's measure. There were to be four horns at
the four corners of it, which were designed, it is supposed, for fastening the sacrifice
to the altar before it was slain; an opinion, which the words of the Psalmist strongly
confirm: Bind the sacrifice with cords unto the horns of the altar, Psalms 118:27.
For the middle of it, a grate of net-work of brass was to be made; of the same
square, I conceive, with the altar itself; which grate was to have four rings in the
four corners of it, and which was to be inserted from below or the bottom, so as to
fill up the whole compass of the altar, Exodus 38:5 and to be placed in the middle of
it; that is, two feet and a half from the top; the rings being outward at the four
corners, and used for the purpose of carrying it, Exodus 38:7 for, that there were no
other rings to this altar than those which belonged to the net-work, is evident from
ch. Exodus 38:5; Exodus 38:7. This net-work, according to my idea, filling up the
whole compass of the altar, formed the bottom of that grate for the fire which the
upper half of the altar contained. The 8th verse shews us, that the altar was, as we
have described, hollow; and that it had nothing else in the middle but this grate of
net-work, upon which the fire was made: and, understanding it in this form, the
objections to its portableness, from the weight of brass, is removed; especially, if,
with Calmet, we suppose it to have stood upon feet which reached half up to the
grate of brass, with the four rings at each corner. Thus also, objections to its height
are taken off, which, upon this plan, was very convenient. In short, we may easily
conceive it as a large square stove, lined with thick brass, and with such a grate of
brass for its bottom, as would be absolutely necessary for fire to burn in such a
stove. This altar was to be furnished with pans (to receive the ashes falling through
the grate of the altar, to which there was no other bottom,) and shovels; with basons

8. to receive the blood of the sacrifices, Exodus 27:3 flesh-hooks for taking off the
pieces of the sacrifice from the fire, (see 1 Samuel 2:13-14.) and fire-pans, i.e.
censers, wherein the sacred incense was dissolved by the fire. The word is translated
censer very properly, Leviticus 10:1; Leviticus 16:12 in which last place,
particularly, the use of it just mentioned is specified. See also umbers 16:17. This
altar, says Witsius, by the consentient voice of all orthodox divines, denotes Christ;
so far as he sanctifies and renders acceptable to God, his own oblation of himself for
the sins of the whole world: to this the apostle is thought to allude, Hebrews 13:10.
The horns, the place of refuge for the guilty, 1 Kings 1:50 denote his strength and
all-sufficiency, who is the Horn of our salvation, 2 Samuel 22:3. Luke 1:69.
REFLECTIO S.—The brazen altar is here described, on which all the offerings of
the children of Israel are to be offered, and there accepted as a sweet-smelling
favour. It was the type of Christ, who is both altar and sacrifice; and who by one
oblation of himself once offered, has obtained eternal redemption for us. Our
sacrifices of prayer and praise are acceptable only as offered up through him, who is
the true Altar which sanctifieth the gift. And to him the sinner, under the
accusations of guilt and sin, must fly as the malefactor did to the horns of the altar,
and then he shall be safe.
CO STABLE, "Verses 1-8
The altar of burnt offerings27:1-8
The height of this altar was four and a half feet. This height has led some
commentators to suggest that a step-like bench or ledge may have surrounded it on
which the priests stood when they offered sacrifices. [ ote: E.g, Keil and Delitzsch,
2:186-87.] In view of the command prohibiting steps up to Israel"s altars ( Exodus
20:26), a ramp seems more probable (cf. Leviticus 9:22). However there may have
been neither a ramp nor steps. The altar had four horns ( Exodus 27:2), one on each
corner, to which the priests applied blood ritually ( Exodus 29:12). People
occasionally clung to this altar as a place of refuge (cf. 1 Kings 1:50-51; 1 Kings
2:28). The priests also bound some animals to these horns when they sacrificed them
( Psalm 118:27). There was a grate ( Exodus 27:4) halfway to the ground inside the
altar that allowed air to circulate under the sacrifices and ashes to fall to the ground
below. The "ledge" appears to have projected out from the altar about half way up
its sides. Perhaps the priests stood on this ledge while placing the offerings on the
altar, or the ledge may have been on the inside of the altar to hold the grate.
This altar received the offerings of the Israelites. God met the Israelite where he
was, in the courtyard, rather than where He was, within the veil. evertheless the
Israelite had to make a special effort to approach God by entering the courtyard to
present his offering (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
"The position of the Altar just inside the entrance to the court made it as clear as
symbology could that the beginning of fellowship between God and man must be in
sacrifice." [ ote: Meyer, p349.]

9. The Book of Hebrews viewed this altar as a prototype of the better altar, which is
Jesus Christ ( Hebrews 13:10).
Verses 1-19
5. The tabernacle courtyard27:1-19
In this section Moses described the altar of burnt offerings, the courtyard itself, and
the oil for the lamps on the lampstand that the priests evidently prepared in the
courtyard.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "THE OUTER COURT.
Exodus 27:1-21
Before describing the tabernacle, its furniture was specified. And so, when giving
instructions for the court of the tabernacle, the altar has to be described: "Thou
shalt make the altar of acacia wood." The definite article either implies that an altar
was taken for granted, a thing of course; or else it points back to chap. Exodus
20:24, which said "An altar of earth shalt thou make." or is the acacia wood of
this altar at all inconsistent with that precept, it being really not an altar but an
altar-case, and "hollow" (Exodus 27:8)--an arrangement for holding the earth
together, and preventing the feet of the priests from desecrating it. At each corner
was a horn, of one piece with the framework, typical of the power which was there
invoked, and practically useful, both to bind the sacrifice with cords, and also for
the grasp of the fugitive, seeking sanctuary (Psalms 118:27; 1 Kings 1:50). This
arrangement is said to have been peculiar to Judaism. And as the altar was outside
the tabernacle, and both symbolism and art prescribed simpler materials, it was
overlaid with brass (Exodus 27:1-2). Of the same material were the vessels necessary
for the treatment of the fire and blood (Exodus 27:3). A network of brass protected
the lower part of the altar; and at half the height a ledge projected, supported by
this network, and probably wide enough to allow the priests to stand upon it when
they ministered (Exodus 27:4-5). Hence we read that Aaron "came down from
offering" (Leviticus 9:22). Lastly, there was the same arrangement of rings and
staves to carry it as for the ark and the table (Exodus 27:6-7).
It will be noticed that the laver in this court, like the altar of incense within, is
reserved for mention in a later chapter (Exodus 30:18) as being a subordinate
feature in the arrangements.
The enclosure was a quadrangle of one hundred cubits by fifty; it was five cubits
high, and each cubit may be taken as a foot and a half. The linen which enclosed it
was upheld by pillars with sockets of brass; and one of the few additional facts to be
gleaned from the detailed statement that all these directions were accurately carried
out is that the heads of all the pillars were overlaid with silver (Exodus 38:17). The
pillars were connected by rods (fillets) of silver, and a hanging of fine-twined linen
was stretched by means of silver hooks (Exodus 27:9-13). The entrance was twenty
cubits wide, corresponding accurately to the width, not of the tabernacle, but of

10. "the tent" as it has been described (reaching out five cubits farther on each side
than the tabernacle), and it was closed by an embroidered curtain (Exodus 27:14-
17). This fence was drawn firmly into position and held there by brazen tent-pins;
and we here incidentally learn that so was the tent itself (Exodus 27:19).
We are now in a position to ask what sentiment all these arrangements would
inspire in the mind of the simple and somewhat superstitious worshippers.
Approaching it from outside, the linen enclosure (being seven feet and a half high)
would conceal everything but the great roof of the tent, one uniform red, except for
the sealskin covering along the summit. A gloomy and menacing prospect, broken
possibly by some gleams, if the curtain of the gable were drawn back, from the gold
with which every portion of the shrine within was plated.
So does the world outside look askance upon the Church, discerning a mysterious
suggestion everywhere of sternness and awe, yet with flashes of strange splendour
and affluence underneath the gloom.
In this place God is known to be: it is a tent, not really "of the congregation," but
"of meeting" between Jehovah and His people: "the tent of meeting before the
Lord, where I will meet with you, ... and there I will meet with the children of
Israel" (Exodus 29:42-43). And so the Israelite, though troubled by sin and fear, is
attracted to the gate, and enters. Right in front stands the altar: this obtrudes itself
before all else upon his attention: he must learn its lesson first of all. Especially will
he feel that this is so if a sacrifice is now to be offered, since the official must go
farther into the court to wash at the laver, and then return; so that a loss of
graduated arrangement has been accepted in order to force the altar to the front.
And he will soon learn that not only must every approach to the sacred things
within be heralded by sacrifice upon this altar, but the blood of the victim must be
carried as a passport into the shrine. Surely he remembers how the blood of the
lamb saved his own life when the firstborn of Egypt died: he knows that it is written
"The life (or soul) of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the
altar to make atonement for your souls (or lives): for it is the blood that maketh
atonement by reason of the life (or soul)" (Leviticus 17:11).
o Hebrew could watch his fellow-sinner lay his hand on a victim's head, and
confess his sin before the blow fell on it, without feeling that sin was being, in some
mysterious sense, "borne" for him. The intricacies of our modern theology would
not disturb him, but this is the sentiment by which the institutions of the tabernacle
assuredly ministered comfort and hope to him. Strong would be his hope as he
remembered that the service and its solace were not of human devising, that God
had "given it to him upon the altar to make atonement for his soul."
Taking courage, therefore, the worshipper dares to lift up his eyes. And beyond the
altar he sees a vision of dazzling magnificence. The inner roof, most unlike the
sullen red of the exterior, is blazing with various colours, and embroidered with
emblems of the mysterious creatures of the sky, winged, yet not utterly afar from

11. human in their suggestiveness. Encompassed and looked down into by these is the
tabernacle, all of gold. If the curtain is raised he sees a chamber which tells what the
earth should be--a place of consecrated energies and resources, and of sacred
illumination, the oil of God burning in the sevenfold vessel of the Church. Is this
blessed place for him, and may he enter? Ah, no! and surely his heart would grow
heavy with consciousness that reconciliation was not yet made perfect, when he
learned that he must never approach the place where God had promised to meet
with him.
Much less might he penetrate the awful chamber within, the true home of deity.
There, he knows, is the record of the mind of God, the concentrated expression of
what is comparatively easy to obey in act, but difficult beyond hope to love, to
accept and to be conformed to. That record is therefore at once the revelation of
God and the condemnation of His creature. Yet over this, he knows well, there is
poised no dead image such as were then adored in Babylonian and Egyptian fanes,
but a spiritual Presence, the glory of the invisible God. or was He to be thought of
as in solitude, loveless, or else needing human love: above Him were the woven
seraphim of the curtain, and on either side a seraph of beaten gold--types, it may be,
of all the created life which He inhabits, or else pictures of His sinless creatures of
the upper world. And yet this pure Being, to Whom the companionship of sinful
man is so little needed, is there to meet with man; and is pleased not to look upon
His violated law, but to command that a slab, inestimably precious, shall interpose
between it and its Avenger. By whom, then, shall this most holy floor be trodden?
By the official representative of him who gazes, and longs, and is excluded. He
enters not without blood, which he is careful to sprinkle upon all the furniture, but
chiefly and seven times upon the mercy-seat.
Thus every worshipper carries away a profound consciousness that he is utterly
unworthy, and yet that his unworthiness has been expiated; that he is excluded, and
yet that his priest, his representative, has been admitted, and therefore that he may
hope. The Holy Ghost did not declare by sign that no way into the Holiest existed,
but only that it was not yet made manifest. ot yet.
This leads us to think of the priest.
PARKER, "Verses 1-21
The two chief objects within the Court were the Brazen Altar and the Tabernacle.
Sacrificial worship was old, but the local Sanctuary was quite new. The Tabernacle
is most frequently called the Tabernacle of the Congregation. A better rendering is
supposed to be, "The Tent of Meeting." The Tabernacle was also called "The Tent
of the Testimony," in allusion to the fact that it was the depositary of the Tables of
the Law. The highest meaning of the structure was expressed by the Ark, which
symbolised the constant presence of Jehovah. The Speaker"s Commentary says:
"We may regard the sacred contents of the Tabernacle as figuring what was
peculiar to the Covenant of which Moses was the Mediator, the closer union of God
with Israel, and their consequent election as "a kingdom of priests, an holy nation":

12. while the Brazen Altar in the Court not only bore witness for the old sacrificial
worship by which the Patriarchs had drawn nigh to God, but formed an essential
part of the Sanctuary, signifying by its now more fully developed system of
sacrifices in connection with the Tabernacle those ideas of Sin and Atonement which
were first distinctly brought out by the revelation of the Law and the sanctification
of the nation." In the Ark there was no image or symbol of God. The Ark of the
Covenant was never carried in a ceremonial procession. In all important particulars
it differed from Egyptian shrines. When the Tabernacle was pitched the Ark was
kept in solemn darkness. The staves were to remain always in the rings, whether the
Ark was in motion or at rest, that there might never at any time be a necessity for
touching the Ark itself or even the rings ( 2 Samuel 6:6-7). "The cherubims were not
to be detached images, made separately and then fastened to the mercy seat, but to
be formed out of the same mass of gold with the mercy seat, and so to be part and
parcel of it" The Holy of Holies was a square of fifteen feet, and the Holy place an
oblong thirty feet by fifteen. So far as known, "horns" were peculiar to Israelite
altars.
The Tabernacle
The specification for the building of the tabernacle purports to be Divinely dictated.
We can form some idea of the validity of such a claim, for we have the test of
creation by which to try it. We can soon find out discrepancies, and say whether this
is God"s work or an artificer"s. A revelation which bounds itself by the narrow
limits of an architect"s instruction admits of very close inquiry. Creation is too vast
for criticism, but a tabernacle invites it. Let us, then, see how the case stands,—
whether God is equal to himself, whether the God of the opening chapters of
Genesis is the God of the mount upon which, according to this claim, the tabernacle
was Divinely outlined in expressive cloud. ote, at the very outset, that the account
of making the tabernacle occupies far more space than the history of the creation of
the heavens and the earth. We soon read through what is given of the history of
creation, but how long we have had to travel through this region of architectural
cloud. It seemed as if the story would never end. This is a remarkable corroboration
of the authenticity of both accounts. A long account of creation would have been
impossible, presuming the creation to be the embodiment and form of the Divine
word executed without human assistance. That account could not have been long.
When there is nothing, so to say, between God"s word and God"s deed, there is no
history that can be recorded. The history must write itself in the infinite unfoldment
of those germs, or of that germ with which creation began. A short account of the
tabernacle would have been impossible, presuming that all the skins, colours, spices,
rings, staves, figures, dishes, spoons, bowls, candlesticks, knobs, flowers, lamps,
snuffers, and curtains, were Divinely described; that every tache, loop, hook, tenon,
and socket was on a Divine plan, and that human ingenuity had nothing whatever to
do with a structure which in its exquisite fashioning was more a thought than a
thing. So far, the God of Genesis is the God of Exodus: a subtle and massive
harmony unites the accounts, and a common signature authenticates the marvellous
relation. When God said, "Let there be light," he spake, and it was done. There is
no history to write, the light is its own history. Men are reading it still, and still the

13. reading comes in larger letters, in more luminous illustration. When God prescribed
lamps for the tabernacle he had to detail the form of the candlesticks, and to
prescribe pure olive oil, that the lamp might always burn. You require more space
in which to relate the making of a lamp than in which to tell of the creation of the
light; you spend more time in instructing a little child than in giving commands to
an army. God challenged Job along this very line. Said Hebrews , "Where wast thou
when I laid the foundations of the earth?" There was no Job between the Creator
and the creation; no Moses writing swiftly words Divine that had to be embodied at
the foot of the hill. "Where is the way where light dwelleth; and as for darkness,
which is the place thereof?" Mark well, therefore, the contrast of the accounts, and
the obvious reason for the amazing difference.
The next point of observation relates to the completeness of the specification as
corresponding with the completeness of creation. Lay the finger upon one halting
line and prove that the Divine Architect was weak in thought or utterance at this
point or at that. Find a gap in the statement and say, "He forgot at this point a small
loop, or tache, or ouche, and I, his listener, Moses, must fill in what he left out." We
do not know the meaning of great Gospel words until we read our way up to them
through all the introduction of the initial covenants. We read backwards, and thus
read ourselves out at the lower end of things, instead of reading in the order of the
Divine evolution and progress, upward from height to height, until speech becomes
useless, and silence must be called in to complete the ineffable eloquence. Could
there have been more care in the construction of a heaven than is shown, even upon
the page, without going into the question of inspiration, in the building of a
tabernacle? Is it not also the same in such little parts of creation as are known to us?
There is everywhere a wonderful completeness of purpose. God has set in his
creation working forces, daily ministries. ature is never done. When she sleeps she
moves; she travels night and day; her force is in very deed persistent. So we might,
by a narrow criticism, charge nature here and there with want of completeness; but
it would be as unjust to seize the blade from the ear, and, plucking these, say, "Here
we have sign and proof of incompleteness." We protest against that cruelty and
simple injustice. There may be a completeness of purpose when there has not yet
been time for a completeness of execution. But in the purpose of this greater
tabernacle—creation—there is the same completeness that there is in the
specification of this beauteous house which the Lord appointed to be built in the
grim wilderness.
Consider, too, that the temporary character of the tabernacle was no excuse for
inferior work. The tabernacle, as such, would be but for a brief time. Why not
hasten its construction—invent some rough thing that would do for the immediate
occasion? Why, were it made to be taken up to heaven for the service of the angels it
could not be wrought out with a tenderer delicacy, with a minuter diligence, as to
detail and beauty. But to God everything is temporary. The creation is but for a day.
It is we who are confused by distinction as between time and eternity. There is no
time to God; there is no eternity to God. Eternity can be spelled; eternity can in
some dumb way be imagined and symbolised in innumerable ciphers multiplied
innumerable times by themselves till the mind thinks it can begin eternity. To God

14. there is no such reasoning. When, therefore, we speak of lavishing such care upon a
tabernacle, we mistake the infinity and beneficence of God. It is like him to bestow
as great care upon the ephemera that die in the sunbeam as upon the seraphim that
have burned these countless ages beside the eternal throne. We must not allow our
ignorance, incompleteness, and confusedness of mind to interfere with the
interpretation of these ineffable mysteries. But the tabernacle was built for eternity.
So again and again we stumble, like those who are blind, who are vainly trying to
pick their way through stony and dangerous places. The tabernacle was eternity let
down—an incarnation, so to say, of eternity, as a man shall one day be an
incarnation of God. We mistake the occasion utterly. We fall out of the pomp of its
music and the grandeur of its majesty by looking at the thing, and supposing that
the merely visible object, how lustrous and tender in beauty soever, is the
tabernacle. The tabernacle is within the tabernacle, the Bible is within the Bible, the
man is within the man. The tabernacle in the wilderness represented eternal
thoughts, eternal purposes of love. Everything is built for eternity: every insect,
every dog, every leaf—so frail, withering in its blooming. God builds for eternity in
the thought, and in the connection, and in the relation of the thing which is builded.
See how profound our iniquity in committing murder anywhere. "Thou shalt not
kill; thou shalt not steal." It is one life, one property, a sublime unity of idea, and
thought, and purpose. Do not segregate your life, or universe, and attempt a
classification which will only separate into unholy solitude what was meant by the
Divine mind to cohere in indivisible unity. We were built for eternity. Can God
build for less time? othing is lost. The greatest of economists is God. "The very
hairs of your head are all numbered "; " ot a sparrow falleth to the ground without
your Father." When we speak about the temporary, we know not what we say; or
we justly use that word, for the sake of convenience, as expressive of uses which
themselves perish in their own action. But, profoundly and vitally viewed, even
affliction is part of heaven; our sorrows are the beginning, if rightly accepted and
sanctified, of our supremest bliss.
Mark , too, how wonderfully the tabernacle and the human frame correspond in
perfection of detail and sublimity of purpose. It is not difficult to believe that he who
made the tabernacle made Adam. The tabernacle grows before our eyes and Adam
is growing still. The life which God is making is Man. Do not impoverish the mind
and deplete the heart of all Divine elements and suggestions by supposing that God
is a toymaker. God"s purpose is one, and he is still engaged in fashioning man in his
own image and likeness, and he will complete the duplicate. We must not fix our
mind upon our mutilated selves, and, by finding disease, and malformation, and
infirmity, and incongruity, charge the Maker with these misadventures. We must
judge the Divine purpose in the one case with the Divine purpose in the other. I am
aware that there are a few men who have—from my point of view blasphemously—
charged the Divine work, as we regard it, in creation with imperfection. There have
not been wanting daring men, having great courage on paper and great dauntless-
ness in privacy and concealment, and who have lived themselves into a well-
remunerated, respectable obscurity, who have said that the human eye is not ideally
perfect. So we do not speak in ignorance of the cross-line of thinking which seeks to
interrupt the progress of Christian science and philosophy. Is there not a lamp also

15. within the human tabernacle—a lamp that burns always, a lamp we did not light, a
lamp trimmed by the hand Divine, a lamp of reason, a lamp of conscience, a lamp
that sheds its light when the darkness without us is gathered up into one intense and
all-obstructing night? and are there not parables in nature which help us to believe
that this lamp, though it apparently flicker—yea, though it apparently vanish—
shall yet throw radiance upon heavenly scenes, and burn synchronously with the
glory of God"s own life? You say, "Look at old age and observe how the mind seems
to waver, and halt, and become dim and paralysed, and how it seems to expire like a
spark." o, as well say, "Look at the weary man at night-time, his eyelids heavy, his
memory confused, his faculties apparently paralysed, or wholly reluctant to respond
to every appeal addressed to them; behold how the body outlives and outweighs the
boasted mind." o, let him sleep; in the morning he will be young again. Sleep has
its ministry as well as wakefulness. God giveth his beloved sleep. So we may "by
many a natural parable find no difficulty in working ourselves up to contemplations
that fill us with ecstasy, religious and sublime, as we call ourselves "heirs of
immortality."
Did not Moses make the tabernacle? Yes; but who made Moses? That is the
question which has never yet been answered. Change the terms as you please, that
inquiry always starts up as the unanswerable demand. Your hand carved the
marble, but who carved the hand? Singular, if the marble was carved, but the hand
carved itself. Your tongue uttered the eloquence, but who made man"s mouth? Who
set within him a fountain of speech? Your mind planned the cathedral, but who
planned the mind? It would have been more difficult to believe—infinitely more
difficult to believe—that the mind made itself than that the cathedral fashioned its
own symmetry and roofed in its own inner music and meaning.
Thus perusing the specification for the building of the tabernacle, and reading the
account of the creation of the heavens, and of the earth, and of Prayer of Manasseh ,
I find between them a congruity self-confirming, and filled with infinite comfort to
the heart that yearns studiously over the inspired page in hope of finding the
footprints of God. The living Christian Church is more marvellous than the
tabernacle in this wilderness. The tabernacle was part of a development; the
tabernacle was only one point in the history. We must judge things by their final
purpose, their theological aspect and philosophy. What is the meaning of the
tabernacle?—the temple. What is the meaning of the temple?—the living Church.
So we find rude altars thrown together by careless hands, symbolising worship
addressed to the heavens; then the tabernacle; then the temple; then the living
fellowship. Know ye not that ye are the temples of the Holy Ghost? Know ye not
that there is a foundation laid in Zion, a corner stone, elect, precious; and that we
are built upon it, living stones; and that God is shaping the tabernacle of humanity
as he shaped the tabernacle in the wilderness? Know ye not that we are builded
together a holy house unto the Lord? Arrest not, even in theory, the Divine progress.
The line from the beginning up till now has taken one grand course. othing has
strayed away and left the Divine sovereignty. The wrath of man is still in the Divine
leash, and hell is no independent colony of the universe. There is one throne, one
crown; one increasing purpose runs through all we know. We wait patiently for the

16. Lord, and when he says from his throne what Christ said from the cross, "It is
finished," then we may be invited to say, in the terms which God himself used when
he viewed creation,—"Behold, it is very good."
PETT, "Verses 1-8
The Altar of Burnt Offering (Exodus 27:1-8).
The altar was to be covered with ‘brazen copper’, probably copper alloyed with tin
to make bronze. It was thus of inferior material compared with the gold and silver
in the sanctuary, and served to demonstrate that through it earth met with heaven.
It was the place where sin was dealt with. (There may also have been the practical
purpose of it being more weatherproof and fireproof).
On that altar would be offered all the offerings and sacrifices of Israel which would
result in forgiveness and mercy, pardon for sins, and the declaration of being made
righteous (that is, as seen as without guilt) through the death of a substitute and
representative offering, and would be the means by which they could offer
themselves to God in dedication and thanksgiving, in praise and in worship, until
the greater sacrifice came Who would offer Himself up once and for all (Hebrews
10:10).
We can analyse the passage as follows:
a The brazen alter was to be made of acacia wood overlaid with an alloy of
bronze and copper. It was to have horns (upward projections) on its corners and be
frousquare (Exodus 27:1-2).
b Its vessels to take away its ashes (literally ‘cleanse it from fat’), and its shovels and
its basins and its fleshhooks and its firepans (or ‘receptacles’), all its accoutrements,
were to be made with brazen copper (Exodus 27:3).
c They were to make a network grating of brass (copper), and on the net they were
to make four brazen rings in its four corners.
c They were to put the network grating under the ledge (or ‘band’) round the altar
beneath, that the network might reach halfway up the altar (Exodus 27:4-5).
b They were to make staves for the altar, staves of acacia wood, and overlay them
with brazen copper, and its staves were to be put into the rings, and the staves
would be on the two sides of the altar for carrying it.
a They were to make it hollow with boards as shown to Moses in the Mount.
ote that in ‘a’ how the brazen altar is to be constructed is described, and in the
parallel it is to be made hollow with boards as Moses had been shown in the mount.
In order for it to be used as an altar, earth or unhewn stone (Exodus 20:24-25)
would have to be put within it on which to build the fire. In ‘b’ we are informed
about the instruments to be available for use at the altar, and in the parallel how it
was to be carried. In ‘c’ we have the description of the grating at the bottom of the
altar and in the parallel the place where it was to be situated on the altar.
Exodus 27:1-2

17. “And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad.
The altar shall be foursquare, and its height shall be three cubits. And you shall
make its horns on its four corners. Its horns shall be one piece with it. And you shall
overlay it with brazen copper.”
The altar, which would be placed in the courtyard facing the Holy Place, was five by
five by three cubits (220 x 220 x133 centimetres or 7 feet by 7 feet by 4:5 feet). It was
made of acacia wood covered with brazen copper, (copper alloyed with tin. The
exact type of metal is not certain and copper would be better suited and equally
valuable) signifying God’s strength and glory, but of a lesser value than the gold
and silver within the sanctuary. But the brazen copper would be better placed to
take the heat than gold. However, as much else is of brazen copper in this part of the
Dwellingplace it is clear that it is intended to be an indication that the place was not
as holy as the inner sanctuary. (And there would be a limit to the amount of gold
available).
The setting of the altar outside the inner sanctuary would be necessary because of
the continual smoke that would arise from the altar. But it was probably also in
order to make it accessible to the people and to prevent any contact with sin from
entering the inner sanctuary. It was an indication that in approaching God the very
first step must be atonement.
Five was the number of covenant (compare the five words on each of the two tablets
of the Law), and five by five, making a foursquare altar (emphasised as indicating
its total compatability with its purpose), indicated the perfection of the covenant,
and of this means of atoning for breaches in the covenant. The height of three cubits
indicated completeness.
The four ‘horns’ were upward projections at each of the four corners of the altar as
found on the altars of other peoples discovered elsewhere. They may have been for
tying the sacrifices to the altar (they were used for this - Psalms 118:27), or they may
have indicated a pointing or reaching up to God. They may also have been intended
to simulate the horns of an animal and thus be indicative of strength and power. As
the altar of incense on which no sacrifices were offered also had these projections
upwards the latter two interpretations are more probable as the main significance.
Tying on the sacrifices was an added extra. This would suggest that the altar
indicated heavenward movement and strength and power.
The foursquareness emphasis its perfection, but also that it falls short of the Most
Holy Place which was a perfect cube. Compare also ‘the new Jerusalem’ which
represented the perfected people of God prepared as a bride for her Husband
(Revelation 21:2; Revelation 21:16-17).
The blood of offerings and sacrifices was smeared on the horn with the finger
(Exodus 29:12 - in the sanctifying of Aaron; Exodus 30:10 - in making atonement
for the people once a year; Leviticus 4:18; Leviticus 4:25; Leviticus 4:30 - for the
application of various sin offerings; Leviticus 8:15 - to purify it; Leviticus 9:9 - the
sin offering for Aaron; Leviticus 16:18 - on the day of atonement for all the people;

18. etc.), indicating that their significance was more than that of convenient projections
for tying sacrifices on. This would serve to confirm the idea that they pointed
upwards towards God.
The altar was seemingly a large hollow box, made hollow with planks (Exodus 27:8)
and it is probable that unhewn stones and earth were used to fill the box
preparatory to laying the wood for sacrifice (Exodus 20:24-25). These could be
emptied out when it had to be carried, with new innards made whenever they
became stationary at God’s command. It was ideal for wilderness travel. It was the
place where atonement was made (Leviticus 17:11). On it were offered the various
offerings and sacrifices required by the Law.
The use of the definite article with altar has been overemphasised by some. Quite
apart from the fact that the Hebrew definite article can simply mean ‘the one I am
talking about’ and nothing more, the making of a sanctuary would demand an altar
of sacrifice and the article could thus mean simply ‘the altar necessary for the
sanctuary’. It is not saying that there could not be an altar with a different
significance as in Exodus 30:1.
PULPIT, "THE ALTAR OF BUR T OFFERI G. From the description of the
tabernacle, or sacred tent in which worship was to be offered by the priests, it
followed in natural sequence, that directions should be given concerning the court,
or precinct, within which the tabernacle was to stand Ancient temples were almost
universally surrounded by precincts, which the Greeks called τεµένη, whereto a
sacred character attached; and this was particularly the case in Egypt, where the
temenos seems to have been a regular adjunct to the temple. Among the chief uses of
such an open space, was the offering of victims on altars, as these could not be
conveniently consumed elsewhere than in the open air, on account of the clouds of
smoke and the fumes of the sacrifices. As in the description of the tabernacle, the
furniture was first described, then the structure, so now the altar takes precedence
of the court which was to contain it.
Exodus 27:1
Thou shalt make an altar. Rather, "the altar." God had already declared that he
would have an altar made to him in the place where he should "record his name"
(Exodus 20:24). And, even apart from this, an altar would be regarded as so
essential an element in Divine worship, that no place of worship could be without
one. Of shittim wood. God had required (1. s. c.) that his altar should be "of earth,"
or else of unhewn stones (Exodus 20:25). The command now given was to make, not
so much an altar, as an altar-case (see Exodus 27:8). There can be no doubt that
Jarchi is right in supposing that, whenever the tabernacle for a time became
stationary, the hollow case of the altar was rifled up with earth, and that the victims
were burnt upon this. Four-square. Altars were commonly either square or round.
An Assyrian triangular one was found by Mr. Layard at ineveh; but even this had
a round top. The square shape is the most usual, and was preserved, probably in all
the Temple altars, certainly in those of Solomon (2 Chronicles 4:1) and Herod

19. (Joseph. Bell. Jud. 5.5, § 6).
BI 1-8, "An altar of shittim wood.
The altar of burnt-offering
I. The altar of burnt-offering was made partly of wood, and partly of brass. The wood
was incorruptible; and was therefore a lively type of the incorruptible humanity of Jesus.
II. The altar of burnt-offering, was not a golden altar; but a brazen altar. Brass is a
durable metal, and an emblem of strength. Christ was equal to His mighty work. “I have
laid help upon one that is mighty.” He is “mighty to save,” and strong to plead the cause
of His people.
III. The altar was foursquare. There were firmness, stability and strength. The purposes
of Divine love cannot be overturned. The atonement Christ has made is perfect and
complete. Our altar presents a bold front to the enemy. It is a solid mass of strength.
IV. It was a horned altar. In Christ we have sovereignty, protection, dignity and glory.
Horns in Scripture are almost invariably emblems of power—regal power. Christ is King
of kings and Lord of lords.
V. It was an anointed altar. The holy anointing oil was poured upon it, and thus it was
sanctified, and became most holy. Christ was anointed with the oil of gladness above His
fellows. The fulness of the Spirit was upon Him.
VI. The sanctified altar sanctified all that was laid upon it. “Whatsoever toucheth the
altar shall be holy.” The altar was therefore greater than the sacrifice. It is the altar that
sanctifieth the gift. The Divine nature of Christ sustained His human nature, and gave
efficacy to His sacrifice. Christ’s glorious Person is the only Altar on which we can offer
acceptable sacrifices to God.
VII. Christ is a spiritual altar, and on it we may offer spiritual sacrifices. To this Altar we
must bring our prayers. If we pray in the name of Jesus, we give wings to our feeble
breathings. To this Altar we must bring our praise. “By Him therefore let us offer the
sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His
name.” No service of song can be acceptable to God apart from Jesus Christ.
VIII. It was a sacrificial altar. On this altar was offered the daily sacrifice—a lamb every
morning, and a lamb every evening. “Behold the Lamb of God! “ Christ is the Lamb of
God’s providing.
IX. It was a burning altar. On the altar sacrifices were continually burning. The fire was
never to go out. Perfection was not to be found under the old dispensation. Christ’s
sacrifice was one; and it was offered but once. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins
of many.” “By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” At the
Jewish altar the fire consumed the sacrifices; but the sacrifice Christ offered consumed
the fire. “It is finished.”
X. The altar of burnt-offering was God’s altar (Psa_43:3-4). Jesus is the Christ of God.
He is God’s beloved Son. In coming to Christ we come to the altar of God’s providing; we
come to the altar of God’s appointment.
XI. It is the sinner’s altar. The altar was erected on purpose for the guilty; and Christ
came into the world to save sinners.
XII. It is a blood-stained altar. Where the blood is, it is safe for the sinner to go. Being

20. sprinkled with blood, it is a protecting altar.
XIII. The altar of brass was a nourishing altar. The priests had a portion of the sacrifices
for their food (1Co_9:13). “We have an altar”—the glorious Person of Christ—“whereof
they have no right to eat which serve the Tabernacle.” The old dispensation has passed
away. The present dispensation is spiritual. Having “the heavenly things themselves,” we
have no need of “the patterns.” In Christ we have all the “good things,” of which the
Tabernacle and its services were “shadows.” All believers are priests. All wait at the altar.
All live on Christ.
XIV. It was a conspicuous altar. No one could enter the court of the Tabernacle without
seeing the brazen altar. Christ must be the preacher’s theme. Christ is the only object of
saving faith, and Jesus only must be the subject of our ministry. (B. E. Sears.)
The size of the altar
It is observable in Scripture that Moses’ altar was but five cubits in length, and five in
breadth, and three in height (Exo_27:1); but Solomon’s altar was much larger (2Ch_
4:1). Now the reason hereof seems to be this, because Moses was in a warfare, in an
unsettled condition, in the wilderness, in continual travel, full of troubles, and could not
conveniently carry about an altar of that bigness; but Solomon was on his throne in a
tranquil state, settled in quiet possession of his kingdom, and as his name was, so was he
a true Solomon, that is, peaceable. Thus it ought to be with all good men, that when they
have more peace and prosperity than others, their service of God should be
proportionable. Solomon’s Temple must outstrip Moses’ Tabernacle in beauty and glory,
and Solomon’s altar must exceed the bigness of Moses’ altar. In their peace and plenty,
their holiness should outshine others that are in want and misery, when God lays not so
much sorrow upon them as upon others, they should lay the more duty upon
themselves. If God send them fewer crosses and more comforts, they are to return more
service and commit less evils. (J. Spencer.)
The altar of brass
The altar was four-square, and it had four horns. The animals offered in sacrifice were
horned animals, and were doubtless bound by their horns to the horns of the altar, and
then slain (Psa_118:27), so that the ground round about the altar would be always red
and wet with blood. Life is in the blood; to shed the blood is to sacrifice the life; and the
first thing that meets our eye as we enter the gate of the court, and look at the earth on
which we are walking, is blood—sacrificed life. To this altar the sinner came leading his
sin-offering. Here he stood before God, and his sins were confessed, and transferred or
imputed to the unblemished and innocent animal, which had then to suffer and to die
for sin, but not for its own sin. The innocent one died for the guilty one. These sacrifices
were typical of Christ’s sacrifice. He suffered, the Just for the unjust: on Him our sins
were laid; He bore them in His body on the tree. He was made sin, or a sin-offering, for
us, and by His stripes we are healed. His blood was shed for the remission of sins, and
now it cleanseth us from all sin (1Pe_3:18; Isa_53:5-6; 1Pe_2:24; 2Co_5:21; Mat_26:28;
1Jn_1:7). Christ is our Altar, our Sacrifice, and our Priest. He offered Himself for us. And
having met most fully all God’s claims, He now meets and supplies all the penitent
believing sinner’s need. Every saved sinner has come to this spot—has seen Jesus as the
Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (Joh_1:29). We have seen Christ as

21. the Redeemer, and as the Gate or Way to God, and now we see Him as the Altar, Priest,
and Sacrifice. Here we stand with our hand of faith on His head, and we feel that as our
Sin-offering He has suffered for our sin, and has put it away. Our life was forfeited, but
Christ who loved us, and gave Himself for us, has sacrificed His own life to save us from
eternal death (Eph_5:25; Joh_10:11; Joh_10:15). (G. Rodgers.)
Significance of the altar of burnt-offering
In other cases an altar was said to be built, or elevated; but the portable structure used
as such in the Tabernacle is spoken of as made, or constructed, because it had a frame of
wood overlaid with copper. This frame was probably filled with earth to answer the
requirements of the general statute. There is no intimation of this, indeed, in the
writings of Moses; but neither does he mention any other expedient for holding the fire
in place. Copper as dug out of the ground, similar to it in colour, and inferior to that
metal which among metals represented celestial glory, was appropriately associated with
earth in an altar belonging to a permanent and yet portable institution. By the affinity of
the copper with the earth, this frame of an altar, which could be carried from place to
place, fulfilled the same end in the expression of thought, as an altar of earth. The wood
being, in the first place, designed for a frame on which the copper might be fastened so
as to give sufficient size and strength without too great weight, was of acacia for the
same reason which required this particular species of timber in the planks of the house,
and the pillars of the court. The Tabernacle being a place of life, acacia wood, on account
of its superiority to decay, was sought for every purpose which was to be answered with
wood, whether in the edifice or its furniture. Not only the frame, or wall of the altar, was
of acacia covered with copper, but also the horns; and this fact may help to determine
the significance of these projections. The horn is, in cornute animals, the instrument of
power, and thence becomes an emblem of strength, and as such is congruous with all the
other elements combined in the altar as a symbol. It has, accordingly, been commonly
understood that the horns of the altar represented the power of its ministrations. But
recently it has been suggested that among the metaphorical significations of the horn,
height was no less appropriate than strength as an attribute of an altar. The horn is the
highest part of the animal, carried aloft as a badge of power and the honour consequent
on power, and therefore used as a sign of elevation. To lift up the horn is to exalt, either
in the physical or in a figurative sense. The horns of an altar may be intended, therefore,
to symbolize still more emphatically the elevation of the earth on which the sacrifice is
offered toward heaven, the residence of the Being to whom it is presented. The copper
with which the horns were overlaid seems to countenance this interpretation. May not
both shades of meaning be comprehended in one and the same emblem? The horns
elevating the place of sacrifice nearer to heaven, the efficacy of the altar was especially
conspicuous in these symbols of elevation. (E. E. Atwater.)
The brazen altar
This altar of burnt-sacrifice, with the offerings presented upon it, stands before us as a
type of Christ and His cross. And the materials of which the altar was composed point
strikingly to His twofold nature. His humanity, if found alone, would have been
consumed by the fire of Divine justice, which blazed forth against Him when He stood as
our substitute and bore our sins in His own body on the tree. And then, on the other
hand, His Divinity, if found alone, like the altar, if all of brass, would have been too

22. oppressive for us. It would have made us afraid by its excellency, and would have
overwhelmed us by its majesty. But blended with the humanity, and tempered and
softened by its transmission through the vail of flesh, it meets our necessities in every
respect, and furnishes us with just the help and comfort that we need. (R. Newton, D.
D.)
Lessons
I. Look now at the position which God assigned to the altar of sacrifice in the Jewish
Tabernacle, that heaven-sketched symbol of the Church. Behold one of the marks of a
true Church. It will give great prominence to the altar, the cross of Christ, or the doctrine
of His atoning sacrifice.
II. The relation which it bore to every other part of the Tabernacle. It was the most
important part of the whole Tabernacle. Like the root to the tree, like the foundation to
the building, like the fountain to the stream, like the mainspring to the watch, like the
heart to the body, it was that, on which every other part of the sacred structure
depended, and from which it derived all its value. This altar represents the cross of
Christ. As we look at it from this point of view, we seem to see written on it as with a
sunbeam, the great practical truth, that the way to heaven—the only way by which any of
our ruined race can enter there—lies over Calvary. There is no pardon, no renewal, no
acceptance, no righteousness, no peace, no grace, no blessing, no salvation to any of
Adam’s children, but through the sacrifice once offered upon the cross. And this is true
not of our persons only, but of our services also. “Accepted in the beloved,” is the great
underlying doctrine of the gospel. Our prayers, our praises, our sighs, our tears, our
repentance, our faith, our words, our actions, our labours, our sufferings, our vows, our
alms-givings, our sermons, our sacraments—all things that may be crowded into the
entire circle of our services—have worth, or merit, not in themselves, but only as they
stand connected with the sacrifice which Jesus offered on the cross, and are sprinkled
with His atoning blood, in all its prevailing efficacy.
III. Our third lesson from this altar is suggested by the continuity of the offerings
presented upon it. There was to be no cessation, no suspension, or interruption of the
service here rendered. The sacrifice on the Jewish altar was an imperfect sacrifice, and
hence the necessity for its repetition. They were “sacrifices,” as St. Paul says, “offered
year by year continually, which could never make the comers thereunto perfect.” Our
sacrifice, offered upon the cross, is a perfect sacrifice, and therefore it needs no
repetition. It was offered “once for all”; and by this one offering, Jesus, our great High
Priest, “perfects for ever them that are sanctified “; i.e., all His believing people. The
offering was once made, but the merits, the influence, the efficacy of the offering, abide
continually. And because it thus abides, there needs no repetition of it.
IV. Our fourth lesson is taught us, when we consider the efficacy of the offerings
presented on the brazen altar. You may say, indeed, that we have just spoken of their
imperfection, and that is true. They were not intended to do for the Jews what the
sacrifice of Christ does for us. They were only types, or shadows of that sacrifice. Of
course they could only have a typical, or shadowy efficacy. This, however, they had in
perfection. And here the brazen altar points significantly to the cross of Christ. It speaks
to us, in eloquent tones, of the thorough efficacy, the absolute perfection of the sacrifice
He offered.
V. The fifth and last lesson taught us by this altar is seen, when we observe the extent of
its benefits. It was open to all. (R. Newton, D. D.)

23. The brazen altar of burnt-offering
In this we have a significant type of our Lord, regarded more particularly in His Divine
nature. This view “is supported by our Lord Himself, when He says that the altar is
greater than the sacrifice (Mat_23:19). Both sacrifice and altar were but shadows, and
derived their importance wholly from the reality to which they referred. But as a shadow
of Christ’s sacrifice, the importance of the legal victims was immeasurable; and yet our
Lord says the greatness to which the altar pointed transcends it. Then lies not the
thought very near, that the altar pointed to His Divinity? And still further is this
conclusion justifiable by the additional saying of our Lord, that the altar sanctifies the
sacrifice; for was it not the union of His Divine with His human nature which imparted
to the latter its majesty inconceivable, and to His sacrifice its miraculous and eternal
efficacy?” A remarkable confirmation of this view is found in the fact that the altar,
during removal, was covered with a purple cloth, which colour symbolized the
hypostatic union. The construction of the altar pointed another lesson. The outer
covering of brass concealed and protected an interior of wood. In fact, the altar was said
to be made of wood. Now in Hebrew, wood and tree are synonymous, and trees are
frequently spoken of in the Bible as emblematic of God’s saints. By the wood of the altar
was signified the members of Christ: “It was a visible parable of the mystical union
between Christ and His people. As the wood was hidden within the altar, so in God’s eye
were they hid in Him.” And the lesson thus taught by the altar was this: Rom_8:1. “The
altar was surmounted by four horns, the well-known emblems of power; and these horns
were deeply marked with sacrificial blood; and it fell from them as it fell from Him
whom the altar typified in the garden and on the cross. These horns were, therefore, at
once symbols of might and reconciliation, and were outstretched to the four corners of
the earth, to call men to flee unto Christ to be saved.” (E. F. Willis, M. A. , with
quotations from H. Douglas, M. A.)
The altar of burnt-offering
This altar was the foundation of all the Tabernacle worship. The priests could not enter
into the holy place except on the ground of sacrifice presented on the brazen altar. Nor
could the high priest on the great atonement day enter the holy of holies without having
first offered not only the ordinary sacrifice, but an additional sin-offering on the altar in
the court. Not only was the Shekinah glory within the vail impossible of access, but the
bread of the presence, the light of the lamps, the privileges of the altar of incense, were
all closed until a sacrifice had been offered upon the altar. Thus were the children of
Israel taught, and thus,too are we taught, that the first thing for the sinner to do, before
he can taste the heavenly bread, before he can see the heavenly light, before he can even
pray with acceptance, is to avail himself of the atonement which God has provided. The
altar was the people’s place of meeting with God. It was free to all. The call was
addressed to every child of Israel: “Come into His courts and bring an offering with you.”
The atonement which God provides is free to all without exception, and without
distinction. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)

24. 2 Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that
the horns and the altar are of one piece, and
overlay the altar with bronze.
BAR ES, "Exo_27:2
His horns shall be of the same - These horns were projections pointing upward in
the form either of a small obelisk, or of the horn of an ox. They were to be actually parts
of the altar, not merely superadded to it. On them the blood of the sin-offering was
smeared Exo_29:12; Lev_4:7; Lev_8:15; Lev_9:9; Lev_16:18. To take hold of them
appears to have been regarded as an emphatic mode of laying claim to the supposed
right of sanctuary (Exo_21:14 note; 1Ki_1:50).
CLARKE, "Thou shalt make the horns of it - The horns might have three uses:
1. For ornament.
2. To prevent carcasses, etc., from falling off.
3. To tie the victim to, previously to its being sacrificed.
So David: Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar; Psa_118:27. Horns
were much used in all ancient altars among the heathen, and some of them were entirely
constructed of the horns of the beasts that had been offered in sacrifice; but such altars
appear to be erected rather as trophies in honor of their gods. On the reverses of several
medals we find altars represented with horns at the corners. There is a medal of
Antoninus on the reverse of which is an altar, on which a fire burns, consecrated Divi
Pio, where the horns appear on each of the corners.
There is one of Faustina, on which the altar and its horns are very distinct, the legend
Pietas Augusta. All the following have altars with horns. One of Valerian, legend
Consecratio; one of Claudius Gothicus, same legend; one of Quintillus, same legend; one
of Crispina, with the legend Diis Genitalibus; and several others. See Numismatica
Antiq., a Musellio, under Consecratio, in the index.
Callimachus, in his Hymn to Apollo, line 60 introduces him constructing an altar of
the horns of the animals slain by Diana:
- πηξε δε βωµον
Εκ κεραων κ. τ. λ.
Martial has these words: Cornibus ara frequens.
GILL, "Which were either for ornament, or for keeping what was laid upon the altar

25. from falling off, or for the fastening of the sacrifice to them, and were what criminals fled
to for refuge, and laid hold on; and may denote the power of Christ, who is the horn of
salvation to preserve his people from a final falling away, and from ruin and destruction,
and his protection of those that fly to him for refuge; and these horns being at the
corners of the altar may respect the four parts of the world, from whence souls come to
Christ for everlasting salvation:
his horns shall be of the same; that is, made of the same wood as the altar itself and
so may lead to observe the like things: or "upwards out of it" (b), the altar; prominent
from it, as the Arabic version, and so the sacrifices could be bound to them, Psa_118:27,
and thou shalt overlay it with brass; with plates of brass, that it may endure the
fire, and preserve the wood from being burnt with it; this may denote not only the
brightness, lustre, and glory of Christ, like the shining brass, but his great strength in
bearing the sins of his people, and all the punishment due unto them, even the fire of
divine wrath, without being consumed by it. Jarchi observes, that it was overlaid with
brass, because it was to make atonement for the impudence of the forehead, which is as
brass, Isa_48:4.
BE SO , "Exodus 27:2. Thou shalt make the horns of it — Pinnacles or spires,
rising up at the corners, wrought out of the same wood; which was partly for
ornament, and partly for use. To them the animals were bound, and part of the
blood was applied, and to them malefactors fled for refuge.
ELLICOTT,"(2) The horns of it.—It is not true to say, as Kalisch does, that “the altars
of almost all ancient nations were frequently provided with horns.” On the contrary, horns
were, so far as is known, peculiar to Israelite altars. Originally, they would seem to have
been mere ornaments at the four upper corners, but ultimately they came to be regarded as
essential to an altar, and the virtue of the altar was thought to lie especially in them. The
victims were bound to them (Psalms 118:27); criminals clung to them (1 Kings 1:50; 1
Kings 2:28); and the blood of sin offerings was smeared upon them for purposes of
expiation (Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 8:15; Leviticus 9:9, &c.).
His horns shall be of the same—i.e., of one piece with the rest of the altar, not separate
portions attached by nails or soldering. (Comp. Exodus 25:19.)
Thou shalt overlay it with brass—i.e., with bronze. All the woodwork of the tabernacle
was overlaid with one metal or another. Here a metallic coating was especially necessary,
to prevent the wood from being burnt.
PULPIT, "Exodus 27:2
The horns of it. Literally, "its horns." Horns were not usual adjuncts of altars; indeed they
seem to have been peculiar to those of the Israelites. They were projections at the four top
comers, probably not unlike the horns of bulls, whence their name. Criminals clung to
them when they took sanctuary (1 Kings 1:50; 1 Kings 2:28); and the blood of sin-
offerings was smeared upon them (Exodus 29:12; Le Exodus 8:15; Exodus 9:9; Exodus

26. 16:18, etc.). Victims also were sometimes, when about to be sacrificed, bound to them
(Psalms 118:27). According to Kalisch, "The horns were symbolical of power, of
protection and help; and at the same time of glory and salvation." His horns shall be of
the same. Part and parcel of the altar, that is, not extraneous additions. Thou shalt overlay
it with brass. A solid plating of bronze is no doubt intended, such as would protect the
shittim wood and prevent it from being burnt.
3 Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots to
remove the ashes, and its shovels, sprinkling
bowls, meat forks and firepans.
BAR ES, "Exo_27:3
Pans - Rather pots as in Exo_38:3; 1Ki_7:45. On the use to which these pots were put
in disposing of the ashes of the altar, see Lev_1:16.
Basons - Vessels used for receiving the blood of the victims and casting it upon the
altar (see Exo_24:6; Lev_1:5; etc.).
Fleshhooks - These were for adjusting the pieces of the victims upon the altar
(compare 1Sa_2:13).
Firepans - The same word is rendered snuffdishes, Exo_25:38; Exo_37:23 : censers,
Lev_10:1; Lev_16:12; Num_4:14; Num_16:6, etc. These utensils appear to have been
shallow metal vessels which were employed merely to carry burning embers from the
brazen altar to the altar of incense.
CLARKE, "Thou shalt make his pans - ‫סירתיו‬ sirothaiv, a sort or large brazen
dishes, which stood under the altar to receive the ashes that fell through the grating.
His shovels - ‫יעיו‬ yaaiv. Some render this besoms; but as these were brazen
instruments, it is more natural to suppose that some kind of fire-shovels are intended, or
scuttles, which were used to carry off the ashes that fell through the grating into the
large pan or siroth.
His basins - ‫מזרקתיו‬ mizrekothaiv, from ‫זרק‬ zarak, to sprinkle or disperse; bowls or
basins to receive the blood of the sacrifices, in order that it might be sprinkled on the
people before the altar, etc.
His flesh-hooks - ‫מזלגתיו‬ mizlegothaiu. That this word is rightly translated flesh-
hooks is fully evident from 1Sa_2:13, where the same word is used in such a connection

27. as demonstrates its meaning: And the priest’s custom with the people was, that when
any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in the seething,
with a Flesh-Hook (‫מזלג‬ mazleg) of three teeth (prongs) in his hand, and he struck it into
the pan, etc.; all that the Flesh-Hook (‫מזלג‬ mazleg) brought up, the priest took for
himself. It was probably a kind of trident, or fork with three prongs, and these bent to a
right angle at the middle, as the ideal meaning of the Hebrew seems to imply
crookedness or curvature in general.
His fire-pans - ‫מחתתיו‬ machtothaiu. Bishop Patrick and others suppose that “this was
a larger sort of vessel, wherein, probably, the sacred fire which came down from heaven
(Lev_9:24) was kept burning, whilst they cleansed the altar and the grate from the coals
and the ashes; and while the altar was carried from one place to another, as it often was
in the wilderness.
GILL, "And thou shall make his pans to receive his ashes,.... Not to receive
them in as they fell, but to gather them up in, and carry them away; and this was done
every morning about cockcrowing, not much sooner nor later (c):
and his shovels; to throw up the ashes together to be put into the pans; Jarchi
describes this vessel to be like the cover of a brass pot, with a handle to it; the same we
call a fire shovel:
and his basins: to receive the blood of the sacrifice, and out of which it was sprinkled,
as the word signifies, and may be rendered sprinkling basins:
and his flesh hooks; not such as were used to take flesh out of the pot, 1Sa_2:13 for
there could be no use for such at the altar of burnt offering; but were, as Jarchi says, like
hooks recurved, with which they struck into the flesh, and turned it upon the coals to
hasten the burning of it; and with which very probably they kept the fire and the parts of
the sacrifices in good order, until they were consumed:
and his fire pans; which were a kind of censers in which coals of fire were
taken off from the altar of burnt offering, and carried to the altar of incense, as Jarchi
and Ben Gersom observe, see Lev_16:12 but as censers did not belong to the altar of
burnt offering, but to the altar of incense, Fortunatus Scacchus (d) is of opinion, that
these were a larger sort of vessels, wherein the fire which came down from heaven was
kept burning while the altar and grate were cleansed from the coals and ashes, and when
the altar was had from place to place:
all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass; as being fittest for the use of this
altar.
JAMISO , "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, 1Sa_2:14).
fire-pans — A large sort of vessel, wherein the sacred fire which came down from
heaven (Lev_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

28. wilderness [Patrick, Spencer, Le Clerc].
ELLICOTT, "(3) His pans to receive his ashes.—Scuttles, in which the ashes were
placed for removal from the sanctuary, are intended. The word translated “to
receive his ashes” is a rare one, and implies a mixture with the ashes of unburnt fat.
His shovels.—A right rendering. The “shovels” would be used in clearing away the
ashes from off the altar.
His basons.—Basins were needed to receive the blood of the victims (Exodus 24:6),
which was cast from basins upon the foot of the altar.
His fleshhooks.—Implements with three prongs, used for arranging the pieces of the
victim upon the altar. The priests’ servants sometimes applied them to a different
purpose (1 Samuel 2:13).
His firepans.—The word here used is elsewhere translated either “snuffdishes,” or
“censers.” Probably vessels employed in carrying embers from the brazen altar to
the altar of incense (Leviticus 16:12) are intended.
PETT, "Exodus 27:3
“And you shall make its vessels to take away its ashes (literally ‘cleanse it from fat’),
and its shovels and its basins and its fleshhooks and its firepans (or ‘receptacles’),
all its accoutrements you will make of brazen copper.”
The different accoutrements for the altar were also made of brazen copper. The
vessels for carrying away the ashes and remains of the fat, the shovels for shovelling
them, the basins for catching the blood (Exodus 24:6), the fleshhooks for
manoeuvring the sacrifices, and the firepans possibly for such tasks as carrying the
ashes from the altar to the altar of incense (Leviticus 16:12).
PULPIT, "Exodus 27:3
His pans to receive his ashes. Literally, "to cleanse it from fat'—i.e; to receive what
remained after burning the victims, which would be ashes mixed with a good deal of
fat. His shovels. Those would be used in removing the ashes from the altar, and
depositing them in the pans. His basins. Vessels for receiving the blood of the
victims and from which it was poured on the altar. Compare Exodus 24:6. His flesh
hooks. So the Septuagint, and our translators again in 1 Samuel 2:13. They would
seem by the latter passage to have been three-pronged forks, the proper use of
which was, no doubt, to arrange the various pieces, into which the victim was cut,
upon the altar. His fire-pans. The word used is generally translated "censers"
(Leviticus 10:1.; Leviticus 16:12; umbers 4:14 : umbers 16:6, umbers 16:17,
etc.), but sometimes "snuff-dishes" (Exodus 25:38; Exodus 37:23). It here perhaps
designates the vessels used for carrying burning embers from the altar of burnt-
offering, to the altar of incense on certain occasions (Le 1 Samuel 16:12).
Etymologically, it means simply "a receptacle.'' All the vessels thereof thou shalt

29. make of brass. Rather, "of bronze." Bronze was the usual material of utensils and
implements in Egypt. Copper was scarcely used without the alloy of tin which
converts it into bronze; and brass was wholly unknown. A trace of iron is sometimes
found in Egyptian bronze
4 Make a grating for it, a bronze network, and
make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of
the network.
CLARKE, "Thou shalt make for it a grate - Calmet supposes this altar to have
been a sort of box, covered with brass plates, on the top of which was a grating to supply
the fire with air, and permit the ashes to fall through into the siroth or pan that was
placed below. At the four corners of the grating were four rings and four chains, by
which it was attached to the four horns; and at the sides were rings for the poles of
shittim wood with which it was carried. Even on this there is a great variety of opinions.
GILL, "And thou shalt, make for it a grate of network of brass,.... Or "sieve", as
in Amo_9:9, it was a plate of brass with holes in it, to let through either the blood that
drained from the parts of the sacrifice, or the ashes of it; for this was the focus or hearth,
on which the sacrifice and the wood were laid and burnt: this, according to the Targum
of Jonathan on Exo_38:4 was to receive the coals and bones which fell from the altar:
and so may denote the purity of Christ's sacrifice, which was offered up without spot to
God, and the use of him as the altar to sanctify our gifts, and take away the sins of our
holy things:
and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners
thereof; by which, with chains put into them, the grate was fastened to the four horns
of the altar, and the use of them was to let it down and hang in the middle of the altar,
and to take it up when there was occasion for it; though some think these rings were not
"in" the grate, but "by" it, as the particle may be rendered, a little lower than that, on the
sides of the altar; into which the staves after mentioned were put, and with which the
altar was carried when removed from place to place.
JAMISO , "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.

30. K&D 4-5, "The altar was to have ‫ר‬ ָ ְ‫כ‬ ִ‫מ‬ a grating, ‫ת‬ ֶ‫שׂ‬ ֶ‫ר‬ ‫ה‬ ֵ‫שׂ‬ ֲ‫ע‬ ַ‫מ‬ net-work, i.e., a covering of
brass made in the form of a net, of larger dimensions that the sides of the altar, for this
grating was to be under the “compass” (‫ּב‬ⅴ ְ‫ר‬ ַⅴ) of the altar from beneath, and to reach to
the half of it (half-way up, Exo_27:5); and in it, i.e., at the four ends (or corners) of it,
four brass rings were to be fastened, for the poles to carry it with. ‫ּב‬ⅴ ְ‫ר‬ ַⅴ (from ‫ב‬ ָⅴ ְ‫ר‬ ַⅴ
circumdedit) only occurs here and in Exo_38:4, and signifies a border (‫א‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ‫ּב‬‫ס‬ Targums),
i.e., a projecting framework or bench running round the four sides of the altar, about
half a cubit or a cubit broad, nailed to the walls (of the altar) on the outside, and fastened
more firmly to them by the copper covering which was common to both. The copper
grating was below this bench, and on the outside. The bench rested upon it, or rather it
hung from the outer edge of the bench and rested upon the ground, like the inner chest,
which it surrounded on all four sides, and in which there were no perforations. It formed
with the bench or carcob a projecting footing, which caused the lower half of the altar to
look broader than the upper on every side. The priest stood upon this carcob or bench
when offering sacrifice, or when placing the wood, or doing anything else upon the altar.
This explains Aaron's coming down (‫ד‬ ַ‫ר‬ָ‫)י‬ from the altar (Lev_9:22); and there is no
necessity to suppose that there were steps to the altar, as Knobel does in opposition to
Exo_20:26. For even if the height of the altar, viz., three cubits, would be so great that a
bench half-way up would be too high for any one to step up to, the earth could be slightly
raised on one side so as to make the ascent perfectly easy; and when the priest was
standing upon the bench, he could perform all that was necessary upon the top of the
altar without any difficulty.
BE SO ,"Exodus 27:4. Thou shalt make for it a grate of net-work — This was the
principal part of the altar. It was let into the hollow about the middle of it, and here
the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burned. It was a broad plate of brass full of
holes, like a net or sieve, and partly hollow that the fire might burn the better, and
the ashes might fall through to the bottom of the altar, where there was a door on
the east side to open and take out the ashes.
ow this brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins.
Christ sanctified himself for his church as their altar, (John 17:19,) and by his
mediation sanctifies the daily services of his people. To the horns of this altar poor
sinners flee for refuge, and are safe in virtue of the sacrifice there offered.
ELLICOTT, "(4) A grate of network.—Rather, a grating of network. The position
of the grating is doubtful. According to one view, it reached from the middle of the
altar to its base, and protected the sides of the altar from the feet of the ministering
priests. According to another, it surrounded the upper part of the altar, and was
intended to catch any portions of the victims that accidentally fell off. There are no
sufficient data to enable us to determine between these views.
Upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings.—The brazen altar, like the ark and
the table of shewbread, was to be carried by the priests when the Israelites changed
their camping-ground. It therefore required “rings,” like them (Exodus 25:12;

31. Exodus 25:26). These were, in the case of the altar, to be attached to the network,
which must have been of a very solid and substantial character.
PETT, "Exodus 27:4-5
“And you shall make for it a network grating of brass (copper), and on the net you
will make four brazen rings in its four corners. And you will put it under the ledge
(or ‘band’) round the altar beneath, that the network might reach halfway up the
altar.”
The network grating was in order to provide sufficient draught for the fire, and/or
it may have contained the ashes that fell through from above, or it may have been a
protection to prevent the actual altar being touched by the priests. The four rings
were to take the poles used for carrying the altar. There was clearly a ledge (or
band) round the altar midway between top and bottom, probably for the priests to
stand on as they ministered at the altar. It could be made accessible by a mound of
earth surrounding the altar. This would be why the priests wore special breeches.
The altar was not to be approached by steps (20:26). The priests would have been of
smaller stature than most of us and the altar would therefore be at head level.
Others have argued that the ledge or band was only for decoration and
strengthening.
Although overlaid with copper or brazen copper it will be quite apparent that this
altar could not by itself contain a continually burning fire. It is clear therefore that
some materials would have to be put within it on which the fire could be lit, which
would absorb the heat. These materials were probably the earth or unhewn stones
of Exodus 20:24-25. Thus did this permanent altar act in place of the altars built
temporarily in different places where Yahweh recorded His name.
PULPIT, "Exodus 27:4
Thou shalt make for it a grate. Rather, "a grating." This was probably a protection
for the lower part of the altar, and prevented it from being touched by the feet of the
ministrant priests. It was outside the altar, and had the rings attached to it, by
which the altar was carried when the Israelites journeyed.
5 Put it under the ledge of the altar so that it is
halfway up the altar.

32. BAR ES, "Exo_27:5
The compass of the altar - A shelf or projecting ledge, of convenient width, carried
round the altar half way between the top and the base. It was supported all round its
outer edge by a vertical net-like grating of bronze that rested on the ground.
GILL, "And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath,.... That
is, the grate was to be put within the square compass of the altar, in the hollow part of it,
for the wood and sacrifice to be laid upon it:
that the net may be even to the midst of the altar; and as the altar was three
cubits high, this net or grate was let down by chains to its rings a cubit and a half, and
being of such a depth was capable of containing a great deal.
JAMISO , "put it under the compass of the altar beneath — that is, the
grating in which they were carried to a clean place (Lev_4:12).
ELLICOTT, "(5) Under the compass of the altar beneath.—The position of the
network depends upon this expression. Was “the compass of the altar” its
circumference at the top, or was it a belt or step encircling the altar half-way up?
The low height of the altar—four feet six inches—would seem to make a “step”
unnecessary; but the altar may undoubtedly have been surrounded by a “belt” for
ornament.
PULPIT, "Exodus 27:5
Thou shalt put it under the compass. The "compass" (karkob) is spoken of as if it
were something well-known; yet it had not been previously mentioned.
Etymologically the word should mean "a cincture" or "band" round the altar; and
thus far critics are generally agreed. But its position, size, and object, are greatly
disputed. Some hold that it was a broad bench, or step, on which the officiating
priests stood at the time of a sacrifice, and that its position was about the middle of
the altar. Others think that it was a mere border round the top, from which the net-
work depended, and that the object of both was to catch anything that might fall
from the altar. Others again, while placing it mid-way in the altar, regard it as a
mere ornament, only projecting slightly, and forming a sort of finish to the net-
work. This, which is the view of Knobel, seems to be, on the whole, the most
probable one. That the net may be even to the midst of the altar. If the" compass"
was at the top, the net must have extended thence to the middle. If it was mid-way in
the altar, the net must have covered the lower half. To us this latter seems the more
probable view. But the point is uncertain.

33. 6 Make poles of acacia wood for the altar and
overlay them with bronze.
GILL, "And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood,....
Like those that were made for the ark, and for the same purpose:
and overlay them with brass; with plates of brass, whereas those for the ark were
overlaid with gold.
JAMISO , "staves ... rings — Those rings were placed at the side through which
the poles were inserted on occasions of removal.
K&D 6-8, "The poles were to be made of acacia-wood, and covered with brass, and to
be placed in the rings that were fixed in the two sides for the purpose of carrying the
altar. The additional instructions in Exo_27:8, “hollow with tables shalt thou make it, as
it was showed thee in the mount” (cf. Exo_25:9), refer apparently, if we judge from Exo_
20:24-25, simply to the wooden framework of the altar, which was covered with brass,
and which was filled with earth, or gravel and stones, when the altar was about to be
used, the whole being levelled so as to form a hearth. The shape thus given to the altar of
burnt-offering corresponded to the other objects in the sanctuary. It could also be
carried about with ease, and fixed in any place, and could be used for burning the
sacrifices without the wooden walls being injured by the fire.
PETT, "Exodus 27:6-7
“And you will make staves for the altar, staves of acacia wood, and overlay them
with brazen copper, and its staves will be put into the rings, and the staves will be
on the two sides of the altar for carrying it.”
When on the move the altar would be borne by staves which went through the rings
on each side of the altar.
PULPIT, "Exodus 27:6, Exodus 27:7
Staves, or polos, were needed for the carriage of the altar from place to place, as for
the ark (Exodus 25:13) and the table of shew-bread (Exodus 25:28). They were to be
inserted into the rings mentioned in Exodus 27:4. As the altar was of bronze, so the
rings were to be of bronze, and the staves overlaid with bronze. There is a gradual
descent in the preciousness of the materials from the holy of holies to the holy place,
and from that to the court.

34. 7 The poles are to be inserted into the rings so
they will be on two sides of the altar when it is
carried.
GILL, "And the staves shall be put into the rings,.... Not into the rings of the
grate, as Jarchi and others: though Dr. Lightfoot (f) thinks these came out of each corner
through the altar frame, and hung out of the frame, and in these the staves being put,
made the frame and the grate sure together, and so they were also carried together; but
it seems rather, that as the grate had rings peculiar to that, to let it down and take it up,
and with which it was carried, with a purple cloth covered over it, Num_4:13 so the altar
had rings peculiar to that on the sides of it, into which these staves were put:
and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it; and which
shows that the rings into which these were put were not the rings of the grate, for they
were at the four corners of it, which hung upon the four horns of it; whereas the staves
were on the two sides of it, in order to bear it from place to place, which was done by the
Levites; and was typical of the ministers of the Gospel bearing the name of Christ, and
spreading the doctrine of his sacrifice and satisfaction, in the world, which is the main
and fundamental doctrine of the Gospel.
8 Make the altar hollow, out of boards. It is to be
made just as you were shown on the mountain.
BAR ES, "Exo_27:8
Hollow with boards - Slabs, or planks, rather than boards. The word is that which
is used for the stone tables of the law Exo_24:12; Exo_31:18, not that applied to the
boards of the tabernacle Exo_26:15.
The brazen altar was a hollow casing, formed of stout acacia planks covered with
plates of bronze, seven feet six in length and width and four feet six in height. Jewish as

35. well as Christian authorities have supposed that, when it was fixed for use, it was filled
up with earth or rough stones. If we connect this suggestion with the old rule regarding
the altar of earth and the altar of stone given in Exo_20:24-25, the woodwork might in
fact be regarded merely as the case of the altar on which the victims were actually
burned. The shelf round the sides Exo_27:5 was required as a stage for the priests to
enable them to carry on their work conveniently on the top of the altar. Hence, it is said
of Aaron that he came down from the altar Lev_9:22. According to rabbinical tradition,
there was a slope of earth at the south side banked up for the priest to ascend to the
stage (compare Exo_20:26).
CLARKE, "Hollow with boards - It seems to have been a kind of frame-work, and
to have had nothing solid in the inside, and only covered with the grating at the top. This
rendered it more light and portable.
GILL, "Hollow with boards shalt thou make it,.... The frame of it being made of
boards of shittim wood, there was nothing within side but the grate, which was put
within the square, down into the middle of it, and so was light of carriage; though the
Targum of Jonathan, and other Jewish writers, represent this hollow as filled up with
dust and earth, to answer to the altar of earth Moses was before bid to make; but this
seems quite contrary to the present direction: the hollowness of the altar may denote the
emptiness of Christ when he became a sacrifice: he emptied himself, as it were, when he
became incarnate, of all his greatness, glory, and riches, and became mean and poor for
the sake of his people, that they through his poverty might be made rich, Phi_2:7.
as it was showed thee in the mount, so shall they make it; or, "as he showed
thee" (g), that is, God. Moses had a model of this altar showed him, and he was to be
careful to instruct the workmen, and see to it, that they built it exactly according to the
model.
PETT, "Exodus 27:8
“Hollow with boards you will make it. As it has been shown you in the Mount, so
shall you make it.”
This confirms that the altar was hollow inside. The making of it in the exact pattern
was necessary (compare Exodus 25:40) in order to prevent false impressions being
given by the addition of things added to conform with other altars they had known.
Beauty and splendour were incorporated but idolatrous associations must be
abjured. The way to God had to be taken in the way that God laid down.
PULPIT, "Hollow with boards shalt thou make it. See the comment on Exodus 27:1.
The term here used for" boards," (which is different from that in Exodus 26:15-29)
implies strength and solidity. As it was showed thee in the mount, Compare Exodus
26:30, with the comment ad loc.

36. The Courtyard
9 “Make a courtyard for the tabernacle. The
south side shall be a hundred cubits[c] long and is
to have curtains of finely twisted linen,
BAR ES, "Exo_27:9
The south side southward - The south side on the right. See Exo_26:18.
CLARKE, "The court of the tabernacle - The tabernacle stood in an enclosure or
court, open at the top. This court was made with pillars or posts, and hangings. It was
one hundred cubits, or about fifty-eight yards and a half, in length; the breadth we learn
from Exo_27:12, Exo_27:18; and five cubits, or nearly three yards, high, Exo_27:18. And
as this was but half the height of the tabernacle, Exo_26:16, that sacred building might
easily be seen by the people from without.
GILL, "And thou shall make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side
southward,.... This was a large court yard to the house of God, or tabernacle, which
stood in it at the upper end of it; it was enclosed, but open to the air; and in it, between
the entrance into it and the holy place, stood the altar of burnt offering before described,
and on one side of that the laver for the priests to wash in; into this the people of Israel
were admitted, and where they brought their sacrifices and worshipped: it was typical of
the visible church of God on earth, which, though an enclosure, and is separated from
the world, yet consists of professors, good and bad, of real saints and hypocrites; as into
this court Israelites of every character, sex, and state entered. In David's time it was
divided into various courts, and what answered to it when the temple was built were the
several apartments called the courts of the priests, where they sacrificed, and the court
of Israel, where the men Israelites worshipped, and the court of the women, where they
were by themselves; and in later times there was another court separate from these,
called the court of the Gentiles, into which they might enter; and the description of this
court begins with that side of it which lay full south: there shall be
hangings for the court of fine twined linen of one hundred cubits long for
one side; for the south side; and these hangings, with the rest all around, made the
court, and were the walls of it; and from hence we learn, that it was one hundred cubits
or fifty yards long, according to the common computation of a cubit; though it was three
hundred inches more, this cubit being three inches more than is commonly supposed.
These hangings, vails, or curtains, for so in the versions they are differently called, were

37. the enclosure of the court; they were made of fine linen, six times twisted, but not of
various colours, and curiously wrought with cunning work, as the curtains of the
tabernacle were; and according to the signification of the word, they were wrought full of
holes, like eyelet holes, or in the manner of network; so that though they kept persons
from entering in, they might be seen through, and through them might be seen what was
doing in the court: and all this may signify that the visible church of God on earth is
separated from the world, and should consist of men called out of it, and of such who are
clothed with that fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the saints, and which
is the righteousness of Christ, and who have both inward and outward holiness; and
though none but those who are admitted members of it may partake of its ordinances,
yet others may be spectators of what is done in it.
HE RY 9-19, "Before the tabernacle there was to be a court or yard, enclosed with
hangings of the finest linen that was used for tents. This court, according to the common
computation of cubits, was fifty yards long, and twenty-five broad. Pillars were set up at
convenient distances, in sockets of brass, the pillars filleted with silver, and silver tenter-
hooks in them, on which the linen hangings were fastened: the hanging which served for
the gate was finer than the rest, Exo_27:16. This court was a type of the church, enclosed
and distinguished from the rest of the world, the enclosure supported by pillars,
denoting the stability of the church, hung with the clean linen, which is said to be the
righteousness of saints, Rev_19:8. These were the courts David longed for and coveted
to reside in (Psa_84:2, Psa_84:10), and into which the people of God entered with
praise and thanksgiving (Psa_100:4); yet this court would contain but a few
worshippers. Thanks be to God, now, under the gospel, the enclosure is taken down.
God's will is that men pray every where; and there is room for all that in every place call
on the name of Jesus Christ.
JAMISO 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.
K&D 9-11, "(cf. Exo_38:9-20). The Court of the dwelling was to consist of ‫ים‬ ִ‫ע‬ ָ‫ל‬ ְ‫ק‬
“hangings” of spun byssus, and pillars with brass (copper) sockets, and hooks and
fastenings for the pillars of silver. The pillars were of course made of acacia-wood; they
were five cubits high, with silvered capitals (Exo_38:17, Exo_38:19), and carried the
hangings, which were fastened to them by means of the hooks and fastenings. There
were twenty of them on both the southern and northern sides, and the length of the
drapery on each of these sides was 100 cubits (‫ה‬ ָ ፍ ָ‫ב‬ ‫ה‬ፎ ֵ‫,מ‬ 100 sc., measured by the cubit),

38. so that the court was a hundred cubits long (Exo_27:18).
CALVI , "9.And thou shalt make the court. There were two courts divided from
the sanctuary, one for the priests, the other common to the whole people. To the first
chambers were annexed, in which the Levites dwelt, who were the keepers of the
tabernacle; and thus sometimes the courts are spoken of in the plural number, and
especially in the Psalms, (Psalms 64:4.) It is the court of the people which is here
referred to, where they consecrated the victims, offered their prayers, and were
reconciled to God. In this manner the condition of mankind was shewn to the
Israelites, by their being forbidden to enter the Temple, whilst at the same time they
were reminded that men, although unworthy outcasts, are received by God, if only
they seek Him simply, and with due humility, mindful of their own unworthiness.
Hence the consolation in which David gloried, (149) “I had rather dwell in the
courts of the Lord, than in the splendid tents of the ungodly.” The court was formed
by four curtains, two of which, on the north and south sides, were 100 cubits long,
and supported by 20 pillars, whose bases were of brass, and their capitals (150) and
fillets of silver; on the east and west, each curtain was 50 cubits long, supported by
10 pillars. The length spoken of is not from the ground upwards, but from their
opposite corners: for the court was twice as long as it was broad, as is said in
Exodus 27:18. Therewould be an appearance of contradiction in the fact that Moses
afterwards speaks of two sides, and assigns fifteen cubits to each, if he did not
immediately go on to mention the hanging or curtain, which covered the gate of the
court, and which he sets at twenty cubits. Thus the measure will be correct, and the
passage will be quite accordant; for, after he has said in Exodus 27:13 that the
curtain on the east side should consist of fifty cubits, he adds in explanation that
there were two curtains at the sides of the door, and a third between them to cover
the door, making up in all the fifty cubits. But the door was covered by the hanging,
that the Israelites might reflect in themselves, whenever they went into the
sanctuary, that it was no profane or common (promiscuum) place; but if they came
thither in purity and chastity, they might be assuredly persuaded that they were safe
under the protection of God. Finally also the majesty of holy things was shewn them
in this type, in order that they might reverently approach the worship of God; and
they were reminded of their own unworthiness, that they might humble themselves
the more before God, and that fear might beget penitence, whilst moderation in the
desire of knowledge was recommended to them, that they might not be unduly
inquisitive. The religion of the Gentiles also had its secret shrines with the same
object, but for very different causes; for it was a brutal religion, for which
veneration was sought by darkness, and the disguise of ignorance; whereas God,
whilst He retained His people in modesty and simplicity, at the same time set before
them the Law, from which they might learn whatever it was right and useful for
them to know.
BE SO , "Exodus 27:9. Thou shalt make the court — Such a place as we call a
court- yard, uncovered above, but enclosed with pillars and hangings of fine linen.
This court, according to common computation, was fifty yards long and twenty-five
broad. In it stood the tabernacle toward the upper west end; between the tabernacle

39. and the lower end stood the altar, with the laver on one side of it, Exodus 30:18. The
pillars were set up at convenient distances, in sockets of brass, the pillars filleted
with silver, and silver tenterhooks in them, on which the linen hangings were
fastened: the hanging which served for the gate was finer than the rest. This court
was a type of the church, enclosed and distinguished from the rest of the world; the
enclosure supported by pillars, denoting the stability of the church; hung with the
clean linen, which is said to be the “righteousness of saints,”
Revelation 19:8. Yet this court would contain but a few worshippers; thanks be to
God, now the enclosure is taken down; and there is room for all that in every place
call on the name of Christ.
ELLICOTT, "(9) For the south side southward.—Rather, for the south side upon
the right. (See ote on Exodus 26:18.)
Hangings.—The word used is new and rare. It is rendered ίστία, “sails,” by the
LXX., and seems to designate a coarse sail-cloth, woven with interstices, through
which what went on inside the court might be seen. The court, it must be
remembered, was open to all Israelites (Leviticus 1:3, &c.).
Of fine twined linen.—Made of linen thread, i.e., each thread having several
strands; not “fine linen” in the modern sense.
Verses 9-18
THE COURT OF THE TABER ACLE.
(9-18) Almost every ancient temple stood within a sacred enclosure, which isolated it
from the common working world, and rendered its religious character more
distinctly apparent. Such enclosures were particularly affected by the Egyptians,
and were usually oblong squares, surrounded by walls, with, for the most part, a
single entrance. An open space of this kind, always desirable, was absolutely
necessary where the sanctuary itself was covered in, since it would have been
intolerable to kill and burn victims in a confined and covered space. The altar which
has been described (Exodus 27:1-8) was necessarily placed outside the tabernacle,
and formed the chief furniture of the court, for which directions are now given.
COFFMA , "Verses 9-19
THE COURT OF THE TABER ACLE
"And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward
there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen a hundred cubits long for
one side: and the pillars thereof shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass;
the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. And likewise for the north side in
length there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, and the pillars thereof twenty,
and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubit
their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. And the breadth of the court on the east side

40. eastward shall be fifty cubits. The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be
fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. And for the other side shall
be hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. And for the
gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, of purple, and of scarlet,
and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their
sockets four. All the pillars of the court round about shall be fillets with silver; their
hooks of brass, and their sockets of brass. The length of the court shall be a hundred
cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined
linen, and their sockets of brass. All the instruments of the tabernacle in all the
services thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass."
This paragraph of instructions is clear enough for anyone who will take the trouble
carefully to note what it says. It is a measure of how desperate the cause of
destructive criticism actually is that the enemies of the Bible should have attempted
to use this paragraph at all. There is allegedly a problem relative to the placement of
the 60 pillars enclosing the 50 cubits 10:100 cubits of the court. Even Philo thought
these instructions were incorrect and proposed to solve the "problem" by reducing
God's number of 60 pillars to 56, and then counting all four of the corners twice![7]
It is amazing that simple solutions sometimes cannot be understood by men who are
accounted to be among the wisest on earth. Rylaarsdam, one of the authors of The
Interpreter's Bible commented on this alleged problem thus:
"It is impossible to reconcile the demands (of this passage) with the complete
symmetry at which the writer obviously aims. Even Kennedy's clever interpretation
fails because it results in putting the screen out of center in the east end. It seems
clear that we are here face to face with the sort of inadvertent slip typical of an
amateur, which, however obvious, often escapes discovery until one is confronted by
the impasse it implies. It reminds us that this plan, produced in the study, was never
actually implemented."[8]
The following diagram, known for centuries, shows exactly how these instructions
were implemented:
<MO O>
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 1
2 This arrangement of the 60 pillars 2
3 5 cubits apart satisfies perfectly the 3
4 Biblical requirement that twenty should 4 == Entrance
5 be on each side and ten at each end. 5 == "
6 otice that two of the four corners are 6 == "
7 counted with ends and the two other 7 == "

41. 8 corners are counted with sides. 8
9 9
10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 10SIZE>MO O>
The only possible objection to this arrangement is the mention of "their pillars four,
and their sockets four" for the gate of the court in Exodus 27:16. The same passage,
however states emphatically that the gate shall be composed of "twenty cubits," that
is, four panels of five cubits each. ow, what about the "four pillars'? This number
is actual, because the two external panels can receive credit for only one-half of each
of the external pillars (4, and 8 in the diagram). As a matter of fact, if one takes the
whole length of the surrounding "wall," having exactly sixty panels and sixty
pillars, every single panel in the whole arrangement is supported by one half a pillar
on each side of it. Therefore, if one should take any four panels in the whole sixty
cubits of the enclosing "fence," those four panels would be supported by three
whole pillars in the center and an additional one-half of the two on the outside of the
four chosen, making exactly four panels and four pillars; but due to the
arrangement, the four panels would touch five pillars. This is exactly the way it is in
the diagram. The diagram here is an adaptation of the one offered by F. C. Cook in
1879![9]
We shall therefore leave it up to the unbiased student as to whether God or
Rylaarsdam was the "amateur" mentioned in his comment.
For some who still fancy to find something wrong here, the mention of "twenty
cubits" (four panels of 5 cubits each) as the size of the entrance should clear up
everything. Since there can be only one panel per pillar for the whole 60 panels and
60 pillars, the fact of four panels actually touching five pillars should be no problem.
It is a fact that every panel in the whole arrangement touches two pillars; and the
only way for properly counting panels (without resorting to the calculation of two
half-pillars for each panel) would necessarily be that of counting only the single
pillar on one side or the other, the right or the left, depending on whether one began
with a pillar or a panel.
ow look at the "Entrance" in the diagram. Does it have "four pillars" as the divine
instructions required? Or are there five pillars? Look at the count. Since, on that
east end, we began counting with a pillar, the panel in front of it (to the northward)
belongs to pillar one, etc. This leaves exactly four pillars credited to the Entrance as
the holy text required, the same being 4,5, 6, and 7. o. 8 cannot be included,
because it also belongs to the panel in front of it (northward). This arrangement also
leaves exactly three pillars on each side of the entrance as required by Exodus 27:14,
the three pillars on the south of the entrance being 1,2, and 3, and those on the north
side of it being 8,9, and 10, as reckoned with their respective panels, of course!
It may appear to some that we have devoted more than the required space for this
exegesis; but the widespread ignorance of the critical community regarding the

42. truth revealed here, and their willingness to make the most ridiculous and
preposterous allegations based upon their ignorance provide sufficient reason for
looking into the alleged "problem" carefully.
COKE, "Verse 9
Exodus 27:9. And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle— The tabernacle,
when formed, was to be surrounded by a kind of open court, which was to be
circumscribed by hangings of plain fine linen, supported by pillars in sockets of
brass; but the hanging for the gate of the court, Exodus 27:16 was to be of the same
embroidered stuff with the inmost covering of the tabernacle. This court-yard was a
hundred cubits, or about fifty-eight yards long; and from Exodus 27:12 it appears,
that it was just half as broad as it was long; and from Exodus 27:18 that it was five
cubits or near three yards high, which was but half the height of the tabernacle: see
ch. Exodus 26:16. The gate or entrance was to be twenty cubits wide, Exodus 27:16.
In this court, towards the upper end, the tabernacle was placed; between which and
the lower end, the altar with the laver on one side of it was placed, ch. Exodus 30:18
and Revelation 11:1-2. ote; The court surrounding the tabernacle, is typical of the
church of Christ, inclosed from the rest of the world, and brought into a nearer
state of communion with his blessed Self.
CO STABLE, "Verses 9-19
The courtyard27:9-19
The courtyard was50 cubits wide by100 cubits long (75 feet by150 feet, half the
length of an American football field). This area is about the size of a modest home
site in the United States. The curtains that formed its perimeter were only half as
high as those surrounding the tabernacle building (7 feet instead of15 feet). So the
Israelites outside the courtyard could see the top part of the tabernacle building.
"All its vessels were of copper-brass, which, being allied to the earth in both colour
and material, was a symbolic representation of the earthy side of the kingdom of
God; whereas the silver of the capitals of the pillars, and of the hooks and rods
which sustained the hangings, as well as the white colour of the byssus-hangings,
might point to the holiness of this site for the kingdom of God." [ ote: Keil and
Delitzsch, 2:190.]
"The whole arrangement of the outer court, and in particular the placement of the
altar of sacrifice and the laver, speak pointedly of man"s approach to God." [ ote:
Davis, p263.]
". . . this structure provided the same kind of physical separation between the holy
God and his people as did the mountain at Sinai (temporal separation is also
provided in the annual feasts and celebrations, e.g, the yearly Day of Atonement,
Leviticus 16)." [ ote: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p298.]
"The court preserved the Tabernacle from accidental or intentional profanation,
and it gave the priests a certain measure of privacy for the prosecution of their

43. duties. Its presence was a perpetual reminder that man should pause and consider,
before he rushes into the presence of the Most High [cf. Ecclesiastes 5:2]." [ ote:
Meyer, p348.]
"The courtyard is the place of worship where the people could gather-they entered
his courts. If the courtyard does not interest us very much, it did the Israelites. Here
the sacrifices were made, the choirs sang, the believers offered their praises, they
had their sins forgiven, they came to pray, they appeared on the holy days, and they
heard from God. It was sacred because God met them there; they left the "world"
so to speak and came into his presence." [ ote: The ET Bible note on27:19.]
PULPIT, "THE COURT BEFORE THE TABER ACLE. The description of the
altar is (as already observed) naturally followed by that of the court which was to
contain it, and in which it was to be the most conspicuous object. This is given with
great clearness in ten verses, and presents scarcely any problem for solution. The
court was an oblong square, three hundred feet in length and seventy-five in
breadth. It was enclosed by curtains, hung on sixty pillars, placed at intervals of
seven feet and a half apart. The pillars were connected by rods, and each of them
fitted into a socket. There was but one entrance, which was at the eastern side,
midway in it. It was thirty feet wide, and had its own curtains and its own pillars.
These curtains were of similar material with those at the entrance to the tabernacle,
but the hangings round the rest of the court were merely of fine white linen.
Exodus 27:9
Thou shalt make the court. Rather, "a court." For the south side southward.
Rather," For the south side, upon the right." Compare the comment on Exodus
26:18. Hangings. The word used is a rare one in this sense, quite different from
those which have been employed for "curtains" or "hangings "previously (Exodus
26:1, Exodus 26:7, Exodus 26:36). The LXX. translate by ἱστία "sails;" and the
Jewish commentators believe a loosely woven sail-cloth to be intended. Fine twined
linen. See the comment on Exodus 26:1.
BI 9-19, "The court of the Tabernacle.
The court of the Tabernacle
I. This court may be an emblem of that sacred enclosure which always surrounds the
Church. “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse.” God Himself, with all His infinite
perfections and attributes, is round about His people. Every attribute of God is a pillar in
our protecting wall, power, sovereignty, justice, righteousness, truth and faithfulness,
appear in perfect harmony with love, benevolence, mercy, tenderness, compassion and
goodness. All unite to uphold the separating wall between the Church and the world.
II. We may look upon this court as emblematical of the life and ministry of Christ. Only
the true Christian can enter into Christ, but a sinner may read His life. As the court led
to the Tabernacle, so the reading of the life of Christ has often been the means of the soul
believing in Jesus. In the life of Christ we have a perfect model for the Christian’s
imitation. Christ has left us an example that we should follow His steps.

44. III. We may view the court of the Tabernacle as an emblem of the Holy Scriptures. We
cannot come to God without entering the court of revelation. He that loves the Bible has
entered the outer court of the Tabernacle. Reverence for the Word of God is a good sign.
IV. The court of the Tabernacle was a place of worship. Here the Israelites came with
their various sacrifices; and here God accepted them. If we would be accepted by God,
we must observe God’s order, and come to the place He has appointed. We must also
come in a right spirit.
V. In the court of the Tabernacle we have a figure of the professing Church.
1. Not all who entered the court entered the Tabernacle. Not all who make a
profession of religion possess it. The heart, as well as the lip, must be right. The court
was the way to the Tabernacle. There is no evidence that a man possesses grace while
he neglects the means of grace. If a man has no love to God’s house, he can have no
love to God. If we have no desire to be numbered with God’s people, there cannot be
much desire after God Himself. (R. E. Sears.)
Hangings of the court
It is likely that those hangings would be of open work, and that the people would be able
to look through this linen fence, and see what was being done inside. This would set
forth the guilelessness of Christ’s character. He was no deceiver; there was no guile in
His lips. He lived in a very hollow age, when deceit was the order of the day; but He was
a transparent Man, an unselfish Man, a perfect Man. At the east end was a hanging
called the gate. The basis of this gate would be the same as the fine linen in other parts of
the court, and the meshes would be nearly filled up with blue, purple, and scarlet wools.
This gate is Christ, the one gate, the one only door to God and to happiness in this life, or
in the life which is to come. Those white hangings were suspended from upright pillars,
standing in blocks of brass. The pillars were strong enough to sustain the weight of the
hangings, and they were high enough to keep the fine linen from touching the ground, or
contracting defilement in any part. So our Lord Jesus was sustained in His holy conduct
in every part of His life by those upright principles which He had in His holy nature. (G.
Rodgers.)
Fine linen
The fine linen was a thing of the earth. It had grown from seed which had been cast into
the ground, and had died there, after which life came up out of death; there was death
and resurrection. After this it went through many processes before it was seen about the
dwelling-place of God. So the Christian has to learn death and resurrection. We have to
die, and to be quickened to life, and we have to pass through some painful processes.
Satan himself is sometimes permitted to sift us and to twist us, and he handles the soul
roughly; but it is all needed to make us the fine-twined linen such as God would have us
be. All things do indeed work together for our good, if they help to conform us to the
image of Christ (Rom_8:28-29). (G. Rodgers.)
The gate of the court
The word “hanging” is in the Hebrew exclusively used for the vail the door of the

45. Tabernacle, and the gate of the court; and serves, therefore, to connect together these
three in type. Each of these hangings covered or hid the interior from the eyes of one
approaching from the outside. Each had the character of a door. All three were made of
the same materials arranged in precisely the same order; and all three were of the same
dimensions as regards their area. The same truth seems, therefore, to be embodied in
each of these typical curtains. The same Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, is pourtrayed
in each. There could be no access to God of any kind, whether of comparatively distant
worship or of closest intimacy, but through the one door, the Lord Jesus (Joh_10:7).
Cain was the first who tried another path; and instead of being able to draw near, his
very attempt ended in his going out from the presence of God into the land of
banishment. Thousands follow in his footsteps, and think to worship and to offer
without passing through the door. (H. W. Soltau.)
The hanging of fine linen
The court itself, with the exception of the gate, was closed by a hanging of fine-twined
linen, five cubits high. Fine linen seems to be used in Scripture as a type of
righteousness—a righteousness equal to all the demands of God—enabling him who
possesses it to stand in God’s glory; in contrast with sin, by reason of which, all come
short of the glory of God. The Israelite, who entered through the gate of the court, would
be encompassed, shut in, and protected by this hanging of fine-twined linen. Though in a
wilderness, he stood on holy ground; and the fine linen by which he was surrounded
shut out from his eye the dreary barren prospect, through which he was wending his
way. The lovely Tabernacle of God stood partially revealed to his gaze. The courts of the
Lord’s house, overshadowed by the cloud of glory, were before him. The altar, with its
lamb for the burnt-offering, sent up an odour of a sweet savour on his behalf. The laver,
filled with water, told him of a fountain filled with life and purity, which would cleanse
away even the ordinary defilement contracted whilst passing through a wilderness of
death. He had entered through the gate of the court, the appointed doorway; within,
every object proclaimed life, peace, righteousness, acceptance, and nearness to God.
Moreover, no deadly foe could enter these precincts. Thus the court presented a place of
security, of holiness, and of intercourse with God. Jerusalem on earth will hereafter
afford some such place of refuge for the nations of the earth. (H. W. Soltau.)
The pins
By means of these pins of brass, the Tabernacle and the court were securely fastened to
the desert ground, so that no storm or flood of waters could sweep away this structure,
although many of the materials were such as to be easily affected by the wind or rain.
May we not be reminded by this type, of the stedfast purpose of Christ, to pursue the
path marked out for Him by the counsels of God, even though that path ended in the
storm of judgment and in the billows of wrath. What a wondrous object of
contemplation is the blessed Lord, as revealed to us in the Scriptures of truth. Weak, yet
immovably firm. Himself the mighty God, yet dependent for everything on God His
Father. Oh! the wondrous power of that weakness. Oh! the marvellous victory of that
death. Oh! the eternal stability of Him laid low in the depths of the grave. (H. W. Soltau.)

46. 10 with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and
with silver hooks and bands on the posts.
BAR ES, "Exo_27:10
Sockets - Bases. See Exo_26:19.
Fillets - Rather, Connecting rods; curtain-rods of silver connecting the heads of the
pillars. The hangings were attached to the pillars by the silver hooks; but the length of
the space between the pillars would render it most probable that they were also in some
way fastened to these rods.
GILL, "And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of
brass,.... On these pillars the hangings, rails, or curtains were set, and they were for one
side, the south side, in number twenty; and so must stand five cubits, or two yards and a
half or more, distant from each other, since the length of the hangings were one hundred
cubits: these, according to Philo the Jew (h), were made of cedar, but if of wood, most
probably of "shittim wood", as they are by most thought to be; though one would think,
according to the plain and express words of the text, they as well as their sockets were of
brass: and Josephus (i) expressly says they were of brass, and which seems fittest for the
purpose: now though the church of God itself is a pillar, and so is every true member of
it, 1Ti_3:15 yet ministers of the Gospel may be more especially designed, Pro_9:1 who
are the principal support of the churches of God, and of the interest of religion; and are
set for the defence of the Gospel, and are steadfast in the ministration of it:
the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver; the hooks on the
pillars might be somewhat like our tenter hooks, and so Jarchi describes them, as having
one end crooked upwards, and the other end fixed in the pillar; and as for the fillets, he
says, they were silver threads round about the pillars; but whether they were upon the
face or of them all, or on the top, or in the middle of them, he confesses his ignorance;
only this he knew, that the word has the signification of girding or binding; and these
fillets might not only be for ornament, but for the binding of the hangings to the pillars:
and so Ben Gersom says, that they were silver threads, with which the curtains were
bound to the pillars, that the wind might not separate them from them; and both the
silver hooks and fillets may signify the word and ordinances as administered by the
preachers of the Gospel, in which there is an union, conjunction, and communion
between them and the churches.
ELLICOTT, "(10) And the twenty pillars thereof . . . —Heb., and its pillars, twenty
(in number), and their bases, also twenty (shall be) of bronze. Kalisch says that the
pillars of the court were “of wood, not plated with metal” (Comment., p. 371); but

47. the present passage, and also Exodus 38:10, rightly translated, contradict this view.
The hooks of the pillars.—Comp. Exodus 26:37. As the pillars were for the support
of the “hangings,” they required “hooks,” whereto the “hangings” might be
attached.
Their fillets.—Rather, their connecting-rods. The pillars of the court were to be
united by rods, which would help to support the “hangings.”
PULPIT, "And the twenty pillars thereof, etc. Literally, "And its pillars, twenty (in
number), and their sockets, twenty (in number, shall be) of bronze." The hooks of
the pillars are loops whereto the curtains were to be attached. See Exodus 26:32.
Their fillets. It is now generally agreed that the word used designates "connecting
rods," which joined the pillars at the top, and probably helped to support the
"hangings." These, and the "hooks," were of solid silver.
11 The north side shall also be a hundred cubits
long and is to have curtains, with twenty posts and
twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and
bands on the posts.
GILL, "And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of
one hundred cubits long,.... The north and south sides of this court being equal, the
same length of hangings were for the one as the other:
and his twenty pillars, and their twenty sockets of brass; there went on this side
the same number of pillars and sockets, and of the same metal:
the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; just as they were on the south
side.
ELLICOTT, "(11, 12) The north side . . . This side of the court was to be in exact
correspondence with the south. The western side was to be of only half the length
(fifty cubits), and required therefore only half the number of pillars and sockets.

48. 12 “The west end of the courtyard shall be fifty
cubits[d] wide and have curtains, with ten posts
and ten bases.
GILL, "And for the breadth of the court, on the west side,.... On the west end,
the upper end of the court, near to which reached the holy of holies:
shall be hangings of fifty cubits: or twenty five yards and more, so that the court
was but half as broad as it was long:
their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; which was a number proportionate to the
hangings, and stood at an equal distance from each other, as the pillars for the sides, at
five cubits, or two yards and a half, as commonly computed.
13 On the east end, toward the sunrise, the
courtyard shall also be fifty cubits wide.
BAR ES, "Exo_27:13
The east side eastward - On the front side eastward.
GILL, "And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward,.... Which was
the entrance into it:
shall be fifty cubits; the east end and west end were of the same measure.
ELLICOTT, "(13) On the east side eastward.—Rather, in front, towards the east.
Both the tabernacle and the Temple faced to the east, which was regarded as “the
front of the world” by the Orientals generally. The belief was probably connected

49. with the sun’s rising, towards which men in early times looked anxiously. It was,
however, a belief quite separate from sun-worship.
PULPIT, "The breadth of the court on the east side eastward. Rather, "in front
toward the east." The Rabbinical tradition was that Adam found himself on his
creation fronting towards the east, and had consequently the south on his right, the
north on his left, and the west behind him. Hence, they said, the four cardinal points
received the names of kedem, "in front" (the east); yamin, "the right hand" (the
south); 'akhor, "behind" (the west); and shemol, "the left hand" (the north). For
this use of all four words, see Job 23:8, Job 23:9.
14 Curtains fifteen cubits[e] long are to be on one
side of the entrance, with three posts and three
bases,
GILL, "The hangings of one side of the gate,.... Or entrance into the court:
shall be fifteen cubits; or seven yards and a half:
their pillars three, and their sockets three; and so stood at the same distance
from one another as the rest of the pillars did, the distance of five cubits.
ELLICOTT, "(14) The hangings of one side.—Rather, at one side. On three sides of
the court—the south, the west, and the north—there was to be no interruption in the
hangings—no entrance or gateway. But it was otherwise on the fourth side, towards
the east. Here was to be the entrance to the court, and here consequently the line of
hangings was to be broken in the middle. A curtain, similar to that at the east end of
the tabernacle (Exodus 26:36), but hung on four pillars instead of five, and capable
of being drawn up of down, was to give admission to the court on this side, and was
to occupy twenty cubits out of the fifty which formed the entire width of the court.
On either side would remain a space of fifteen cubits, which was to be occupied by
“hangings,” similar to those on the other three sides of the court. Each of these
lengths of fifteen cubits required three pillars for its support. Thus the pillars on the
east side were ten, as on the west.
PULPIT, "The hangings of one side. Literally, "of one shoulder." The two extreme
parts of the east side, between the entrance (Exodus 27:16) and the corners are thus
named. They were to extend on either side a distance of fifteen cubits, and to have
their curtains suspended to four pillars, one of them being the corner pillar, which is

50. not counted. Hence the pillars are said to be three
15 and curtains fifteen cubits long are to be on the
other side, with three posts and three bases.
GILL, "And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits,.... On the other
side of the gate, or entrance into the court, on the northeast side, as the other may be
supposed to be the southeast side, there was the same length of hangings:
their pillars three, and their sockets three; the same as on the other side of the
gate.
16 “For the entrance to the courtyard, provide a
curtain twenty cubits[f] long, of blue, purple and
scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of
an embroiderer—with four posts and four bases.
BAR ES, "Exo_27:16
An hanging - An entrance curtain, which, unlike the hangings at the sides and back
of the court, could be drawn up, or aside, at pleasure. The words are rightly
distinguished in our Bible in Num_3:26.
Wrought with nedlework - The work of the embroiderer. See Exo_26:36; Exo_
35:35. On the materials, see Exo_25:4.
CLARKE, "And for the gate of the court - It appears that the hangings of this
gate were of the same materials and workmanship with that of the inner covering of the
tabernacle, and the outer and inner veil. See Exo_26:36.
GILL, "And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits,....
Which, with the fifteen on each side, make the fifty cubits, the breadth of the court

51. eastward, Exo_27:13, this hanging was better than the rest, much finer and richer:
for it was of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought
with needle work: and was of the same as the hangings for the door of the holy place,
Exo_26:36 this was a figure of Christ, and of the graces of the Spirit in him, and of his
bloodshed, sufferings, and death; who is the door into the church, and to the ordinances
of it, and leads on to the holy place, and even to the holy of holies, see Joh_10:9.
their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four: so that the pillars of this court
at both sides and each end were sixty, twenty on each side, south and north, and ten at
each end, west and east.
ELLICOTT, "(16) For the gate of the court—i.e., the entrance.
An hanging.—The word is the same as that similarly translated in Exodus 26:36 and
Exodus 26:37 of Exodus 26; and the description of the “hanging” is also, word for
word, the same. It would contrast strongly with the plain white “sail-cloth” round
the rest of the enclosure, and would clearly point out to all the place of entrance.
PULPIT, "For the gate. The word used is the common one for "gate;" but here it
rather signifies "entrance." Strictly speaking, there was no "gate;" the worshippers
entered by drawing aside the curtain. This was a hanging of similar material,
colours, and workmanship to that which hung in front of the tabernacle (Exodus
26:36). By its contrast with the white linen screen which surrounded the rest of the
court, it would show very clearly where men were to enter.
17 All the posts around the courtyard are to have
silver bands and hooks, and bronze bases.
BAR ES, "Exo_27:17
Filleted with silver - Connected with silver rods. See Exo_27:10,
GILL, "All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver,....
This is observed, because only mention is made before of the pillars that were on the
south and north sides of the court, as filleted with silver; but inasmuch as those at both
ends, east and west, were to be so likewise, this is added:
their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass; no notice having been taken
of the hooks to the pillars at both ends, though they were as necessary there as

52. elsewhere, and must be supposed, and though the sockets are mentioned, yet not their
metal, and therefore are in general included here.
K&D 17-18, "“All the pillars of the court round about (shall be) bound with
connecting rods of silver.” As the rods connecting the pillars of the court were of silver,
and those connecting the pillars at the entrance to the dwelling were of wood overlaid
with gold, the former must have been intended for a different purpose from the latter,
simply serving as rods to which to fasten the hangings, whereas those at the door of the
dwelling formed an architrave. The height of the hangings of the court and the covering
of the door is given in Exo_38:17 as 5 cubits, corresponding to the height of the pillars
given in Exo_28:18 of the chapter before us; but the expression in Exo_38:18, “the
height in the breadth,” is a singular one, and ‫ב‬ ַ‫ּח‬‫ר‬ is probably to be understood in the
sense of ‫ּב‬‫ח‬ ְ‫ר‬ door-place or door-way, - the meaning of the passage being, “the height of
the covering in the door-way.” In Exo_28:18, “50 everywhere,” πεντήκοντα ᅚπᆳ
πεντήκοντα (lxx), lit., 50 by 50, is to be understood as relating to the extent towards the
north and south; and the reading of the Samaritan text, viz., ‫ה‬ ָ ፍ ָ‫ב‬ for ‫ים‬ ‫,בחמ‬ is merely
the result of an arbitrary attempt to bring the text into conformity with the previous ‫ה‬ ָ ፍ ָ‫ב‬
‫ה‬ፎ ֵ‫,מ‬ whilst the lxx, on the other hand, by an equally arbitrary change, have rendered the
passage ᅛκατᆵν εφ ʆ ᅛκατᆵν.
18 The courtyard shall be a hundred cubits long
and fifty cubits wide,[g] with curtains of finely
twisted linen five cubits[h] high, and with bronze
bases.
GILL, "The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits,.... And as may be
concluded from the length of the hangings on each side:
and the breadth fifty everywhere; at both ends, and was the breadth of the
hangings there, and which all around made the court:
and the height five cubits; or two yards and a half, and somewhat more; it was but

53. half the height of the tabernacle, and hence that might be seen above it every way; so
that, according to Bishop Cumberland, it contained one rood, twenty one perches, and
twenty seven square feet, and was half an Egyptian aroura, which is the square of one
hundred Jewish or Egyptian cubits: "of fine twined linen"; of which the hangings were
made, and here called the court, as they properly were, for they made it:
and their sockets of brass; the bases on which all the pillars stood, upon which the
hangings of fine twined linen were, were of brass; which seems to be repeated, that the
foundation of this court might be observed to be different from that of the tabernacle;
the foundation of that, or the sockets, into which
ELLICOTT, "(18) The length . . . an hundred cubits.—Comp. Exodus 27:9, where
this is given as the length of the hangings.
The breadth fifty.—Comp. Exodus 27:12.
The height five cubits.—This had not been previously either stated or implied. It has
been noted that, with one exception, all the measurements of the tabernacle and the
court, as distinct from the furniture, are either five cubits or some multiple of five.
The one exception is the length of the inner covering (Exodus 26:2), which was
determined by the pitch of the roof.
PULPIT, "The length and the breadth of the court had been already implied in
what had been said of the external screen-work, or "hangings" (Exodus 27:9 and
Exodus 27:12). What this verse adds is the height of the pillars, which was five
cubits, or seven feet six inches.
19 All the other articles used in the service of the
tabernacle, whatever their function, including all
the tent pegs for it and those for the courtyard,
are to be of bronze.
BAR ES, "Exo_27:19
All the vessels ... - All the tools of the tabernacle used in all its workmanship, and all
its tent-pins, and all the tent-pins of the court, shall be of bronze. The working tools of
the sanctuary were most probably such things as axes, knives, hammers, etc. that were
employed in making, repairing, setting up and taking down the structure. Compare

54. Num_3:36.
The tabernacle - The word is here to be taken as including both the ‫משׁכן‬ mıshkân
and the tent, as in Num_1:51, Num_1:53, etc. (see Exo_26:1 note).
The pins - tent-pins.
CLARKE, "All the vessels - shall be of brass - It would have been improper to
have used instruments made of the more precious metals about this altar, as they must
have been soon worn out by the severity of the service.
GILL, "All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof,.... Which
either refers to the vessels belonging to the altar of burnt offering, and so is a repetition
of what is said, Exo_27:3 or rather to instruments that were used at the setting up and
taking down of the tabernacle; such as hammers and the like, to drive the staves into the
rings, and knock out the pillars from their sockets, &c., as Jarchi and Ben Gersom
observe; for otherwise the vessels used in the sanctuary were of gold or silver, or covered
therewith, and not of brass, as these are afterwards said to be:
and all the pins thereof; what these were is not easy to say; for there was nothing
made of brass in the holy or most holy place, but the taches or clasps, with which the
curtains of goats' hair were coupled together, and the sockets on which the five pillars
were set at the entrance of the door of the tabernacle, Exo_26:11 and it is possible that
those pillars might be fastened in their sockets with brass pins; for the clasps or taches
can hardly be called pins:
and all the pins of the court shall be of brass; these were brass pins, or stakes
fastened in the ground all round the court, to which cords were tied, and these fastened
to the hangings; whereby they were kept tight and close, that the wind could not move
them to and fro, as Jarchi and Ben Melech observe, and so Josephus (k); see Isa_33:20.
JAMISO , "pins — were designed to hold down the curtains at the bottom, lest the
wind should waft them aside.
K&D, "“All the vessels of the dwelling in all the work thereof (i.e., all the tools
needed for the tabernacle), and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, (shall be of)
brass or copper.” The vessels of the dwelling are not the things required for the
performance of worship, but the tools used in setting up the tabernacle and taking it
down again.
If we inquire still further into the design and meaning of the court, the erection of a
court surrounding the dwelling on all four sides is to be traced to the same circumstance
as that which rendered it necessary to divide the dwelling itself into two parts, viz., to the
fact, that on account of the unholiness of the nation, it could not come directly into the
presence of Jehovah, until the sin which separates unholy man from the holy God had
been atoned for. Although, by virtue of their election as the children of Jehovah, or their
adoption as the nation of God, it was intended that the Israelites should be received by
the Lord into His house, and dwell as a son in his father's house; yet under the economy

55. of the law, which only produced the knowledge of sin, uncleanness, and unholiness, their
fellowship with Jehovah, the Holy One, could only be sustained through mediators
appointed and sanctified by God: viz., at the institution of the covenant, through His
servant Moses; and during the existence of this covenant, through the chosen priests of
the family of Aaron. It was through them that the Lord was to be approached, and the
nation to be brought near to Him. Every day, therefore, they entered the holy place of
the dwelling, to offer to the Lord the sacrifices of prayer and the fruits of the people's
earthly vocation. But even they were not allowed to go into the immediate presence of
the holy God. The most holy place, where God was enthroned, was hidden from them by
the curtain, and only once a year was the high priest permitted, as the head of the whole
congregation, which was called to be the holy nation of God, to lift this curtain and
appear before God with the atoning blood of the sacrifice and the cloud of incense (Lev
16). The access of the nation to its God was restricted to the court. There it could receive
from the Lord, through the medium of the sacrifices which it offered upon the altar of
burnt-offering, the expiation of its sins, His grace and blessing, and strength to live
anew. Whilst the dwelling itself represented the house of God, the dwelling-place of
Jehovah in the midst of His people (Exo_23:19; Jos_6:24; 1Sa_1:7, 1Sa_1:24, etc.), the
palace of the God-King, in which the priestly nation drew near to Him (1Sa_1:9; 1Sa_
3:3; Psa_5:8; Psa_26:4, Psa_26:6); the court which surrounded the dwelling
represented the kingdom of the God-King, the covenant land or dwelling-place of Israel
in the kingdom of its God. In accordance with this purpose, the court was in the form of
an oblong, to exhibit its character as part of the kingdom of God. But its pillars and
hangings were only five cubits high, i.e., half the height of the dwelling, to set forth the
character of incompleteness, or of the threshold to the sanctuary of God. All its vessels
were of copper-brass, which, being allied to the earth in both colour and material, was a
symbolical representation of the earthly side of the kingdom of God; whereas the silver
of the capitals of the pillars, and of the hooks and rods which sustained the hangings, as
well as the white colour of the byssus-hangings, might point to the holiness of this site
for the kingdom of God. On the other hand, in the gilding of the capitals of the pillars at
the entrance to the dwelling, and the brass of their sockets, we find gold and silver
combined, to set forth the union of the court with the sanctuary, i.e., the union of the
dwelling-place of Israel with the dwelling-place of its God, which is realized in the
kingdom of God.
The design and significance of the court culminated in the altar of burnt-offering, the
principal object in the court; and upon this the burnt-offerings and slain-offerings, in
which the covenant nation consecrated itself as a possession to its God, were burnt. The
heart of this altar was of earth or unhewn stones, having the character of earth, not only
on account of its being appointed as the place of sacrifice and as the hearth for the
offerings, but because the earth itself formed the real or material sphere for the kingdom
of God in the Old Testament stage of its development. This heart of earth was elevated
by the square copper covering into a vessel of the sanctuary, a place where Jehovah
would record His name, and come to Israel and bless them (Exo_20:24, cf. Exo_29:42,
Exo_29:44), and was consecrated as a place of sacrifice, by means of which Israel could
raise itself to the Lord, and ascend to Him in the sacrifice. And this significance of the
altar culminated in its horns, upon which the blood of the sin-offering was smeared. Just
as, in the case of the horned animals, their strength and beauty are concentrated in the
horns, and the horn has become in consequence a symbol of strength, or of fulness of
vital energy; so the significance of the altar as a place of the saving and life-giving power
of God, which the Lord bestows upon His people in His kingdom, was concentrated in
the horns of the altar.

56. ELLICOTT, "Verse 19
THE VESSELS A D PI S.
(19) All the vessels of the tabernacle—i.e., all those which had not already been
appointed to be of a richer material. (Comp. Exodus 25:38.) Bronze was the most
convenient material for vessels, and maintained its place even in the magnificent
Temple of Solomon (1 Kings 7:15-45; 2 Kings 25:13-14).
All the pins thereof.—These had not been previously mentioned; but the writer
assumes it as known that every tent (’ohel). Such as he has described, can only be
erected by means of cords and tent-pegs, or “pins.”
All the pins of the court.—The “pins of the court” seem to be pegs employed
internally and externally to keep the pillars of the court in place. Their employment
implies that of cords.
COKE, "Verse 19
Exodus 27:19. All the vessels of the tabernacle— That is, all the vessels in the
common use of the tabernacle, and such as have not been before specified; in
particular the pins, as they are called, of the tabernacle and the court: the original
word means, the small stakes to which the ropes of a tent are fastened.
PULPIT, "THE VESSELS OF THE TABER ACLE. There were many "vessels of
the tabernacle" which have not hitherto been mentioned, as the great laver in the
court (Exodus 30:18; Exodus 40:30) with the basins for washing which must have
belonged to it; the pins or pegs whereby the various curtains were extended and
supported; and probably much sacrificial apparatus besides what is enumerated in
Exodus 27:3. All these were to be of bronze, the commonest metal of the time, but
one very suitable for the various purposes, being, as the Egyptians manufactured it,
of great hardness, yet exceedingly ductile and ready to take all shapes. Its usefulness
and convenience caused it to retain its place, even in the gorgeous and
"magnificent" temple of Solomon (1 Chronicles 29:2, 1 Chronicles 29:7), where it
was employed for the two great pillars, Jachin and Boaz, for the great laver or
"brazen sea," for the mailer layers upon wheels, for the pots, the shovels, the basins,
the snuffers, the spoons, and many other sacred vessels (1 Kings 7:15-45; 2 Kings
25:13, 2 Kings 25:14). Though "common," it was never reckoned "unclean," or less
fitted for the service of the sanctuary than silver or gold. It had, however, its own
proper place, an inferior place to that held by the more precious metals.
Exodus 27:19
All the pins thereof. The "pins" of the tabernacle are undoubtedly the pegs or tent-
pins, whereby the tent-cloth wherewith it was covered was extended and kept taut.
There were also probably similar pegs or pins for cords used to keep the "pillars"
(Exodus 26:37) or tent-poles in place. The pins of the court supported in the same

57. way the pillars of the court (Exodus 27:10-15).
HOMILETICS
Exodus 27:19
The value is God's sight of what is common and homely.
God does not despise anything that he has made. "His mercy is over all his works"
(Psalms 145:9). Each of them has its fit and proper place. Each one of them is
needed in his universe. Much less does he despise any of his human creatures. He
has seen fit to gift them variously, to make some of gold, some of silver, and some of
brass, some to honour, and some to comparative dishonour; but for all he has a use.
o intellect is too homely, no nature too rude and unrefined to find a place
somewhere in his Church where it can do him service, and even perhaps do it better
than a more refined and more highly gifted nature. Difference, gradation, variety, is
the law of his universe. "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the
moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in
glory" (1 Corinthians 15:41). In the angelic hierarchy there are angels and
archangels, principalities, and powers; in the Church triumphant there are
grades—princes who sit on thrones, judges of tribes, rulers over ten cities, rulers
over five cities, and a "great multitude" who have no authority, but are simply
"saints." And so it is, and must ever be, in the Church militant. "There are
diversities of gifts," higher and lower natures, minds of extraordinary power, and
dull, homely intellects. Bat all have their use; for all there is room; and God values
each. God will have none despised. The brazen vessels of the outer court—ash-pans
and basins, and flesh-hooks, and fire-pans, and tent-pins—were as much needed for
the tabernacle and its service, as the silver sockets and rods, or the golden taches,
and rings, and snuff-dishes. Bronze is more suitable for many purposes than gold;
and ordinary human nature can do God's work better in many positions than great
gifts or extraordinary intellect.
Oil for the Lampstand
20 “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil
of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps
may be kept burning.

58. BAR ES, "Pure oil olive beaten - The oil was to be of the best kind. It is called
beaten, because it was obtained by merely bruising the olives in a mortar or mill, without
the application of heat. The finest oil is now thus obtained from young fruit freshly
gathered. The inferior kind is pressed from unselected fruit under stronger pressure, and
with the application of heat.
The lamp - i. e. the lamps of the golden candlestick. (See Exo_25:37.)
To burn - See the margin “to ascend up.” It should be observed that the word does
not properly mean to burn in the sense of to consume, but is the word regularly used to
express the action of fire upon what was offered to Yahweh (see Lev_1:9).
Always - i. e. every night “from evening until morning.” Compare Exo_30:8.
CLARKE, "Pure oil olive beaten - That is, such oil as could easily be expressed
from the olives after they had been bruised in a mortar; the mother drop, as it is called,
which drops out of itself as soon as the olives are a little broken, and which is much
purer than that which is obtained after the olives are put under the press.
Columella, who is a legitimate evidence in all such matters, says that the oil which
flowed out of the fruit either spontaneously, or with little application of the force of the
press, was of a much finer flavour than that which was obtained otherwise. Quoniam
longe melioris saporis est, quod minore vi preli, quasi luxurians, defluxerit - Colum.,
lib. xii., c. 50.
To cause the lamp to burn always - They were to be kept burning through the
whole of the night, and some think all the day besides; but there is a difference of
sentiment upon this subject. See the note on Exo_27:21.
This oil and continual flame were not only emblematical of the unction and influences
of the Holy Ghost, but also of that pure spirit of devotion which ever animates the hearts
and minds of the genuine worshippers of the true God. The temple of Vesta, where a fire
was kept perpetually burning, seems to have been formed on the model of the
tabernacle; and from this the followers of Zeratusht, commonly called Zoroaster, appear
to have derived their doctrine of the perpetual fire, which they still worship as an
emblem of the Deity.
GILL, "And thou shall command the children of Israel,.... Here begins a new
section of the law; an account being given of the tabernacle, and its parts, and the
furniture thereof, next the several parts of service done in it are observed; and the
account begins with that of the candlestick in the holy place, in order to which Moses is
directed to command the people of Israel, whose business it was to provide for it:
that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light; for the light of the
candlestick, to light up the several lamps in the several branches of it; and the oil to be
brought and used there was not any sort of oil, as what is got out of fishes, as train oil, or
out of nuts, as oil of almonds, but what comes from the olive tree; and this must be pure
and free from lees and dregs, and must be beaten with a pestle in a mortar, and not
ground in a mill, that so it might be quite clear; for being bruised and beaten, only the
pulp or flesh of the olive was broken, but being ground in a mill, the stones were broken

59. and ground, and so the oil not so pure.Jarchi and Ben Melech, from their Rabbins,
observe, that after the first drop was pressed out, they put them into mills and grind
them; but then, though the oil was fit for offerings, it was not fit for the light of the
candlestick. Ben Gersom says, they put the olives bruised into a basket, and the oil
dropped from them without pressing at all; and this was the choicest and most excellent
for the light. The quantity to be brought is not fixed; but the measure fixed by the wise
men of Israel, as Jarchi says, was half a log, that is, for every lamp; and this was the
measure for the longest nights, the nights of the month Tebet, and so the same for all
other nights:
to cause the lamp to burn always night and day, continually, as it was proper it
should, that the house of God might not be at any time in darkness; as it would
otherwise be, since there were no windows in it; and his servants minister in it in the
dark, even in the daytime, at the altar of incense, and at the shewbread table, which is
not reasonable to suppose; and though there are some passages of Scripture which seem
to intimate as though the lamps only burnt till the morning, and then went out, and were
lighted every evening; this difficulty may be solved, and the matter reconciled by what
Josephus (l) relates, who must be an eyewitness of it, that three of the lamps burned
before the Lord in the daytime, and the rest were lighted at the evening; and Hecataeus
(m), an Heathen writer, speaking of the golden candlestick, says, its light was
unextinguished day and night, particularly the lamp which was in the middle; also the
candlestick is by the ancient Jews, and by Nachmanides, said to have been never extinct.
HE RY 20-21, "We read of the candlestick in the twenty-fifth chapter; here is an
order given for the keeping of the lamps constantly burning in it, else it was useless; in
every candlestick there should be a burning and shining light; candlesticks without
candles are as wells without water or as clouds without rain. Now, 1. The people were to
provide the oil; from them the Lord's ministers must have their maintenance. Or, rather,
the pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which are communicated to all
believers from Christ the good olive, of whose fulness we receive (Zec_4:11, Zec_4:12),
and without which our light cannot shine before men. 2. The priests were to light the
lamps, and to tend them; it was part of their daily service to cause the lamp to burn
always, night and day; thus it is the work of ministers, by the preaching and expounding
of the scriptures (which are as a lamp), to enlighten the church, God's tabernacle upon
the earth, and to direct the spiritual priests in his service. This is to be a statute for ever,
that the lamps of the word be lighted as duly as the incense of prayer and praise is
offered.
JAMISO 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.
K&D, "The instructions concerning the Oil For the Candlestick, and the daily
trimming of the lamps by the priests, form a transition from the fitting up of the
sanctuary to the installation of its servants.
Exo_27:20

60. The sons of Israel were to bring to Moses (lit., fetch to thee) olive oil, pure (i.e.,
prepared from olives “which had been cleansed from leaves, twigs, dust, etc., before they
were crushed”), beaten, i.e., obtained not by crushing in oil-presses, but by beating,
when the oil which flows out by itself is of the finest quality and a white colour. This oil
was to be “for the candlestick to set up a continual light.”
CALVI , "Exodus 27:20And thou shalt command the children of Israel. I have
transferred these two passages from elsewhere, since they relate to the service of the
tabernacle; for the children of Israel are commanded to contribute as much oil as
may be sufficient for the seven lamps. ow, since Divine illumination and the grace
of the Holy Spirit were, as we have seen, the truth of this symbol, God requires pure
oil, i.e., not muddy, or mixed with lees, for, had it been in any respect faulty, so
much would have been detracted from the dignity of the mystery. Its purity, then,
shewed that nothing mean or common was signified by it; that the Israelites also
might bring with them pure minds, and duly prepared and disposed to consider the
spiritual light. He again repeats, that the oil must be supplied seasonably at its
proper hours, so that the lamps may be always burning; that thus the children of
Israel might learn that nothing is more opposed to the worship of God than
obscurity and darkness; and that it is not to be interrupted at intervals, (137) but
that the direction of the Spirit should shine from heaven in a perpetual flow. Thus,
in the second passage cited, He thrice reiterates the word “continually,” to shew that
the true light should never be put out in any respect. This office God enjoins upon
the priests, because they ought to be ministers of light when they are interpreting
the Law, which David calls “the lamp of our feet, and the light of our paths.”
(Psalms 119:105.) But what is the meaning of the offering (of the oil) by the people,
since men are possessed of no power for the spiritual enlightening of their own
minds? I reply that, in the types of the Law, the several parts are not to be so
scrupulously forced to the rule, as if there were nothing in the outward sign with
which the reality did not correspond; and again, that although men having nothing
of their own and of themselves to bring, yet, that they may more diligently exert
themselves in their endeavors to serve God, they are justly required to dedicate
themselves and all that they have to God. At the end, where the words “a statute for
ever” are added, understand them to mean, until the real manifestation of those
things, of which the candlestick and its lamps were a type. This point I have
discussed in Genesis (138) It is called “a statute from the (139) children of Israel,” (a
filiis Israel,) since God requires its observance from them; unless it be preferred to
translate it with Jerome, “Before (coram) the children of Israel.” The exposition of
others, “among (apud) the children of Israel,” or from the fathers to the children, is
harsher, and altogether forced.
BE SO , "Exodus 27:20. Pure oil-olive beaten — ot squeezed out by a press or
mill, such being full of sediment; but which run freely from the olives when bruised
or beaten with a pestle. To cause the lamp to burn always — Josephus, who was
himself a priest, says, they burned the lamps day and night, three of them being kept
burning all day, and the rest being lighted in the evening. And indeed to keep them
burning by day as well as night, was no more than what was necessary, for
otherwise the priest must have ministered in the dark at the altar of incense; there

61. being no windows in the holy place. ow the pure oil signifies the gifts and graces of
the Spirit, which are communicated to all believers from Christ the good olive, “of
whose fulness we receive,” Zechariah 4:11-12. The priests were to light the lamps,
and to tend them; to cause the lamp to burn always, night and day. Thus it is the
work of ministers to preach and expound the Scriptures, which are as a lamp to
enlighten, the church. This is to be a statute for ever, that the lamps of the word be
lighted as duly as the incense of prayer and praise is offered.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 20
THE OIL FOR THE LAMP.
(20) Thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring thee pure olive oil.—
This instruction had been already given (Exodus 25:2; Exodus 25:6), only not with
such particularity. “Oil” had been required, but not “pure olive oil beaten.” By this
is meant the best possible olive oil—that which was obtained by “beating,” or
pounding in a mortar; which was free from various impurities that belonged to the
oil crushed out, after the ordinary fashion, in a mill.
To cause the lamp to burn always—i.e., every night without intermission. Josephus
says that three lights were kept burning both night and day (Ant. Jud., iii. 7, § 7);
but there is nothing in Scripture to confirm this. The tabernacle would have
received sufficient light during the daytime through the entrance curtain, which was
of linen (Exodus 26:36), not to mention that the curtain may, when necessary, have
been looped up. The lighting of the lamps every evening is distinctly asserted in
Exodus 30:8; their extinction in the morning appears from 1 Samuel 3:3.
COFFMA , "Verse 20-21
THE LIGHT FOR THE CA DLESTICK
"And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure
olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually in the tent of
meeting, without the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall
keep it in order from evening to morning before Jehovah: it shall be a statute
forever throughout their generations on behalf of the children of Israel."
That the light mentioned here is that to be provided by the golden candlestick
appears in the definite article "the light," the same being the only light mentioned
thus far in the narrative, and the further fact of its location within the sanctuary
before the veil that screened off the Holy of Holies (Exodus 27:21).
The requirement for "beaten oil" distinguished it from olive oil made by crushing
olives in a stone press. The finer oil was made by gently pressing the olives in a
mortar.[10]
The ordering of the light "from evening to morning" was thought by Keil to,
"consist, according to Exodus 30:7-8 and Leviticus 24:3-4, in placing the lamps
upon the candlestick in the evening and lighting them, that they might give light

62. through the night, and then cleaning them in the morning and filling them with
fresh oil."[11] Some believe that the Golden Candlestick was kept continually
lighted both day and night. "But if we regard the lamp as extinguished during the
day, we would then be required to understand `continually' here as `regularly, every
night."[12] We prefer the view that it was kept burning continually day and night.
In support of this, it does not appear from the descriptions given us that there was
any other light whatever available in the sanctuary.
Exodus 27:20-21 have appeared to be misplaced in the views of some scholars,
Rylaarsdam, for example, saying, "This regulation (Exodus 27:20-21) was probably
inserted here by an editor to serve as an introduction to the section on the priests
(Exodus 28-29)."[13] Such a view is possible only in those who reject God's
authorship of the whole Pentateuch through Moses. There is a far greater mystery
to us in that "phantom editor" so frequently summoned to the aid of critics, than
there is in the mystery of these verses appearing just here. To us, there is no
problem whatever.
As this court of the tabernacle was completed and the articles of furniture assigned
to their several places, one of the first things to become apparent was the absolute
need of illumination, without which, much of the elaborate construction would have
remained in perpetual darkness. Therefore, these verses which relate the provision
of the light are most logically placed. Whether we are right or wrong on this is
actually immaterial. As Rawlinson so truthfully phrased it:
"It is frequently difficult, sometimes impossible, for the keenest human intellect to
trace the connecting links between one portion of God's Word and the next. In such
cases, it is best not to speculate on the nature of the connection, but to content
ourselves in laying to heart the lesson which each portion teaches separately."[14]
The first thing God did in creation was to command, "Let there be light"; and it can
hardly be an accident that the first thing God did here upon nearing the completion
of the tabernacle was to issue the commandments of Exodus 27:20-21, which for that
tabernacle had identically the same function, "Let there be light!"
COKE, "Verse 20-21
Exodus 27:20-21. Pure oil-olive beaten, for the light, &c.— Pure oil of olive beaten
(i.e. obtained by pounding or expression,) is here commanded to be brought for the
use of the golden candlestick, as being most excellent, and freest from sediment. We
have before observed how necessary it was that there should be a continual light in
the tabernacle; and Josephus (Antiq. b. 3: ch. 8.) informs us that this was the case;
though it must be confessed, that Exodus 27:21 and other passages of Scripture,
would rather lead one to believe, that the lamps were only lighted in the evening,
and went out in the morning: see Leviticus 24:3. 1 Samuel 3:3. 2 Chronicles 13:11
with which the expression, to cause the lamp to burn always, may well comport; for
always, in the Scripture, very frequently signifies constantly, continually, regularly;
and the meaning here may only be "oil for the constant supply of the lamp when it
burns." Calmet observes, that the priests entered into the holy place every morning

63. to offer the incense, and to put out the lamps; and every evening they went in to
light them again: every morning they offered a lamb for a burnt-sacrifice upon the
brazen altar, and every evening they offered another upon the same altar. The
Egyptians used lamps in their religious worship: they had a feast, as Herodotus tells
us, (l. ii. c. 62.) called the feast of lighted lamps. ote; Provision is here made for the
continual supply of the lamps in the golden candlestick, and Aaron and his sons
must attend them. The oil signifies the graces of God's spirit, which shine forth in
the conversation of his people; and Aaron's care should remind every faithful
minister, how diligent he should be in his labours towards the flock, of which the
Holy Ghost hath made him overseer.
Further reflections on the altar of burnt-offering as typical of the Messiah.
That Jesus Christ is the Antitype of this altar, the apostle to the Hebrews permits us
not to doubt; for, speaking of him, he says, "We have an altar, whereof they have no
right to eat who serve the tabernacle," Hebrews 13:10. He says not altars, as if they
were many, but an altar, speaking of one; and this altar is Christ. As the
intercession of Jesus Christ was typified by the golden altar of incense, so the altar
of burnt-offering represented both his satisfaction in general, and his Godhead in
particular. Let us begin with the first.
It represented the Person of our Redeemer, as the propitiation for our sins. It was a
brazen altar. Did it not signify the same glorious Person whom Ezekiel saw like a
man of brass, with a line of flax in his hand to measure the temple; and whose feet
are described, in the visions of John, like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace?
Brass is a cheap and common metal. When by himself he purged our sins, he shone
not with golden lustre; for his visage was marred more than any man's, and his
form than the sons of men. Brass is a strong metal, and fit to endure the fire. Our
strength was not the strength of stones, our flesh was not of brass, to dwell with
devouring fire, to abide with everlasting burnings: but Christ was the mighty One,
who felt the power of God's anger, and was not devoured by the fiery indignation.—
It was a horned altar. This may signify the strength of his atonement, both to satisfy
the justice of God, and pacify the consciences of men. It was a four-square altar: an
emblem of his perpetual stability, who is the same to-day, yesterday, and for ever. It
was a public altar. For the death of Christ was to be a transaction of the most public
kind. It was a burning altar, on which the fire never went out. The Holy Ghost is
that eternal spirit of judgment and of burning, through whom Christ offered up
himself unto God, and who dwells for ever in the Son. With this holy fire the great
High-Priest inflamed his legal sacrifice of atonement; and with this holy fire the
royal priesthood ought to kindle their moral sacrifice of praise, which they offer by
him continually.—It was the only altar of burnt-offering, and, according to the law
of Moses, admitted not any rival. So Jesus Christ is the one Mediator between God
and man. To multiply mediators is no less condemned by the ew Testament, than
to multiply altars by the Old.—It was an altar most holy, which sanctified all gifts.
Whether we present unto God the meat-offering of alms, the drink-offering of tears,
the peace-offering of thanksgiving, the heave-offering of prayer, or the whole burnt-
offering of body and soul, by Christ alone they are sanctified and accepted, as the

64. altar sanctified the gift.—It was an altar which protected criminals who fled to it;
though, for some crimes, they were to be dragged from it to suffer condign
punishment. In Jesus Christ the guilty sinner finds a refuge from legal
condemnation; nor can they fail of making peace with him, who by faith take hold
of his strength, be their crimes ever so atrocious.—It was an altar which nourished
the Levitical priests who served at it, and were partakers with it. Even so the happy
persons who are made priests unto God, and partakers of Christ, receive from him,
not a natural, but a spiritual and eternal life: "For he that eateth me," himself
declares, "even he shall live by me." John 6:57.
But in a particular manner his Deity seems fit to be called the altar on which he
offered his humanity: for he was his own Altar no less than ours. It was not the
wooden cross on which he died, that served him for an altar. Far less can the
material table on which the holy memorials are exhibited, in the sacrament of the
supper, deserve any such glorious epithet. Hear what himself says about the altar
and the gift. "Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that
sanctifieth the gift?" Matthew 23:19. Will any dare to say, that the wooden cross
was greater than the soul and body of the Redeemer who expired on it? or that the
table of the supper is greater than the consecrated symbols of his body and blood? If
it be impossible to find any thing greater than the humanity of our Lord and
Saviour except his own divinity, his own divinity, and nothing else, must be the
altar. Did the altar support the gift or victim while it was burning upon it? It was
the Godhead of Christ which supported the manhood from sinking under those
direful sufferings that he patiently endured. Did the altar sanctify the gifts that
touched it? It was the Deity of Christ which sanctified the gift of his humanity, and
imparted a dignity and value to the sacrifice of his body and soul. The sins of many
are fully expiated by the sufferings of one, because he is God, and there is none else;
besides him there is no saviour.
Blessed be God for such a High-Priest; such a Temple; such a Sacrifice; such an
Altar of burnt-offering. We have an altar, not only in the midst of Canaan, but in
the midst of the land of Egypt, to which the sons of the strangers may bring their
sacrifices. We have an altar which God will never cast off; a sanctuary which he will
never abhor. The great atoning sacrifice is already offered up: what remains for us,
but to offer unto a gracious God the calves, not of the stall, but of the lips, and the
sacrifice of praise continually.
CO STABLE, "Verse 20-21
The oil27:20-21
These instructions concern the clear olive oil that the priests were to prepare for and
use in the tabernacle lamps. They form a transition from an emphasis on the
tabernacle furnishings to the priests" ministry that follows.
The priests had to trim and refill the lamps on the lampstand in the holy place every
evening. There was light in the holy place all night (cf. Leviticus 24:3; 1 Samuel 3:3).

65. "Oil . . . is clearly a symbol of the Holy Spirit in Scripture." [ ote: Davis, p264. See
John F. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit, pp21-22; and Ryrie, p27.]
"It was a favourite saying of [Robert Murray] M"Cheyne when discussing the
method of pulpit preparation, that only beaten oil might be used in the sanctuary,
intimating that careful preparation was required for all material presented for the
consideration of our hearers. It is not a light thing to speak to men for God, and
none of us should essay the holy task apart from very careful preparation; but when
we have done our utmost in this, we must depend on the kindling of the Divine fire.
Ours is the beaten oil at the best, but what is that, unless the High Priest Himself
shall cause the lamp to burn?" [ ote: Meyer, pp323-24.]
The Spirit would, on the one hand, be a perpetual source of light for them. On the
other hand, He would also empower God"s people to be a perpetual light to the
nations (cf. Isaiah 42:6).
Verses 20-43
6. The investiture of the priests27:20-28:43
Here begins the revelation of those things that related to the Israelites" relationship
with God ( Exodus 27:20 to Exodus 30:38). The preceding section ( Exodus 25:10 to
Exodus 27:19) emphasized the revelation of the things that revealed God"s
character. The priesthood is the primary revelation in this new section.
"The approach to the Holy One, both within the biblical tradition and outside it,
has always included some kind of mediatorial ministry, for it is inherent in any kind
of "high religion" that an otherwise unbridgeable chasm exist between ineffable
deity and finite mankind.
"In earliest times, of course, Yahweh met directly with His creation, which in turn
communicated with Him in word and act. With the passing of time and the rise of
patriarchal familial and clan structures, the father of the household functioned also
as its priest, the minister who stood between the family and its God. Finally-and
even before the covenant at Sinai-there had developed some kind of order of priests,
as Exodus 19:22 expressly declares." [ ote: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," pp49-50.]
The responsibilities of the priests in Israel fell into four primary categories.
1. They were responsible to maintain the holy place of the tabernacle. This
included burning incense each morning and evening, trimming and refilling the
lamps each evening, and replacing the showbread each Sabbath.
2. They also maintained the tabernacle courtyard. This involved offering
sacrifices each morning and evening and blessing the congregation after the daily
sacrifice. It also meant keeping the fire on the brazen altar burning always, and
periodically removing its ashes.

66. 3. They were responsible to inspect and appraise people and sacrifices. These
included lepers, wives accused of adultery, and things dedicated to the sanctuary.
4. Finally, they were to teach and counsel the people. They were to
communicate the Mosaic Law to the congregation and decide difficult cases of law
(cf. Leviticus 11-27).
PETT, "Verse 20-21
The Burning of the Light of Israel Before Yahweh (Exodus 27:20-21).
The account of the making of the Dwellingplace finishes with a description of how
the common people can have their part in the worship of the inner Sanctuary.
Regularly they are to provide the oil for the feeding of the lamp which burns
continually in the Holy Place. This compares with their free and liberal giving in the
beginning (Exodus 25:1-9).
We can analyse this as follows:
a The children of Israel were to be commanded to bring to Moses pure olive
oil, beaten, for the lamp, so as to cause a light to burn continually (Exodus 20:20).
o In the tent of meeting, outside the veil, but in front of the Testimony (hidden
behind the veil) Aaron and his sons were to order the maintenance of the lamp from
evening to morning before Yahweh (Exodus 20:21 a).
o This was to be a continual statute through their generations for ever on
behalf of the children of Israel (Exodus 20:21 b).
o In ‘a’ ‘the children of Israel’ were to bring the oil for the lamp so that it
would burn continually, and in the parallel ‘the children of Israel’ were to fulfil this
ministry as a continual statute. Inside the Holy Place it would be Aaron and his sons
who on behalf of the whole people maintained the light of the lamp. This central
stress on Aaron and his sons now lead on to the next chapter.
Exodus 27:20-21
“And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure olive oil
beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. In the Tent of Meeting
outside the veil which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons will order it from
evening to morning before Yahweh. It shall be a statute for ever throughout their
generations from the children of Israel.”
The type of olive oil described, beaten but not crushed, gave a clear, pure light. This
was to be provided by the people and prepared with great care which confirms that
this light shone on their behalf. They would feel that they had a real part in what
went on in the Sanctuary. This was probably the light on one branch (or more) of
the lampstand. Whether ‘continually’ meant that it never went out, or that it shone
continually through the night only is open to question. The fact that it was ‘ordered’
from evening to morning seems to suggest the latter (compare Exodus 30:8; 1
Samuel 3:3). It would seem to be intended to be seen as a reminder to Yahweh of His
people as dependent on Him for light and life.

67. ote that here the Dwellingplace is called the Tent of Meeting which was the name
of the ancient tent that it had replaced. The meeting was at the tent rather than in it.
The reference to Aaron and his sons presupposes what is to follow, and in its central
position in the analysis prepares for the following two chapters.
“It shall be a statute for ever throughout their generations from the children of
Israel.” This statement is used when great stress is laid on something. Clearly this
act of providing the oil was seen as very important. It was a direct link between the
people and Yahweh. It explains why this command was placed at the end of the
instructions for the Dwellingplace in order to emphasise it. The whole description of
the Tabernacle and its main contents closes with the order for all Israel to
continually burn a light there before Yahweh, and this final solemn injunction.
otes for Christians.
In the brazen altar we have a type of Christ Who provided in Himself both altar
and sacrifice for us (Hebrews 13:10). Always if we would approach God it must be
through Christ, and while we come without fear we must come reverently. For He is
of heaven and we are of the earth. Indeed the only reason that we can even dare
approach Him is because Christ is our altar and our sacrifice. It is foursquare
because He was perfect and full balanced. It is made of acacia wood, symbolic of His
true and perfect manhood, and of brazen copper (which to them was a precious
metal) symbolic of His heavenly nature which was yet hidden while He was among
us (Mark 9:1-11), but will be revealed as pure gold. But we cannot experience the
gold until we enter the Sanctuary, for it is through our knowledge of Him that the
gold become apparent.
The court is a reminder that we are welcome to approach Him and to fellowship
with Him. It too contains the purple which reminds us that we are a royal
priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), the red which reminds us that we are constantly cleansed
by the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7), the pure linen cloth which is indicative of the
righteousnesses of His people (Revelation 19:8). And the intricate details also are a
reminder of God’s perfect work which indicate that all has been wrought that it
might be for us a perfect place to meet with Him. The very detail of the description
is a reminder of the care with which He has provided for us to come to Him. And
while the screen may seem to prevent access to the Sanctuary it is only in order to
remind us of the care with which we should approach. It is not now there in order to
prevent access but in order to remind us that holy things must not be treated lightly.
And finally we are reminded that it is our responsibility to feed the lampstand so
that its light continues to shine out brightly. In our daily worship of Him and our
praising of Him before the world the light burns more brightly, but never more so
than when our lives reveal the fruit of he Spirit. This is an important part of the
ministry of God’s people, for the shining of that light to the world is our privilege
and responsibility and it is only as we feed on God and His word that we will be able
to enable it to do so.

68. PULPIT, "Verse 20-21
EXPOSITIO
THE OIL FOR THE LAMP. It has been observed that this paragraph is somewhat
out of place. It would more appro priately, according to human ideas, have
terminated Exodus 25:1-40. But "God's ways are not as man's ways, nor his
thoughts as man's thoughts." It is frequently difficult—some-times impossible—for
the keenest human intellect to trace the connecting links between one portion of
God's word and the next. In such cases it is best not to speculate on the nature of the
connection, but to content ourselves with laying to heart the lesson which each
portion teaches separately.
Exodus 27:20
Thou shalt command. Compare Exodus 25:6, where the general command had been
given. Here certain additions are made as to the quality of the oil which was to be
brought. The oil was to be pure olive oil beaten that is to say, it was to be olive oil
purified from any admixture of that watery juice which the Romans called amurca;
and it was to be of the kind which is obtained by mere beating or pounding in a
mortar, and not by crushing in a mill. Oil of this kind, which is usually made from
the unripe fruit, is reckoned much the best; it is clear and colourless, and gives a
bright pure light with little smoke. To cause the lamp to burn always. It has been
supposed from this expression that the lamp must have been kept constantly
burning both day and night; and Josephus declares that this was actually so, at least
with three out of the seven lights (Ant. Jud. 3.7, 7). But there are several places m
Scripture which state, or imply, the contrary. (See especially Exodus 30:8; and 1
Samuel 3:3.) It seems to have been the duty of the high-priest to light the lamps
every evening, and to give them a sufficient supply of oil to last till daybreak, at
which time "the lamp of God went out" (1 Samuel l.s.c.) The supposition that "one
light at least was always burning" (Kalisch), because no daylight could penetrate
into the structure through the fourfold covering, ignores the fact that light would
enter through the single curtain at the entrance, as well as the probability that some
portion of that curtain may generally have been looped up. If we regard the lamp as
extinguished during the daytime, we must understand "always" here to mean
"regularly every night."
BI 20-21, "Pure oil olive beaten for the light.
Symbolic references
I. The purity of the light (Psa_26:9).
II. The perfection of the light.
III. The perpetuity of the light. Christ can never be superseded. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

69. Oil for the light
1. The source whence the oil was obtained—the “olive.” Thus is grace, free and full,
obtained from Christ, the “Plant of renown.”
2. The qualification it was to possess—it was to be “pure.” All the grace which comes
from Christ is pure and unalloyed.
3. The instruments of its dispensation—“the children of Israel.” The children of God
are now the recipients and dispensers of Christ’s grace.
4. The uses to which it was put—it caused “the lamp to burn always.” Grace causes
the life of each Christian to shine with a brighter glow. (S. Thomas.)
Lamps burning always
It is difficult to understand from the various passages bearing on the subject, whether
the lamps burned both day and night, or only during the night—some passages
apparently favouring the one view, and some the other; thus, “To cause the lamp to burn
always” (Exo_27:20); and, “Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee
pure olive oil, beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually” (Lev_24:2).
These passages seem to teach that the lamps burned both day and night. If they do not
teach that, the meaning must be that “continual” and “always “ signify at regular
intervals, as in the case of some ordinances and offerings which are called perpetual,
though occurring only at intervals. The other view, that they burned only during the
night, seems to be supported by, “Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to
morning” (Exo_27:21); “And Aaron shall burn thereon (the golden altar) sweet incense
every morning, when he dresseth the lamps” (Exo_30:7-8). From these texts it would
appear that the lamps burned only during the night. If they were not intended to teach
that, the meaning must be that the lamps were dressed in the morning, probably one
after another, not necessitating more than one being extinguished at a time, and after
being dressed and lighted, burned during the day, the lamps receiving such further
attention in the evening as admitted of their burning till the morning. As there were no
windows in the Tabernacle, and the priests had duties to perform during the day in the
holy place, it is almost certain that the lamps burned always. (W. Brown.)
Light symbolism
As the first apartment in the Tabernacle was illuminated by the sevenfold light of the
candlestick, and as the Church, composed of all genuine believers on earth in every age,
is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, so will the Church triumphant in heaven, that great
temple not made with hands, be a place of glorious light; and the light shall never go out,
it will burn always; so that there shall be no night there, nor sun, nor moon, nor stars
shall shine in that happy place, for the glory of God and the Lamb is the light thereof.
(W. Brown.)
Burning with pure oil
It is related in the biography of one who lived to become a devoted Christian man, that
while he was yet a little boy, the passage read from the Bible in the family on a certain

70. occasion was Exo_27:20, describing the oil used in the vessels of the Tabernacle. The
meaning and application of the verse was explained by other passages from the New
Testament. This boy was then but five years old, and it was not supposed that he could
understand or feel the slightest interest in a subject considered far beyond his age. The
older children left the room after family worship, but the little boy was detained, as
usual, to be taught some simple verses of the Bible by his mother, and to pray with her.
He kneeled down at length to pray, and in the midst of his prayer he paused, and
exclaimed, earnestly, “O my God, make me to burn this day with pure oil!” The morning
lesson had not been lost upon him; he had understood its import. “Most evidently,” says
his biographer, “was this prayer heard and answered throughout the day of his life.”
How appropriate is this petition for the morning offering of every Christian, “Make me
to burn this day with pure oil”! If He who hath all hearts in His keeping vouchsafe a
gracious answer to that prayer, the example of the disciple must be one that will glorify
the name of Jesus. Such a man will walk with God. No unhallowed fires will be lighted in
his bosom. Neither revenge nor hate can burn there. The peace and joy of the believer
will fill his soul..
21 In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that
shields the ark of the covenant law, Aaron and his
sons are to keep the lamps burning before the
Lord from evening till morning. This is to be a
lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the
generations to come.
BAR ES, "The tabernacle of the congregation - More literally, the tent of
meeting. This is the first occurrence of this designation of the tabernacle, and the idea
connected with it is that of Yahweh meeting with either Moses, or the priests, or (in a
few cases) with the people gathered into a congregation at the entrance of the tent.
Without the rail, which is before the testimony - i. e. the holy place (see Exo_
25:16).
CLARKE, "The tabernacle of the congregation - The place where all the
assembly of the people were to worship, where the God of that assembly was pleased to
reside, and to which, as the habitation of their king and protector, they were ever to turn
their faces in all their adorations.
Before the testimony - That is, the ark where the tables of the covenant were

71. deposited. See Exo_25:16.
Aaron and his sons - These and their descendants being the only legitimate priests,
God having established the priesthood in this family.
Shall order it from evening to morning - Josephus says the whole of the seven
lamps burned all the night; in the morning four were extinguished, and three kept
burning through the whole day. Others assert that the whole seven were kept lighted
both day and night continually; but it appears sufficiently evident, from 1Sa_3:3, that
these lamps were extinguished in the morning: And ere the lamp of God went out in the
temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, etc.
See also Exo_30:8 : And when Aaron Lighteth The Lamps At Even. It appears therefore
that the business of the priests was to light the lamps in the evening; and either to
extinguish them in the morning, or permit them to burn out, having put in the night
before as much oil as was necessary to last till daylight.
A statute for ever - This ordering of the lamps night and morning, and attendance
on the service of the tabernacle, was a statute that was to be in full force while the
tabernacle and temple stood, and should have its spiritual accomplishment in the
Christian Church to the end of time. Reader, the tabernacle and temple are both
destroyed; the Church of Christ is established in their place. The seven golden
candlesticks were typical of this Church and the glorious light it possesses, Rev_1:12-20;
and Jesus Christ, the Fountain and Dispenser of this true light, walks in the midst of
them. Reader, hast thou that celestial flame to enlighten and animate thy heart in all
those acts of devotion which thou professest to pay to him as thy Maker, Redeemer, and
Preserver? What is thy profession, and what thy religious acts and services, without this?
A sounding brass, a tinkling cymbal.
Tertullian asserts that all the ancient heathens borrowed their best notions from the
sacred writings: “Which,” says he, “of your poets, which of your sophists, have not drunk
from the fountain of the prophets? It is from those sacred springs that your philosophers
have refreshed their thirsty spirits; and if they found any thing in the Holy Scriptures
which hit their fancy, or which served their hypothesis, they took and turned it to a
compliance with their own curiosity, not considering those writings to be sacred and
unalterable, nor understanding their true sense, every one altering them according to his
own fancy.” - Apologet.
The reader’s attention has already been called to this point several times in the
preceding parts of this work, and the subject will frequently recur. At the conclusion of
Exo_25:31 (See Clarke’s note at Exo_25:31) we had occasion to observe that the
heathens had imitated many things in that Divine worship prescribed by Moses; but in
application to their own corrupt system every thing was in a certain measure falsified
and distorted, yet not so far as to prevent the grand outlines of primitive truth from
being discerned. One of the most complete imitations of the tabernacle and its whole
service is found in the very ancient temple of Hercules, founded probably by the
Phoenicians, at Gades, now Cadiz, in Spain, so minutely described by Silius Italicus from
actual observation. He observes that though the temple was at that time very ancient, yet
the beams were the same that had been placed there by the founders, and that they were
generally supposed to be incorruptible; a quality ascribed to the shittim wood, termed
ξυλον ασηπτον, incorruptible wood, by the Septuagint. That women were not permitted
to enter this temple, and that no swine were ever suffered to come near it. That the
priests did not wear party-coloured vestments, but were always clothed in fine linen, and
their bonnets made of the same. That they offered incense to their god, their clothes
being ungirded; for the same reason doubtless given Exo_20:26, that in going up to the

72. altar nothing unseemly might appear, and therefore they permitted their long robes to
fall down to their feet. He adds, that by the laws of their forefathers they bore on their
sacerdotal vestments the latus clavus, which was a round knob or stud of purple with
which the robes of the Roman knights and senators were adorned, which these priests
seem to have copied from the breastplate of judgment made of cunning work,
embroidered with purple, blue, etc. See Exo_28:15. They also ministered barefooted,
their hair was trimmed or cut off, and they observed the strictest continency, and kept a
perpetual fire burning on their altars. And he farther adds that there was no image or
similitude of the gods to be seen in that sacred place. This is the substance of his
description; but as some of my readers may wish to see the original, I shall here subjoin
it.
Vulgatum (nec cassa fides) ab origine fani
Impositas durare trabes, solasque per aevum
Condentum novisse manus: hic credere gaudent
Consedisse Deum, seniumque repellere templis.
Tum, queis fas et honos adyti penetralia nosse,
Foemineos prohibent gressus, ac limine curant
Setigeros arcere sues: nec discolor ulli
Ante aras cultus: velantur corpora lino,
Et Pelusiaco praefulget stamine vertex.
Discinctis mos thura dare, atque, e lege parenturn
Sacrificam Lato vestem distinguere Clavo.
Pes nudus, tousaeque comae, castumque cubile,
Irrestincta focis servant altaria flammae.
Sed nulla effigies, simulacrave nota
Deorum Majestate locum, et sacro implevere timore.
Punicor., lib. iii., ver. 17-31.
This is such a remarkable case that I think myself justified in quoting it at length, as an
extraordinary monument, though corrupted, of the tabernacle and its service. It is
probable that the original founders had consecrated this temple to the true God, under
the name of ‫אל‬ EL, the strong God, or ‫גבור‬ ‫אל‬ El Gibbor, the strong, prevailing, and
victorious God, Isa_9:6, out of whom the Greeks and Romans made their Hercules, or
god of strength; and, to make it agree with this appropriation, the labors of Hercules
were sculptured on the doors of this temple at Gades. In foribus labor Alcidae Lernaea
recisis Anguibus Hydra jacet, etc.
GILL, "In the tabernacle of the congregation,.... The reasons usually given for
this name of the tabernacle are, either because the children of Israel gathered and met
together here at certain times, or because here the Lord met with Moses, and his
successors, as he had promised, Exo_25:22, but neither of them will hold good; not the
first, because the place where the candlestick was, and which Aaron and his sons are
here said to order, was in the holy place, into which only the priests entered, and
therefore could not be called the tabernacle of the congregation, from the people of
Israel being gathered and assembling there; not the latter, because it was in the most
holy place, where the Lord promised to meet with Moses, and commune with him, even
from between the cherubim over the mercy seat there: indeed, at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation the children of Israel assembled, and there the Lord met

73. them, and so the whole might be called from thence, and there seems to be no other
reason for it, Exo_29:42 and this place was
without the vail, which is before the testimony; that is, without the vail which
divided between the holy and the most holy place, and which vail was before the ark,
where the law or the testimony was put; for the candlestick was in that part of the
tabernacle which was without the vail, or in the holy place: and here
Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the Lord;
that is, they were to take care that the lamps which went out might be lighted; and that
they be kept clear and burning, they were to trim and snuff them, for which they had
proper instruments provided for them, Exo_25:37. This points at the word of God,
which shines as a light in a dark place, and is a lamp to the feet, and a light to the path,
and to the constant application of Gospel ministers in preaching it, in order to enlighten
men in all ages unto the end of the world:
it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations, on the behalf of the
children of Israel; on whom it was incumbent to provide oil for the lamps, as long as
the tabernacle and temple service lasted; and figured out either the maintenance of
Gospel ministers by the churches, or the grace and gifts of the Spirit, with which they are
furnished by the head of the church, often signified by oil in Scripture.
JAMISO , "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.
K&D, "Exo_27:21
Aaron and his sons were to prepare this light in the tabernacle outside the curtain,
which was over the testimony (i.e., which covered or concealed it), from evening to
morning, before Jehovah. “The tabernacle of the congregation,” lit., tent of assembly:
this expression is applied to the sanctuary for the first time in the preset passage, but it
afterwards became the usual appellation, and accords both with its structure and design,
as it was a tent in style, and was set apart as the place where Jehovah would meet with
the Israelites and commune with them (Exo_25:22). The ordering of the light from
evening to morning consisted, according to Exo_30:7-8, and Lev_24:3-4, in placing the
lamps upon the candlestick in the evening and lighting them, that they might give light
through the night, and then cleaning them in the morning and filling them with fresh oil.
The words “a statute for ever unto their generations (see at Exo_12:14) on the part of the
children of Israel,” are to be understood as referring not merely to the gift of oil to be
made by the Israelites for all time, but to the preparation of the light, which was to be
regarded as of perpetual obligation and worth. “For ever,” in the same sense as in Gen_
17:7 and Gen_17:13.
ELLICOTT, "(21) In the tabernacle of the congregation.—Heb., in the tent of
meeting—i.e., the place where God met the earthly ruler of His people. (See Exodus

74. 25:22.)
Before the testimony—i.e., in front of the Ark which contained “the Testimony,” or
“Two Tables.” (See ote on Exodus 16:34.)
Aaron and his sons.—The priestly character of Aaron and his descendants, laid
down in the next chapter, is here anticipated.
From evening to morning.—See the second ote on Exodus 27:20.
PULPIT, "Exodus 27:21
The tabernacle of the congregation. Rather, "the tent of meeting"—the tent where
God would meet the earthly ruler of the people (Exodus 25:22), and give him
commands and directions—not the place of meeting for the people themselves, who
might in no case go beyond the entrance to the structure. The testimony—i,e; the
ark which contained the "testimony," or two tables of stone written with the finger
of God. Aaron and his sons. Compare Exodus 24:1. The intention to confer the
priesthood on the descendants of Aaron, first openly revealed in the next chapter
(Exodus 24:1 -43), is tacitly assumed from time to time in the earlier narrative. Shall
order it from evening to morning. See the comment on verse 20. It is difficult to
assign these words any distinct meaning unless we accept the view, that the lamp
burnt during the night only. It shall be a statute for ever. This expression is not at
all common. In Exodus it occurs only here and in four other places. In Leviticus it is
met with some six or seven times. The portions of the law thus characterised must be
regarded as of special importance. (See the homiletics on this verse.)