Exodus Chapter 27
1 "You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits wide. The altar shall be square. Its height shall be three cubits.
2 You shall make its horns on its four corners. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. You shall overlay it with bronze.
3 You shall make its pots to take away its ashes; and its shovels, its basins, its meat hooks, and its fire pans. You shall make all its vessels of bronze.
4 You shall make a grating for it of network of bronze. On the net you shall make four bronze rings in its four corners.
5 You shall put it under the ledge around the altar beneath, that the net may reach halfway up the altar.
6 You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze.
7 Its poles shall be put into the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it.
8 You shall make it hollow with planks. They shall make it as it has been shown you on the mountain.
9 "You shall make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side.
10 Its pillars shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
11 Likewise for the length of the north side, there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and its pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.
12 For the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
13 The width of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.
14 The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15 For the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 For the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four.
17 All the pillars of the court around shall be filleted with silver; their hooks of silver, and their sockets of bronze.
18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, of fine twined linen, and their sockets of bronze.
19 All the instruments of the tabernacle in all its service, and all its pins, and all the pins of the court, shall be of bronze.
20 "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.
21 In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
Footnotes
- Verse 1 (Cubit)
- A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man's arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimetres.
- Verse 1 (Altar dimensions)
- The altar was to be about 2.3 x 2.3 x 1.4 metres or about 7.5 x 7.5 x 4.5 feet.
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Exodus Chapter 27 Guide
Here we have the account of the court surrounding the Tabernacle and the Tent and here again the description begins from the inside. First, the brazen altar is described. It symbolized devotion on the basis of sacrifice. Once more the acacia wood spoke of the necessity for continuous devotion while the brass symbolized the strength of that devotion. As will be seen later on, the sin sacrifice was offered outside the camp. Here its ashes, mingled with offerings, formed the groundwork of acceptance.
The whole court was to be enclosed by curtains of finely twined linen. There was no intermixture of gold or blue, or scarlet, save at the gates of entrance. These exterior curtains were to be upheld by pillars set in sockets of brass and capped by crowns of silver, the whole suggestive of purity based on the strength of government and crowned by the fact of redemption.
The screen to be hung at the entrance was similar to that before the Holy Place. Thus the worshiper, standing outside each entrance, was reminded by the screen of the court, the screen of the Holy Place and the veil of the Most Holy, that there could be no approach to God save on the basis of perfection. No man might pass within the court to reach the altar of devotion save through the symbol of mediation. None might enter the Holy Place for fellowship and testimony but in the same way. None might reach the inner Presence chamber of the manifested Glory except through perfection.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Exodus Chapter 27 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- The altar of burnt offerings. -- (1-8)
- The court of the tabernacle. -- (9-19)
- The oil for the lamps. -- (20, 21)
Verses 1-8
In the court before the tabernacle, where the people attended, was an altar, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God. It was of wood overlaid with brass. A grate of brass was let into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt. It was made of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the ashes might fall through. This brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. The wood had 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 Divine power.
Verses 9-19
The tabernacle was enclosed in a court, about sixty yards long and thirty broad, formed by curtains hung upon brazen pillars, fixed in brazen sockets. Within this enclosure the priests and Levites offered the sacrifices, and thither the Jewish people were admitted. These distinctions represented the difference between the visible nominal church, and the true spiritual church, which alone has access to God, and communion with him.
Verses 20, 21
The pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which all believers receive from Christ, the good Olive, and without which our light cannot shine before men. The priests were to light the lamps, and tend them. It is the work of ministers, by preaching and expounding the Scriptures, which are as a lamp, to enlighten the church, God's tabernacle upon earth. Blessed be God, this light is not now confined to the Jewish tabernacle, but is a light to lighten the gentiles, and for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.