Exodus 27:6

The square altar for burnt offerings, like the tabernacle frames, was made of acacia wood covered with metal. Yet, to match the other features outside the sanctuary, they covered it with bronze (27:2–3; see 27:10, 17, 19).

The plans for the altar of burnt offering and the courtyard extend outward from the center. Like the sanctuary, the plans for the courtyard's furniture are provided before the courtyard itself (27:1–8; 27:9–19).

staves . . . rings--Those rings were placed at the side through which the poles were inserted on occasions of removal.

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. 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.

Exodus 27:1-8

1. And thou shalt make an altar ofshittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.

1. Facies etiam altare e lignis sittim: quinque cubitorum exit longitudo: et quinque cubitorum latitudo: quadrature erit altare: et trium cubitorum altitudo ejus.

2. And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

2. Huic facies cornua in quatuor angulis ejus: ex ipso erunt cornua ejus, tegesque illud aere.

3. And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.

3. Facies deinde lebetes ejus: ad repurgandum cinerem ejus, et scopas (vel, forcipes) ejus, et crateras ejus, et fuscinulas ejus, et receptacula ejus: omnia vasa ejus facies ex aere.

4. And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof.

4. Facies etiam illi craticulam opere craticulato aeream, et ad rete quatuor annulos, in quatuor extremitatibus ejus.

5. And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

5. Ponesque illud sub ambitu altaris inferne, et erit rete illud usque ad medium altaris.

6. And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.

6. Facies praeterea vectes alta vectes e lignis sittim, et cooperies eos aere.

7. And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.

7. Et inserentur vectes ejus in illos annulos: et erunt vectes in utroque latere altaris, dum portabitur illud.

8. Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

8. Cavum tabulis facies illud: quemadmodum ostendi tibi in monte, sic facient.

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 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 Psalm 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, "Not 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.

Footnotes:

[147] C. alludes to their Hebrew name, lh, the primary signification of which is mounting upwards. -- W

[148] "Mais que la sainctete des sacremens," etc. -- Fr. be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.

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.

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.

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.