Exodus 27:1 - Meaning and Application

As God meant the tabernacle to show his presence among his people, that was also where they were to worship him. They were not to enter the tabernacle itself, because only the priests went in there as God’s household servants. Instead, the people came into the court in front of the tabernacle, where they stood as ordinary worshipers.

There an altar was to be set up. The people had to bring their sacrifices to it, and the priests had to offer them to God. This altar made their gifts holy, that is, set them apart for God’s use. In this way, the people presented their service to God, and from the mercy seat he gave them his answers. So communion, or fellowship, was established between God and Israel.

Moses is directed here about the altar’s size, shape, horns, materials, parts, grate, carrying poles, and the pattern shown to him. It was to be square (Exodus 27:1). It had horns on its corners (Exodus 27:2), which were for both beauty and use. Sacrifices were tied to those horns with cords, and people in danger sometimes ran there for safety.

The altar was to be made of wood covered with bronze (Exodus 27:1, Exodus 27:2). All its utensils were also to be made of bronze (Exodus 27:3). It had a grate set inside it, about halfway up, where the fire was kept and the sacrifice burned (Exodus 27:4, Exodus 27:5). The grate was like a network or sieve, hanging open so the fire could burn well and the ashes could fall into the hollow part of the altar.

It was also to have poles for carrying it (Exodus 27:6, Exodus 27:7). At last, Moses is told to make everything according to the pattern he had been shown (Exodus 27:8).

This bronze altar points to Christ dying to make atonement, that is, satisfaction for our sins. The wood would have been consumed by the fire from heaven if it had not been protected by the bronze. In the same way, Christ’s human nature could not have borne God’s wrath unless it had been upheld by divine power.

Christ set himself apart for his church as their altar (John 17:19), and by his mediation, his work as go-between, he makes the daily service of his people holy. They also have a right to eat from this altar (Hebrews 13:10), because they serve there as spiritual priests. Poor sinners flee to the horns of this altar when justice is after them, and they are safe because of the sacrifice offered there.