Ezekiel 43:13-14

“And these are the measures of the altar by cubits, the cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth. The bosom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and its border by its edge round about, a span. And this shall be the back (platform) of the altar. And from the bosom on the ground (or of the earth) to the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit, and from the lesser settle to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth a cubit. And the upper altar (the harel) shall be four cubits, and from the Ariel and upwards there shall be four horns.

That the brazen altar was ‘most holy' we are told in Exodus 40:10, which again demonstrates that its pointed non-measurement by the man with the measuring reed (Ezekiel 40:47) must have been significant. Now we are told the measurements of the altar by God Himself. Its importance is thus emphasised and it is the only part of the heavenly structure which was specifically to be built by man as a direct copy of the heavenly. It is to be the direct link between the earthly and the heavenly.

(There is a specific distinction between something being measured and measurements being given. The former was to indicate that it was there and being brought into use, the latter was to indicate that it should be built to these measurements).

It is interesting in this regard that in the description of the building of Solomon's temple (1 Kings 6-7) the brazen altar was also ignored, although it was clearly assumed to be there (1 Kings 8:22; 1Ki 8:54; 1 Kings 8:64; 1 Kings 9:25 - and compare 2 Chronicles 4:1). And indeed that was where Solomon knelt with his hands spread towards Heaven (1 Kings 8:54). This may well suggest that such an altar was seen generally, not as part of the heavenward side of the temple, but as part of its earthward side. When man wanted to approach God in worship the first thing he did was to erect an altar (Genesis 12:8 and often; Ezra 3:2). Where God ‘revealed His name', that is His very nature, an altar was to be built (Exodus 20:24). It was the link between earth and Heaven. It brought man in touch with the heavenly.

The description in these verses is full of interesting problems due simply to problems as to the meaning of certain words. The word translated ‘bosom' means ‘that which is enclosed'. Thus a woman enfolds her children to her bosom. It possibly here refers to the channel at the bottom of the altar going along its length into which any residue went and was there ‘grasped to its bosom', (consider ‘the place of the ashes' - Leviticus 1:16, and the place where the spare blood of sin and guilt offerings was thrown - Leviticus 4:18; Leviticus 4:25; Leviticus 4:30; Leviticus 5:9) and thus it was the equivalent of the ‘length'. The measurement of a cubit refers to the exposed part of the platform after the next stage is built on it. The ‘back' refers to the platform. The border by its edge probably refers to a rim or boundary going all round.

Some have read ‘the bosom of the earth' (cheq ha arets) in 14a literally and have seen in ‘bosom' a reference to the Akkadian irat ersiti (bosom of the earth), which was the name given to the foundation platform of the temple of Marduk in Babylon. This may well have become a regular technical description among some nations for the platform on which an altar was erected, and the parallel might seem to be more than a coincidence. As the platform was probably mainly buried in the ground it would be appropriate. But the use of ‘bosom' to indicate length in Ezekiel 43:13 counts against stress on this meaning here. It may be that this is simply to be seen as the more prosaic, ‘the channel in the ground', described by its technical term.

The next smaller stage of the altar was two cubits in height up to ‘the lower settle', with a one cubit surround (the ‘breadth' of the top surface left showing) revealed, and the next even smaller stage four cubits in height to the ‘greater settle', again with the one cubit surround revealed. This was then followed by a further stage four cubits in height, all reaching to an impressive ten cubits.

(A ‘settle' would appear to indicate an area on which something else would be ‘settled').

The upper altar (har'el - which could mean ‘mountain of God') and the altar hearth ('ari'el) have also been connected with Babylonian ideas. The Akkadian arallu means either the ‘underworld of the gods' or ‘mountain of the gods'. Compare the use of Ariel in Isaiah to mean Mount Zion (Isaiah 29:1; Isaiah 29:7), which confirms that this idea was present in Israel. Thus the top of the altar might be seen as intended to be connected with the ‘mountain of God', which Ezekiel seemingly saw as making this the link to the heavenly temple.

However, it is possible that by then these were simply technical names for the top part of the altar, or upper altar, which was called the harel (or ‘mountain of God'), with the Ariel, which was therefore probably the altar hearth, in the top of the altar.

On the other hand the whole altar here was clearly built like a Ziggurat (stepped temple). There the fact that it rose up and was stepped was to indicate ascent to the gods. It represented a mountain, indeed possibly being seen as almost a stairway up to Heaven (compare Genesis 11:4). So the idea here of the stepped altar may well be to reveal that by use of the altar Israel would be able to ‘reach' the heavenly temple which had descended on the unknown high mountain, which thereby had become the mountain of God.

The ‘horns' are protrusions from the four corners of the altar, which were a regular feature of altars elsewhere, the purpose for which is uncertain. They may have symbolised power (as ‘horns' regularly do), or have been pointers up to Heaven. The horns were regarded as being an essential part of the altar and had to be ‘cleansed' (Ezekiel 43:20; Exodus 29:12).

A large sacrificial altar with protrusions at its four corners dated to the 8th century BC has been discovered at Beersheba (it had been used to repair the wall of a storehouse). 9th century altars discovered at Megiddo with such protrusions were small and probably incense altars, but they do demonstrate that the protrusions were not simply for securing the sacrifice but had deeper significance.