Numbers 16:38

The altar] the altar of burnt offering, which was overlaid with brass: see on Exodus 31:1.

41-50. The people now turn upon Moses and charge him with being the occasion of this calamity. Their unreasonable murmuring is punished with a plague, which is only stayed by means of the intervention of the high priest.

46. Incense was usually offered, not alone, but as an accompaniment of a sacrifice. On this occasion the plague had begun, and incense was the readiest sacrifice that could be offered. It is symbolical of prayer and intercession: see on Exodus 30:1. Observe that the unauthorised offering of incense by the rebels was provocative of the divine indignation, while in the hands of Aaron, the appointed high priest, it was accepted as an atonement, and procured the grace of forgiveness.

48. A striking picture, illustrating the efficacy of believing prayer (cp. James 5:15) and the way in which Christ by the offering of Himself has stayed the plague of sin and death: cp. Ephesians 5:2.