Exodus 27:1-21
1 And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.
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.
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.
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.
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.
6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.
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.
8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.
9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:
10 And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
11 And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
12 And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.
14 The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15 And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.
17 All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.
18 The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fiftya every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.
19 All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.
20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burnb always.
21 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
CHAPTER 27 The Tabernacle Concluded
1. The altar of brass (Exodus 27:1)
2. The court of the tabernacle (Exodus 27:9)
3. The oil for the lamp (Exodus 27:20)
The brazen altar stood at the door of the tabernacle. Later we find in this book the golden altar of incense mentioned. It stood between the golden candlestick and the brazen altar. This altar was likewise of shittim wood. Instead of gold, here was brass, because the altar is the type of the cross where Christ met the burning heat of divine justice. Upon this altar the burnt offering was brought and wholly consumed, speaking of Him who knew no sin and was made sin for us. The altar was hollow, the sacrificial fires burned mostly within. This tells of His work on the cross and the sufferings “within,” when He was forsaken of God; they are for us unfathomable. The horns on the four corners of the altar indicated that His great work on the cross should go forth in world wide proclamation.
The court of the tabernacle had for a wall fine twined linen. This was symbolical of the righteousness of God. This excludes the sinner from His presence. But there was a gate (Exodus 27:16) in which the colors reappeared. Blue, purple and scarlet were seen there. The gate typifies Christ. If an Israelite entered through that gate in the linen wall, which shut him Out, he found, after entering in, that the same fine twined linen shut him in. Even so, if we enter in through the one door, Christ, the righteousness of God which condemned us, covers us. There were also hooks and fillets of silver and sockets of brass, telling once more the story of atonement and divine righteousness executed in judgment.