Exodus 27:2

2 Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece.^[a] Overlay it with bronze.

Exodus 27:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners
thereof
Which were either for ornament, or for keeping what was laid upon the altar from falling off, or for the fastening of the sacrifice to them, and were what criminals fled to for refuge, and laid hold on; and may denote the power of Christ, who is the horn of salvation to preserve his people from a final falling away, and from ruin and destruction, and his protection of those that fly to him for refuge; and these horns being at the corners of the altar may respect the four parts of the world, from whence souls come to Christ for everlasting salvation:

his horns shall be of the same;
that is, made of the same wood as the altar itself and so may lead to observe the like things: or "upwards out of it" ^F2, the altar; prominent from it, as the Arabic version, and so the sacrifices could be bound to them, ( Psalms 118:27 ) :

and thou shalt overlay it with brass;
with plates of brass, that it may endure the fire, and preserve the wood from being burnt with it; this may denote not only the brightness, lustre, and glory of Christ, like the shining brass, but his great strength in bearing the sins of his people, and all the punishment due unto them, even the fire of divine wrath, without being consumed by it. Jarchi observes, that it was overlaid with brass, because it was to make atonement for the impudence of the forehead, which is as brass, ( Isaiah 48:4 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (wnmm) "sursum exeo", Noldius, p. 615.

Exodus 27:2 In-Context

1 "You are to construct the altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, seven and a half feet long, and seven and a half feet wide; it must be four and a half feet high.

2 Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece. Overlay it with bronze.

3 Make its pots for removing ashes, and its shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans; make all its utensils of bronze.

4 Construct a grate for it of bronze mesh, and make four bronze rings on the mesh at its four corners.

5 Set it below, under the altar's ledge, so that the mesh comes halfway up the altar.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit piece with it