Exodus 27

The Bronze Altar

1 "And you shall make ¹the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.

2 "You shall make ²its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.

3 "You shall make its pails for removing its ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and its firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.

4 "You shall make for it a grating of network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.

5 "You shall put it beneath, under the ledge of the altar, so that the net will reach halfway up the altar.

6 "You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze.

7 "Its poles shall be inserted into the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar ³when it is carried.

8 "You shall make it hollow with planks; ⁴as it was shown to you in the mountain, so they shall make it.

Court of the Tabernacle

9 "You shall make ⁵the court of the tabernacle. On the south * side there shall be hangings for the court of fine twisted linen one hundred cubits long for one side;

10 and its pillars shall be twenty, with their twenty sockets of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.

11 "Likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars with their twenty sockets of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.

12 "For the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits with their ten pillars and their ten sockets.

13 "The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits.

14 "The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen * cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets.

15 "And for the other side shall be hangings of fifteen * cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets.

16 "For the gate of the court there shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver, with their four pillars and their four sockets.

17 "All the pillars around the court shall be furnished with silver bands with their hooks of silver and their sockets of bronze.

18 "The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits of fine twisted linen, and their sockets of bronze.

19 "All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.

20 "You shall charge the sons of Israel, that they bring you ⁶clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.

21 "In the ⁷tent of meeting, outside * ⁸the veil which is before the testimony, ⁹Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD; it shall be a perpetual ¹⁰statute throughout their generations for the sons of Israel.

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Exodus 27 Commentary

Chapter 27

The altar of burnt offerings. (1-8) The court of the tabernacle. (9-19) The oil for the lamps. (20,21)

Verses 1-8 In the court before the tabernacle, where the people attended, was an altar, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God. It was of wood overlaid with brass. A grate of brass was let into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt. It was made of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the ashes might fall through. This brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. The wood had been consumed by the fire from heaven, if it had not been secured by the brass: nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the wrath of God, if it had not been supported by Divine power.

Verses 9-19 The tabernacle was enclosed in a court, about sixty yards long and thirty broad, formed by curtains hung upon brazen pillars, fixed in brazen sockets. Within this enclosure the priests and Levites offered the sacrifices, and thither the Jewish people were admitted. These distinctions represented the difference between the visible nominal church, and the true spiritual church, which alone has access to God, and communion with him.

Verses 20-21 The pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which all believers receive from Christ, the good Olive, and without which our light cannot shine before men. The priests were to light the lamps, and tend them. It is the work of ministers, by preaching and expounding the Scriptures, which are as a lamp, to enlighten the church, God's tabernacle upon earth. Blessed be God, this light is not now confined to the Jewish tabernacle, but is a light to lighten the gentiles, and for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 10

1. Exodus 38:1-7
2. Psalms 118:27
3. Numbers 4:15
4. Exodus 25:40; Exodus 26:30; Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5
5. Exodus 38:9-20
6. Exodus 35:8, 28; Leviticus 24:1-4
7. Exodus 25:22; Exodus 29:42; Exodus 30:36
8. Exodus 26:31, 33
9. Exodus 30:8; 1 Samuel 3:3; 2 Chronicles 13:11
10. Exodus 28:43; Exodus 29:9; Leviticus 3:17; Leviticus 16:34; Numbers 18:23; Numbers 19:21; 1 Samuel 30:25

Footnotes 23

[a]. I.e. One cubit equals approx 18 in.
[b]. Or "copper," and so for "bronze" throughout the ch
[c]. Lit "on"
[d]. Or "dwelling place"
[e]. Lit "For the side of the Negev to the south"
[f]. Or "bases"
[g]. Or "fillets, rings"
[h]. Or "bases"
[i]. Or "bases"
[j]. Lit "east side eastward"
[k]. Lit "shoulder"
[l]. Or "bases"
[m]. Lit "second"
[n]. Lit "shoulder"
[o]. Or "bases"
[p]. Or "violet"
[q]. Lit "variegator;" i.e. a weaver in colors
[r]. Or "bases"
[s]. Or "bases"
[t]. Or "bases"
[u]. Or "luminary"
[v]. Lit "ascend"
[w]. Lit "from"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 27

This chapter treats of the altar of burnt offering, and of all things relative to it, Ex 27:1-8, of the court of the tabernacle, its hangings on each side, with pillars, sockets, and hooks for them, Ex 27:9-19 and it is concluded with an order to the Israelites to bring oil olive for the lamp of the sanctuary, Ex 27:20,21.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible