Exodus 27

1 [The LORD continued,] "Make an altar out of acacia wood. It should be 7½ feet square, and 4½ feet high.

2 Make a horn at each of its four corners. The four horns and the altar must be made out of one piece [of wood] covered with bronze.

3 "Make all the utensils for it out of bronze: pots for taking away the altar's ashes, also shovels, bowls, forks, and incense burners.

4 "Make a grate for it out of bronze mesh, and make a bronze ring for [each of] the four corners of the grate.

5 Put the grate under the ledge of the altar so that it comes halfway up the altar.

6 "Make poles out of acacia wood for the altar, and cover them with bronze.

7 The poles should be put through the rings on both sides of the altar to carry it.

8 "Make the altar out of boards so that it's hollow inside. It must be made just as you were shown on the mountain.

9 "Make a courtyard for the tent. The south side of the courtyard should be 150 feet long and have curtains made out of fine linen yarn,

10 [hung] on 20 posts [set in] 20 bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts should be made of silver.

11 The north side should be the same: 150 feet long, with curtains on 20 posts set in 20 bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts should be made of silver.

12 "The courtyard on the west end should be 75 feet wide and have curtains [hung] on ten posts [set in] ten bases.

13 On the east end, facing the rising sun, the courtyard should also be 75 feet wide.

14 Each side [of the entrance] will be 22½ feet wide with curtains [hung on] three posts [set in] three bases.

15

16 "The entrance to the courtyard must have a 30-foot screen made from fine linen yarn, embroidered with violet, purple, and bright red yarn, [hung] on four posts [set in] four bases.

17 All the posts around the courtyard should have silver bands, silver hooks, and bronze bases.

18 The courtyard should be 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 7½ feet high, with [curtains] made of fine linen yarn and with bronze bases.

19 "All the things for the tent, no matter how they're used, including all the pegs for the tent and the courtyard, must be made of bronze.

20 "For the lighting, you must command the Israelites to bring you pure, virgin olive oil so that the lamps won't go out.

21 In the tent of meeting outside the canopy where the words of my promise are, Aaron and his descendants must keep the lamps lit in the LORD's presence from evening until morning. This is a permanent law among the Israelites for generations to come."

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.

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.