Exodus 27

1 Thou shalt also make an altar of cedar wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare, and its height shall be three cubits.

2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon its four corners; its horns shall be of the same, and thou shalt cover it with brass.

3 And thou shalt make its pans to receive the ashes with its burnt fat, and its shovels and its basins and its fleshhooks and its 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 circumference of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

6 Thou shalt also make staves for the altar, staves of cedar wood, and cover 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 showed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

9 In the same manner thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle; to the side of the Negev to the south there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of one hundred cubits long for each side;

10 and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the capitals of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.

11 And likewise for the side of the Aquilon in length there shall be hangings of one hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars with their twenty sockets of brass, the capitals 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 side of the rising sun to the east 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 of fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three.

16 And at the gate of the court there shall be a 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 capitals shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.

18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits and the breadth fifty on the one side and fifty on the other and the height five cubits, its hangings of fine twined linen and their sockets of brass.

19 All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof and all the stakes thereof and all the stakes of the court, shall be of brass.

20 And thou shalt command the sons of Israel that they bring thee olive oil, clear, crushed, for the light, to cause the lamps to burn always.

21 In the tabernacle of the testimony outside the veil, which shall be before the ark of the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order them from evening to morning before the LORD; it shall be a perpetual statute of the sons of Israel for their generations.

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.