Exodus 27

1 And thou shalt make an altar of incorruptible wood, of five cubits in the length, and five cubits in the breadth; the altar shall be square, and the height of it shall be of three cubits.

2 And thou shalt make the horns on the four corners; the horns shall be of the same piece, and thou shalt overlay them with brass.

3 And thou shalt make a rim for the altar; and its covering and its cups, and its flesh-hooks, and its fire-pan, and all its vessels shalt thou make of brass.

4 And thou shalt make for it a brazen grate with net-work; and thou shalt make for the grate four brazen rings under the four sides.

5 And thou shalt put them below under the grate of the altar, and the grate shall extend to the middle of the altar.

6 And thou shalt make for the altar staves of incorruptible wood, and thou shalt overlay them with brass.

7 And thou shalt put the staves into the rings; and let the staves be on the sides of the altar to carry it.

8 Thou shalt make it hollow with boards: according to what was shewed thee in the mount, so thou shalt make it.

9 And thou shalt make a court for the tabernacle, curtains of the court of fine linen spun on the south side, the length of a hundred cubits for one side.

10 And their pillars twenty, and twenty brazen sockets for them, and their rings and their clasps of silver.

11 Thus to the side toward the north curtains of a hundred cubits in length; and their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty of brass, and the rings and the clasps of the pillars, and their sockets overlaid with silver.

12 And in the breadth of the tabernacle toward the west curtains of fifty cubits, their pillars ten and their sockets ten.

13 And in the breadth of the tabernacle toward the south, curtains of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.

14 And the height of the curtains of fifty cubits for the one side ; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

15 And the second side the height of the curtains of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

16 And a veil for the door of the court, the height of twenty cubits of blue linen, and of purple, and spun scarlet, and of fine linen spun with the art of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four.

17 All the pillars of the court round about overlaid with silver, and their chapiters silver and their brass sockets.

18 And the length of the court a hundred on each side, and the breadth fifty on each side, and the height five cubits of fine linen spun, and their sockets of brass.

19 And all the furniture and all the instruments and the pins of the court of brass.

20 And do thou charge the children of Israel, and let them take for thee refined pure olive-oil beaten to burn for light, that a lamp may burn continually

21 in the tabernacle of the testimony, without the veil that is before the covenant, shall Aaron and his sons burn it from evening until morning, before the Lord: it is a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations of the children of Israel.

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.

Footnotes

• [a]. of it.
• [b]. of.
• [c]. over.
• [d]. to.

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.