Exodus 27:1-8

THE GREAT BRONZE ALTAR

"And thou shalt make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof; and the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it: and thou shalt overlay it with brass. And thou shalt make its pots to take away its ashes, and its shovels, and its basins, and its fleshhooks, and its firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. And thou shalt make for it a grating of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof And thou shalt put it under the ledge round the altar beneath, that the net may reach half way up the altar. And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with brass. And the staves thereof shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, in bearing it. Hollow with planks shalt thou make it: as it hath been showed thee in the mount, so shall thou make it."

The symbolism of this Great Bronze Altar has to do with the death of Christ as an Atonement for the sins of the whole world; and although the exact location of it was not here given, it evidently stood somewhere near the grand entrance into the court of the tabernacle, being by far the most important thing that fell upon the eyes of anyone entering the court.

"The bronze (brass) speaks of manifested divine judgment (Numbers 21:9; John 3:14; Revelation 1:15). At Calvary, Christ met the burning heat of divine justice against sin. Upon this altar the burnt offering was completely consumed, portraying Him who knew no sin, yet was `Made ... sin for us, enduring the full wrath of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).'"[1]

Dominating as it did the entrance area of that enclosure typifying the whole world, it was an effective symbol of the sublime truth that Jesus Christ in his mission of salvation for all men through his vicarious sacrificial death, dominates all human history. No other event of like importance ever occurred. All of the correspondence, publications, newspapers, treaties, and legal business of the whole world are dated with reference to His birth; and this goes on and on without interruption in every city of mankind! Behold the Sacrifice for our sin!

"Thou shalt make the altar ..." The Hebrew text here does not speak of "an altar" but of the altar.[2] This was the "place where" the Lord recorded his name, and here was where he promised to meet and to bless the people (Exodus 20:24).

"Five cubits ... three cubits ..." The dimensions of the ark in feet would have been 7 1/2 feet square by 4 1/2 feet in height.

"The horns of it ..." These were very unusual for an altar. In fact, "They seem to have been peculiar to the Israelites."[3] This should be no surprise to us, because God who designed this altar did not need to consult the pagan nations around Israel for any element of its design. The speculations mentioned by Dummelow that, "The horns of the altar had some connection with the worship of Jehovah in the form of a bull,"[4] are the grossest type of superstition. There is absolutely nothing in the Word of God to suggest that these "horns" of the sacred altar had any resemblance or connection whatever with bulls' horns. These horns were nothing more than turned up corners of the altar itself; and it is significant that in the Far East today one may notice this same upward thrust of the corners of prominent buildings, and that a religious meaning to this design is understood by Orientals to have been involved in the origin of the custom. This custom, so widespread on earth, doubtless had its origin in this altar. One native who explained this phenomenon to this writer said, "Well, it is as if the building itself were praying to God for protection and help." This is what the altar did, not only for Israel, but is what the Great Antitype is still doing "in heaven interceding!" Horns were symbols also of power, productivity, glory, strength, etc.

"Pots to take away the ashes ..." The Hebrew here carries the idea of "the ashes of the fat,"[5] meaning the ashes that came from the burning of the fat. All of the tools here were to be made of brass, the same being a common symbol of judgment throughout the Bible. When Christ, the Judge of all people, appears as the Final Judge in Revelation, "His feet were like unto burnished brass" (Revelation 1:15).

"A grating of network of brass ..." Keil thought this was a bench-like projection going completely around the outside of the altar, about half way up the altar from the ground, and that, "The priest stood upon this,"[6] when placing wood, or arranging the offering. Leviticus 9:22 appears to confirm this view; but it cannot be received as certain. Such an arrangement would have been, in the eyes of some, a violation of God's requirement concerning "no steps" to his altar (Exodus 20:26). Keil refuted that view by supposing that the level of the grating was reached by means of an earthen ramp, and not steps.

"Staves ... overlay ... with brass ..." These were devices for carrying the altar, being similar in all ways to the staves of the several articles of furniture within the tabernacle itself, except that these were to be overlaid with brass. There was a progression from that which is less precious to that which is more precious as the worshipper moved from the entrance of the court to the Holy of Holies, as indicated by the brass overlay here, and the gold overlay within.

"Hollow with planks shalt thou make it ..." These planks were covered over with brass; and that fact coupled with God's instructions, "An altar of earth shalt thou make unto me" (Exodus 20:25) have led to the conclusion that what is called "the altar" here was actually the bronze overlaid box that was filled with earth to provide the actual altar. We see nothing unreasonable in such an assumption.