Exodus 29:35-37

CONSECRATING THE ALTAR (Exodus 29:35-37):

"And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them. And every day shalt thou offer the bullock of sin-offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou makest atonement for it; and thou shalt anoint it to sanctify it. Seven days shalt thou make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it: and the altar shall be most holy; whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy."

These verses set forth the order to repeat the entire ceremonies every day for seven days; and in Exodus 29:36-37 is the commission to make an atonement for the altar itself and to sanctify it! Since it is impossible for sin to attach to any inanimate object, some have wondered why this was necessary. Robert Jamieson answered the question thus:

"It was constructed of materials belonging to a world lying under a curse for man's sake; and, therefore, as it was to be used for sacred purposes, there needed to be an expiation for it also."[26]

Perhaps another important reason for the seven-fold repetition of these atonement services was that of demonstrating that none of them was final and effective, but that they existed only temporarily as a tentative arrangement until the true Atonement should be made by Christ. Any thoughtful person must have reasoned that if any one of those "atonements" had been really effective, it would have been unnecessary to have repeated it. The author of Hebrews made exactly that observation: "Else those sacrifices would have ceased to be offered" (Hebrews 10:2).