[Exodus 27] The Brazen Altar. After establishing the construction and the dimensions of the Tabernacle, Moses is instructed regarding the Brazen Altar. This is the second altar that Moses constructed. The first was an altar of earth at the base of Sinai, where the 70 elders gathered to eat and drink covenantally with God. This altar, however, is made of brass and represents man coming before God to accept His righteous judgments.
[Exo 27:1-21 KJV] 1 And thou shalt make an altar [of] shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof [shall be] three cubits. 2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass. 3 And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his 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 compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar. 6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves [of] shittim wood, and overlay 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 shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make [it]. 9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward [there shall be] hangings for the court [of] fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side: 10 And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets [shall be of] brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets [shall be of] silver. 11 And likewise for the north side in length [there shall be] hangings of an hundred [cubits] long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets [of] brass; the hooks 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 east side eastward [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 fifteen [cubits]: their pillars three, and their sockets three. 16 And for the gate of the court [shall be] an 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 hooks [shall be of] silver, and their sockets [of] brass. 18 The length of the court [shall be] an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits [of] fine twined linen, and their sockets [of] brass. 19 All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, [shall be of] brass. 20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. 21 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which [is] before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: [it shall be] a statute for ever unto their generations on behalf of the children of Israel.
The Brazen altar is where all sacrifices were made in the tabernacle. It was wood overlaid with brass, which speaks of man accepting God’s judgments. This is the first point where an Israelite accompanied by a priest could approach unto God once they entered through the outer Tabernacle door, which represented Christ Himself. Remember that being wood overlaid with brass that the acacia wood represents HUMAN NATURE. Once a person addressed himself to God at this altar of brass, then they could gain benefit from the altar in the Holy Place overlaid with gold. What that tells us is that the first priority of coming to Christ is to accept the total and complete judgment of sin within ourselves in coming before a Holy God. You cannot circumvent this aspect of God’s nature without denying yourself in so doing of His mercy. We are in our humanity to be as brazen altars before God, and our lives are the sacrifices made thereon:
[Rom 12:1-2 KJV] 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
The altar was five cubits by five cubits. Five is the number of GRACE. So we are offering up not according to a religious legalism but according to the gospel of God’s unconditional love. The height of the altar is three cubits. 3 is a number of completion. This speaks to us that God asks for nothing more than what we are capable of giving him in our humanity. He doesn’t ask or require beyond what is possible. We render up our possibility, and he replies with the supply of what would otherwise be impossible. The result is a life lived in the kingdom!
There are four horns on the altar (v. 2). Horns represent power, and they also represent that which announces a message or a call to war or celebration. The four horns thus speak to us of the four gospels that comprise the core message of the good news of Jesus Christ.
The altar was overlaid with brass, which speaks to us of judgment. In other words, the basis of judgment in God’s economy is SACRIFICE and not LAW. We accept the sacrifice of Christ and respond accordingly, thereby being judged and having our sins washed away in the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ, making up the difference between our willingness and our obedience.
Verse 7 tells us that altar, as with other articles, had rings and staves. The altar was to be mobile. As living sacrifices, God wants us to be flexible, changeable, easily moved. The boards of the altar were hollow – speaking of the fact that as living sacrifices, we don’t come before God full but rather empty of ourselves with no other agenda but His will for our lives (v. 8).
The brazen altar was surrounded by tent walls of blue, purple, and scarlet (v. 9-16). Blue speaks to us of prayer; purple speaks of royalty and authority; scarlet of entitlement and the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. Remember that the tent of the outer court was open to the heavens. It was lit only by the sun. When the sun went down, the darkness was referred to as “outer darkness.”
In v. 17-19, the dimensions of the outer court are again referenced as in the previous chapter. They calculate to 4000 square cubits (the time from Adam to Christ); the inner court 2000 cubits (the time from Christ to the conclusion of the 6000 years of human history); the holy of holies 1000 cubits (the millennial reign of Christ).
The outer court, inner court, and holy of holies also speak to us of what Jesus referred to as 30 fold, 60 fold and 100 fold return or dimensions of walking with God. Some are outer court 30 fold believers. Some are 60 fold never getting past the table of shewbread, the lampstand illumination. Some are 100 fold believers going on to know God in his Shekinah glory.
The lampstand was fueled by olive oil that was obtained by the berries being BEATEN and PRESSED (v. 20-21). Acts 14:22 tells us we enter the kingdom through much tribulation or pressure. Many times the pressure in our lives is not the enemy but the olive press of God, preparing to ignite us to be light in the Lord. Aaron and his sons were to take the oil and keep the lampstand always burning before the vail. The fire that originally lit the lamp was supernaturally supplied by God himself. He is the fire that lights and illuminates us, but we are tenders of the flame of God. It isn’t someone else’s responsibility but our own!
