Commentary - Exodus 27:1-8

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Exodus, we move from the Ten Words spoken on the mountain to the practical outworking of how a sinful people can possibly dwell in the presence of a holy God. The answer is not found in their moral improvement, but rather in God's gracious provision. And the very first piece of furniture described for the tabernacle courtyard is this one, the bronze altar. This is no accident. Before you can get to the Holy Place, before you can even think about the Holy of Holies, you must first pass by the place of blood, fire, and death. This altar stands at the entrance, a grim and unavoidable sentinel, declaring that the only way to God is through a substitutionary sacrifice. The detailed instructions for its construction are not tedious architectural notes; they are a rich theological portrait of the work of Jesus Christ.

The altar is made of wood overlaid with bronze, it has horns, it comes with a set of bronze utensils, and it is portable. Each detail is pregnant with meaning. It is a place of judgment, as indicated by the bronze. It is a place of power, as shown by the horns. It is a place of finished work, as the ashes are carried away. And it is a provision that travels with the people of God on their pilgrimage. In short, this altar is the gospel in miniature, set right at the front door of God's house.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 1 And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.

The very first command for the tabernacle's furnishings concerns the altar. This is the theological starting point for approaching God. You don't begin with your good intentions or your religious feelings. You begin where God begins, at the place of atonement. The material is acacia wood, a dense and durable wood that was plentiful in the wilderness. In Scripture, wood often speaks of humanity. This altar, which points to Christ, is built on a foundation of His true humanity. He had to be one of us to die for us. The dimensions are precise. It is a perfect square, five cubits by five cubits. A square speaks of equity, balance, and perfect justice. God's wrath against sin is not an arbitrary outburst; it is a perfectly just response to our rebellion. The four equal sides represent the fact that this provision is for all the corners of the earth. The height is three cubits, making it accessible, yet prominent. You couldn't miss it, and you couldn't get around it.

v. 2 You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of the same piece, and you shall overlay it with bronze.

The horns are not decorative. In the Bible, horns are a symbol of power and strength. The sacrifice offered here is a potent one, powerful to save. The horns project from the four corners, signifying that the power of this atoning work extends to the north, south, east, and west. There is nowhere on earth that the power of the cross cannot reach. Crucially, the horns are to be "of the same piece" as the altar. The power to save is not an add-on or an afterthought; it is integral to the very nature of the sacrifice. Then we are told to overlay the whole thing with bronze. In the symbolic language of the tabernacle, bronze speaks of judgment. Fire tests metals, and bronze is what withstands the fire. This altar is the place where the fiery judgment of God against sin is met. The sacrifice on the altar endures the judgment so that the sinner who brings it does not have to. This is a picture of Christ, who absorbed the full measure of God's judicial wrath in our place.

v. 3 You shall make its pots for removing its ashes, and its shovels and its bowls and its flesh hooks and its firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.

God is intensely interested in the details. This is not fussy legalism; it is a reflection of His holy character. The work of atonement is a bloody, messy business, and God provides all the necessary tools for the job. There are pots for the ashes, shovels, bowls for the blood, flesh hooks for handling the sacrifice, and firepans. The fact that God specifies these things tells us that He is in control of every aspect of our salvation. Nothing is left to chance or human innovation. And notice, all the utensils are made of bronze. Every tool that touches the sacrifice is associated with the theme of judgment. From start to finish, from the offering to the clean-up, the reality of divine judgment is front and center.

v. 4-5 You shall make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. You shall put it beneath, under the ledge of the altar, so that the net will reach halfway down the altar.

The sacrifice was not placed on a solid surface, but on a bronze grating. This allowed the fire to consume the offering from below and the ashes to fall through. It speaks of the thoroughness of the atonement. The fire of God's holiness consumes the sacrifice completely. Nothing is left. When Christ cried out "It is finished," He meant it. The sacrifice was held up on this grate, suspended, as it were, between heaven and earth. This is a powerful image of Christ on the cross, lifted up to bear the curse for us. The rings attached to this grating are for the poles, which we will see next. Even the means of transport are integrated into the heart of the altar's design.

v. 6-7 You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. Its poles shall be inserted into the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried.

The altar was not a permanent fixture in one location. It was designed to be portable. The people of God were on the move, and the provision for their sin had to move with them. This is a beautiful picture of the gospel. The grace of God in Christ is not tied to a specific geographical location or a holy building. Wherever God's people go, the cross goes with them. The materials for the poles are the same as the altar itself, acacia wood overlaid with bronze. Christ's humanity (the wood) bore our judgment (the bronze), and this is the message that is to be carried throughout the world by His people.

v. 8 You shall make it hollow with planks; as it was shown to you in the mountain, so they shall make it.

The altar was a hollow frame. This might seem structurally weak, but it emphasizes that the altar's significance was not in its own substance, but in what it was for, the sacrifice. It was a vessel for the atonement. The final clause is of utmost importance. Moses is commanded to make everything "as it was shown to you in the mountain." This is a foundational principle of true worship, what we call the regulative principle. We are not to worship God according to our own clever ideas, our marketing surveys, or what we think might be emotionally appealing. We are to worship God in the way He has commanded. The pattern for worship was given by God, not invented by man. That pattern, from the bronze altar to the mercy seat, is a roadmap that points us directly to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Application

The bronze altar stood at the entrance to the tabernacle courtyard, and no Israelite could approach God without dealing with it first. For us, the cross of Jesus Christ stands at the entrance to the Christian life. There is no other way to the Father. We cannot sneak around the side, hoping God will be impressed with our sincerity or our good deeds. We must come by way of the bloody sacrifice of His Son. This altar, with its bronze overlay, reminds us that sin is a serious matter that incurs the just judgment of a holy God. We must never domesticate the cross or turn it into a sentimental piece of jewelry. It is a place of execution, an altar where the wrath of God was poured out on His beloved Son in our stead.

Because Christ has fulfilled all that this altar typified, we no longer offer bulls and goats. But we do have an altar (Heb. 13:10). We come to the cross, and there we offer up our own lives as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1). We die to ourselves that we might live for Him. And just as this altar was portable, the message of the cross is to be carried by us into every corner of the world. We are bearers of the good news that there is a way to be reconciled to God, and it is through the finished work of Jesus, our bronze altar.