The Bronze Altar at the Gate Text: Exodus 38:1-7
Introduction: The Necessary Furniture
We live in a time that is allergic to detail, particularly when it comes to the things of God. We prefer the broad stroke, the sentimental summary, the inspirational tweet. And so, when we come to passages like this one in Exodus, which reads like an inventory list from a divine furniture maker, our eyes tend to glaze over. We want the poetry of the Psalms or the thunder of the prophets, not the precise cubits of an ancient altar. But in doing so, we commit a grave error. We imagine that God included these details as some kind of biblical filler, when in fact, He has loaded every joint, every overlay, and every utensil with staggering theological significance.
This is not just a list. This is a portrait. This is a blueprint of the gospel, rendered in wood and bronze. The tabernacle was God's dwelling place among His people, and the very first thing you encountered when you entered the courtyard was this altar, the altar of burnt offering. You could not get to the Holy Place, you could not approach the presence of God, without first passing this station. This was the place of blood. This was the place of fire. This was the place of death. Before there could be any communion, there had to be a confrontation with sin and its penalty. The modern church often wants to rearrange the furniture. We want to rush people into the presence of God, into the place of fellowship and blessing, without first leading them past the bronze altar. But God's layout is non-negotiable. The way into life is through a death. The way to communion is through atonement.
So we must pay close attention. Bezalel, filled with the Spirit of God, is not just a craftsman; he is a prophet building a sermon. And this sermon, preached in acacia and bronze, declares the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ with a clarity that should stop us in our tracks. This altar is the gospel in miniature. It is the cross before the cross.
The Text
Then he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits wide, square, and three cubits high. He made its horns on its four corners, its horns being of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. He made all the utensils of the altar, the pots and the shovels and the bowls, the flesh hooks and the firepans; he made all its utensils of bronze. He made for the altar a grating of a network of bronze beneath, under its ledge, reaching halfway down. He cast four rings on the four ends of the bronze grating as holders for the poles. He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. He inserted the poles into the rings on thesides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks.
(Exodus 38:1-7 LSB)
The Altar's Form: Humanity Under Judgment (v. 1-2)
The construction begins with the essential nature and shape of the altar.
"Then he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits wide, square, and three cubits high. He made its horns on its four corners, its horns being of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze." (Exodus 38:1-2)
The foundation of the altar is acacia wood. This was the wood of the wilderness, a common, humble, yet durable wood. In the typology of the tabernacle, wood consistently points to humanity. It grows out of the earth. And this points directly to the incarnation of Christ. He was the "root out of dry ground" (Isaiah 53:2), taking on our human nature in all its frailty, yet without sin. He was truly man.
But this wood, this humanity, was completely overlaid with bronze. Throughout Scripture, bronze is a symbol of judgment and divine wrath. The serpent of judgment lifted up in the wilderness was made of bronze (Numbers 21:9). The feet of the glorified, judging Christ in Revelation are described as "burnished bronze" (Revelation 1:15). This altar is where the fire of God's holy judgment would fall. So what we have here is a picture of humanity (wood) completely encased in judgment (bronze). This is a perfect image of Christ on the cross. In His humanity, He absorbed the full measure of God's fiery wrath against our sin. He who knew no sin was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). The judgment we deserved fell on Him, covering Him completely.
The dimensions are also significant. It was a perfect square, five cubits by five cubits. A square speaks of divine order, stability, and equity. God's justice is not arbitrary; it is perfect and unbending. The altar is established on the foundation of God's righteous character. And on its four corners were horns, made "of one piece with it." Horns in the Bible are symbols of power and strength. The power of this altar was its power to atone, its power to save. When a man sought refuge, he would run and grab hold of the horns of the altar (1 Kings 1:50). This is a picture of a sinner clinging to Christ for salvation. And the horns were not bolted on as an afterthought; they were integral to the altar itself. Christ's power to save is not something separate from His being; it is who He is. His substitutionary work is the very expression of His nature.
The Altar's Tools: The Grim Reality of Sin (v. 3)
Next, we are shown the instruments used at this place of sacrifice.
"He made all the utensils of the altar, the pots and the shovels and the bowls, the flesh hooks and the firepans; he made all its utensils of bronze." (Exodus 38:3 LSB)
Notice the material: every single utensil was made of bronze. Everything that touched the sacrifice, the blood, the fire, and the ashes was an instrument of judgment. The pots were for carrying away the ashes of the consumed sacrifice. The shovels were for clearing them away. The bowls were for catching the blood of the slain animal. The flesh hooks were for arranging the pieces of the sacrifice in the fire. The firepans were for carrying the coals. This is not a pretty picture. We must not sanitize the cross. Atonement is a bloody, violent, and costly business because sin is a bloody, violent, and costly business. It requires death. It requires the shedding of blood. These bronze tools remind us of the terrible gravity of our rebellion against a holy God. They are the instruments of a holy execution, and they remind us that our sin required nothing less.
The Altar's Grating and Portability (v. 4-7)
The internal structure and mobility of the altar complete the picture.
"He made for the altar a grating of a network of bronze beneath, under its ledge, reaching halfway down... He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks." (Exodus 38:4, 6-7 LSB)
The sacrifice was not placed on a solid surface, but on a bronze grating. The fire came up from underneath, consuming the offering entirely, and the ashes fell through to the ground below. This shows the thoroughness of God's judgment. The sacrifice for sin was utterly consumed. Christ endured the full penalty; He drank the cup of God's wrath to the very dregs. Nothing was held back. His offering was complete.
Then we see the provisions for carrying the altar. Like the altar itself, the poles were made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze. This altar was not a stationary monument. It was designed to move with the people of God on their journey through the wilderness. This is a glorious truth. The provision for sin, the access to forgiveness, was not something left behind in Egypt or waiting for them in Canaan. It was with them, every single day, in the dust and the heat of their pilgrimage. The gospel is not a one-time stop. Christ is not a distant Savior. He is Immanuel, God with us. The forgiveness won at the cross is a present and continuous reality for us as we journey through the wilderness of this life. We never outgrow our need for the bronze altar.
Finally, we are told it was "hollow with planks." This speaks to its nature as a type and shadow. The altar was a vessel. Its significance was not in the box itself, but in what it held: the sacrifice and the fire of God. It pointed beyond itself to the true substance, the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross was a hollowed-out piece of wood, but it became the altar upon which the Lamb of God was offered, and where the fire of divine justice was fully satisfied.
Conclusion: No Other Way In
This bronze altar stood at the entrance to the courtyard. There was no way to get to the laver for cleansing, no way to get to the Holy Place for worship, and certainly no way to the Holy of Holies for communion with God, except by way of this altar. It was the first and most necessary stop.
This is the unchangeable geography of salvation. There is no approach to the Holy Father except through the bloody, substitutionary sacrifice of the Son. You do not come to God with your good intentions, your religious efforts, or your clean living. You come as a sinner to the place of execution. You come to the bronze altar. You see the wood of Christ's humanity, and you see it completely covered in the bronze of the judgment you deserved. You see the blood poured out, and you see the sacrifice entirely consumed by the fire of God's holiness.
And you do not just observe it. You flee to it. You, like the fugitive, grab hold of the horns of that altar, the horns of Christ's power to save, and you cling to them for dear life. For it is only there, at the foot of the cross, that a holy God can meet with sinful man. This is not just a piece of ancient furniture. It is the very gate of heaven.