The Eighth-Day Altar
Introduction: The Cost of Access
We live in an age that wants God on the cheap. Modern spirituality, even within the church, often treats access to the Almighty as though it were a public utility, something we are entitled to, like running water or electricity. We want a God who is approachable, comfortable, and affirming, a celestial therapist who would never dream of making demands, let alone demands that involve blood. The entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament strikes the modern ear as bizarre at best, and barbaric at worst. We want the fellowship without the fuss, the relationship without the ritual, the acceptance without the atonement.
But the Bible will not have it. The Scriptures insist, from Genesis to Revelation, that the central problem of the universe is this: a holy God and a sinful people cannot live together. The gulf between His perfect righteousness and our polluted rebellion is infinite. And so, if fellowship is to be possible, a bridge must be built. That bridge is the altar. And as Ezekiel's vision here makes abundantly clear, that bridge must be consecrated, purified, and made holy through a bloody and meticulous process before it can ever be of any use to us.
Ezekiel's vision of the new temple and its restored worship is not a blueprint for a future stone building in Jerusalem where animal sacrifices will resume. To think that is to read the New Testament with your eyes closed. This is a prophetic vision, using the language and symbols of the Old Covenant to describe the glorious reality of the New Covenant. This is a vision of the church's worship, centered on the true Altar, Jesus Christ. What we are given here is the spiritual grammar for how God makes a way for us to draw near. And the lesson is this: our access to God was purchased at a great, bloody, and holy cost. Before God can accept our offerings, He must first provide and consecrate the Altar upon which they are offered.
The Text
And He said to me, "Son of man, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is made, to offer burnt offerings on it and to splash blood on it. And you shall give to the Levitical priests who are from the seed of Zadok, who draw near to Me to minister to Me,’ declares Lord Yahweh, ‘a bull from the herd for a sin offering. You shall also take some of its blood and put it on its four horns and on the four corners of the ledge and on the border round about; thus you shall purify it and make atonement for it. And you shall take the bull for the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the house, outside the sanctuary.
Now on the second day you shall bring near a male goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall purify the altar as they purified it with the bull. When you have finished purifying it, you shall present a bull from the herd without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock. And you shall bring them near before Yahweh, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to Yahweh. For seven days you shall offer daily a goat for a sin offering; also a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be offered. For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they ordain it. So they will complete the days. And it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ declares Lord Yahweh."
(Ezekiel 43:18-27 LSB)
An Altar for the Altar (vv. 18-21)
The first thing that ought to strike us as strange is that the altar itself needs to be purified. The place of atonement needs atonement made for it.
"...thus you shall purify it and make atonement for it." (Ezekiel 43:20)
Why? Because this altar, though divinely designed, is still part of the created order. It is built by the hands of men, and it exists in a world contaminated by sin. Before it can be the place where sin is dealt with, it must itself be ritually cleansed from all defilement. This is a profound picture of the incarnation. Jesus Christ is our Altar (Heb. 13:10). In order to serve as the place where our sin is dealt with, He had to enter into our defiled world. He was made "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3), yet He Himself was without sin. The consecration of this altar is a type, a shadow, of the sinless life of Christ, setting Himself apart for the work of atonement.
The blood of the sin offering is applied meticulously. It is put on the four horns, which represent power and authority. It is put on the four corners of the ledge, representing the totality of its surface. And it is put on the border all around, representing its boundaries. This is a complete, comprehensive cleansing. The power of the altar, the scope of the altar, and the boundaries of the altar are all defined and consecrated by blood. There is no aspect of our meeting place with God that is not first purified by the sacrifice.
Then we see a crucial detail. The carcass of the bull, the sin offering, is taken and burned "outside the sanctuary." This is not a mistake. This is a direct foreshadowing of the work of Christ. The author of Hebrews makes this exact point: "For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate" (Hebrews 13:11-12). Our Altar was consecrated for us when Jesus was cast out, bearing our reproach, suffering the curse of God outside the holy city.
A Week of Consecration (vv. 22-26)
This process of purification is not a one-time event. It is a rigorous, seven-day ordeal.
"For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they ordain it." (Ezekiel 43:26 LSB)
The number seven in Scripture is the number of completion, of covenantal perfection. This seven-day ritual signifies that the consecration of our access to God is a complete and finished work. There are no shortcuts to holiness. The daily repetition of a goat for a sin offering, along with a bull and a ram, drives home two points simultaneously. First, it shows the gravity of sin and the high cost of purification. Blood must be shed, again and again. Second, the very need for repetition demonstrates the ultimate inadequacy of these animal sacrifices (Heb. 10:4). They were a constant, bloody reminder that a final, perfect sacrifice was still needed.
In this process, the priests throw salt on the offerings. Salt was a symbol of preservation, purity, and permanence. In the Old Testament, a binding, unbreakable covenant was called a "covenant of salt" (Num. 18:19). This act signifies that the atonement being pictured here is part of an eternal covenant. The work being done is not temporary or provisional in its ultimate meaning. It is establishing a permanent basis for fellowship between God and His people.
The goal of this week is to "ordain" the altar. The Hebrew here is literally "to fill its hands." The altar is being commissioned, empowered, and made ready for its designated purpose. This is what Christ accomplished in the week of His passion. Through His suffering and death, He perfectly consecrated Himself as the place where God and man could meet. His hands were filled with the authority to forgive sin and grant access to the Father.
The Eighth Day of Acceptance (v. 27)
After the seven days of work are complete, we come to the glorious climax. The eighth day arrives.
"So they will complete the days. And it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ declares Lord Yahweh." (Ezekiel 43:27 LSB)
The eighth day in Scripture is the day of new creation. It is the day after the seventh-day Sabbath. It is the day of resurrection. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, which is the eighth day. This is why Christians have always gathered for worship on the Lord's Day, the eighth day. It is the day that celebrates the finished work of our new creation.
Notice the sequence. First, God provides and consecrates the altar through a seven-day work. Only after that work is complete, on the eighth day, can the priests begin to offer the people's offerings. And what is the result? God's glorious declaration: "and I will accept you."
This is the gospel in its purest form. Our acceptance before God is not based on the quality of the offerings we bring. Our acceptance is based entirely on the quality of the Altar on which we bring them. Because Jesus Christ, our Altar, has been perfectly consecrated through His life, death, and resurrection (the seven-day work), God now accepts us when we come to Him. The work of atonement is finished. The days are complete. Now, on the eighth day, the Lord's Day, we are invited to draw near and offer our spiritual sacrifices: our burnt offerings of total self-dedication and our peace offerings of joyful communion and fellowship with Him and with one another.
Our worship, our prayers, our songs, our tithes, our very lives are riddled with imperfection. If we were to offer them on any altar of our own making, God would rightly reject them and us. But when we offer them on the Altar that God Himself has provided and consecrated with the blood of His own Son, He looks at the Altar, not the offering, and He says, "I will accept you." This is not a future hope for a rebuilt temple. This is the present reality for every believer who gathers for worship on the eighth day. The way is open. The Altar is ready. Come, and be accepted.