1 `And thou hast made the altar of shittim wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth -- the altar is square -- and three cubits its height.
2 And thou hast made its horns on its four corners, its horns are of the same, and thou hast overlaid it `with' brass.
3 And thou hast made its pots to remove its ashes, and its shovels, and its bowls, and its forks, and its fire-pans, even all its vessels thou dost make of brass.
4 `And thou hast made for it a grate of net-work of brass, and hast made on the net four rings of brass on its four extremities,
5 and hast put it under the compass of the altar beneath, and the net hath been unto the middle of the altar.
6 `And thou hast made staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and hast overlaid them `with' brass.
7 And the staves have been brought into the rings, and the staves have been on the two sides of the altar in bearing it.
8 Hollow with boards thou dost make it, as it hath been shewed thee in the mount, so do they make `it'.
9 `And thou hast made the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward, hangings for the court of twined linen, a hundred by the cubit `is' the length for the one side,
10 and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets `are' of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets `are' of silver;
11 and so for the north side in length, hangings of a hundred `cubits' in length, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets `are' of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets `are' of silver.
12 `And `for' the breadth of the court at the west side `are' hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
13 And `for' the breadth of the court at the east side, eastward, `are' fifty cubits.
14 And the hangings at the side `are' fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15 And at the second side `are' hangings fifteen `cubits', their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 `And for the gate of the court a covering of twenty cubits, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of an embroiderer; their pillars four, their sockets four.
17 All the pillars of the court round about `are' filleted `with' silver, their pegs `are' silver, and their sockets brass.
18 `The length of the court `is' a hundred by the cubit, and the breadth fifty by fifty, and the height five cubits, of twined linen, and their sockets `are' brass,
19 even all the vessels of the tabernacle, in all its service, and all its pins, and all the pins of the court, `are' brass.
20 `And thou -- thou dost command the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee pure beaten olive oil for the light, to cause the lamp to go up continually;
21 in the tent of meeting, at the outside of the vail, which `is' over the testimony, doth Aaron -- his sons also -- arrange it from evening till morning before Jehovah -- a statute age-during to their generations, from the sons of Israel.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 27
Commentary on Exodus 27 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 27
In this chapter directions are given,
Exd 27:1-8
As God intended in the tabernacle to manifest his presence among his people, so there they were to pay their devotions to him, not in the tabernacle itself (into that only the priests entered as God's domestic servants), but in the court before the tabernacle, where, as common subjects, they attended. There an altar was ordered to be set up, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God: and this altar was to sanctify their gifts. Here they were to present their services to God, as from the mercy-seat he gave his oracles to them; and thus a communion was settled between God and Israel. Moses is here directed about,
And, lastly, he is referred to the pattern shown him, v. 8.
Now this brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins: the wood would have been consumed by the fire from heaven if it had not been secured by the brass; nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the wrath of God if it had not been supported by a divine power. Christ sanctified himself for his church, as their altar (Jn. 17:19), and by his mediation sanctifies the daily services of his people, who have also a right to eat of this altar (Heb. 13:10), for they serve at it as spiritual priests. To the horns of this altar poor sinners fly for refuge when justice pursues them, and they are safe in virtue of the sacrifice there offered.
Exd 27:9-19
Before the tabernacle there was to be a court or yard, enclosed with hangings of the finest linen that was used for tents. This court, according to the common computation of cubits, was fifty yards long, and twenty-five broad. Pillars were set up at convenient distances, in sockets of brass, the pillars filleted with silver, and silver tenter-hooks in them, on which the linen hangings were fastened: the hanging which served for the gate was finer than the rest, v. 16. This court was a type of the church, enclosed and distinguished from the rest of the world, the enclosure supported by pillars, denoting the stability of the church, hung with the clean linen, which is said to be the righteousness of saints, Rev. 19:8. These were the courts David longed for and coveted to reside in (Ps. 84:2, 10), and into which the people of God entered with praise and thanksgiving (Ps. 100:4); yet this court would contain but a few worshippers. Thanks be to God, now, under the gospel, the enclosure is taken down. God's will is that men pray every where; and there is room for all that in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ.
Exd 27:20-21
We read of the candlestick in the twenty-fifth chapter; here is an order given for the keeping of the lamps constantly burning in it, else it was useless; in every candlestick there should be a burning and shining light; candlesticks without candles are as wells without water or as clouds without rain. Now,