Exodus 27:2

2 You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it; and you shall overlay it with brass.

Exodus 27:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners
thereof
Which were either for ornament, or for keeping what was laid upon the altar from falling off, or for the fastening of the sacrifice to them, and were what criminals fled to for refuge, and laid hold on; and may denote the power of Christ, who is the horn of salvation to preserve his people from a final falling away, and from ruin and destruction, and his protection of those that fly to him for refuge; and these horns being at the corners of the altar may respect the four parts of the world, from whence souls come to Christ for everlasting salvation:

his horns shall be of the same;
that is, made of the same wood as the altar itself and so may lead to observe the like things: or "upwards out of it" ^F2, the altar; prominent from it, as the Arabic version, and so the sacrifices could be bound to them, ( Psalms 118:27 ) :

and thou shalt overlay it with brass;
with plates of brass, that it may endure the fire, and preserve the wood from being burnt with it; this may denote not only the brightness, lustre, and glory of Christ, like the shining brass, but his great strength in bearing the sins of his people, and all the punishment due unto them, even the fire of divine wrath, without being consumed by it. Jarchi observes, that it was overlaid with brass, because it was to make atonement for the impudence of the forehead, which is as brass, ( Isaiah 48:4 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (wnmm) "sursum exeo", Noldius, p. 615.

Exodus 27:2 In-Context

1 "You shall make the altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and its height shall be three cubits.

2 You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it; and you shall overlay it with brass.

3 You shall make its pots to take away its ashes, its shovels, its basins, its flesh hooks, and its fire pans: all its vessels you shall make of brass.

4 You shall make a grating for it of network of brass: and on the net you shall make four brazen rings in its four corners.

5 You shall put it under the ledge around the altar beneath, that the net may reach halfway up the altar.