Exodus 27

1 "You shall make the altar of acacia 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.

6 You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with brass.

7 Its poles shall be put into the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar, when carrying it.

8 Hollow with planks shall you make it: as it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it.

9 "You shall make the court of the tent: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side:

10 and the pillars of it shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.

11 Likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and the pillars of it twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver.

12 For the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.

13 The breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.

14 The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

15 For the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

16 For the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four.

17 All the pillars of the court round about shall be filleted with silver; their hooks of silver, and their sockets of brass.

18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits, of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.

19 All the instruments of the tent in all its service, and all the pins of it, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.

20 "You shall command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually.

21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

Exodus 27 Commentary

Chapter 27

The altar of burnt offerings. (1-8) The court of the tabernacle. (9-19) The oil for the lamps. (20,21)

Verses 1-8 In the court before the tabernacle, where the people attended, was an altar, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God. It was of wood overlaid with brass. A grate of brass was let into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt. It was made of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the ashes might fall through. This brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. The wood had 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 Divine power.

Verses 9-19 The tabernacle was enclosed in a court, about sixty yards long and thirty broad, formed by curtains hung upon brazen pillars, fixed in brazen sockets. Within this enclosure the priests and Levites offered the sacrifices, and thither the Jewish people were admitted. These distinctions represented the difference between the visible nominal church, and the true spiritual church, which alone has access to God, and communion with him.

Verses 20-21 The pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which all believers receive from Christ, the good Olive, and without which our light cannot shine before men. The priests were to light the lamps, and tend them. It is the work of ministers, by preaching and expounding the Scriptures, which are as a lamp, to enlighten the church, God's tabernacle upon earth. Blessed be God, this light is not now confined to the Jewish tabernacle, but is a light to lighten the gentiles, and for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 27

This chapter treats of the altar of burnt offering, and of all things relative to it, Ex 27:1-8, of the court of the tabernacle, its hangings on each side, with pillars, sockets, and hooks for them, Ex 27:9-19 and it is concluded with an order to the Israelites to bring oil olive for the lamp of the sanctuary, Ex 27:20,21.