Exodus 27:1
“You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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While we might just see dimensions, this "altar" was actually a hollow frame of acacia wood, intended to be filled with earth. This reveals that the true sacrifice happened on the ground God designated, not on the wood itself, emphasizing His presence and the grounded reality of atonement.
Following detailed instructions for the Tabernacle's structure, God now commands the construction of the altar of burnt offering, a crucial element for the people's worship. This altar, placed in the outer court, was where sacrifices would be made, bridging the gap between sinful humanity and a holy God. Its precise dimensions and materials are given, setting the stage for the detailed regulations that follow in this chapter concerning the surrounding court and its furnishings.
Understand the original words
mizbeach · Hebrew Noun
The structure where sacrifices were offered to God to atone for sin or to express thanksgiving, symbolizing the necessity of substitutionary atonement to approach a holy God.
shittim · Hebrew Noun
A durable, hard wood native to the desert regions of the Sinai Peninsula, often used in the construction of the Tabernacle and its furniture because of its resistance to decay.
ammah · Hebrew Noun
A unit of measurement in the ancient Near East, generally defined as the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, approximately 18 inches.
This earlier command to build an altar of earth or unhewn stone, contrasted with the acacia wood here, emphasizes that God's presence and acceptance are key, not just the material. The portable,
Leviticus 1:11The altar's purpose was for the shedding of blood and burning of sacrifices, symbolizing the need for atonement and the fiery judgment for sin. This passage details how animals were to be prepared for the altar, highlighting the gravity of sin.
Hebrews 9:14This New Testament passage directly connects Christ's sacrifice, empowered 'through the eternal Spirit,' to the Old Testament sacrifices. It elevates the altar's symbolism to Christ himself, who offered himself without blemish to God.
Ezekiel 43:13-17This vision of a future temple altar, with its specific dimensions and emphasis on its foundational structure, echoes the importance of the tabernacle altar's design and its enduring significance. It shows that the concept of a divinely appointed altar remained central throughout Israel's history.
1 Corinthians 10:18This verse highlights that those who share in the sacrifice (the people of Israel) are also participants with the altar. In the New Covenant, this points to believers sharing in Christ's sacrifice.
calvinExodus 27:1-8: "And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits."
- And thou shalt make an altar. The altar of whole burnt-offerings (holocaustorum) is here described, which, however, it was called by synecdoche, for not only entire victims were burnt there, but also parts of them only, as we shall see in Leviticus. The burnt-offerings received their name from their ascending, [14…
gillExodus 27:1: "And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits."
And thou shall make an altar of shittim wood,.... This is a different altar from that made of earth before the tabernacle was built, Exodus 20:24 and from the altar of incense, Exodus 30:1 this was to offer burnt offerings on, and was placed at the door of the tabernacle, in the court of the people, where they brought…
While we might just see dimensions, this "altar" was actually a hollow frame of acacia wood, intended to be filled with earth. This reveals that the true sacrifice happened on the ground God designated, not on the wood itself, emphasizing His presence and the grounded reality of atonement.
Following detailed instructions for the Tabernacle's structure, God now commands the construction of the altar of burnt offering, a crucial element for the people's worship. This altar, placed in the outer court, was where sacrifices would be made, bridging the gap between sinful humanity and a holy God. Its precise dimensions and materials are given, setting the stage for the detailed regulations that follow in this chapter concerning the surrounding court and its furnishings.
Following detailed instructions for the Tabernacle's structure, God now commands the construction of the altar of burnt offering, a crucial element for the people's worship. This altar, placed in the outer court, was where sacrifices would be made, bridging the gap between sinful humanity and a holy God. Its precise dimensions and materials are given, setting the stage for the detailed regulations that follow in this chapter concerning the surrounding court and its furnishings.
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"“You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits." — While we might just see dimensions, this "altar" was actually a hollow frame of acacia wood, intended to be filled with earth. This reveals that the true sacrifice happened on the ground God design…
