You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The verse specifies a whole range of tools for the altar, not just for handling ashes, but also for managing blood and rearranging sacrifices. This highlights that worship wasn't just about disposal but also about careful, deliberate engagement with the offerings. Making all these utensils of bronze underscores the durable, practical, and valuable nature required for this sacred service.
You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This passage details the specific implements needed for the bronze altar, which is central to the sacrificial system described in Exodus. Following the instructions for its construction, God specifies the tools for managing ashes, blood, and sacrificial pieces, underscoring the practical and orderly nature of worship. These utensils, all made of bronze, are essential for the ongoing rituals of atonement and communion with God.
The altar of burnt offering wasn't just a place for sacrifice, but a whole operation. The tools listed tell a story of care and respect, even for the remnants of worship.
A Clean Sweep and a Holy Remnant
The list of utensils in Exodus 27:3 isn't just a random inventory. Each tool had a specific purpose in maintaining the sanctity of the altar.
Why bronze? The choice of material for these utensils wasn't arbitrary. It speaks to durability, purity, and the nature of God's covenant demands.
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Enduring and Pure
The instruction that 'all its utensils thou shalt make of bronze' is significant. Bronze was a strong, durable metal, able to withstand the heat and the constant use associated with the altar.
Understand the original words
deshen · Hebrew Noun
The remains of the burnt offering, signifying that the sacrifice was fully consumed and accepted by God; the removal of ashes showed the holiness of the place and the completion of the ritual.
This passage describes the removal of ashes from the altar, detailing how the ashes were to be gathered and placed beside the altar, connecting to the purpose of the pans mentioned in Exodus 27:3.
Exodus 24:6This verse describes the use of basins to collect blood for sprinkling, directly relating to the 'basons' specified in Exodus 27:3 for handling the blood of sacrifices.
1 Samuel 2:13-14This passage shows the misuse of 'fleshhooks' by Eli's sons, illustrating their intended purpose of manipulating sacrificial meat on the altar, which aligns with the function of the fleshhooks in Exodus 27:3.
Leviticus 16:12This verse mentions using 'firepans' filled with burning coals from the altar of burnt offering to burn incense, providing a direct link to the function of the 'firepans' in Exodus 27:3 for transferring embers.
1 Kings 7:45This passage lists similar utensils, such as pots, shovels, and basins, used for Solomon's Temple, showing the continuity of these sacrificial implements and their bronze material from the Tabernacle to the Temple.
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 27:3: "And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass."
And thou shall make his pans to receive his ashes,.... Not to receive them in as they fell, but to gather them up in, and carry them away; and this was done every morning about cockcrowing, not much sooner nor later (c): and his shovels; to throw up the ashes together to be put into the pans; Jarchi describes t…
The verse specifies a whole range of tools for the altar, not just for handling ashes, but also for managing blood and rearranging sacrifices. This highlights that worship wasn't just about disposal but also about careful, deliberate engagement with the offerings. Making all these utensils of bronze underscores the durable, practical, and valuable nature required for this sacred service.
This passage details the specific implements needed for the bronze altar, which is central to the sacrificial system described in Exodus. Following the instructions for its construction, God specifies the tools for managing ashes, blood, and sacrificial pieces, underscoring the practical and orderly nature of worship. These utensils, all made of bronze, are essential for the ongoing rituals of atonement and communion with God.
This passage details the specific implements needed for the bronze altar, which is central to the sacrificial system described in Exodus. Following the instructions for its construction, God specifies the tools for managing ashes, blood, and sacrificial pieces, underscoring the practical and orderly nature of worship. These utensils, all made of bronze, are essential for the ongoing rituals of atonement and communion with God.
"You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze." — The verse specifies a whole range of tools for the altar, not just for handling ashes, but also for managing blood and rearranging sacrifices. This highlights that worship wasn't just about disposal…
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Last reviewed October 2026