Exodus 40:10, commentary and pictures

The verse commands the anointing of the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels and the sanctifying of the altar, so that it becomes most holy. That anointing with oil was an act of consecration to dedicate the sanctuary to God and prepare it for priestly service and ministration, distinct from the later annual cleansing with sacrificial blood, and it made the altar holy only because God declared it holy. The anointing of the earthly sanctuary in both its holy places and all its vessels is the type or pattern for the anointing of the new-covenant sanctuary, the true heavenly tabernacle and its vessels, performed before ministry therein begins. That anointing of the Most Holy foretold in Daniel 9:24 was fulfilled when the heavenly sanctuary was anointed at Jesus' ascension in A.D. 33 preparatory to Christ's ministering therein as High Priest at God's right hand. When that anointing was finished His ministration began in the first apartment, the holy place, not the most holy place, ever in view of the final day of atonement when at the end of His ministry He will enter the most holy place before the ark.

Tabernacle Setting and History

Exodus 40:10 commands the anointing of the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels with oil and the sanctifying of the altar, setting it apart as most holy for priestly service and worship. The altar stood before the door or entrance of the tabernacle, outside the holy and most holy places, together with the brazen laver, inside a court enclosed by curtains of fine twined linen. There Moses offered the burnt offering and the meat or grain offering as the Lord commanded.

In the second year after Israel departed from Egypt, in the first month on the first day of the month, Moses reared up the tabernacle and set its furnishings in order. He put the testimony of the ten commandments in the ark with the mercy-seat upon it, set up the vail, placed the table of shewbread, set up the candlestick with its lamps lighted before the Lord, and set the golden altar of incense before the vail with sweet incense burnt thereon. Then he offered the burnt offering and the meat offering on the outer altar before the door as commanded, and a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle so that Moses was not able to enter, manifesting God's acceptance of the completed work and of the people's repentance.

The verse belongs to the detailed account of the worldly sanctuary in Exodus 25-31 and 35-40, whose inspired synopsis is Hebrews 9:1-5, following instructions God gave Moses in the mount. The structure had sides and one end of upright boards closely joined in silver sockets in the ground and held by bars through rings, roofed with curtains reaching to the ground, closed at the east end by hangings of fine-twined linen, and divided by another curtain into two apartments with the outer twice as large as the inner, with inner walls overlaid with fine gold and a ceiling of purest linen wrought with angels, made exactly according to direction. It was the center of earthly worship, which revolved around the most holy place where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat, and it was the dwelling-place of God among Israel in the wilderness and remained so in the time of the judges, of Samuel, of Saul, and of David, until Solomon built the temple after the same pattern, which from the day the glory of the Lord filled the house was the dwelling-place of the Lord among Israel.

The sanctuary was built after deliverance from Egyptian bondage and the passage through the Red Sea to Sinai, from free-will offerings of the children of Israel that God might dwell among them, by workmen specially endowed by God for the work. Their slavery had unfitted them to comprehend God's great salvation and required character, and the marvelously beautiful structure was a great, multiple object-lesson which by various forms and rites comprehended the teaching of the great plan of salvation to reveal more fully His great love. In it the way of approaching God moved from the simple offering of a lamb for sin on an altar of rough stones with the father of each family as priest and mediator to God's sanctuary dwelling place.

The verse is part of the law of Moses commanded in Horeb that is to be remembered in the last days, especially set forth in Exodus 20 to 40 and Leviticus. It stands together with civil regulations, laws concerning sacrifices and offerings, laws regulating conduct between man and man, health laws, ceremonial laws, and moral laws, with the Ten-Commandment law included under statutes and judgments, not as the Ten-Commandment law alone. It belongs to the worship instructions distinct from the laws governing civil life, in the worship division of Exodus as the book of the going out telling of departure from Egypt and becoming a nation with thorough organization, efficient leadership, and a complete code of laws, and it is one of the laws in which offerings, sacrifices, and types were revealed, so that the substance of the new dispensation may be traced from the shadows of the old.

Moses placing the two tables of the law in the ark and placing the ark in the Most Holy Place of the typical sanctuary carried forward through the entire Old Testament period the ministration begun when he brought the law down from God. The setting up of the tabernacle with the placing of the table and showbread in it on the first day of the first month does not prove that day was a weekly Sabbath, because the ceremonial requirement to set out the showbread every Sabbath was given later. The sanctification of the wilderness tabernacle was performed entirely by Moses in the presence of Aaron and his sons, establishing the due order for Solomon's temple dedication where Solomon as king acted the leading part in everything, even in work supposed to belong exclusively to the priests, exhorting, sacrificing, praying, consecrating the temple, and blessing the people, while the high priest is not noticed and the priests appear only as bearers of the ark.

Consecration and Holiness Meaning

The anointing of the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels with oil, by which the altar was sanctified and set apart as most holy, was an act of consecration performed when the tabernacle was set up and dedicated and its holy places and sacred vessels were prepared for service. It was preparatory to the commencement of priestly service and ministration in the sanctuary, putting its furnishings in order before that service began. This consecration was distinct from the later annual application of sacrificial blood to cleanse the sanctuary from the uncleanness and sins of the people.

The altar became most holy only because God declared it holy after directing Moses to anoint the completed sanctuary and all its vessels, adding His word that it shall be holy. Pouring oil on the tabernacle and its furnishings, even for a lifetime, could never make them holy by the act itself. Nothing but the direct word of God can impart sacredness to any person, thing, or institution. By that sanctification the sanctuary was dedicated to God, so that the priests could not use it as they would their own houses, with holy things kept distinct from ordinary, unholy things.

The altar thus consecrated was used for offering sacrifices to God under the instruction to set up the sanctuary and put its furnishings in order. As part of those furnishings and services it served in a system of object lessons teaching spiritual truths.

Heavenly Sanctuary Pattern

The anointing of the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels belonged to the anointing of the whole earthly sanctuary in both its holy places and all its sacred vessels, performed as an act preparatory to the commencement of ministration in the sanctuary. That earthly anointing before ministry began is the type or pattern for the anointing of the new-covenant sanctuary, the true heavenly tabernacle and its sacred vessels, performed before ministry in that sanctuary begins. The type places this anointing work before ministry begins, and it was fulfilled when the sanctuary of the new covenant, the holy of holies itself, was anointed at Jesus' ascension in A.D. 33 preparatory to Christ's ministering therein, proving His priestly work commenced then. The final event assigned to the seventy weeks is therefore the anointing of the heavenly tabernacle and the opening of its service in the first apartment, which is the Messiah's anointing of the true sanctuary in heaven before His ministry there.

When that earthly anointing was finished the ministration began in the first apartment, the holy place, not the most holy place. The sanctuary's anointing included the most holy place, the holy place, and the sacred vessels, and after this preparation the priests began ministering in the first apartment, following the pattern of heavenly things. This order was the example and shadow of heavenly things, so the anointing of the most holy place at the start of Christ's ministration does not mean He ministers only in the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, nor that Christ began His ministry there. The anointing of the sanctuary therefore had to precede Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary.

That dedication is the figure of the true consecration of the heavenly sanctuary and priesthood when Christ began His ministry in the heavenly places after His resurrection and exaltation to God's right hand. Christ as High Priest does what Moses and Aaron did in its pattern, entering the heavenly sanctuary after leaving the earth. The heavenly consecration was for the good of His creatures for the work of putting away sin, and it included both apartments, the holy place and the most holy place. Christ therefore began ministering in the holy place where the seven lamps and the altar of incense are, ever in view of the final day of atonement, and at the end of His ministry He will enter the most holy place before the ark for His last act of judgment service.

Seventy Weeks Prophecy Fulfillment

The anointing of the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, by which the altar was sanctified and made most holy, shows that the ministry of the earthly tabernacle began with the anointing of its tabernacle and altar and vessels. That opening anointing of both holy places and all the sacred vessels was the preparatory act required before sanctuary ministration could begin. It serves as the pattern for the first act in Christ's more excellent ministry as High Priest, the anointing of the true tabernacle or sanctuary in heaven. The anointing of the Most Holy foretold in Daniel 9:24 is this same act applied to the new-covenant sanctuary, not the earthly tabernacle made with hands but the true heavenly tabernacle where Christ does what Moses and Aaron did in its pattern. That heavenly sanctuary took the place of the earthly pattern about the close of the seventy weeks cut off from the 2300 days for Jerusalem and the earthly sanctuary.

The type places this anointing work before ministry in the sanctuary begins. It was fulfilled when the sanctuary of the new covenant, the holy of holies itself, was anointed at Jesus' ascension in A.D. 33 preparatory to Christ's ministering therein. That anointing proves His priestly work commenced then. Its anointing marks the opening of priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, identified as the final event assigned to the seventy weeks. It is the beginning of service in its first apartment, not the most holy place.

This sanctuary anointing is one possible meaning of Daniel's promise to anoint the Most Holy. It stands alongside the anointing of Christ as He entered His everlasting priesthood.

Worship Lessons and Connections

The wilderness tabernacle commanded to be built was the center of earthly worship, and that worship revolved around the most holy place where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat. There the ark containing God's law was placed beneath the mercy-seat where atoning blood was sprinkled. Its ceremonies and sacrifices taught how atonement could be made. They foreshadowed the pardon of sinners and the final outcomes of the pardoned and the impenitent.

That earthly sanctuary was typical and foreshadowed the better temple, the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. All its rites and ceremonies pointed to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. They pointed to His power to forgive sin, to transform character, and to deliver from burdens. It was the dwelling-place of God among Israel in the wilderness, and remained so in the time of the judges, of Samuel, of Saul, and of David. Solomon afterward built the temple after the same pattern, which from the day the glory of the Lord filled the house was the dwelling-place of the Lord among Israel.

The command belongs to the law commanded in Horeb to be remembered in the last days, set forth especially in Exodus 20 to 40 and Leviticus. It stands together with civil regulations, laws concerning sacrifices and offerings, laws regulating conduct, health laws, ceremonial laws, and moral laws, with the Ten-Commandment law included under statutes and judgments. It is one of the laws in which offerings, sacrifices, and types were revealed. In those shadows the substance of the new dispensation may be traced.