The Tabernacle Courtyard With the Altar and Laverby abairrn
40:6Exodus 40:6
And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
The verse directs that the altar of burnt offering be set outside the tabernacle building in the courtyard directly before its entrance door. It stood in line between the entrance to the court and the entrance to the tabernacle, nearer the court entrance so it was first reached on entering, with the brazen laver between it and the tabernacle door within the linen-curtained court. The altar was made of brass, about nine feet square and five and a half feet high, for offering burnt offerings and grain offerings and other sacrifices to God. When the tabernacle was reared up on Abib 1 of the second year after leaving Egypt and the offerings were presented upon the altar as commanded, the cloud covered the tent and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle in token of His dwelling among Israel and His acceptance of the people. The altar and its daily offerings were a type of Christ the Lamb of God, representing both the sinner and the sinner's sacrifice and Israel's constant dependence on His atoning blood, in a service that pointed forward to the great Sacrifice until it ended at His death.
Altar's Position and Setting
The command sets the altar of burnt offering outside the tabernacle building itself, in the courtyard directly before its entrance or door. It belongs to the outer court, not to the service carried on inside the first apartment nor to the inner apartments with their furnishings. Within that court it stood in line between the court entrance and the tabernacle entrance, nearer the court entrance. It was therefore the first thing reached on entering the court. The brazen laver stood between the altar and the tabernacle door, both inside the court enclosed by curtains of fine twined linen.
The altar was made of brass, about nine feet square and five and a half feet high. It was used for offering burnt offerings and grain or meat offerings and other sacrifices to God. The verse belongs to the detailed instructions and account for building, furnishing, preparing and setting up the sanctuary according to the pattern shown on the mountain. What was directed was carried out as commanded, for the sanctuary was a sacred place where worship was to center.
The tabernacle was reared up and fitted on Abib 1, the first day of the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt. The table and showbread were also set in place at that time. The sanctuary was made from willing offerings of gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair, skins, shittim wood, oil, spices and stones, with dimensions, material and furnishings exactly as directed. It was part of the established worship given after the deliverance, when Israel became an organized nation.
When the tabernacle was set up and dedicated, the burnt offering and grain or meat offering were presented on this altar as commanded. Afterward the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. This brought God's blessing upon the congregation and building, marking His taking possession of His dwelling among Israel. It showed His acceptance of the people's repentance. The setting up of the tabernacle and the showbread then placed does not prove Abib 1 was a weekly Sabbath, because the ceremonial command to set out the showbread every Sabbath was given later.
Meaning Typology and Application
The altar belonged to the tabernacle that was built so that God might dwell among His people in order to reveal more fully His great love, and that tabernacle became the center of earthly worship whose services revolved around the holy of holies where the law of God rested beneath the mercy seat. Its building particulars, with dimensions, material and furnishings exactly as directed, made it the movable dwelling-place first pitched in the wilderness after Israel was brought out of Egypt. The tabernacle and its service were types of Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, and its furnishings served as lessons in spiritual truths. The laws given through Moses concerning offerings and sacrifices preserve the types of the old dispensation from which the substance of the new dispensation can be traced, for the earthly sanctuary served unto the shadow of heavenly things. The altar where sacrificial victims were offered symbolized the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It represented both the sinner and the sinner's sacrifice in Jesus Christ, set in the courtyard before the entrance to the tabernacle. The daily burnt offerings made upon it in the court before the tabernacle entrance symbolized Israel's consecration to God and constant dependence on Christ's atoning blood.
Moses placed the tables of the law in the ark in the Most Holy Place and established the Levitical priesthood to minister before it, and this typical sanctuary service continued throughout the Old Testament period. That dwelling-place of God among Israel remained through the wilderness and through the time of the judges, Samuel, Saul and David until Solomon built the temple after the same pattern, which from the day the glory of the Lord filled it was God's dwelling-place among Israel. The sanctuary so described in Exodus 25-31 and 35-40 and summed up in Hebrews 9:1-5 was made from willing offerings of gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair, skins, shittim wood, oil, spices and stones. Its sacrifices could not take away sin but pointed penitent sinners forward to Christ the great Sacrifice and to the coming Messiah and His power to forgive sin and transform character. With its typical service it foreshadowed the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, and it passed away entirely and forever at the death of Christ when the temple veil was rent.
The placing of the altar carries forward the unfolding of the plan of redemption as revealed in the Old Testament from the very simple service from Eden to the Exodus, in which a lamb for sin was offered upon an altar made of rough stones with the father of each family acting as priest, or mediator, between his family and God. It belongs to the last division of Exodus, which covers worship as part of the established form of worship given to Israel after their great deliverance from Egypt as they became a nation with thorough organization, efficient leadership, and a complete code of laws. The book containing it is named from the Greek meaning going out, referring to the departure of Israel from Egypt. Once sanctified the sanctuary could not be used as an ordinary house, illustrating that what God has made holy is set apart for His service and must not be treated as ordinary. The direction for the altar is part of a separate set of laws given for the regulation of worship, distinct from the set of laws given for civil government in Exodus 21 to 23. It shows that civil government and religion have essentially different purposes and entirely separate lines of operation to go side by side in the world without commingling, with civil government ordained to control men and regulate their relations toward each other in this life only, and worship designed to bring men back to God.
The verse directs that the altar of burnt offering be set outside the tabernacle building in the courtyard directly before its entrance door. It stood in line between the entrance to the court and the entrance to the tabernacle, nearer the court entrance so it was first reached on entering, with the brazen laver between it and the tabernacle door within the linen-curtained court. The altar was made of brass, about nine feet square and five and a half feet high, for offering burnt offerings and grain offerings and other sacrifices to God. When the tabernacle was reared up on Abib 1 of the second year after leaving Egypt and the offerings were presented upon the altar as commanded, the cloud covered the tent and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle in token of His dwelling among Israel and His acceptance of the people. The altar and its daily offerings were a type of Christ the Lamb of God, representing both the sinner and the sinner's sacrifice and Israel's constant dependence on His atoning blood, in a service that pointed forward to the great Sacrifice until it ended at His death.
Altar's Position and Setting
The command sets the altar of burnt offering outside the tabernacle building itself, in the courtyard directly before its entrance or door. It belongs to the outer court, not to the service carried on inside the first apartment nor to the inner apartments with their furnishings. Within that court it stood in line between the court entrance and the tabernacle entrance, nearer the court entrance. It was therefore the first thing reached on entering the court. The brazen laver stood between the altar and the tabernacle door, both inside the court enclosed by curtains of fine twined linen.
The altar was made of brass, about nine feet square and five and a half feet high. It was used for offering burnt offerings and grain or meat offerings and other sacrifices to God. The verse belongs to the detailed instructions and account for building, furnishing, preparing and setting up the sanctuary according to the pattern shown on the mountain. What was directed was carried out as commanded, for the sanctuary was a sacred place where worship was to center.
The tabernacle was reared up and fitted on Abib 1, the first day of the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt. The table and showbread were also set in place at that time. The sanctuary was made from willing offerings of gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair, skins, shittim wood, oil, spices and stones, with dimensions, material and furnishings exactly as directed. It was part of the established worship given after the deliverance, when Israel became an organized nation.
When the tabernacle was set up and dedicated, the burnt offering and grain or meat offering were presented on this altar as commanded. Afterward the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. This brought God's blessing upon the congregation and building, marking His taking possession of His dwelling among Israel. It showed His acceptance of the people's repentance. The setting up of the tabernacle and the showbread then placed does not prove Abib 1 was a weekly Sabbath, because the ceremonial command to set out the showbread every Sabbath was given later.
Meaning Typology and Application
The altar belonged to the tabernacle that was built so that God might dwell among His people in order to reveal more fully His great love, and that tabernacle became the center of earthly worship whose services revolved around the holy of holies where the law of God rested beneath the mercy seat. Its building particulars, with dimensions, material and furnishings exactly as directed, made it the movable dwelling-place first pitched in the wilderness after Israel was brought out of Egypt. The tabernacle and its service were types of Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, and its furnishings served as lessons in spiritual truths. The laws given through Moses concerning offerings and sacrifices preserve the types of the old dispensation from which the substance of the new dispensation can be traced, for the earthly sanctuary served unto the shadow of heavenly things. The altar where sacrificial victims were offered symbolized the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It represented both the sinner and the sinner's sacrifice in Jesus Christ, set in the courtyard before the entrance to the tabernacle. The daily burnt offerings made upon it in the court before the tabernacle entrance symbolized Israel's consecration to God and constant dependence on Christ's atoning blood.
Moses placed the tables of the law in the ark in the Most Holy Place and established the Levitical priesthood to minister before it, and this typical sanctuary service continued throughout the Old Testament period. That dwelling-place of God among Israel remained through the wilderness and through the time of the judges, Samuel, Saul and David until Solomon built the temple after the same pattern, which from the day the glory of the Lord filled it was God's dwelling-place among Israel. The sanctuary so described in Exodus 25-31 and 35-40 and summed up in Hebrews 9:1-5 was made from willing offerings of gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair, skins, shittim wood, oil, spices and stones. Its sacrifices could not take away sin but pointed penitent sinners forward to Christ the great Sacrifice and to the coming Messiah and His power to forgive sin and transform character. With its typical service it foreshadowed the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, and it passed away entirely and forever at the death of Christ when the temple veil was rent.
The placing of the altar carries forward the unfolding of the plan of redemption as revealed in the Old Testament from the very simple service from Eden to the Exodus, in which a lamb for sin was offered upon an altar made of rough stones with the father of each family acting as priest, or mediator, between his family and God. It belongs to the last division of Exodus, which covers worship as part of the established form of worship given to Israel after their great deliverance from Egypt as they became a nation with thorough organization, efficient leadership, and a complete code of laws. The book containing it is named from the Greek meaning going out, referring to the departure of Israel from Egypt. Once sanctified the sanctuary could not be used as an ordinary house, illustrating that what God has made holy is set apart for His service and must not be treated as ordinary. The direction for the altar is part of a separate set of laws given for the regulation of worship, distinct from the set of laws given for civil government in Exodus 21 to 23. It shows that civil government and religion have essentially different purposes and entirely separate lines of operation to go side by side in the world without commingling, with civil government ordained to control men and regulate their relations toward each other in this life only, and worship designed to bring men back to God.