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Exodus 27 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Bronze Altar

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. ² And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. ³ 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. ⁴ You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. ⁵ And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar. ⁶ And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. ⁷ And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. ⁸ You shall make it hollow, with boards. As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.

The Court of the Tabernacle

⁹ “You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twined linen a hundred cubits long for one side. ¹⁰ Its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. ¹¹ And likewise for its length on the north side there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, its pillars twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. ¹² And for the breadth of the court on the west side there shall be hangings for fifty cubits, with ten pillars and ten bases. ¹³ The breadth of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits. ¹⁴ The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. ¹⁵ On the other side the hangings shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. ¹⁶ For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. It shall have four pillars and with them four bases. ¹⁷ All the pillars around the court shall be filleted with silver. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze. ¹⁸ The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, the breadth fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twined linen and bases of bronze. ¹⁹ All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.

Oil for the Lamp

²⁰ “You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. ²¹ In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

REFLECTION

• This chapter gives instructions on building altar and the courtyard. Read it over and pay special attention to the portion of altar building.
• A sanctuary is a place where we immerse ourselves in God. We, like the Israelites, gather there to listen to the reading of the Scriptures, from which we hear stories of God’s search for us, His love for us, His embrace of us, and His covenant commitment to us.
• In the sanctuary described in Ex 25-27, we see an altar. In our sanctuaries today, we see a cross.  Through the sacrificial system, God instructed Israel about the consequences of their sins and foreshadowed the need for a sacrificial system in Christ, who gave Himself once and for all for our sins.
• Just as the Israelites brought their offerings to the sanctuary, so we bring our offerings when we come to church. Like the Israelites, we sing hymns, we pray, we confess our sins, we give thanks, and we offer our lives to God.  The sanctuary isn’t a showplace where the audience comes and watches what takes place onstage.  The sanctuary isn’t a lecture hall where students sit, listen to a teacher, and take notes.  The sanctuary is a place of being, of sinking ourselves into the reality of a God-created world, a Christ-saved world, and a Spirit-blessed world.
• And that is what our churches today should be.
• What is your ideal church like? As the church is at the point of looking ahead for further development, do you and all members of your church understand God’s “blue print” so that you may work together to build this sanctuary for God?  Pray for the church development.  Listen for the role God wants you to play in the blue print.