Exodus 27 explained: The Altar, the Courtyard, the Lamps

The bronze altar (vv. 1-2)

This was a portable altar about seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high, made of wood covered in bronze, where animal sacrifices were burned. Its corner 'horns' were raised points; elsewhere in the Bible, sacrificial blood is put on them and people in danger grab them to seek safety.

Tools, grate and carrying poles (vv. 3-8)

The bronze tools were for clearing ashes, moving hot coals, handling meat and catching blood for sprinkling. A bronze grate sat partway up the hollow frame, though scholars are unsure exactly how it fitted, and poles slid through rings so the altar could be carried from camp to camp.

The courtyard fence (vv. 9-15)

Linen curtains about seven and a half feet high, hung on posts, made a yard roughly 150 by 75 feet around the sacred tent. Ordinary Israelites came into this courtyard to bring their offerings, while only priests went into the tent itself.

The colorful gate (vv. 16-19)

The one entrance faced east and had an embroidered curtain in blue, purple and scarlet, setting it apart from the plain white walls. Bronze is used out here, while gold was kept for the inner tent, so the materials grew more precious closer to the holiest place.

Oil for the lamps (vv. 20-21)

The people were to supply the finest olive oil, from olives crushed by hand rather than heated, which gave the purest oil. Aaron and his sons, the priests, were to keep the lamps inside the tent burning from evening till morning before the LORD, as a duty for all future generations.

Key verse: Exodus 27:8

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on how far to read the details of this altar and courtyard as deliberate symbols, often of Jesus and his death, versus seeing them mainly as the practical setting for Israel's worship at the time.

Something to think about

Why might so many cultures feel that approaching something sacred needs a set place, a set pattern, and someone to keep watch over it?