Exodus 30 explained: Incense, Oil, Water and Equal Payment

The gold incense altar (vv. 1-10)

This small gold-covered altar stood just outside the curtain hiding the ark, facing the spot where God promised to meet Moses. Incense rose from it every morning and evening, which later biblical writers linked to prayer, and once a year blood on its corner horns cleansed it on the Day of Atonement.

Half a shekel each (vv. 11-16)

When the men aged twenty and up were counted, each paid half a shekel, a set weight of silver, with rich and poor paying exactly the same as a ransom for their lives. The text ties this to avoiding a plague during the count, though scholars are unsure why a census was seen as risky, and the money paid for running the tent of worship.

The bronze washing basin (vv. 17-21)

A bronze basin of water stood between the tent's entrance and the main altar, and priests had to wash their hands and feet before serving. The warning that they would otherwise die shows how seriously the text treats coming close to God's presence.

The sacred anointing oil (vv. 22-33)

Large amounts of costly spices mixed into olive oil were used to set the tent, its furniture and the priests apart for God alone. Copying the recipe or using it on an ordinary person meant being "cut off" from the people, which may mean being banished or put to death; scholars debate which.

The sacred incense recipe (vv. 34-38)

Four fragrant ingredients in equal amounts, salted and ground, made the only incense allowed, though some of them, like onycha, cannot be identified with certainty. Making it for personal enjoyment carried the same severe penalty, marking this scent as belonging to God alone.

Key verse: Exodus 30:6

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on how far each object here should be read as a symbol pointing to Jesus, such as the incense altar as a picture of him praying for people, versus being read mainly as ancient Israel's worship practice in its own right.

Something to think about

What do you make of a rule where the richest and the poorest person paid exactly the same amount, no more and no less?