20131009 Wednesday, October 9 2013
Exodus 27: The Altar of Burnt Offering In The Courtyard

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"The LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth"

The people of the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ; see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God) had known burnt offerings long before any Israelites existed. Noah offered a burnt offering after the Flood (see Genesis 5: From Adam To Noah, Genesis 6: Why Did The Flood Happen?, Genesis 7: The Flood, Genesis 8: Noah's Altar, Genesis 9: The LORD's Covenant With Noah and Genesis 10: The First Nations Of The New World):

"8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:20-22 KJV)

When the LORD tested righteous Abraham (see The LORD's Seed Covenants With The Two Men Of Iraq), He told him to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering (see Isaac: Rising From The Ashes and Dust and Ashes).

"22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

22:3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 22:4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son.

And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." (Genesis 22:1-14 KJV)

The altar of burnt offering in the Tabernacle (see Exodus 26: The First Christian Tabernacle) courtyard then was something new to the Israelites (who originated with Abraham's grandson Jacob, who the LORD renamed as "Israel"; see Genesis 32: The Origin Of Israel), but not something new to the LORD - or to His people long before the Exodus.

"27:1 And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. 27:2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass. 27:3 And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. 27:4 And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof. 27:5 And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar. 27:6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass. 27:7 And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it. 27:8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it." (Exodus 27:1-8 KJV)

The LORD (see The Forerunner Of Man and Of God) designed the Tabernacle (see Exodus 26: The First Christian Tabernacle) and its courtyard to the finest detail.

"27:9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side: 27:10 And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. 27:11 And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

27:12 And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. 27:13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. 27:14 The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three. 27:15 And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

27:16 And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four. 27:17 All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass. 27:18 The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass. 27:19 All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass." (Exodus 27:9-19 KJV)

The Tabernacle lamp was fueled with "pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always" (see The Menorah: Lighting The Way)

"27:20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. 27:21 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel." (Exodus 27:2021 KJV)

Fact Finder: The sacrifice of the lamb at Passover is an obvious portrayal of the Messiah. But why did the LORD command the Israelites to sacrifice other animals in their service? What significance did that have to Christianity?
See The Blood Of Bulls And Goats