1 `And thou hast made the altar of shittim wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth -- the altar is square -- and three cubits its height.
2 And thou hast made its horns on its four corners, its horns are of the same, and thou hast overlaid it `with' brass.
3 And thou hast made its pots to remove its ashes, and its shovels, and its bowls, and its forks, and its fire-pans, even all its vessels thou dost make of brass.
4 `And thou hast made for it a grate of net-work of brass, and hast made on the net four rings of brass on its four extremities,
5 and hast put it under the compass of the altar beneath, and the net hath been unto the middle of the altar.
6 `And thou hast made staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and hast overlaid them `with' brass.
7 And the staves have been brought into the rings, and the staves have been on the two sides of the altar in bearing it.
8 Hollow with boards thou dost make it, as it hath been shewed thee in the mount, so do they make `it'.
9 `And thou hast made the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward, hangings for the court of twined linen, a hundred by the cubit `is' the length for the one side,
10 and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets `are' of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets `are' of silver;
11 and so for the north side in length, hangings of a hundred `cubits' in length, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets `are' of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets `are' of silver.
12 `And `for' the breadth of the court at the west side `are' hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
13 And `for' the breadth of the court at the east side, eastward, `are' fifty cubits.
14 And the hangings at the side `are' fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15 And at the second side `are' hangings fifteen `cubits', their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 `And for the gate of the court a covering of twenty cubits, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of an embroiderer; their pillars four, their sockets four.
17 All the pillars of the court round about `are' filleted `with' silver, their pegs `are' silver, and their sockets brass.
18 `The length of the court `is' a hundred by the cubit, and the breadth fifty by fifty, and the height five cubits, of twined linen, and their sockets `are' brass,
19 even all the vessels of the tabernacle, in all its service, and all its pins, and all the pins of the court, `are' brass.
20 `And thou -- thou dost command the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee pure beaten olive oil for the light, to cause the lamp to go up continually;
21 in the tent of meeting, at the outside of the vail, which `is' over the testimony, doth Aaron -- his sons also -- arrange it from evening till morning before Jehovah -- a statute age-during to their generations, from the sons of Israel.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 27
Commentary on Exodus 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 27
Ex 27:1-21. Altar for Burnt Offering.
1, 2. altar of shittim wood—The dimensions of this altar which was placed at the entrance of the sanctuary were nearly three yards square, and a yard and a half in height. Under the wooden frame of this chest-like altar the inside was hollow, and each corner was to be terminated by "horns"—angular projections, perpendicular or oblique, in the form of horns. The animals to be sacrificed were bound to these (Ps 118:27), and part of the blood was applied to them.
3. shovels—fire shovels for scraping together any of the scattered ashes.
basons—for receiving the blood of the sacrifice to be sprinkled on the people.
fleshhooks—curved, three-pronged forks (1Sa 2:13, 14).
fire-pans—A large sort of vessel, wherein the sacred fire which came down from heaven (Le 9:24) was kept burning, while they cleaned the altar and the grate from the coals and ashes, and while the altar was carried from one place to another in the wilderness [Patrick, Spencer, Le Clerc].
4. a grate of network of brass—sunk latticework to support the fire.
four brazen rings—by which the grating might be lifted and taken away as occasion required from the body of the altar.
5. put it under the compass of the altar beneath—that is, the grating in which they were carried to a clean place (Le 4:12).
6, 7. staves … rings—Those rings were placed at the side through which the poles were inserted on occasions of removal.
9-19. the court of the tabernacle—The enclosure in which the edifice stood was a rectangular court, extending rather more than fifty yards in length and half that space in breadth, and the enclosing parapet was about three yards or half the height of the tabernacle. That parapet consisted of a connected series of curtains, made of fine twined linen yarn, woven into a kind of network, so that the people could see through; but that large curtain which overhung the entrance was of a different texture, being embroidered and dyed with variegated colors, and it was furnished with cords for pulling it up or drawing it aside when the priests had occasion to enter. The curtains of this enclosure were supported on sixty brazen pillars which stood on pedestals of the same metal, but their capitals and fillets were of silver, and the hooks on which they were suspended were of silver also.
19. pins—were designed to hold down the curtains at the bottom, lest the wind should waft them aside.
20, 21. pure oil olive beaten—that is, such as runs from the olives when bruised and without the application of fire.
for the light … Aaron and his sons—were to take charge of lighting it in all time coming.
21. shall order it from evening to morning—The tabernacle having no windows, the lamps required to be lighted during the day. Josephus says that in his time only three were lighted; but his were degenerate times, and there is no Scripture authority for this limitation. But although the priests were obliged from necessity to light them by day, they might have let them go out at night had it not been for this express ordinance.