Exodus

27.1-21

As with the descriptions of the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place in Exodus 26, this description of the outer court begins with the description of the furnishings. Known as the Court of the Tabernacle, it is distinct for the altar where the sacrifices consumed by fire would be offered, necessarily performed in the open because of the clouds of smoke and fumes from the sacrifices. As God had commanded that His altar be made of unhewn/unworked stone (20:25), the Bronze Altar (vv1-8) is less of an altar as it is an altar case. As the Israelites moved from place to place over the following 40 years, the square wooden altar overlayed with bronze, with a network of bronze grates (v4), would cover or be filled with earth at each location when the people relocated. The bronze horns were of the same piece of bronze that covered the acacia wood (v1) of the altar and was sometimes where criminals would cling when seeking sanctuary (1 Kings 1:50, 2:28). Following this, the description of the dimensions and construction of the court walls (approximately 150 feet x 75 feet) included the opening at one end (vv15-16) and closed with instructions for the sons of Aaron to maintain the Tabernacle perpetually "throughout their generations for the sons of Israel" (v21).

CHAPTER 27

The Bronze Altar

1 “And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.
2 “You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of the same piece, and you shall overlay it with bronze.
3 “You shall make its pots for removing its ashes, and its shovels and its bowls and its flesh hooks and its firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.
4 “You shall make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.
5 “You shall put it beneath, under the ledge of the altar, so that the net will reach halfway down the altar.
6 “You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze.
7 “Its poles shall be inserted into the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried.
8 “You shall make it hollow with planks; as it was shown to you in the mountain, so they shall make it.

The Court of the Tabernacle

9 “You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side there shall be hangings for the court of fine twisted linen one hundred cubits long for one side;
10 and its pillars shall be twenty, with their twenty bases of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.
11 “Likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars with their twenty bases of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.
12 “For the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits with their ten pillars and their ten bases.
13 “The width of the court on the east side toward the sunrise shall be fifty cubits.
14 “The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three bases.
15 “And for the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three bases.
16 “And as for the gate of the court there shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver, with their four pillars and their four bases.
17 “All the pillars around the court shall be furnished with silver bands with their hooks of silver and their bases of bronze.
18 “The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits of fine twisted linen, and their bases of bronze.
19 “All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.
20 “And you shall command the sons of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.
21 “In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout their generations for the sons of Israel.