Exodus 27:21 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

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Bible Comments

The Altar of Burnt Offering. The Court of the Tabernacle. The Oil for the Lamps

1-8. Altar of Burnt Offering.

This is a hollow chest of acacia wood overlaid with bronze, and stands within the court, midway between the outer entrance and the door of the tabernacle.

1. The approximate size of the altar Isaiah 7½ ft. square and 4½ ft. high: see on Exodus 20:26.

2 The horns] The form and significance of these horns are doubtful. They were very important, and seem to have been regarded as the most sacred part of the altar (cp. Amos 3:14). The blood of sin offerings was smeared upon them (Leviticus 4:18), and this was done also at the consecration of the priests (Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 8:15). Criminals clung to them as an asylum (1 Kings 1:50; 1 Kings 2:28). Whether sacrificial victims were bound to them is doubtful, as the text is corrupt in the only passage where this practice seems to be alluded to (Psalms 118:27). It has been suggested that the horns of the altar have some connexion with the worship of Jehovah in the form of a bull: cp. Exodus 32:4; Of the same] RV 'of one piece with it.'

Related Commentaries of Exodus 27:1

Exodus 27:1-21

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.

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.

8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

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:

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.

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.

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.

13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.

14 The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

15 And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

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.

17 All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.

18 The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fiftya every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.

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.

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 burnb always.

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.