And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.
Thou shalt cleanse the altar. The phrase "when thou hast made an atonement for it," literally should be, upon it; and the purport of the direction is, that, during all the time they were engaged above, from day to day, in offering the appointed sacrifices, the greatest care was to be taken to keep the altar properly cleansed-to remove the ashes, and sprinkle it with the prescribed unction, that at the conclusion of the whole ceremonial the altar itself should be consecrated as much as the ministers who were to officiate at it (Matthew 23:19). But the altar itself, though incapable of sin, or of any moral pollution, was to be purified; because it was constructed of materials belonging to a world lying under a curse for man's sake, and therefore, as it was to be used for sacred purposes, there was needed an expiation for it. The very altar was unfit to be employed in God's service until an atonement had been made for it seven days. It was thenceforth sanctified, and itself, with all its appurtenances, associated with the services of religion.