And thou shalt make an altar for the burning of incense of acacia-wood shalt thou make it;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
a cubit the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof -- square shall it be; and two cubits its height; of itself shall be its horns.
The measurements here are small — one cubit square, two cubits high, with horns that are part of the same piece. This is the golden altar of incense in the sanctuary, a picture of worship and intercession, and commentators read every figure closely.
The altar was built of wood and covered with gold. One writer takes those two materials as a picture of the person of Christ, and finds comfort in what the worshipper saw at the altar:
It was made of the same two materials as the ark and the table of showbread — acacia wood and gold. The altar itself, apart from its use, was a figure of the person of Christ — Christ as both God and man, God manifest in flesh. Here at the altar that matters. It teaches that there is no access to God except through Christ. He is the foundation of both our approach and our worship. The priest — the worshipper — at the altar saw nothing but the gold. God too saw only the gold, which suited Him and suited His own nature. The remembrance of this gives boldness when bowing in His presence.
The altar was square, and each side measured a single cubit. One writer reads both measurements as pointing to Christ:
The top of the altar was a perfect square. That suggests the perfection of our Lord as the channel of praise to God. All in Him was "foursquare," even as the heavenly city, which sets forth His perfections (Revelation 21:16). The one cubit might remind us of the divine uniqueness shown in "the Man Christ Jesus." How good it is that God receives all the praises and prayers of His people according to the perfect nature and infinite value of the Son of God. Our praises and prayers are weak and imperfect. But they are joined with Him who is of infinite value in God's sight.
Commentators differ over what the square shape and the small size say together. One takes the four equal sides as a statement of open reach:
Like the bronze altar, this altar was square. So it teaches what the bronze altar teaches about reaching everyone and about power. It looked out, as it were, towards all the world, and the excellence of its incense — its picture of intercession — was for all.
Another compares the two altars and reads their difference in size as a sober fact:
Foursquare was the golden altar of incense, and four were the number of its horns, showing that all who come by the way of the bronze altar are welcome at the golden altar of incense. That is to say, all who are saved are fitted to be worshippers. But all, sadly, do not come by the way of the bronze altar. The bronze altar had the ample measurement of five cubits by five (foursquare), and three cubits high. The golden altar of incense, a picture of worship and intercession, is only one cubit by one, and two cubits high. That brings out the truth that while the invitation goes out to all, not all respond.
The altar stood twice as tall as it was wide. One writer takes that height as a pointer upward:
The two cubits in height may also emphasize the heavenly character of the altar. Worship means giving all honour and glory to God. It is the highest thing His creatures do. Christ, the true altar, has risen into the highest glory, "far above" everything in earth or heaven. There He leads His people's praises, and sets forth the glories of God in a divine way.
The verse says the horns are part of the altar, but it never counts them. The bronze altar outside has four. One writer reads that silence as instruction:
Scripture names four horns on the bronze altar, for there could be no question that atonement had an earthly and a world-wide side. The horns here in the sanctuary do bear the witness of the blood of the sin offering (Leviticus 4:18). Yet they are not connected with atonement, except as its fruits are shown there, but with the mighty intercession and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. The horns were the highest points at the corners. In that way they may show the full force of what the whole altar means. So they would speak of the strength of our divine Lord. In all that energy He prevails as the Intercessor, and as the One who offers His people's worship.
- Foundation — wood and gold picture Christ as God and man. There is no access to God except through Him.
- Perfection — the square top speaks of Christ as the flawless channel of praise. Our weak prayers rise carried by His infinite value.
- Height — twice as tall as it is wide, the altar marks worship as the highest thing a creature does. Christ is risen far above all to lead it.
- Strength — the horns go uncounted here. They point past atonement's earthly reach to the power in which Christ prevails as Intercessor.
- Reach — the square altar looks out toward all. Commentators differ on its small size: welcome for every believer, or the sad fact that not all come.
And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make upon it a border of gold round about.
This verse finishes the instructions for the altar of incense: gold over every part of it, and a gold rim around the top. Why does God name the covering, the crown and the horns one by one for so small a thing?
The two materials of the altar are the same two used for the ark and the table inside the tent. Commentators read them as a picture of who Christ is, and see them as fitted to the altar's particular use.
Coming to the spiritual meaning of the altar, the acacia wood speaks of the perfect humanity of our Lord Jesus, and the gold of His divine glory. We will see how fitting these materials were for setting out His deity and His humanity. This is in connection with the offering up of praise and worship. The burning of the incense speaks of that: Christ presenting His praises to God, and those of His people.
The wood was real, but once the overlay was on, no wood was visible. One writer moves from what the altar was made of to the worshipper's confidence in coming near.
The altar itself, apart from its use, was a figure of the person of Christ — Christ as both God and man, God revealed in flesh. Connected with the altar, this teaches that there is no access to God except through Christ, and that He is the foundation of both our approach and our worship. The priest (the worshipper) at the altar saw nothing but the gold, and God saw only the gold — that which was suited to Him, suited to His own nature. Remembering this gives boldness when bowing in His presence. It is indeed a wonderful mercy that Christ is before the eye of God, and before the eye of the worshipper — Himself the meeting place between God and His people, as well as the foundation of His people's acceptance.
The verse calls the gold rim a molding; older translations call it a crown. Writers link it with where the Lord Jesus is now.
The golden crown around the altar reminds us that He is now "crowned with glory and honour" where prayer and worship, connected with the altar of incense, are to ascend. This passage shows us the Lord who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. That speaks of the acacia wood. Now He is crowned with glory and honour. His deity, as it were, glorifies His perfect humanity: the crown of pure gold is upon His head.
Which vessels got a crown, and which did not, is part of the picture too.
A crown of gold surrounded the top of the ark, and the golden altar and the table were also crowned with gold. The altar of sacrifice had no crown, but all the vessels of wood and gold had golden crowns.
The verse names the horns along with the top and sides. It never says how many there were, and one writer finds meaning in that.
May we not have here the clue to the missing number of horns? On the bronze altar they were clearly said to be four, for there could be no question that atonement had an earthly and worldwide reach. The horns here in the sanctuary do carry the witness of the blood of the sin offering on them (Lev. 4:18). Even so, they are not connected with atonement, except as its fruits are displayed there, but with the mighty intercession and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. The horns were the high points at the corners, and may in that way suggest that they set out the intensity of meaning of the whole altar. So they would speak of the strength of our divine Lord, in all the energy of which He prevails as the Intercessor and the Offerer of His people's worship.
The gold reached every part, and the shape of the altar carries its own meaning.
The golden altar, like the holy table, was made of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold, and this covered its top, its sides, and its horns. Like the bronze altar, it was square. So it carries the same teaching as the bronze altar about universality and power. It looked out, as it were, towards all the world, and the excellence of its incense, which pictures intercession, was for all.
- Foundation. Acacia wood speaks of Christ's perfect humanity. The gold speaks of His divine glory. Both meet in the altar where worship rises.
- Covering. The gold hid the wood, so God and the worshipper both saw only what suits God's own nature. There is no access to God except through Christ.
- Crown. The rim of gold points to the One now crowned with glory and honour. The altar of sacrifice had no crown; this one does.
- Horns. Gold like the rest, and never counted. They speak not of atonement but of the strength in which Christ prevails as Intercessor and Offerer of His people's worship.
- Reach. Top, sides and horns all gold, and the altar square. Its incense pictured intercession, and that was for all.
And two rings of gold shalt thou make for it under its border; by its two corners shalt thou make [them], on the two sides thereof; and they shall be for receptacles for the staves, with which to carry it.
Exodus 30:4 names the part that made the golden altar of incense portable: gold rings under its rim to hold the poles. The detail looks like carpentry. But commentators read it as a statement about God's people: they were still on the move, and their worship had to travel with them.
Two gold rings sat on opposite sides of the altar, just under the gold crown around its top. The poles slid through them, and the altar travelled on men's shoulders.
Next, and innermost, just facing the veil, was the Altar of Incense — made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Like the Altar of Burnt Offering it had horns at its four corners. On the march the Kohathites carried it on their shoulders by two poles of acacia wood overlaid with gold. These poles passed through two golden rings placed on two of its sides under its crown.
Commentators differ over how many rings there were.
The number of the rings is uncertain, and some believe there were only two in all, at diagonal corners. But by comparison with the ark and the table, there may have been two rings for each side, or four in all — though the wording here is different.
The poles and rings share the altar's own two materials. Those materials picture the One through whom people come to God.
It was made of the two materials which characterized the ark, the table of showbread, and so on — acacia wood and gold. The altar itself, then, apart from its use, was a figure of the person of Christ — Christ as both God and man, God manifest in flesh. Connected with the altar this is significant. It teaches that there is no access to God but through Christ, and that He is the foundation both of our approach and our worship. The priest, the worshipper, at the altar saw nothing but the gold, and God saw only the gold — that which was suited to Him, suited to His own nature. Remembering this gives boldness when we bow in His presence.
Rings and poles exist for one reason: the altar was never meant to stay in one place while Israel travelled.
This golden altar was to follow God's people in all their journeys, and the poles used to carry it remind us of that. However long or dangerous the way, the praises of God are to mark His people. It is a foretaste of that eternal praise which awaits them in glory.
Other writers draw the same lesson from rings and poles throughout the tabernacle furniture — they are the mark of an unfinished journey.
The materials this article was made of, acacia wood overlaid with pure gold, speak as before of the true manhood and supreme deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The rings and poles remind us that we are still in the wilderness, and have not yet reached the heavenly Canaan.
The poles mean a people on the move, and that movement means leaving the world's religion behind.
Poles carried the altar of incense through the wilderness. The altar was to go with the people through all their journey. It is in connection with this pilgrim character, separating from the world and its religion, that the true spirit of praise is kept up: "Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured… Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God" (Hebrews 13:13, 15). With their faces toward Christ, their backs to the world, and seeking the heavenly city — these are the true worshippers.
Numbers adds two coverings for the journey, and the order of them carries its own lesson.
The poles and the rings are given here, and need no comment, since they are of the same material as the altar. In Numbers 4:11 we find that there were two coverings: first a cloth of blue, and second, on the outside, the badgers' skins. The blue — emblem of what is heavenly — was hidden. It was for the eye of God alone. Then came the badgers' skins, standing for that holy watchfulness by which Christ guarded Himself from evil. This is outside, because it is a matter of passing through the wilderness where evil abounds.
- Rings — two gold rings under the moulding held the poles, so men could carry the altar on their shoulders; writers differ over two rings or four.
- Materials — poles, rings and altar are all acacia wood and gold: a picture of Christ as God and man, the only way to God and the foundation of worship.
- Journey — the altar had to follow the people, so it had poles. However long or dangerous the road, praise is to mark them.
- Separation — praise stays alive in those who go out to Christ "outside the camp," facing Him and turning their backs on the world.
- Watchfulness — on the march the heavenly blue lay hidden under badgers' skins: the outward guard needed on a road where evil abounds.
And thou shalt make the staves of acacia-wood, and overlay them with gold.
The golden altar's last building detail is not incense or fire but transport: two poles of the same acacia wood and gold as the altar itself. Why does an altar built for worship inside God's dwelling need carrying poles at all?
One writer reads the two materials as a picture of Christ, and links them to the praise offered at this altar.
Coming to the spiritual meaning of the altar, as we have already learned, the acacia wood speaks of the perfect humanity of our Lord Jesus, and the gold of His divine glory. We will see how fitting these materials were. They show His deity and His humanity, and they belong with the offering up of praise and worship that the burning of the incense pictures: Christ presenting His praises to God, and those of His people.
The poles carry the same two materials as the altar itself.
The text says two rings, under the moulding, on two sides — and commentators differ on whether that means two in total or two per side.
It also had a crown of gold around its edge, and two rings of gold, under the crown, by the corners upon the two sides, for staves. Here too the number of the rings is uncertain, some believing that there were but two in all, at diagonal corners. Possibly, however, from the analogy of the ark and table, there may have been two rings for each side, or four in all, although the language is different.
Another writer settles it on practical grounds, pointing to the altar's size — one cubit square against the ark's two and a half cubits in length:
Two gold rings were to be placed, one on either side, under the border. It was not necessary to have four rings, as in the ark, because of its smaller size. The poles for carrying it were also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold.
Poles exist because the camp moved. One writer ties that travelling life to the spirit of praise.
Now we come to the poles that carried the altar of incense through the wilderness. The altar was to go with the people through all their journey. This pilgrim character — separation from the world and its religion — is what keeps the true spirit of praise alive: "Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured… Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God" (Heb. 13:13-15). With their faces toward Christ, their backs to the world, and seeking the heavenly city, these are the true worshipers.
The incense on this travelling altar burned without stopping. That fact brings comfort to people still on the move.
The incense that he burns with the holy fire is always acceptable to God. So it teaches that the intercession of Christ rises to God and is accepted, because of what He is and what He has done. It therefore cannot fail. And as this incense was perpetual, so He always lives to make intercession for us. For that reason He is able to save His people to the uttermost — all the way through — even to the end of their wilderness journey. What comfort this assurance gives to His people, surrounded by the weaknesses, difficulties, and trials of their desert path!
When the camp packed up, the altar did not travel bare. Numbers 4 adds the wrappings, and one writer draws the lesson from the order of the layers.
The poles and the rings are given here, and need no comment, since they are of the same material as the altar. But in Num. 4:2 we find that there were two coverings: first a cloth of blue, and second, outside it, the badger skins. The blue stands for what is heavenly. That heavenly character flows from the priest's intercession and belongs to his position — and it was hidden. It was for the eye of God alone. Then come the badger skins, which stand for the holy watchfulness by which Christ guarded Himself from evil. This is on the outside, because here it is a question of passing through the wilderness, where evil is everywhere.
The poles say the journey is not over. They also say the singing need not wait for it to be over.
The fifteen Songs of Ascents (Ps. 120–134) bring out the same thought as the poles — praise while they travel, until the end is reached… Every stage of the journey is marked by praise. It runs from the loneliness of the soul living among those who "hate peace" (Ps. 120) to the songs of the servants of the Lord who never stop praising Him day and night (Ps. 134).
- Material — Acacia wood overlaid with gold, the same mix as the altar. It pictures the humanity and the divine glory of Christ, who presents His people's praise.
- Measure — Two gold rings hold the poles. Four were not needed, as on the ark, because this altar was smaller.
- Movement — Poles exist because the camp marched. Worship belongs to a pilgrim people, offered outside the camp with their backs to the world.
- Maintenance — The incense on that altar never stopped. So the intercession it pictures lasts to the end of the desert path.
- Music — Because the poles stay in, praise fills every stage of the road, not only the arrival.
And thou shalt put it in front of the veil which is before the ark of the testimony in front of the mercy-seat which is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
This verse fixes the golden altar's address. It stands before the veil, facing the mercy seat — the place God names for meeting. Its whole meaning hangs on that spot: close enough to the ark to belong there, yet still outside the curtain.
The altar stood in the holy place, where the priests served each day. But the verse locates it by the ark behind the curtain.
Then the altar of incense; this was to be before the veil, that is, by the ark of the testimony, "where I will meet," He says, "with you." Aaron was to burn incense on this every morning, and so in the evening. It was outside for use, but it belonged inside, and was the holy of holies. This had nothing to do with burnt offering, but was of priestly approach.
That oddity shows up again in the New Testament's description of the tabernacle, where the list of what the inner room held names a golden censer but not this altar. One writer reads the placement as a concession:
It would seem that the golden altar of incense really belonged to the Holiest of all, but since the way was not yet open to enter there, God, in His grace, put it just outside the veil, where the priests could always approach it, instead of inside, where it belonged.
The altar was made of acacia wood covered with gold — the same two materials as the ark. Those materials carry meaning before the altar is ever used:
The altar itself therefore — apart from its use — was a figure of the person of Christ — Christ as both God and man, God manifest in flesh. This matters at the altar, because it teaches that there is no access to God except through Christ. He is the foundation of both our approach and our worship. The priest (the worshipper) at the altar saw nothing but the gold, and God saw only the gold — the thing that suited Him, that suited His own nature. The remembrance of this gives boldness when bowing in His presence. It is a wonderful mercy that Christ is before the eye of God, and before the eye of the worshipper. He Himself is the meeting place between God and His people, and the foundation of His people's acceptance.
The tabernacle had two altars. Between them they divide the work of Christ into what happened in public and what goes on out of sight.
As the bronze altar and its sacrifice combined to picture Christ and His cross, so the golden altar and its incense combined to picture Christ and His intercession. Everyone could see the one; the other stayed out of public view. No one could see it except by the lights of the lampstand. Christ suffered on earth, He intercedes in heaven. The history of His cross is open to all. But we can know His intercession only as far as the Holy Spirit gives us light in the Word of God.
The incense burned morning and evening without a break. That sets the length of Christ's intercession:
Remember, Aaron goes into the holy place in all the value of the sacrifice burned on the bronze altar. The incense he burns with the holy fire is always acceptable to God. So it teaches that the intercession of Christ rises to God and is accepted there, because of what He is and what He has done. It cannot therefore fail. This incense never stopped, and in the same way He always lives to make intercession for us. That is why He is able to save His people to the uttermost — all the way through — right to the end of their wilderness journey.
The verse places the altar "before the veil" — a barrier that no longer stands.
We have seen how the cross of Christ has torn the veil that barred the way into the presence of God, and made the holy and most holy places into one grand chamber. As long as the veil was untorn, the altar of incense stood outside it. Now the veil is torn, and the altar stands right before the mercy seat. That shows what our privileged place and work are.
The altar speaks about the believer too. It settles what praise is made of:
The golden altar of incense pictures the worship of the believer. You cannot be enjoying the presence of God without being a worshipper, and that is the service at the golden altar. The material for praise is Christ Himself. Our praise is not our happy feelings; not anything of our own that we bring to God; but the worship we bring is the fragrance of Christ's precious name.
One writer ties this worship to how a believer lives the rest of the week:
If believers are not shining as lights in the world, they cannot burn incense at the golden altar, they are powerless for worship. Walk and worship are related. If a believer is not in the presence of God in his ways all through the week, he will not know what it is to be inside the torn veil when gathered around the Lord at His table.
- Position. The altar stood in the outer room, but it belonged inside, among the most holy things. The verse fixes its address by the ark behind the curtain.
- Person. Wood and gold make it a figure of Christ, God and man. God and the worshipper both look on the same gold.
- Perpetual. Incense morning and evening pictures an intercession that never pauses and never fails. It rests on what Christ is and what He has done.
- Permission. With the veil torn, the altar now stands openly before the mercy seat — that is the believer's place.
- Praise. What rises there is not our feelings but the fragrance of Christ. Believers who are not shining as lights cannot burn incense, so walk and worship rise or fall together.
And Aaron shall burn thereon fragrant incense every morning, when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn the incense.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And when Aaron lighteth the lamps between the two evenings, he shall burn the incense -- a continual incense before Jehovah throughout your generations.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Ye shall offer up no strange incense thereon, nor burnt-offering, nor oblation; neither shall ye pour drink-offering thereon.
The golden altar stood just inside the sanctuary, and this verse guards it: four things must never be offered there. Why would God refuse offerings He Himself had commanded elsewhere, and what makes incense "unauthorized"?
Older translations call unauthorized incense "strange incense," and that is the phrase these writers use. The incense had a recipe, and God refused anything outside it.
First, there must be no strange incense. The incense offered had to be mixed to God's own formula, and He would accept no other... Looking at it as a picture, we are taught that nothing but the fragrance of Christ is acceptable to God in worship. Everything offered apart from Christ is "strange," and God cannot accept it.
People still bring what moves them instead of what God has named. That is why this warning still matters.
Someone might prefer the smell of something else. In the same way, people are often deeply moved by lovely ornaments, robes and stained glass windows, or by beautiful music. They feel a hushed awe and wonder, and they think they have been carried into true worship. But such things can mislead us completely. We should stop and realize that thoughts stirred this way are not centered on the beauty of the person of the Lord Jesus. God knows what true worship is, and human feelings and opinions have no place. God showed what He thought of this when Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, offered strange fire (Lev. 10:1-2). Fire consumed them on the spot. The incense speaks of the fragrances of the Lord Jesus: nothing can take its place before God.
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Nadab and Abihu brought strange fire, not strange incense. One writer keeps the two faults apart:
There is a warning not to offer strange incense. In Leviticus (10:1-3) a further warning is given against strange fire. Strange incense is the worship we call ritualistic: a mere outward form, which puts a man in the place of leader in worship. Strange fire is an emotional worship of the soul, which lacks the Holy Spirit, who alone gives power to worship.
Edward Dennett traces where the fire itself had to come from, and why the priests were kept from wine:
It must be God's fire — fire lit from heaven, from before the Lord (Lev. 9:24), and no other... Natural warmth and natural emotion, however they are produced, would be "strange" fire in this sense. That is surely why the priests were forbidden to drink wine or strong drink when they went into the tabernacle. The effects of wine imitate those the Spirit of God produces.
The burnt offering, grain offering and drink offering were not wrong. They belonged at the other altar, the bronze one. Bringing them here would mix up two things God kept apart.
No burnt offering, no grain offering and no drink offering must be offered on this altar. That would mix up the golden altar with the bronze altar, and so forget our true place as priests. It would be the same mistake now if, when we gather for worship, we took our place at the cross instead of inside the torn veil. Many souls fall into this error without realizing it.
God settled every question of guilt outside. The golden altar is where praise rises.
The golden altar is the symbol of priestly worship. Pardon, personal acceptance and sanctification are not the question here. God settled all those important questions outside His house. Praise, thanksgiving, adoration and worship rise to God from the golden altar without ceasing... When the holy fire of God tested the sweet incense "beaten small," it found nothing there but the rich fragrance of the preciousness of Christ.
Two things must be true of worship at once.
Our worship, to be pure, must have these two qualities: Christ must be the material of it, and the Spirit alone must kindle the flame. This is true worship. Only when our souls are truly happy as we dwell on Christ and His precious atonement, led there by the Holy Spirit, can we worship "in spirit and in truth."
- Prescribed — God fixed the formula for the incense. Worship is not a matter of human preference.
- Strange — God will not accept anything offered apart from Christ, however beautiful it feels.
- Two failures — strange incense is empty outward form, led by a man. Strange fire is emotion without the Spirit.
- Two altars — burnt, grain and drink offerings belonged at the bronze altar. Bringing them here mixes up the cross with the worshipper's place inside the veil.
- One fragrance — God's fire tested the incense and found only the preciousness of Christ. Christ is the material of worship, and the Spirit is its flame.
And Aaron shall make atonement for its horns once in the year with the blood of the sin-offering of atonement shall he make atonement for it, once in the year, throughout your generations it is most holy to Jehovah.
The golden altar was where the priest drew near to God with incense. Yet once a year Aaron had to put blood on its horns. Why did the place of worship itself need atonement? And what does that say about the way we come to God now?
The atonement here is for the altar. One writer traces the reason back to the priest who served there.
Once a year atonement was to be made on the horns of the altar with the blood of the sin offering of atonements (v. 10). The account of this is found in Leviticus 16. The reason for it was the imperfection of the priesthood. The true place of the priest was before the golden altar. Being what he was, he defiled the very place where he approached God (compare Lev. 4:7). So the blood of atonement had to be applied again and again.
Aaron brought this blood in from the yearly sacrifice for the whole nation.
However, once a year Aaron was to put blood on the horns of this altar. This was the blood of the sin offering shed on the great day of atonement (Lev. 16). Aaron brought that blood in and sprinkled it before and on the mercy seat, then on the horns of the golden altar and on the altar (vv. 18-19). So atonement was made on the altar (Ex. 30:10). In this way there was a continual reminder that worship rests on the value of the blood of Christ shed on Calvary.
Applying blood to the horns was how atonement was made under the law, and Israel valued the practice enough that losing it counted as punishment.
To understand this it is necessary to remember that, according to the law of Moses, in order to make atonement for individuals or for the nation, the blood of the sacrifice had to be put on the horns of the altar, as we find in Lev. 4:7: "The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of incense before the Lord, which is in the tent of meeting."
Exodus sets the instructions for the priesthood between the two altars. Blood on the golden altar ties the second altar to the first.
Strictly speaking, then, in the bronze altar we have Christ in the value of His sacrifice, and in the golden altar we have Christ in the value of His intercession. This will give my reader a still clearer sense of why the priestly office comes between the two altars. As we might expect, the two are closely connected, for Christ's intercession is founded on His sacrifice… All rests on the immovable foundation of SHED BLOOD.
The verse ends by calling the altar most holy. That title links the seriousness of sin with the praise offered there.
It is instructive and beautiful to see that verse 10 looks ahead to the day of atonement, when the blood was carried inside. The reconciliation made by that blood made the golden altar most holy to the Lord. It again shows us the intense holiness that goes with dealing with sin. Yet here its effect is to bring God the worship of hearts that are not only thankful, but adoring.
Here the picture and its fulfilment part ways.
This is instructive from its typical contrast. One sacrifice now avails forever. By His one offering Christ has perfected forever those who are sanctified. So they enjoy perpetual access, without interruption, even into the holiest place of all.
What Aaron did each year was temporary, and the blood he carried was not his own.
When Aaron entered the Holiest of all in the tabernacle in the wilderness it was on a temporary basis, and only once a year did it take place. The expression "by His own blood" is significant… Speaking of the offerings required on that day, it says "with blood of others." Those offerings had no permanence. How beautiful to contrast these with "His own blood," by which He has entered in "once," never to be repeated.
Commentators differ here. Reading the Hebrew closely, one writer holds that no atonement was made on this altar; the altar was what the atonement was made about.
But it seems to me that kip-per (to make atonement) must mostly be taken on its own, in the sense of reconciling or appeasing. The word "al" only gives the object about which the kip-per takes place… Now "al" must have different senses here — no atonement was made on the altar of incense.
- Blood first. The altar of incense was where the priest drew near to God. Even that spot needed blood once a year, because the priest defiled it.
- Blood carried in. The blood was not new. It came from the sin offering of the day of atonement — sprinkled on the mercy seat, then on the horns of the golden altar.
- Blood beneath intercession. The bronze altar shows Christ in the value of His sacrifice. The golden altar shows Christ in the value of His intercession. Intercession rests on sacrifice.
- Blood behind worship. That blood made the altar "most holy to the LORD." The holiness of dealing with sin turns into adoring praise.
- Blood once for all. Aaron repeated the work every year with the blood of others. Christ entered once by His own blood, never to repeat it. So access is now unbroken.