What is an altar?
An altar is the oldest and simplest structure in Scripture, appearing long before priests, temples, or written law. It answers one question: on what ground can a sinful person come near a holy God?
The plain meaning of the word
At its most basic, the word describes a piece of equipment, not a mood or a ceremony. One reference work traces both its form and its purpose through the earliest generations:
Morrish Bible DictionaryA structure on which to offer sacrifices to God, imitated by the pagan nations in honour of their false gods. The first altar we read of was built by Noah on leaving the ark, and on it he offered burnt offerings of every clean animal and clean bird (Genesis 8:20). Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also built altars to the Lord. These would have been made of stone or earth… The altars appear to have been set up as places of drawing near to God, and sacrifice was the basis of that.
The Hebrew term itself carries no mystery. As one writer notes, "the word in Hebrew simply means 'a place of sacrifice.'"
Where it stood, and why
In Israel's tabernacle the altar was not tucked away at the back. It blocked the path of anyone walking in through the gate.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe bronze altar was also called "the altar of burnt offering." A fire burned on it constantly (Leviticus 6:9), and on it the offerings were consumed… Its position arrested the worshipper as he entered the court, and pointed out that the only way of access to the Lord was by a sacrifice. Death had to take place before fallen man could enter the dwelling place of God.
Two altars, two services
There was a second altar inside, made of different material and used for something entirely different — no animals were ever placed on it.
L. M. GrantThe altar for burning incense stood in the holy place (not the holiest) just in front of the veil. It was made of acacia wood and overlaid, not with copper as the altar of burnt offering was, but with gold. No animal offerings or grain offerings were put on this altar, only incense, which was burned on it to produce a sweet fragrance. This speaks only of worship — the worship that rises spontaneously from hearts renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
One altar deals with sin; the other carries praise. Yet even the golden altar had blood placed on its horns once a year, so that all worship traces back to the same sacrifice.
Built without human improvement
God gave strict rules about how an altar could be made: earth, or stone left exactly as found, with no tool used on it and no steps leading up.
C. H. MackintoshGod wanted man to be near Him. Therefore He would have an altar of earth. In other words, man was to approach God without any efforts or doings of his own.
The roughness was deliberate. An altar of plain earth or unshaped stone "might seem very crude and offensive to artistic taste, but since it pictured death — the death of Christ — God intended it to stand in its native roughness and not be decorated by art and human invention."
The horns: strength that shelters
Four horns rose from the corners of the altar, and blood was sometimes put on them.
Edward DennettThe horn is a symbol of strength. So when the blood was sprinkled on the horns, the whole strength of the altar — displayed in all its completeness — which had been against the sinner, is now exercised on his behalf. The horns of the altar became a place of refuge, an inviolable sanctuary, for all who were rightfully under their protection on the ground of the sprinkled blood.
Joab grabbed those horns while fleeing Solomon and was still executed — he was a murderer with no claim on them.
An altar shapes a life
For Abraham, the altar was never a one-off event. It travelled with him, paired with his tent.
Frank WallaceHe had a tent, showing his pilgrim character, and he had an altar, showing his worship of God. Every time Abraham looked at that altar it reminded him that he could only approach that God on the basis of sacrifice, and it reminded him too of a way of living that matched that sacrifice.
"We have an altar"
Hebrews 13:10 says Christians have one — but not a physical object. Commentators differ on exactly how to name it. Some identify it with Christ Himself: "Believers have only one altar, Christ, the Lamb of God." Others locate it beyond the torn curtain:
The Christian's FriendOur altar is inside the veil; it is our way of approach to God… It is connected only with one sacrifice, offered once for all, which because of its everlasting value never needs to be repeated. Its eternal efficacy is always before God. By it the believer's conscience is purged, so that he can be in God's presence as a cleansed worshipper.
Summary
- Place — An altar is literally "a place of sacrifice": a structure of earth or stone where offerings were made and where people drew near to God.
- Barrier — It stood at the entrance of the tabernacle court and stopped every worshipper, teaching that death had to come before access.
- Pattern — The bronze altar dealt with sin; the golden altar carried incense, and worship rises only because the first altar did its work.
- Untouched — No tool and no steps: God refused any altar improved by human skill or climbed by human effort.
- Refuge — The horns turned the altar's strength from judgment into shelter, but only for those under the sprinkled blood — the picture completed in the one altar Christians now have in Christ.