The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 27:1-21

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

The tabernacle and its teachings.

I. THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE.

1. The situation of the altar.

2. The altar, on which the sacrifice for sin is laid, is the place of power. The horns, the symbol of Divine power. The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation.

3. In Christ God gives us a place for accepted offerings. The altar was Israel's as well as God's: upon it were laid their offerings as well as those prescribed for the daily service and the great day of atonement. In Christ we are able to offer sacrifices that are well pleasing to God.

II. THE COURT OF THE TABERNACLE.

1. Its limits were appointed by God himself. The Church must be made no broader than his commandment makes it. In his own time he will make it conterminous with the world; but meanwhile we must obey his commandment and fulfil his purpose by making it conterminous with living faith.

2. It was for all Israel. Living faith in Christ should be a passport to all his churches.

3. How the court was formed—

III. THE OIL FOR THE LAMPS.

1. It was the free-will offering of the people. The light of the world springs from the consecration of believers.

2. It was to be pure. Believers must keep themselves unspotted from the world.

3. It was to be beaten, not pressed, and thus be the finest which the olive could yield. The highest outcome of humanity is the Christ-like life.

4. The lamps were to burn always. Our light, the flame of love, must burn constantly before God, and its radiance be shed always before men.

5. The lamps were to be tended by the ministers of God. The aim of those who labour in weird and doctrine should be the development of Christ-like life, love to God and man.—U.

More for Exodus 27:1-21

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

commentaryMatthew Henry on Exodus 27:1-8In the court before the tabernacle, where the people attended, was an altar, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God. It was of wood overlaid with brass. A grate of b…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Tabernacle and Its Furniture. (b. c. 1491.)THE TABERNACLE AND ITS FURNITURE. (B. C. 1491.) As God intended in the tabernacle to manifest his presence among his people, so there they were to pay their devotions to him, not in the tabernacle itself (into that only…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 27:1-20The brazen altar and court of the tabernacle. From the sanctuary, we pass in this chapter to the outer court, the principal object in which was the brazen altar, or altar of burnt offering. I. THE BRAZEN ALTAR (Exodus 2…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 27:1-8EXPOSITION THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING. From the description of the tabernacle, or sacred tent in which worship was to be offered by the priests, it followed in natural sequence, that directions should be given concerni…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 27:1Thou shalt make an altar. Rather, "the altar." God had already declared that he would have an altar made to him in the place where he should "record his name" (Exodus 20:24). And, even apart from this, an altar would be…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 27:1-8The symbolism of the brazen altar. The noticeable points of this altar are its position, material, ornaments, and purpose or use. I. ITS POSITION. II. ITS MATERIAL. The material was the earth alone constituting the true…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 27:2The horns of it. Literally, "its horns." Horns were not usual adjuncts of altars; indeed they seem to have been peculiar to those of the Israelites. They were projections at the four top comers, probably not unlike the…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 27:3His pans to receive his ashes. Literally, "to cleanse it from fat'—i.e; to receive what remained after burning the victims, which would be ashes mixed with a good deal of fat. His shovels. Those would be used in removin…Joseph S. Exell and contributors