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Exodus 27

Ex. 27:1 KJV (With Strong’s)

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And thou shalt make
`asah (Hebrew #6213)
to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application (as follows)
KJV usage: accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, X certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, + displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, + feast, (fight-)ing man, + finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, + hinder, hold ((a feast)), X indeed, + be industrious, + journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, + officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, X sacrifice, serve, set, shew, X sin, spend, X surely, take, X thoroughly, trim, X very, + vex, be (warr-)ior, work(-man), yield, use.
Pronounce: aw-saw'
Origin: a primitive root
u an altar
mizbeach (Hebrew #4196)
an altar
KJV usage: altar.
Pronounce: miz-bay'-akh
Origin: from 2076
of shittim
shittah (Hebrew #7848)
the acacia (from its scourging thorns)
KJV usage: shittah, shittim. See also 1029.
Pronounce: shit-taw'
Origin: feminine of a derivative (only in the plural shittiym {shit-teem'}; meaning the sticks of wood) from the same as 7850
wood
`ets (Hebrew #6086)
a tree (from its firmness); hence, wood (plural sticks)
KJV usage: + carpenter, gallows, helve, + pine, plank, staff, stalk, stick, stock, timber, tree, wood.
Pronounce: ates
Origin: from 6095
, five
chamesh (Hebrew #2568)
a primitive numeral; five
KJV usage: fif(-teen), fifth, five (X apiece).
Pronounce: khaw-maysh'
Origin: masculine chamishshah {kham-ish-shaw}
cubits
'ammah (Hebrew #520)
properly, a mother (i.e. unit of measure, or the fore-arm (below the elbow), i.e. a cubit; also a door-base (as a bond of the entrance)
KJV usage: cubit, + hundred (by exchange for 3967), measure, post.
Pronounce: am-maw'
Origin: prolonged from 517
long
'orek (Hebrew #753)
length
KJV usage: + forever, length, long.
Pronounce: o'rek'
Origin: from 748
, and five
chamesh (Hebrew #2568)
a primitive numeral; five
KJV usage: fif(-teen), fifth, five (X apiece).
Pronounce: khaw-maysh'
Origin: masculine chamishshah {kham-ish-shaw}
cubits
'ammah (Hebrew #520)
properly, a mother (i.e. unit of measure, or the fore-arm (below the elbow), i.e. a cubit; also a door-base (as a bond of the entrance)
KJV usage: cubit, + hundred (by exchange for 3967), measure, post.
Pronounce: am-maw'
Origin: prolonged from 517
broad
rochab (Hebrew #7341)
width (literally or figuratively)
KJV usage: breadth, broad, largeness, thickness, wideness.
Pronounce: ro'-khab
Origin: from 7337
; the altar
mizbeach (Hebrew #4196)
an altar
KJV usage: altar.
Pronounce: miz-bay'-akh
Origin: from 2076
shall be foursquare
raba` (Hebrew #7251)
properly, to be four (sided); used only as denominative of 7253; to be quadrate
KJV usage: (four-)square(-d).
Pronounce: raw-bah'
Origin: a primitive root (rather identical with 7250 through the idea of sprawling "at all fours" (or possibly the reverse is the order of deriv.); compare 702)
: and the height
qowmah (Hebrew #6967)
height
KJV usage: X along, height, high, stature, tall.
Pronounce: ko-maw'
Origin: from 6965
thereof shall be three
shalowsh (Hebrew #7969)
masculine shlowshah {shel-o-shaw'}; or shloshah {shel-o-shaw'}; a primitive number; three; occasionally (ordinal) third, or (multipl.) thrice
KJV usage: + fork, + often(-times), third, thir(-teen, -teenth), three, + thrice. Compare 7991.
Pronounce: shaw-loshe'
Origin: or shalosh {shaw-loshe'}
cubits
'ammah (Hebrew #520)
properly, a mother (i.e. unit of measure, or the fore-arm (below the elbow), i.e. a cubit; also a door-base (as a bond of the entrance)
KJV usage: cubit, + hundred (by exchange for 3967), measure, post.
Pronounce: am-maw'
Origin: prolonged from 517
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u
Ex. 38:1• 1And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof. (Ex. 38:1)
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2 Chron. 4:1• 1Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof. (2 Chron. 4:1)
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Ezek. 43:13• 13And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar. (Ezek. 43:13)
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Heb. 13:10• 10We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. (Heb. 13:10)

More on:

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Altar,
Foursquare,
Shittim Wood; Shittah Tree,
Three

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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1-8:  The altar of burnt offering, with the vessels thereof.
9-17:  The court of the tabernacle inclosed with hangings and pillars.
18-19:  The measure of the court, and the furniture of brass.
20-21:  The oil for the lamp.
altar of shittim wood.
Ex. 20:24‑26• 24An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
 25And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
 26Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. (Ex. 20:24‑26)
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Ex. 24:4• 4And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. (Ex. 24:4)
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Ex. 38:1‑7• 1And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.
 2And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.
 3And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.
 4And he made for the altar a brazen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.
 5And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.
 6And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.
 7And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards. (Ex. 38:1‑7)
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Ex. 40:10,29• 10And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy.
 29And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering; as the Lord commanded Moses. (Ex. 40:10,29)
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2 Sam. 24:18• 18And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. (2 Sam. 24:18)
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2 Chron. 4:1• 1Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof. (2 Chron. 4:1)
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Ezek. 43:13‑17• 13And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar.
 14And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth one cubit.
 15So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns.
 16And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof.
 17And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his stairs shall look toward the east. (Ezek. 43:13‑17)
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Heb. 13:10• 10We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. (Heb. 13:10)
• In the court God meets the world (I do not speak of the world itself through which we walk:1 this was the desert); but it is where those coming up out of the world draw near to God, where His people (not as priests or as saints, but as sinful men) draw near to Him. But in coming out of the world, it is an enclosure of God’s, who is known only to those who enter therein. There the altar of burnt offerings was first found; God manifested in justice as to sin, but in grace to the sinner. (“Exodus 27” by J.N. Darby)
• Passing outwards from the holy place, the first thing met, when the Tabernacle and all its arrangements were duly ordered, was the laver. But this is omitted here for the same reason that the altar of incense was not described in the last chapter. It was a symbol of approach, and not of display; and consequently the brazen altar is next given. (“The Brazen Altar: Exodus 27:1-8” by E. Dennett)
• The shittim wood is found here equally with the ark, the table. But it was overlaid with brass instead of gold. Brass, indeed, is its characteristic. Now brass is divine righteousness, not like that symbolized by the gold according to what He is in Himself, suited, that is, to the divine nature, but as testing man in responsibility. It has always allied with it, on this account, a certain judicial aspect, inasmuch as, meeting man in responsibility, it of necessity judges him because he is a sinner. The altar as a whole, then, is God manifested in righteousness. Hence it formed the meeting place between God and the sinner. (“The Brazen Altar: Exodus 27:1-8” by E. Dennett)
• It was an altar—and as such was a symbol of the cross of Christ. When the sinner therefore came to the altar, when he came believing in the efficacy of the sacrifice, though the altar tested him in responsibility, he found that all his sins were gone, and that he could stand before God in all the sweet savor of the sacrifice which had been consumed there. Its very position displays this character. It was just outside of the world, and just inside the court. So when Christ was rejected, He was cast out of the world—lifted up above it, when nailed to the shameful tree. (“The Brazen Altar: Exodus 27:1-8” by E. Dennett)
• It was the burnt-offering, and not the sin-offering, which was placed upon the brazen altar. The sin-offering was burnt without the camp. The brazen altar teaches rather what God found—His part—in the death of Christ; and it is not until we have learned this truth that we can draw near with holy boldness into His presence. (“The Brazen Altar: Exodus 27:1-8” by E. Dennett)
• Parts of the meat-offering, of the peace-offering, and indeed of the sin-offering, were also burnt upon “the altar of burnt-offering” (Ex. 30:28) (See Lev. 2:2; 3:5; 4:10.)11 (“The Brazen Altar: Exodus 27:1-8” by E. Dennett)
• Thus, if the altar tested man in righteousness, it revealed the grace that had provided a perfect sacrifice on his behalf; so that God could meet him in grace and love, as well as in righteousness, and give him a title to stand in perfect acceptance in His holy presence. The very size of the altar illustrates this truth. It was five cubits square. It was responsibility man-wards completely displayed and met in the cross of Christ. (“The Brazen Altar: Exodus 27:1-8” by E. Dennett)

J. N. Darby Translation

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And thou shalt make the altar of acacia-wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth; the altar shall be square; and the height thereof three cubits.

W. Kelly Translation

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And thou shalt make the altar of acacia-wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth; the altar shall be square; and the height thereof three cubits.

WK Verse Note

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(Note: Words in italics have been inserted from the J. N. Darby translation where the W. Kelly translation doesn’t exist.)