We have now arrived at the brazen altar which stood at the door of the tabernacle; and I would call my reader’s most particular attention to the order of the Holy Spirit in this portion of our book. We have already remarked that Exodus 25 to Exodus 27:1919All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass. (Exodus 27:19) forms a distinct division, in which we are furnished with a description of the ark and mercy-seat, the table and candlestick, the curtains and the vail; and, lastly, the brazen altar and the court in which that altar stood. If my reader will turn to Exodus 35:1515And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle, (Exodus 35:15), Exodus 37:2525And he made the incense altar of shittim wood: the length of it was a cubit, and the breadth of it a cubit; it was foursquare; and two cubits was the height of it; the horns thereof were of the same. (Exodus 37:25), and Exodus 40:2626And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail: (Exodus 40:26), he will remark that the golden altar of incense is noticed, in each of the three instances, between the candlestick and the brazen altar. Whereas, when Jehovah is giving directions to Moses, the brazen altar is introduced immediately after the candlestick and the curtains of the tabernacle. Now, inasmuch as there must be a divine reason for this difference, it is the privilege of every diligent and intelligent student of the word to inquire what that reason is.
Why, then, does the Lord, when giving directions about the furniture of the “holy place,” omit the altar of incense and pass out to the brazen altar which stood at the door of the tabernacle? The reason, I believe, is simply this. He first describes the mode in which He would manifest Himself to man: and then He describes the mode of man’s approach to Him. He took His seat upon the throne, as “the Lord of all the earth.” The beams of His glory were hidden behind the vail — type of Christ’s flesh (Heb. 10:2020By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (Hebrews 10:20)); but there was the manifestation of Himself, in connection with man, as in “the pure table,” and by the light and power of the Holy Spirit, as in the candlestick. Then we have the manifested character of Christ as a man down here on this earth, as seen in the curtains and coverings of the tabernacle. And, finally, we have the brazen altar as the grand exhibition of the meeting-place between a holy God and a sinner. This conducts us, as it were, to the extreme point, from which we return, in company with Aaron and his sons, back to the holy place, the ordinary priestly position, where stood the golden altar of incense. Thus the order is strikingly beautiful. The golden altar is not spoken of until there is a priest to burn incense thereon, for Jehovah showed. Moses the patterns of things in the heavens according to the order in which these things are to be apprehended by faith. On the other hand, when Moses gives directions to the congregations (Ex. 35), when he records the labors of “Bezaleel and Aholiab,” (Ex. 37 and 38), and when he sets up the tabernacle (Ex. 40), he follows the simple order in which the furniture was placed.
The prayerful investigation of this interesting subject, and a comparison of the passages above referred to, will amply repay my reader. We shall now examine the brazen altar.
This altar was the place where the sinner approached God, in the power and efficacy of the blood of atonement. It stood “at the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation,” and on it all the blood was shed. It was composed of “shittim wood and brass.” The wood was the same as that of the golden altar of incense; but the metal was different, and the reason of this difference is obvious. The altar of brass was the place where sin was dealt with according to the divine judgment concerning it. The altar of gold was the place from whence the precious fragrance of Christ’s acceptableness ascended to the throne of God. The “shittim wood,” as the figure of Christ’s humanity, must be the same in each case; but in the brazen altar we see Christ meeting the fire of divine justice; in the golden altar, we behold Him feeding the divine affections. At the former, the fire of divine wrath was quenched, at the latter, the fire of priestly worship is kindled. The soul delights to find Christ in both; but the altar of brass is what meets the need of a guilty conscience. It is the very first thing for a poor, helpless, needy, convicted sinner. There cannot be settled peace, in reference to the question of sin, until the eye of faith rests on Christ as the antitype of the brazen altar. I must see my sin reduced to ashes in the pan of that altar, before I can enjoy rest of conscience in the presence of God. It is when I know, by faith in the record of God, that He Himself has dealt with my sin in the Person of Christ, at the brazen altar — that He has satisfied all His own righteous claims — that He has put away my sin out of His holy presence, so that it can never come back again — it is then, but not until then, that I can enjoy divine and everlasting peace.
I would here offer a remark as to the real meaning of the “gold” and “brass” in the furniture of the tabernacle. “Gold” is the symbol of divine righteousness, or the divine nature in “the man Christ Jesus.” “Brass” is the symbol of righteousness, demanding judgment of sin, as in the brazen altar; or the judgment of uncleanness, as in the brazen laver. This will account for the fact that inside the tent of the tabernacle, all was gold — the ark, the mercy-seat, the table, the candlestick, the altar of incense. All these were the symbols of the divine nature — the inherent personal excellence of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, outside the tent of the tabernacle — all was brass — the brazen altar and its vessels, the laver and its foot.
The claims of righteousness, as to sin and uncleanness, must be divinely met before there can be any enjoyment of the precious mysteries of Christ’s Person, as unfolded in the inner sanctuary of God. It is when I see all sin and all uncleanness perfectly judged and washed away, that I can, as a priest, draw nigh and worship in the holy place, and enjoy the full display of all the beauty and excellency of the God-man, Christ Jesus.
The reader can, with much profit, follow out the application of this thought in detail, not merely in the study of the tabernacle and the temple, but also in various passages of the word; for example, in the first chapter of Revelation, Christ is seen “girt about the paps with a golden girdle,” and having “his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.” “The golden girdle” is the symbol of His intrinsic righteousness. The “feet like unto fine brass,” express the unmitigated judgment of evil — He cannot tolerate evil, but must crush it beneath His feet.
Such is the Christ with whom we have to do. He judges sin, but He saves the sinner. Faith sees sin reduced to ashes at the brazen altar; it sees all uncleanness washed away at the brazen laver: and, finally, it enjoys Christ, as He is unfolded, in the secret of the divine presence, by the light and power of the Holy Spirit. It finds Him at the golden altar, in all the value of His intercession. It feeds on Him at the pure table. It recognizes Him in the ark and mercy-seat as the One who answers all the claims of justice, and, at the same time, meets all human need. It beholds Him in the vail, with all its mystic figures. It reads His precious name on everything. Oh! for a heart to prize and praise this matchless, glorious Christ!
Nothing can be of more vital importance than a clear understanding of the doctrine of the brazen altar; that is to say, of the doctrine taught there. It is from the want of clearness as to this, that so many souls go mourning all their days. They have never had a clean, thorough settlement of the whole matter of their guilt at the brazen altar. They have never really beheld, by faith, God Himself settling on the cross, the entire question of their sins. They are seeking peace for their uneasy consciences in regeneration and its evidences, — the fruits of the Spirit, frames, feelings, experiences, — things quite right and most valuable in themselves, but they are not the ground of peace. What fills the soul with perfect peace is the knowledge of what God hath wrought at the brazen altar. The ashes in yonder pan tell me the peace-giving story that ALL IS DONE. The believer’s sins were all put away by God’s own hand of redeeming love. “He hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5). All sin must be judged: but the believer’s sins have been already judged in the cross; hence, he is perfectly justified. To suppose that there could be anything against the very feeblest believer, is to deny the entire work of the cross. His sins and iniquities have been all put away by God Himself, and therefore they must needs be perfectly put away. They all went with the outpoured life of the Lamb of God.
Dear Christian reader, see that your heart is thoroughly established in the peace which Jesus has made “by the blood of His cross.”