READ Ex. 27:1-81And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. 2And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass. 3And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. 4And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof. 5And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar. 6And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass. 7And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it. 8Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was showed thee in the mount, so shall they make it. (Exodus 27:1‑8). Notice first its position: God did not put it outside of the court, it was placed before the door of the tabernacle, but not outside of the gate. God does not expect from the sinner an appreciation or understanding of the work of Christ. He calls for a breaking down of the will before Him. Faith is not an intellectual assent to the doctrines of Christ; faith in Christ is to abandon the soul to Him. Faith is a soul, not an intellectual, matter: " With the heart man believeth unto righteousness."
But the soul cannot rejoice in being in God's presence until he knows what God has done for him. Now first of all we will remark in regard to the altar itself. It was made of wood and overlaid with brass and its horns of brass. Brass always signifies judgment in God's word. In Rev. 1 we have a description of Christ judging among the churches, and His feet are like unto brass, He stands firm in judgments. It was made of wood, signifying Christ's humanity; covered with brass, judgment. Perfect holiness demands God's judgment against sin, and Christ bore that. We could not stand that. When God turned Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden, He placed a flaming sword there. Fire is a type of God's judgment as searching and detecting. What man could ever partake of the tree of life with the flaming sword around it? What man could stand the test of God's judgment and come off scatheless? There is One in Revelation who says, " To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." The life that Christ has to give me is a life that He has a right to give, because He Himself has borne the judgment of sin.
Now I mention another feature about it. It had a horn of brass at each corner. In Psa. 118:2727God is the Lord, which hath showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. (Psalm 118:27) we have " Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar." The horns, then, were used to bind down the sacrifice there. Do we find any reference in that to Christ? We hear Him saying, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me; ' but it was not possible, He was bound, He came for that very purpose. It was not possible for Christ to be glorified and we saved, unless Christ drank that cup.
Then as to the height of the altar; the number five enters here, significant of weakness. There is an absence of the number seven all through here. In the length of the curtains of the tabernacle the seven comes in, and the candlestick had seven branches, but in those two things only, which both refer to Christ personally. In the outside portion you cannot get the figure seven in at all, but there are any number of fives here, bringing five before you prominently. Number one is essential unity: " Hear, 0 Israel, the Lord thy God is one." Number two is the number of testimony: " In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." Three is the resurrection number and the number of the Trinity. Four is the number of earthly government; God speaks of the four corners of the earth, and the four winds of heaven. Five is the number of weakness: " Five of you shall chase a hundred." It is used very often in the tabernacle here. Six is man's number: " The number of a man" (Rev. 13:1818Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (Revelation 13:18)). Seven is God's number of perfection. You will find it in things referring to Christ, the candlestick and the curtains. Five is found especially here; it sets forth the weakness of these things in themselves: " The law made nothing perfect " (Heb. 7:1919For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. (Hebrews 7:19)). There was no perfection in it, but there was perfection in the thing it typified. Now, in connection with the brazen altar -it refers to Christ's sacrifice. 2 Cor. 13:44For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. (2 Corinthians 13:4)). " He might have called for twelve legions of angels, but He was crucified through weakness." He triumphed in weakness.
By weakness and defeat
He won the meed and crown
Trod all our foes beneath his feet
By being trodden down."
He gave Himself up to the power of darkness, and conquered by so doing. We have the figure three here also. The height was three cubits. " For though He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God; " God raised His Son from the dead. This is the significance of the size and material of the altar.
ATONEMENT AND SUBSTITUTION.
Now turn to the grand sacrifice of the sixteenth of Leviticus, verse 4. When Aaron came to offer this sacrifice on the day of atonement, he should have on the linen garments. That is a picture of Christ in this way Christ trod this earth, and went to the cross as a spotless man, clad, as it were, in garments of righteousness. He died on the cross to make an atonement, not for Himself but for others. He is now High Priest at God's right hand. He atoned for our sins on the cross in His spotless humanity. He is now ascended to God's right hand, not to make intercession for our sins, that He did on the cross. Verse 11. Aaron offered sacrifice for himself; how can that apply to the Lord Jesus Christ? Christ had no need of a sacrifice for Himself, though Aaron had. What do I gather from that then? I get this from it-it is a type of Christ entering into heaven with all the value of the sweetness of His own sacrifice. He enters first in the intrinsic value of it, in the value that He has in God's eyes, whatever man thinks of it. If no soul should ever be saved through faith in it, it yet -has its glorious intrinsic value before God. Now, if God is delighted with Christ, surely I can rest there too. Another thing here-the same time that Aaron entered into the holy place with the blood of the bullock, he took in his hands sweet incense, beaten small. He took not only the blood but the incense. Thus you have Christ accepted with God in all the value and sweet fragrance of His work and Himself, and then its value as presented to man and applied to the believer. Verse 15. " Then the high priest came out and killed the goat of the sin offering for the people, and brought his blood within the vail, and did with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkled it upon and before the mercy seat." The blood of Christ has been taken to heaven for us, and where the blood is I can go. If the blood has been shed at the brazen altar, I have a right to stand there; if in the holiest of all, on and before God's throne, I have a right to stand there. This is the blessed thought that we have brought out in the gospel. Every soul that trusts Him has a right to enter into the holiest place. Our place is where those are who are brought near to God. It makes me sad to hear people saying,
" Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee;
E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me."
We who believe are " made nigh by the blood of. Christ" (Eph. 2:1313But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)). The blood has been taken before God's throne, and the throne of judgment is now a throne of grace. Verse 17. "And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when He goeth in to make atonement in the holy place until he come out." Why was that word "until" there? Why, the way Christ has gone we can enter (Heb. 6:2020Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. (Hebrews 6:20)). Notice the blessed fact that no man shall be there. Christ has accomplished our salvation Himself. Souls are very apt indeed to be looking within to find some ground of peace instead of looking back to the cross of Calvary. God says, " When see the blood," not when we see it. If I am resting in the blood of Jesus, God will pass over my sins. If I am not resting in the blood of Christ, I may have a very wonderful experience, but I will be lost in spite of all the experience I may have. Experience begins when I have faith in Christ (Rom. 5). It is first faith, afterward experience. Experience is finding out from day to day what God is, and, perhaps, what I am too -my history as a Christian. The high priest, when he was told to go into the holy place, did not take the layer full of blood, but he dipped his finger into the blood and sprinkled it before the mercy seat. This is to show us the value that God places on the blood of Christ. " Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ." When the leper was cleansed, it was by three drops of blood, one on the ear, one on the toe, and one on the thumb.
Let us see what we have in the case of the second goat, for there are two goats spoken of here. One is the Lord's lot and the other the people's lot. One of them is the Lord's lot, atoning for what divine righteousness required; and the other, meeting my needs. One met God's need, and the other met our need. First, atonement; second, substitution. These are the two aspects of the work of Christ: " God sent His Son as a propitiation." " He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world." This is shadowed forth in the " Lord's lot," the first goat. Then we have also " Who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree." This is shadowed forth in the second goat, the second goat bore away the sins of the people. We cannot say to people indiscriminately that Christ bore all their sins upon the tree, but we can say to every man that Christ made atonement for him: "He by the grace of God tasted death for every man." Then to a believer in Christ I may say, " He has taken your sins away." Verse 21. There is a little word of three letters in this verse which I want you to notice particularly. All. It occurs three times. Every time sin is mentioned it is all. " All the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins." People are troubled about the sins they commit after they believe. Now, unless I know that Christ bore all my sins I cannot be happy. Surely, if He bore any, He bore all. Salvation is pure grace, God does not help any one to be saved-God saves entirely. God makes the new covenant and that is in the blood of Jesus, and of those who trust in that He says, "By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." The goat went away into a land not inhabited, therefore it was never seen again. And God says of those who believe, "Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more." God would count Himself unrighteous if He forgot any work of love showed to his name (Heb. 6:1919Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; (Hebrews 6:19)), but not so to forget our sins.