"AND 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. And 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. And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basins, and his flesh hooks, and his fire pans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. And 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. And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar. And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass. And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it. Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was showed thee in the mount, so shall they make it."
And thou shalt make an altar. (Or, more literally, the altar. Compare chap. 38: 1.) And he made the altar of burnt offering.] The sin-offering was burnt, or consumed, without the camp: the burnt, or ascending offering, was converted into a sweet savor on the altar of burnt offering, by the fire which came originally from God, and which was kept always burning in it.
In the one case we see Jesus, who knew no sin, made sin for us, and putting sin away by the sacrifice of himself.
In the other, Jesus, the spotless victim, offering up himself as a sweet savor unto God, and his acceptance manifested by his resurrection from the dead, and ascension to the right hand of the Father.
Outside the camp it is wrath consuming, and forever setting aside the sins which Jesus bore.
At the brazen altar it is justice and holiness feeding with complacency on the excellency of the victim.
At the golden altar it is holiness delighting itself with the preciousness of him who lived and died for, us. The altar of burnt offering, cleansed, anointed, sanctified-an altar most holy, on which the fire was always burning, and the sacrifice always consuming, was the place of communion between God and his people, and between the people and their God. (See Ex. 29:36-46.)
It sets forth Christ, through whom we draw nigh to God, and through whom God draws nigh to us, on the ground of his atoning work, and of his accepted sacrifice; a sweet savor of rest, on which every perfection of the Godhead reposes with infinite satisfaction and delight.
The Material.
Thou shalt make the altar of shittim wood.] " Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith... a body hast thou prepared me. (Heb. 10: 5.).
In Order That Jesus, Through His Atoning Sacrifice, Might Furnish a Meeting Place Between God' and the Soul, It Was Requisite That He Should Become Incarnate. This Truth Is Set Before Us in the Shittim Wood: THE DIMENSIONS OF THE ALTAR.
Five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be- foursquare; and the height thereof shall be three cubits.] Twice the length and height of the ark of the covenant.
These dimensions were fixed by God himself, who also prepared a body for Christ, every way adapted and adequate for his work and sufferings, wherein he has laid the foundations for unbroken communion between God and his people.
The Horns of the Altar.
And 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, ver. 2.] The horn in Scripture is the emblem of power.
"Bind the sacrifice with cords," says the psalmist, "even unto the horns of the altar." (Psa. 118:27.)
In the garden of Gethsemane we see this thought strikingly exemplified. There we see Jesus, the beloved Son of the Father, whose dwelling place eternally was the Father's bosom; that holy One, who knew no sin, and that blessed One, "God over all blessed forever," drawing back from, and deprecating the enduring of, God's wrath, the imputation of sin, and the infliction of the curse.
Yet the cords of love and of obedience bound him-love and obedience to the Father, love and compassion to us. So that, in the end, we see the willing victim passing through the three long hours of darkness, made sin for us, and nailed to the accursed tree.
This as to the victim; then as to the sinner or the worshipper.
In 1 Kings 1:50, we read,' "And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar."
And again, chap. 2: 28, "And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar."
What strong consolation is provided for the poor sinner who flies for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before him in the Gospel, founded on- the perfect and accepted sacrifice of the sinner's Savior and the sinner's friend!
And the believer, toe, finds here a refuge and a rest. And the shittim wood and the brass-emblems of the tender human sympathy, and the Divine Almighty power of the Savior of the lost, and the sustainer of the saved, give faith its firm holdfast.
The sinner and the saint find in Jesus, who is here set forth, one able to sympathize, and mighty to save.
By laying hold on the horns of the altar, 'faith identifies itself with the altar and the sacrifice. 'The sinner or the believer appropriating to their own necessities the provisions of God: drawing nigh to him in the way of his own selecting, and through the sacrifice of his own providing.
The wood and the brass—the sympathy ands-the power of 'him who is thus set forth, giving, faith its grasp of undying tenacity.
But what a solemn lesson is read out to us from these horns of the brazen altar! In Ex. 21:14 God says, " But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die."
For the presumptuous sinner, and the hypocritical deceiver, the atonement of Jesus itself provides' no shelter, while he continues such.
It is of no avail for a person to, say, I am trusting in the blood of Jesus, while presumptuously continuing in sin, or hypocritically professing repentance. " Thon shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die," is the stern command of Divine inflexible justice. Solemn, solemn thought! How many, a soul has gone on for' years, clinging with vain hope to a mere profession of faith in-Jesus, lulled into a' false peace, with a spirit unsanctified and a soul Unsaved; to perish at last. Thus was it in type with Adonijah.
"And Solomon said, If he will skew' himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth; but if wickedness be found in him, he shall die." (1 Kings 1:52.) And so it turned out. " And King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he fell upon him that he died."
(1 Kings 2:25.)
More solemn still, when in this false hope and unfounded peace the soul passes into the unseen world, to be taken from that altar and plunged into eternal death. Falling asleep in the presumptuous—security of a mere profession, to awake in everlasting torments. " I will die here," says Joab, and he died there; but he fell by the hand of justice. (1 Kings 2:29-32.)
Still, while we thus speak because Scripture so teaches, Jesus is able and ready to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him. And as the horns were at the four corners of the altar, so there is a refuge provided in Jesus for those who come from every quarter. Here is provided a harbor of ert).ige and a shelter of rest "From every stormy wind that blows, From every swelling tide of woes."
And upon these horns of the altar the blood of the sacrifice was put-faith's warrant to lay hold.
There Is No Crown to This Altar, As on. the Golden, Altar of Incense, Because It Sets Forth Jesus on the Cross, and Not on the Throne, Dying, Rising, and Ascending, but Not yet As Glorified. °If Any Crown Were Suitable, It Must Be a Crown of Thorns THE OVERLAYING OF THE ALTAR.
And thou, shalt overlay it faith brass.] Brass is the emblem of enduring strength. In the case of Jesus that strength was Divine. The shittim wood expresses his human susceptibility 9f suffering, the brass his Divine power of endurance.
As God, he could not suffer; as man, he could and did; and as the God-man he could endure the sufferings adequate to the salvation of sinners.
The Vessels of the Altar.
And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basins, and his fleshhooks, and his fire pans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt maim of brass, ver. 3.] Everything connected with the atoning work of Jesus needed to be of enduring strength, and so it was. There was nothing imperfect; nothing that gave way' under the mighty stress of enormous suffering and woe.
The Brazen Grate.
And 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. And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net May be even to the midst of the altar, ver. 4, 5.] This brazen grate 'was fixed by the brazen rings in the center of the altar, half way; or one and a half cubits from the bottom; and thus on a level with the mercy seat. Sweet and significant fact This grate of brass formed the support for the fuel and the sacrifices, and sets forth, in the internal experience of Jesus in his sufferings, the strength of endurance within. It is thus expressed by the psalmist: "In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul." (Ps. 138: 3
The Staves.
And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay. them' with brass. And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.] The staves adapted the brazen altar to the wilderness condition of God's people, so that the altar accompanied them in all their journeyings.
Wherever the camp pitched, the altar rested; wherever the court was enclosed, the altar was placed within at the entrance; wherever the tent of the congregation was set up, the altar stood at the door.
The daily sacrifice on the altar of burnt offering, was the standing link of communion between God and his people typically. So that the taking away of the daily sacrifice was a national calamity.
The fire was always burning in this altar, and never permitted to go out. The victim always consuming on it by day and by night, and the sweet savor of it was always ascending. Thus the ground of communion was at all times prepared, and the way of communion at all times open. On this perpetual burnt offering the other especial sacrifices (as on the Sabbaths, new moons, &c.) were burnt, and the sin and trespass offerings presented as the occasion required. Even so now, though our God is a consuming fire (and the apprehension of this is ever to be kept alive in our hearts, and never to be forgotten), the sacrifice of Jesus has met, and forever satisfies, all the demands of holiness and justice on our behalf. On this account, " if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 'us from all unrighteousness."
The ground of communion has been made good, the way of access is ever open, the fragrance of the sacrifice of Jesus is ever before God. So that wherever we are, and whatever our circumstances, communion with God may be maintained unbroken, and our walk down here may be an Enoch walk-a walk with God.
The Staves of the Table of Show Bread Were Connected With the Border (Chap. 25: 27); for the Guarding of Communion Is Especially Important in Connection With Our Wilderness State. the Staves of the Golden Altar Are Connected With the Golden Crown; for It Is a Glorified Christ Through Whom We Worship. the Staves of the Brazen Altar Are Connected With the Grate of Brass; for It Is a Suffering Savior Who Laid the Foundations of Our Constant Communion With God: THE DIVINE PATTERN.
Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was showed thee in the mount, so shall they make it, ver. 8.] " Hollow with' boards." Jesus, though mighty to suffer, and almighty to save, was the empty and dependent one. "He was crucified through weakness."
"As it was showed thee in the mount." How different is the appearance of Calvary, and of him that suffered there, when seen on earth’s low level, and with human thoughts and feelings, to what it is -when looked. at in the light of God, as God himself reveals the marvelous scene! In spirit, raised above surrounding things, and upon the mount with God, looking down on Calvary's Cross! Thus are we to form our conceptions of it; thus shall we learn its mysteries and 'its uses, its value and its power; and thus shall our souls experience the blessing which God has provided: And communion with God on the ground of sacrifice must be according to God's order and thoughts, and not according to the plans and opinions of men.
T. N.
[The Court of the Tabernacle in the Number for August.]