The Altar of Incense

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(high). First altars were simple memorial piles (Gen. 8:20; 12:7; 26:25; 35:120And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:20)
7And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. (Genesis 12:7)
25And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well. (Genesis 26:25)
1And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. (Genesis 35:1)). Afterward to lay sacrifices upon (Ex. 17:15-16; 27:1-815And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: 16For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. (Exodus 17:15‑16)
1And 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)). Usually built of earth or stone (Ex. 20:24-2624An 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. (Exodus 20:24‑26)); but sacrificial altars quite elaborate (Ex. 40:26-3326And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail: 27And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the Lord commanded Moses. 28And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle. 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. 30And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal. 31And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat: 32When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the Lord commanded Moses. 33And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. (Exodus 40:26‑33)). Still more elaborate in Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings 8:6464The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings. (1 Kings 8:64); 2 Chron. 7:77Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat. (2 Chronicles 7:7)). Altar fires to burn perpetually (Lev. 6:12-1312And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. 13The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. (Leviticus 6:12‑13)). Altar of Incense, called “golden” to distinguish it from Altar of Sacrifice, called “brazen” (Ex. 30:1-10; 40:51And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. 2A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. 3And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. 4And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. 5And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 6And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. 7And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. 8And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. 9Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. 10And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the Lord. (Exodus 30:1‑10)
5And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:5), 1 Kings 7:4848And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the showbread was, (1 Kings 7:48); 1 Chron. 28:1818And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. (1 Chronicles 28:18)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

The altar of incense was made of shittim wood, overlaid with pure gold (Ex. 30:1-51And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. 2A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. 3And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. 4And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. 5And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. (Exodus 30:1‑5); Ex. 37:25-2825And 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. 26And he overlaid it with pure gold, both the top of it, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns of it: also he made unto it a crown of gold round about. 27And he made two rings of gold for it under the crown thereof, by the two corners of it, upon the two sides thereof, to be places for the staves to bear it withal. 28And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold. (Exodus 37:25‑28)). It was in length and in breadth 1 cubit, and in height 2 cubits. In Solomon’s temple this altar was made of cedar overlaid with gold, but its size is not given. In the temple described by Ezekiel the altar of incense is 2 cubits in length, and 3 cubits in height (Ezek. 41:2222The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the Lord. (Ezekiel 41:22)). The Altar of Incense is also called the GOLDEN ALTAR. Its situation was in the holy place, with the golden candlestick and the table of shewbread.
On this altar holy incense was to be burnt both morning and evening, typical of the Lord Jesus being a perpetual sweet savor to God. It was by the side of this altar that the angel appeared to Zacharias when he announced the conception and birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:1111And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. (Luke 1:11)).