The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 27
Chapter XXVII · Vol. I, pp. 339–341
1 The altar of burnt-offering, with the vessels thereof. 9 The court of the tabernacle inclosed with hangings and pillars. 18 The measure of the court. 20 The oil for the lamp.
1 AND thou shalt make an a altar9 of shittim-wood, five cubits[≈ 2.3 m · 7 ft 6 in] long,1 and five cubits[≈ 2.3 m · 7 ft 6 in] broad; the altar shall be four-square: and the height thereof shall be three cubits[≈ 1.4 m · 4 ft 6 in].
a ch. 38.1-7; 29.36-39; 40.10. Nu. vii. Mat. 23.19. He. 13.10. Eze. 43.13. Re. 6.9.
9 The altar of burnt-offering is another type of Christ. 1. It was one, so we have but one sacrifice. 2. It had four horns, to which the victims were bound, denoting that the four quarters of the earth will be finally bound captive in love to Christ. 3. It had instruments for all the work, typifying that Christ has all fulness in himself. 4. It was most holy, so whosoever is in Christ is also holy. 5. It was hollow, Christ having humbled or emptied himself of his glory for a time. 6. The wood was overlaid with brass to protect it from the fire, so are believers protected while tried in the fire of affliction.—C.
1 The length was nine feet two inches, and the height five feet and a half.
2 And thou shalt make the b horns of it upon the four corners thereof; his horns shall be of the same:2 and thou shalt overlay it with c brass.
b Ps. 118.27. 1 Ki. 1.50; 2.28. He. 7.25. Jn. 17.2.
2 The horns were projecting portions of the framework, at the four upper corners, modelled probably into the form of curved horns. Upon the horns the blood of all sacrifices was sprinkled, Le. 4.7. It would also appear from Ps. 118.27, that the sacrifices were fastened to them; and all who were in danger, or who were persecuted, fled to the altar and laid hold on the horns, 1 Ki. 1.50. The brazen altar was placed in the court, in front of the tabernacle.—P.
3 And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his d shovels, and his basons, and his flesh-hooks, and his fire-pans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.
d 1 Ki. 7.40. 1 Sa. 2.13. Le. 10.1; 16.12.
4 And thou shalt make for it a e grate of net-work of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof.
e Or, sieve, Am. 9.9.
5 And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.
6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim-wood, and overlay them with brass.
7 And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to f bear it.
8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: g as it was showed3 thee in the mount, so shall they make it.
g ch. 25.9,40; 26.30. Ac. 7.44. He. 8.5. 1 Ch. 28.11-19. Col. 2.23. Mat. 15.9.
3 Heb. he showed.
9 And thou shalt make the h court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen, of an hundred cubits[≈ 46 m · 150 ft]4 long, for one side.
10 And the twenty pillars thereof, and their twenty sockets, shall be of brass: the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
11 And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits[≈ 46 m · 150 ft] long, and his twenty pillars, and their twenty sockets of brass: the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
12 And for the breadth of the court, on the west side, shall be hangings of fifty cubits[≈ 23 m · 75 ft]: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits[≈ 23 m · 75 ft].
14 The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen5 cubits[≈ 6.9 m · 22 ft]: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
5 Nine and one-fourth yards.
15 And on the other side shall be hangings, fifteen cubits[≈ 6.9 m · 22 ft]: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of i twenty cubits[≈ 9.1 m · 30 ft], of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needle-work: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.
i Twelve yards. This court was sixty-one yards long, and thirty and a half broad. See ch. 26.31, 36.
17 All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver: their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.
18 The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits[≈ 46 m · 150 ft], and the breadth fifty6 everywhere, and the height five cubits[≈ 2.3 m · 7 ft 6 in] of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.
6 Heb. fifty by fifty.
19 All 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.
20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee k pure oil-olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn7 always.8
k ch. 30.8. Le. 24.2,3. Re. 11.4. 1 Co. 1.4; 2.4; 12.7.
7 Heb. to ascend up.
8 The word of God is 'a lamp to our feet,' Ps. 119.105, and this lamp should burn—rather ascend—always. 1. In our meditation 'day and night,' Ps. 1.2. Phi. 4.8. 2. In our conversation with one another, Mal. 3.16. Lu. 24.32. 3. In love, benevolence, and holiness of life, Jn. 13.35. Ga. 6.10. 1 Pe. 1.15.—C.
21 In the tabernacle of the congregation9 without the vail, which is before the l testimony, Aaron and his sons shall m order it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
9 The whole tabernacle was an oblong square, or parallelogram, fifty-five feet in length, by eighteen feet in breadth and height. The interior was divided into two apartments, of which the outer was called the holy place, and the inner the most holy place, or holy of holies. The hanging that separated these apartments was called the vail; and hence the expression within and without the vail. The people were never admitted to either of these apartments. The priests alone went into the outer, and the high-priest once a year into the interior. The most holy place contained only the ark and its contents; the holy place contained the altar of incense, table of show-bread, and candlestick. The open court in front of the tabernacle contained the brazen altar and laver.—C.—The inner or most holy place was a perfect cube, measuring ten cubits each way; the outer or holy place was double the size, being twenty cubits long by ten wide and ten high.—P.
l ch. 25.21; 26.31-33. Is. 8.20.
m ch. 30.8. Le. 24.3, 4. 1 Sa. 3.3. 2 Ch. 13.11. Mal. 2.7. Ep. 3.8, 9. This oil denotes the Holy Ghost in his gifts, graces, and oracles.
Notes
Reflections.—Since I have the once debased the all-atoning, all-perfect, powerful, and all-accessible Jesus for my altar;—since I have his church and ordinances for a court and place of worship, divinely bounded and protected;—the oracles, gifts, and graces of his Spirit, for my all-illuminating oil;—let me, conscious of crimes unnumbered, flee to him as my refuge, and by faith lay hold on his horns of saving power and authority. Let me give up myself, and all that I have, to God through him; that in his courts I may behold his person and work, and worship him in fear. Let me, whether minister or private Christian, exert myself that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified; and, with exercised gifts and graces, let me shine forth as a light in the house of my God.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.