Exodus 27:1-8

¹ “You should make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar should be square, and its height should be three cubits. ² And you should make horns for it on its four corners; its horns should be of one piece with it, and you should overlay it with bronze. ³ You should make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You should make all its utensils of bronze. ⁴ You should also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you should make four bronze rings at its four corners. ⁵ And you should set it under the border of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar. ⁶ And you should make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. ⁷ And the poles should be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. ⁸ You should make it hollow, with boards. As it had been revealed to you on the mountain, this is how it should be made.

entrance fee

The bronze altar was the first piece of furniture one would see upon entrance to the tabernacle. The next, the washing basin, was beyond it in the courtyard. So the symbolism was conveyed by this arrangement that no one gets through into the presence of God without first having paid the entrance fee. Once that is done, he can take advantage of all the blessings of being in communion and covenant.

The trouble is, the entrance into the presence is a costly thing. That cost had already been shown by the scarlet threads woven into the curtain upon entrance. Our ancestors had put a barrier between us and our LORD. Sin prevented us access. Death paid the price. The sacrifices on the altar showed that the entrance fee must be paid.

But death does not actually give us access into God’s presence. If it did, David would not have prayed “let my soul live that it may praise you.”[1] Death puts an end to the soul’s life, making communion and covenant impossible. So, the altar is not a symbol of one’s own personal death. It is a symbol of the death of a substitute provided so that the living could have continued access without dying.

For the Israelites, the altar was a constant reminder of the substitute lamb that protected them from God’s wrath on Passover night. They gave up their sacrifices to be slain on that altar fully knowing that it was they who deserved to be slaughtered upon it, but that God in his grace provided another entrance fee.

LORD, thank you for your grace toward us, providing a sacrifice whose death gained us access into your presence, fellowship, blessing, and covenant.

[1] Psalm 119:175.