and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made. 32. And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim-wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. 33. And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. 34. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. 35. And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side. 36. And thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needle-work. 37. And . thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim-wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.
Two vails are here ordered to be made. 1. One for a partition between the holy place and the most holy: which not only forbade any to enter, but forbade them so much as to look into, the holiest of all, v. 31, 33. Under that dispensation, divine grace was vailed, but now we behold it with open face, 2 Cor. 3. 18. The apostle tells us, (Heb. 9. 8.) what was the meaning of this vail; it intimated that the ceremonial law could not make the comers thereunto perfect, nor would the observance of it bring men to heaven; the way into the holiest of all was not made manifest, while the first tabernacle was standing; life and immortality lay concealed, till they were brought to light by the gospel; which was therefore signified by the rending of this vail at the death of Christ, Matth. 27. 51. We have now boldness to enter into the holiest, in all acts of devotion, by the blood of Jesus; yet such as obliges us to a holy reverence, and a humble sense of our distance. 2. Another vail was for the outer door of the tabernacle, v. 36, 37. Through this first vail the priests went in every day to minister in the holy place, but not the people, Heb. 9. 6. This vail was all the defence the tabernacle had against thieves and robbers, which might easily be broken through, for it could be neither locked nor barred, and the abundance of wealth in the tabernacle, one would think, might be a temptation; but by leaving it thus exposed, (1.) The priests and Levites would be so much the more obliged to keep a strict watch upon it, and, (2.) God would show his care of his church on earth, though it is weak and defenceless, and continually exposed. A curtain shall be (if God please to make it so) as strong a defence to his house, as gates of brass and bars of iron.
CHAP. XXVII.
In this chapter, directions are given, I. Concerning the brazen altar for burnt-offerings, v. 1..8. II. Concerning the court ofthe tabernacle, with the hangings of it, v. 9..19. III. Concerning oil for the lamp, v. 20, 21.
1.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. 2. 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. 3. And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his flesh-hooks, and his fire-pans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. 4. And thou shalt make for it a grate of net-work of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof. 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 bear it. 8. Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was showed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.
As God intended in the tabernacle to manifest his presence among his people, so there they were to pay their devotions to him, not in the tabernacle itself, (into that only the priests entered as God's domestic servants,) but in the court before the tabernacle, where, as common subjects, they attended. There an altar was ordered to be set up, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God; and this altar was to sanctify their gifts; hence they were to present their services to God, as from the mercy-seat he gave his oracles to them; and thus a communion was settled between God and Israel. Moses is here directed about, 1. The dimensions of it; it was four-square, v. 1. 2. The horns of it, (v. 2.) which were for ornament and for use; the sacrifices were bound with cords to the horns of the altar, and to them malefactors fled for refuge. 3. The materials; it was of wood overlaid with brass, v. 1, 2. 4. The appurtenances of it, (v. 3.) which were all of brass. 5. The grate, which was let into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of it, in which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt; it was made of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the fire might burn the better, and that the ashes might fall through into the hollow of the altar, v. 4, 5. 6. The staves with which it must be carried, v. 6, 7. And, lastly, He is referred to the pattern showed him, v. 8.
Now this brazen alter was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins: the wood had been consumed by the fire from heaven, if it had not been secured by the brass; nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the wrath of God, if it had not been supported by a divine power. Christ sanctified himself for his church, as their altar, (John 17. 19. ) and by his mediation sanctifies the daily services of his people, who also have a right to eat of this altar, (Heb. 13. 10.) for they serve at it as spiritual priests. To the horns of this altar poor sinners fly for refuge when justice pursues them, and there they are safe in the virtue of the sacrifice there offered.
9. And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine
