Exo 27:1 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.

The altar was a place of sacrifice pointing toward the time when the permanent final sacrifice for the sins of many would be offered by the Messiah. The animal offered had to be spotless and without blemish showing us that the sacrifice to come was without sin and was worthy to be a perfect sacrifice for sin.

Exo 27:2 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.

Many times throughout Israel's history we read of someone taking hold of the horns of the altar in order to cry for mercy from God.

Sometimes we have a place of prayer in modern churches we have called altars in the past because we sacrifice ourselves to the Lord by repenting and calling on Him for salvation as we remember that Jesus paid for our salvation once and for all when He died on the cross. It is actually not an altar but a mourner's bench where we pray and mourn over our sins and pray for the salvation of loved ones.

Many modern churches have forsaken this way of prayer and have either organized the prayer to be standing and one person leading or some gather around the speaker and pray while standing.

I've never been too successful in praying this way for I was accustomed to kneeling and prayer around a bench.

Exo 27:3 And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basins, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.
Exo 27:4 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.
Exo 27:5 And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.
Exo 27:6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.
Exo 27:7 And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.

All these things had to be carried from place to place so proper instructions were given so that it could be carried in a holy manner becoming to the presence of God. This was never to be taken lightly and without regard to the holiness of God.

Exo 27:8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was showed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.
Exo 27:9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of a hundred cubits long for one side:
Exo 27:10 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.
Exo 27:11 And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of a hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
Exo 27:12 And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
Exo 27:13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.
Exo 27:14 The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
Exo 27:15 And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
Exo 27:16 And for the gate of the court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.
Exo 27:17 All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.
Exo 27:18 The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.
Exo 27:19 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.

The main altar and place of sacrifice along with the furniture, ark of the covenant and the place for the priests were surrounded by a tabernacle and the tabernacle was surrounded by a court which was surrounded by hangings making a fenced in area so the multitude could not accidentally go into the holy places unclean and in an irreverent manner.

Exo 27:20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.

This may represent the Holy Spirit.

Exo 27:21 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute forever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
Lamps were to be serviced in order that they burn continually and not go out.

We need that type of light in our souls. The light of God should never go out of our lives and by receiving the Holy Spirit and renewing ourselves to God daily, we can assure that our spiritual lamps continually burn within us.  There is a verse in Psalm 119 that says, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee."


 Exodus 28