30:1 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
Exo 30:2 A 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.
Exo 30:3 And 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.
Exo 30:4 And 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.
Exo 30:5 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
Exo 30:6 And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
Exo 30:7 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.

This altar was smaller in size to the brazen altar that was for sacrifices. This altar was for burning incense only. This was  produced a fragrance offered to the Lord. It reminds me of our praise or our prayers when we offer them up to the Lord..

Exo 30:8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
Exo 30:9 Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.

All things had to be done according to the pattern God gave to Moses. Strange incense was forbidden. There is only one way to God and one way of salvation. There is no other way. It has to be according to God's plan. God only can provide salvation from sin so It has to be His way. No religion or religious works can save the soul. It has to be what God provides. All these things remind us of the perfect sacrifice that was to come. That perfect sacrifice was Jesus. There is no other way of salvation just as there was no other way to seek God in the days of Moses.

Exo 30:10 And 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.

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Blood makes atonement. That is why Jesus had to die and shed His blood for our sins. Old testament sacrifices showed this and pointed toward the one to come. All these sacrifices and offerings shows how we can't save ourselves.  We cannot get to God by our own works.  This shows how serious sin was and how holy God is.  We need to take our salvation seriously.  God is a holy righteous God who demands perfection that only comes from His throne. 

Exo 30:11 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
Exo 30:12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.
Exo 30:13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) a half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.
Exo 30:14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD.
Exo 30:15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.

This was fulfilled in Jesus Christ when He paid for the sins of all who would receive it. We cannot buy our way into heaven or buy our way out of sin.

The money collected here was for the service of the tabernacle. New Testament giving is a freewill offering and never a commandment or a requirement in order to buy salvation.

After Jesus came all these things here was fulfilled and was not necessary for salvation. We still live under the moral law because the Holy Spirit places the desire not to sin within our hearts. However, the sacrificial laws and rituals were fulfilled with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. He alone is our salvation.

For the church or any other religion to go back under the law is to put back what Jesus died to fulfill and take away. We are no longer under the law but under grace.

Exo 30:16 And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
Exo 30:17 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
Exo 30:18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.
Exo 30:19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:
Exo 30:20 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:

This again shows us the seriousness of coming before the Lord. He is a holy God and they were not to haphazardly go before the Lord unclean and without reverence. We can learn a little from this. Although we are made clean through faith in Jesus, we still need to respect the place of worship and show reverence to the place chosen for this whether it be a house or a church building.

Exo 30:21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.
Exo 30:22 Moreover the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
Exo 30:23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,
Exo 30:24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive a hin:
Exo 30:25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be a holy anointing oil.
Exo 30:26 And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,
Exo 30:27 And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,
Exo 30:28 And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot.
Exo 30:29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.
Exo 30:30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.
Exo 30:31 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.
Exo 30:32 Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.
Exo 30:33 Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.

Lest we think God is against strangers, we must remember that all but Israel in that day where heathens who worshipped false gods and did abominable things which defied them before the Lord. Strangers could not partake of the altar without coming God's way and without knowing what they were doing and who was being worshipped.  In a way it shows us why those that are not saved and are without the knowledge of the Lord cannot partake of communion.  Communion is for believers only.  If one does not believer he or she should not take communion unless His sins are purged and Jesus is Lord of their lives.  We must understand what we are doing when we partake of the Lord's supper. 

Exo 30:34 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:
Exo 30:35 And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:
Exo 30:36 And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.
Exo 30:37 And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.
Exo 30:38 Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

They are not allowed to try to duplicate or substitute anything given by God for the service of the tabernacle or altar. It had to be only one way. It typifies the "one way" of salvation that was to come.
 

Exodus 31