Exodus 30:1-21 - Sweet Aroma of Holy Atonement

Exodus 30:1-21

The Altar of Incense (Exodus 37:25–28)

1 “You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. 4 Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.

7 “Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. 8 And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it. 10 And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD.”

The Ransom Money

11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 12 “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them. 13 This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half-shekel shall be an offering to the LORD. 14 Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the LORD. 15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the LORD, to make atonement for yourselves. 16 And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for yourselves.”

The Bronze Laver

17 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 18 “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it, 19 for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. 20 When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the LORD, they shall wash with water, lest they die. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die. And it shall be a statute forever to them—to him and his descendants throughout their generations.”

The sweet aroma of the atoning sacrifices made by holy priests for the forgiveness of the sins of God’s people was acted out in the foreshadowing of the pattern seen here.  Around the elaborate altar was gold for purity and endurance as it was carried about from place to place on poles, and it was positioned before the holy place in front of the veil separating man from God’s presence as He met the high priest at the mercy seat of atonement according to the Testimony of the Covenant with His people.  There the sweet incense was offered with the sacrifices once per year to atone for the children of God throughout the year.  This is a picture of the final atonement of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who tore the veil (Matthew 27:51, Hebrews 6:19, 10:20-21) to allow us direct access to the atoning grace of eternal forgiveness so we can offer the sweet incense of our prayers (Revelation 5:8, 8:3-4) to praise and worship in the beauty of holiness (1 Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 96:9) forever.  The Son of God has torn the veil and made the sacrifice once and forever for us that we may not need another high priest than Him and not need yearly sacrifices anymore.  We have been ransomed by Him (Mark 10:45, 1 Timothy 2:5-6) without the cost of our death because of His death in our place to pay the price which we could not ever afford.  May we hold that salvation price dear and near to our hearts each day for His atoning grace!  Just as the priests approaching the altar and the holy place had to ceremonially cleanse themselves at the laver before entering into His presence, so we must be holy in our lives in response to our cleansing of the soul by His righteousness.  We know that Titus 3:5 has told us we have been washed clean by the Spirit of Jesus Christ to have a new birth of change in our spirit, so must we respond in worship with a change in the direction of our lives in sanctification of living.  We are called to live holy lives like He is holy as we are changed more into His likeness day by day (Romans 12:1-2) to worship with the living sacrifice of our lives as we approach the throne (Hebrews 4:16) of grace when we falter in sin and come to Him for forgiveness (1 John 1:19) and restoration behind the veil of His body (Hebrews 10:20) given for us.  Our lives so lived become the sweet aroma of holy atonement (2 Corinthians 3:18) as we are transformed in our willing obedience into His likeness, restoring the image of God in which we were originally created to please Him in the sacrificial worship of our lives.