Exodus 38:1-20
Making the Altar of Burnt Offering (Exodus 27:1–8)
1 He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood; five cubits was its length and five cubits its width—it was square—and its height was three cubits. 2 He made its horns on its four corners; the horns were of one piece with it. And he overlaid it with bronze. 3 He made all the utensils for the altar: the pans, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the firepans; all its utensils he made of bronze. 4 And he made a grate of bronze network for the altar, under its rim, midway from the bottom. 5 He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating, as holders for the poles. 6 And he made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bronze. 7 Then he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to bear it. He made the altar hollow with boards.
Making the Bronze Laver
8 He made the laver of bronze and its base of bronze, from the bronze mirrors of the serving women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
Making the Court of the Tabernacle (Exodus 27:9–19)
9 Then he made the court on the south side; the hangings of the court were of fine woven linen, one hundred cubits long. 10 There were twenty pillars for them, with twenty bronze sockets. The hooks of the pillars and their bands were silver. 11 On the north side the hangings were one hundred cubits long, with twenty pillars and their twenty bronze sockets. The hooks of the pillars and their bands were silver. 12 And on the west side there were hangings of fifty cubits, with ten pillars and their ten sockets. The hooks of the pillars and their bands were silver. 13 For the east side the hangings were fifty cubits. 14 The hangings of one side of the gate were fifteen cubits long, with their three pillars and their three sockets, 15 and the same for the other side of the court gate; on this side and that were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets. 16 All the hangings of the court all around were of fine woven linen. 17 The sockets for the pillars were bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands were silver, and the overlay of their capitals was silver; and all the pillars of the court had bands of silver. 18 The screen for the gate of the court was woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen. The length was twenty cubits, and the height along its width was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court. 19 And there were four pillars with their four sockets of bronze; their hooks were silver, and the overlay of their capitals and their bands was silver. 20 All the pegs of the tabernacle, and of the court all around, were bronze.
Here the design and con of the elements of the tabernacle were recorded; there was the altar for offering sacrifices to atone for sin, the laver or wash basin for the priests to cleanse them before ministering the holy things (Exodus 30:18-19, 20), and the court of the holy place just outside the holy of holies where the Ark of the Testimony behind the veil which kept all but the high priest out. These had ritual functions for worship that symbolized the spiritual realities of sacrifice and reverent worship of the LORD. We know as priests to the Lord Jesus Christ that we are to be living sacrifices in the court of the house of God, the body which is the church and is composed of each of us as individual temples (1 Corinthians 3:16, Ephesians 2:22, 1 Peter 2:5) and as living stones making up the whole. We know also that as His priests we are to be holy because He is, so we wash our as we have been washed (Titus 3:5) by Him to approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16) for mercy at the Heavenly mercy seat where He lives to meet us and accept our lives as living (Romans 12:1) sacrifices. All these elements are patterned after the temple in heaven (Hebrews 8:5, 9:23-24) to be exact spiritual representations of God’s plan for our salvation by the sacrifice and priestly ministry of Jesus Christ for our sins and to be able to worship Him freely without fear of failing to find lasting atonement which animal sacrifices always fell short of accomplishing. We see then the pattern of acceptable offerings, washing clean (and keeping clean) from sin, and gathering in the court together as acceptable children before the opened way to the throne of grace no longer behind the veil. These elements are brought to life in these living temples by the work and person of Christ to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18) and allow worship that is well pleasing (2 Corinthians 5:9, Hebrews 13:20-21) to do the will of our Father God in heaven with a cleansed conscience at last!
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