THE ALTAR

Entering the courtyard of the tabernacle, the first object one encountered was the very large altar. “7½ feet long, and 7½ feet wide … 4½ feet high” (Exodus 27:1), constructed of acacia wood and overlaid with bronze, it was where sacrifices were burned as the atoning sacrifice for sin (Exodus 28:1-8; 38:1-7).

God shed the blood of animals so that Adam and Eve could be clothed, and their nakedness covered (Genesis 3:21). Isaac walked off the mountain with his father because God provided a substitute, “a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son” (Genesis 22:13).

When an Israelite sought God’s forgiveness, he would bring an animal to the tabernacle. God’s instructions were clear: “He is to bring an unblemished male. He will bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting so that he may be accepted by the Lord. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him” (Leviticus 1:3-5).

An unblemished sacrifice was required… not a calf with a broken leg or a blinded eye! At the entrance to the courtyard, the faithful Israelite would place his own hands on the head of the animal (Leviticus 1:4), praying that God would symbolically transfer his sins to the animal. The priest would then slaughter the animal and burn it on the altar.

“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).

The bronze altar takes us to Calvary where the Son of God died for the sins of the world!

Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). “God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Each morning and each evening priests offered sacrifices on the altar. Today, the sacrifice for our salvation has been paid. But still, each morning and each evening, we would do well “to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1).

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).