THE BRONZE ALTAR 1- The bronze altar 1 - 8 2- The court of the tabernacle 9 - 19 3- The golden lampstand 20 - 21 1- The bronze altar If we have spoken of the inner holy places in the tabernacle: of the Ark of the testimony in the Most Holy place, and the table of the Showbread, the lampstand, and the altar of incense; yet, there is no access to these holy places except through the Bronze altar and the laver. The bronze altar was dedicated for sacrificing animals to the Lord. The epistle to the Hebrews compares between the bronze altar with its incessant fire to burn daily sacrifices, and the cross of the Lord Christ that carried one sacrifice at the fulfillment of time. As to the bronze altar, the apostle says that the High Priest used to enter into the Most Holy place, once a year; yet, “not without blood, which he offered for himself and for his people’s sins committed in ignorance” (Heb. 9.7). His entrance once a year was a sign of the limitations of the earthly service through sacrificing the blood of animals. The Lord Christ, the Chief High Priest, on the other hand, has entered, not into the symbols or shadows of the heavenly sanctuaries, but into heaven itself; yet, “not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb. 9.12). He offered Himself on the cross, to present a possibility on an eternal level, with no repetition. The early High Priest suffered incessantly through offering the blood of animals every year, a sign of his inability to put away sins. On the contrary, the New High Priest, by His own blood, cast away sin and entered with us into the same sanctuaries. The apostle says, For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment (Heb. 9.24-27). That was concerning the high priest. As to his subordinate priests, “Every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifice” (Heb. 10.11). The apostle sees in the daily repetition of that process a sign that the blood of goats and calves is incapable of purifying the soul by taking away sin (Heb. 10.11), but sanctifies the flesh (Heb. 9.13). It has a symbolic work, until the true and perfect sacrifice comes to purge the conscience from dead works (Heb. 9.14). The material of that altar and its dimensions That altar was made of Acacia wood (Exod. 27.1), being a symbol of the cross, the tree of life, overlaid with bronze (Exod. 27.2), and not with gold. As on the cross, the Son receives, with steadfastness (like bronze that refers to patience and persistence), the price of the sin that we committed. We do not find traces of gold outside the sanctuary, as the heavenly glories stay inside. We find bronze and silver (Exod. 27.1, 2, 3, 4, 6), in order for us to share with Christ His patience, passion and persistence. In the Book of Revelation, we read: “His feet were like fine brass as if 202 refined in a furnace” (Rev. 1.15). As we put on the Lord Christ, we shall have the bronze, by which we crush all affliction and troubles and walk toward heaven persistently with no delay. As to the presence of silver (Exod. 27.10-11), it is a sign of our need for the word of God to support us in our strife and persistence. The altar is overlaid with bronze, together with all its vessels, its networks, rings, and the two poles to carry it; all are overlaid with bronze. The altar is 5 cubits long and 5 cubits wide, as though the sacrifice is offered for the sanctification of our 5 senses, to prepare us to enter into the secret sanctuaries. The figure 5 also reminds us of the 5 sacrifices and offerings that were mentioned in the Book of Leviticus, as they all symbolize the sacrifice of the cross that we dealt with in the introduction of our interpretation of that Book. The altar is 3 cubits high, as though it refers, not only to the cross, but also bears the symbol of resurrection (the figure 3). The power of the sacrifice is that it lets us enter into the cross, to let us crossover to the resurrection. Our thoughts, words and works are set upon the figure 3; we practice the secret of the figure 3, by entering into the passion, burial and resurrection, through which the altar elevates us to the height of the 3 cubits. 2- The court of the tabernacle We have mentioned in the previous chapter that it is 100 cubits long and 50 cubits wide; its linen hangings are set on pillars and boards: 20 pillars on each side, and 10 pillars to the rear. On the eastern side, there are 3 pillars on the right and 3 on the left; and the curtain on the gate is set on 4 pillars. As far as the court is concerned, let us note that it also lacks gold; the pillars are set on bronze bases, while their hooks and bands are of silver, to conform with our description of the bronze altar. All the curtains (except that of the gate) are woven only of linen threads set upon pillars, 5 cubits long, as though the outer court is meant to concentrate on purity (linen), and set upon pillars of permanent persistence and leaning upon the word of God (silver). The length of the pillar refers to the necessity of purity of the 5 senses. The curtain of the gate had to be only of linen for; there is no entrance into the life of purity (linen), no ability for persistence (bronze), and no understanding of the word of God (silver), except through the Lord Christ, the gate of the sheepfold. That curtain, which symbolizes our life in Christ, or our entrance into the court through Christ, is set upon 4 pillars, as it happens through our strife in the 4 corners of the earth. Yet if we look to the right or to the left we see 3 pillars, just as we enter by Christ, here on earth, into the spiritual divine court, we have to enter by the power of His resurrection. 3- The golden lampstand Here, He confirms again that the lampstand is not only meant for mere illumination, but it is a sign of a covenant in which we receive divine enlightenment. He commands the use of “pure oil of pressed olives... a statute forever to their generations” (Ex. 27.20-21).
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