271 'And thou hast made the altar of shittim wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth—the altar is square—and three cubits its height. 2 And thou hast made its horns on its four corners, its horns are of the same, and thou hast overlaid it 'with' brass. 3 And thou hast made its pots to remove its ashes, and its shovels, and its bowls, and its forks, and its fire-pans, even all its vessels thou dost make of brass. 4 'And thou hast made for it a grate of net-work of brass, and hast made on the net four rings of brass on its four extremities, 5 and hast put it under the compass of the altar beneath, and the net hath been unto the middle of the altar. 6 'And thou hast made staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and hast overlaid them 'with' brass. 7 And the staves have been brought into the rings, and the staves have been on the two sides of the altar in bearing it. 8 Hollow with boards thou dost make it, as it hath been shewed thee in the mount, so do they make 'it'.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 27:1-8
Commentary on Exodus 27:1-8
(Read Exodus 27:1-8)
In the court before the tabernacle, where the people attended, was an altar, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God. It was of wood overlaid with brass. A grate of brass was let into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt. It was made of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the ashes might fall through. This brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. The wood had been consumed by the fire from heaven, if it had not been secured by the brass: nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the wrath of God, if it had not been supported by Divine power.