Bible Commentaries

Verse 1

And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.

altar of shittim wood

20:24-26; 24:4; 38:1-7; 40:10,29; 2 Samuel 24:18; 2 Chronicles 4:1; Ezekiel 43:13-17; Hebrews 13:10

Reciprocal: Exodus 25:5 - shittim wood;  Exodus 31:9 - the altar;  Exodus 35:16 - The altar;  Exodus 40:6 - General;  Numbers 3:31 - the altars;  Numbers 23:1 - seven altars;  1 Chronicles 6:49 - Aaron;  2 Chronicles 1:5 - the brazen;  2 Chronicles 32:12 - one altar;  Ezekiel 9:2 - beside;  Ezekiel 43:16 - twelve cubits

Verse 2

And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

horns of it upon the four corners thereof

The horns might have been designed not only for ornament, but to prevent the sacrifices from falling off, and to tie the victim to, previous to its being sacrificed.

29:12; Leviticus 4:7,18,25; 8:15; 16:18; 1 Kings 1:50; 2:28; Psalms 118:27; Hebrews 6:18

overlay it with brass

Numbers 16:38,39; 1 Kings 8:64

Reciprocal: Exodus 30:2 - the horns;  Exodus 38:2 - he made;  Ezekiel 43:15 - four horns;  Zechariah 9:15 - the corners

Verse 3

And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.

his shovels

Leviticus 16:12; 1 Kings 7:40,45; 2 Chronicles 4:11; Jeremiah 52:18

basons

24:6

flesh-hooks

38:3; Numbers 4:14; 1 Samuel 2:13,14; 1 Chronicles 28:17; 2 Chronicles 4:16

firepans

1 Kings 7:45; 2 Kings 25:15; Jeremiah 52:19,20

Reciprocal: Exodus 27:19 - all the pins thereof;  Leviticus 10:1 - censer;  Numbers 4:13 - General;  2 Kings 25:13 - pillars;  2 Kings 25:14 - the pots;  2 Timothy 2:20 - vessels

Verse 4

And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof.

a grate of network

35:16; 38:4,5

rings in the four corners thereof

25:12

Reciprocal: Exodus 30:4 - rings

Verse 5

And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

compass of the altar

38:4

Verse 6

And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.

staves for the altar

35:13-15; 30:4; Numbers 4:44

Reciprocal: Exodus 25:13 - General

Verse 7

And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.

bear it

25:28; 30:4; Numbers 4:13,14

Reciprocal: Exodus 25:12 - General

Verse 8

Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

as it was shewed

Heb. he shewed.

25:9,40; 26:30-37; 1 Chronicles 28:11,19; Matthew 15:9; Colossians 2:20-23; Hebrews 8:5

Verse 9

And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:

the court

38:9-20; 40:8; 1 Kings 6:36; 8:64; 2 Chronicles 33:5; Psalms 84:10; 92:13; 100:4; Psalms 116:19; Ezekiel 40:14,20,23,28,32,44; 42:3,19,20; 46:20-24

hangings for

26:31-37; 36:17; 39:40

Reciprocal: Exodus 27:14 - hangings of one side;  Exodus 27:18 - length of the court;  Exodus 31:7 - tabernacle;  Exodus 35:17 - The hangings;  Exodus 40:33 - up the court;  Leviticus 6:26 - in the court;  Numbers 3:26 - the hangings;  Numbers 3:36 - under the custody and charge;  Numbers 4:26 - the hangings

Verse 10

And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.

sockets shall be of brass

26:19-21

fillets shall be of silver

36:38; Jeremiah 52:21

Reciprocal: Exodus 26:32 - their hooks shall be of gold;  Exodus 26:33 - the taches;  Exodus 38:30 - the sockets

Verse 14

The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

hangings of one side

9; 26:36

Reciprocal: Exodus 38:14 - hangings

Verse 16

And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.

of blue

26:31,36

needle-work

28:39; 36:37; 39:29; Judges 5:30; Psalms 45:14

Verse 18

The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.

length of the court

fifty every where

Heb. fifty by fifty.

Verse 19

All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.

all the pins thereof

3; 35:18; 38:20,31; 39:40; Numbers 3:37; 4:32; Ezra 9:8; Ecclesiastes 12:11; Isaiah 22:23-25; 33:20; Zechariah 10:4

Verse 20

And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.

pure oil olive beaten

That is, such oil as could be easily expressed from the olives, after they had been bruised in a mortar; and which is much purer than that obtained after the olives are put under the press.

39:37; Leviticus 24:2-4; Judges 9:9; Psalms 23:5; Zechariah 4:11-14; Revelation 11:4

for the light

25:31-37

to cause the lamp

Josephus says, that the whole of the seven lamps burned all night; and that in the morning four were extinguished, and three burned the whole of the day. Such might have been the practice in his time; but it appears sufficiently evident from ch. 30:8, and 1 Sa 3:3, that they were anciently extinguished in the morning.

to burn

Heb. to ascend up.

Reciprocal: Exodus 25:6 - Oil for;  Exodus 30:7 - dresseth;  Exodus 35:8 - And oil;  Numbers 4:16 - the oil;  1 Chronicles 9:29 - the oil;  2 Chronicles 4:20 - burn after;  2 Chronicles 13:11 - the candlestick

Verse 21

In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

the tabernacle of the congregation

29:10,44; Leviticus 3:8; Numbers 8:9

without the vail

26:31-33; 40:3

testimony

16:34; 25:16,21

Aaron

30:8; 1 Samuel 3:3; 2 Chronicles 13:11; Malachi 2:7; Matthew 4:16; Luke 12:35; John 5:35; 2 Corinthians 4:6; 2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 2:1

evening

Genesis 1:5,8; Leviticus 24:3; Psalms 134:1

a statute for ever

28:43; 29:9,28; Leviticus 3:17; 16:34; 24:9; Numbers 18:23; 19:21; 1 Samuel 30:25 Reciprocal: Exodus 25:37 - they shall;  Exodus 30:7 - dresseth;  Exodus 39:37 - even with;  Exodus 40:2 - tabernacle;  Leviticus 24:2 - that they;  Numbers 4:16 - the oil;  Numbers 7:31 - Bowl;  Numbers 18:5 - And ye;  2 Chronicles 4:20 - burn after;  Hebrews 9:6 - the priests