Exodus · chapter 27 of 40
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Exodus 27 describes the altar of burnt offering, made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze, the courtyard that surrounded the tabernacle with linen hangings and posts, and the pure olive oil to keep the lamp burning. Aaron and his sons were to tend it from evening to morning before the Lord.
After describing the tent and its inner furniture, God gives Moses the instructions for what lies outside it: the altar where sacrifices are offered and the courtyard that marks off the sacred space. Exodus 27 completes the design of the tabernacle and teaches that whoever approaches God must first pass by the altar.
The chapter begins with the altar of burnt offering. It is a square box of acacia wood, five cubits by five and three cubits high, hollow and overlaid with bronze. It has a horn at each corner, made of one piece with the altar, and it is equipped with bronze pots, shovels, basins, forks and fire pans. A bronze grating with four rings and poles for carrying complete the altar, which Moses must make as he was shown on the mountain.
Then the courtyard is described: an enclosure a hundred cubits long on the south and north sides and fifty wide on the east and west, with hangings of fine twisted linen held by bronze posts in bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands. At the entrance, on the east, is a screen twenty cubits wide of blue, purple, scarlet and linen, embroidered and held by four posts. All the utensils of the tabernacle, including its tent pegs, will be of bronze.
The chapter ends with the oil for the lamp. The Israelites are to bring pure oil of beaten olives so that a lamp may burn continually. Aaron and his sons will keep it burning in the tent of meeting, outside the veil, from evening to morning before the Lord. It will be a lasting statute for the Israelites throughout their generations.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The altar is made of acacia wood with a horn at each corner and overlaid with bronze. It is the place where sacrifices are offered, and it stands at the entrance of the courtyard: whoever approaches God passes by sacrifice first.
The courtyard surrounds the tabernacle with hangings of fine linen, a hundred cubits long on the south side. It marks a sacred space between the camp and God's presence and makes visible that access has an order.
The people must bring pure olive oil so the lamp burns continually, and Aaron and his sons tend it from evening to morning. The light in God's presence depends on the daily faithfulness of the people and the priests.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Acacia wood overlaid with bronze. — Exodus 27:1-2
Answer: A horn, made of one piece with the altar. — Exodus 27:2
Answer: A hundred cubits. — Exodus 27:9
Answer: On the east side, with a screen twenty cubits wide. — Exodus 27:13-16
Answer: Pure oil of beaten olives, so that a lamp may burn continually. — Exodus 27:20
Answer: Aaron and his sons, from evening to morning, before the Lord. — Exodus 27:21
Exodus 27 reminds us that approaching God does not begin with a pleasant experience but with a sacrifice. The altar stood at the entrance, where every Israelite saw it before going further. For Christians this points to the cross of Christ as the one open way to God, and invites us to give thanks for that work again and again.
The lamp calls for faithfulness in the small and constant. The people brought the oil, and the priests tended the lamp every night. A group can ask who carries the oil in its church: the people who serve quietly and regularly, and how we can support them with gratitude and our own participation.
Exodus 27 completes the description of the tabernacle with the altar and the courtyard, and leaves the lamp burning before the Lord. Chapter 28 turns to the people who will serve in it: the sacred garments of the priests.
The text only says they were of one piece with the altar. Elsewhere blood was put on them in sin offerings, and a person seeking refuge could take hold of them. They were a sign of the strength and holiness of the altar.
It is an ancient measure based on the forearm, about 18 inches, though its exact value varied with use. The text gives the dimensions of the altar and courtyard in cubits.
The Bible gives no direct explanation in this passage. It is understood as a sign of God's unceasing presence and of the priests' constant service. Jesus later presented himself as the light of the world, an image Christians connect with it.