Chapter Twenty-Seven

1–8. Construction of the burnt offering altar. 9–19. The courtyard of the tabernacle. 20–21. The offering of oil for the lamp.

Exodus 27:1. And make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide, that it may be square, and three cubits high. Since the earth altar (Exod 20:24-25) was not always convenient for offerings, the law required the construction of a more durable altar. As the description shows, it was a hollow box constructed from boards of acacia wood (Exod 27:8), without a bottom or cover, five cubits in length and width and three cubits in height. Because of the altar’s considerable height, one had to “ascend” to it (Lev 9:22). And since steps convenient for climbing were forbidden (Exod 20:26), it is reasonable to suppose that on one side there was a sloping ramp.

Exodus 27:2. And make horns on its four corners; the horns shall be of one piece with it; and you shall overlay it with bronze. On the four corners of the altar, there extended from its walls curling projections that had the form of ox horns, as the principal sacrificial animal, and therefore were called the horns of the altar. They were not merely nailed to the corners as an ornament, but formed one piece with it – they were made of the same wood and covered not with separate copper sheets, but with the same overlay that covered the walls. Since the horns of the altar were connected with the rite of sacrifice, which consisted of sprinkling them with the blood of the sacrificial animal, they had great sacred significance and formed an important part of the altar. Those seeking to save their lives grasped its horns (1 Sam 1:50); the name of the horns replaces the name of the altar (Ps 117:27), and their destruction is equivalent to the destruction of the altar (Jdt 9:8, Amos 3:14). The walls of the altar were covered with bronze both to protect against the constantly burning fire and to give them strength and appearance.

Exodus 27:3. And you shall make pots for the ashes, shovels, basins, and forks, and fire pans; all its utensils you shall make of bronze. Bronze pots or kettles were required both for collecting the ashes from sacrifices and for cooking the sacrificial meat (Lev 6:28); shovels – for cleaning the altar of ashes; basins – for draining the blood of sacrificial animals; forks, probably with three prongs (1 Sam 2:13), – for turning the parts being burned and for removing meat from the pots in which it was cooked; and finally, fire pans.

Exodus 27:4. And you shall make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the network you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. Exodus 27:5. And you shall put it beneath the ledge of the altar, so that the network shall extend halfway up the altar. The network surrounded the altar on all sides: “make on its four corners four rings.” According to a precise translation from the Hebrew text, it should be placed under the “ledge of the altar” from below, so as to reach halfway up the altar. Given that the expression “ledge,” besides this place, does not appear elsewhere in the Bible, explanations of it vary. Some interpreters understand it as a bench that went around the altar at its middle, which the priests used when performing the operations of sacrifice. But a bench would constitute forbidden steps under the law (Exod 20:26) and would increase the dimensions of the altar. In the same way, the position and structure of the grating are understood differently. Some see in it a grate or latticed hearth on the upper platform of the altar, placing it either between the horns of the altar or with greater or lesser depth into the box of the altar. But the existence of an artificial hearth on the altar is superfluous, because the actual place of burning sacrifices should be the earth (Exod 20:24-25). It is much more probable and plausible to explain these parts of the altar as follows. The name “ledge” in the altar corresponds to what in the vessels of the sanctuary – the incense altar and the table of showbread – is designated by the word “zer” – a crown. This was a simple cornice or simple band that ran along the upper edge of the altar’s walls, giving them greater strength and at the same time serving as an ornament to the altar, bringing it closer to the sacred vessels. At the same time this cornice served as a binding for the altar’s horns, uniting them into one whole. Immediately beneath this band or cornice, on the outer side of the altar and in its upper half, ran a network of bronze grating, covering the upper half of the altar’s walls.

Exodus 27:6. And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. Exodus 27:7. And you shall put the poles into the rings, so that the poles are on two sides of the altar, when it is carried. It is not clear from the text whether special rings were made for inserting the poles, or whether these were the rings of the network (Exod 27:4). But if we suppose that the rings of the network were on the lower sides and corners of it, then the existence of others seems unnecessary. The poles were used for carrying the altar, which in bad weather was covered during the journey with a special leather covering, “tahash” (Num 4:13-14).

Exodus 27:8. You shall make it hollow, of boards; as it has been shown to you on the mountain, so shall they make it. The hollow interior of the box made of boards was probably filled with earth or stones.

Exodus 27:9. And you shall make the courtyard of the tabernacle. On the south side the courtyard shall have hangings of twisted linen, a hundred cubits long on one side. Exodus 27:10. Its twenty pillars and their twenty bronze bases; the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. Exodus 27:11. Likewise, on the north side there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long; its twenty pillars and their twenty bronze bases; the hooks of the pillars and their bands [and bases] shall be of silver. Exodus 27:12. And for the width of the courtyard on the west side there shall be hangings fifty cubits long; its ten pillars and their ten bases. Exodus 27:13. And the width of the courtyard on the east side, toward the rising sun, shall be fifty cubits; [ten pillars for them and ten bases for them]. The enclosure surrounding the courtyard of the tabernacle consisted of pillars and hangings of twisted linen suspended from them. On the longitudinal, south and north sides, the hangings were a hundred cubits long, and along this distance twenty pillars were erected, so that for every five cubits there was one pillar. The hangings on the side, transverse sides extended fifty cubits, with ten pillars set at the same distance. It is clear that when dividing the length and width of the enclosure into five-cubit intervals, the thickness of the pillars should not be counted, because otherwise the length would not be one hundred cubits and the width not fifty, but more – as many extra cubits as the thickness of the pillars taken together. The five-cubit distance should therefore be reckoned not between the pillars but between their imagined inner shafts or axes. The arrangement of pillars apparently proceeded as follows. If it began on the south side, running from east to west, then the first pillar was placed after the first five-cubit stage; the second – after the second five-cubit interval, and so on, so that the twentieth pillar fell on the last point of the hundredth cubit, or on the very southwest corner. Likewise the first pillar of the transverse western side was placed after the fifth cubit, and the last or tenth after the fiftieth, on the very northwest corner. Also the first pillar of the northern longitudinal side was placed on the fifth cubit, and the last on the hundredth, or on the northeast corner. Hence, precisely from the fifth cubit from the corner, the installation of pillars on the eastern side began, so that the last tenth pillar fell on the hitherto unoccupied southeast corner, or on the starting point of the general count. The pillars consisted of a base – a pedestal, the pillar proper or shaft, and the top or capital (Exod 38:17). The bases were made of bronze and, according to Josephus, had a pointed form – they resembled those iron sleeves that the Greeks placed on stakes driven into the earth. Others consider them to be shaped like tiles. The material and shape of the pillars are not indicated, but the former is implied – the acacia wood specified for the tabernacle itself. As for their shape, some consider the pillars to be square, as this form appears more often in the description of the tabernacle, while others, seeing that the pillars are called “amudim,” columns, and have capitals, consider them to be round. The shape of the capitals covered with silver (Exod 38:17) is equally unknown. Whether it was spherical or resembled a flower cup, it is impossible to say. It is certain only that the capitals had to rise above the hangings, for otherwise they could not be seen and would be useless. For maintaining the pillars, bands passing through silver hooks were used. By bands are meant silver rods running from pillar to pillar and consequently going around the entire line of the enclosure. They held the pillars in an upright position and prevented them from falling in the plane of the hangings. Pillars falling in another direction, coming out of line with the enclosure, were prevented from doing so by means of chains, which, according to Josephus, hung from the capitals and were secured in the earth – bronze ones a cubit in length. Hangings were suspended from the pillars connected by rods. With a length of 280 cubits and a height of 5, they could not be one continuous strip but represented a connection of separate parts, as with the coverings of the tabernacle. In order for light linen material to be able to withstand the wind, it had to be firmly fastened not only at the top of the pillars but also at the bottom.

Exodus 27:14. And on one side of the gate area – hangings of fifteen cubits [high]; its three pillars and their three bases. Exodus 27:15. And on the other side – hangings of fifteen [cubits high]; its three pillars and their three bases. On the entrance side, the eastern side of the courtyard, the space on each side measuring fifteen cubits was closed off with the same kind of hangings as on the other sides. On this space, three pillars were erected on each side, six in total.

Exodus 27:16. And for the gate of the courtyard – a hanging of twenty cubits [high], of blue and purple and scarlet material and of twisted linen, of woven work; its four pillars and their four bases. In the middle of the eastern side, a space of twenty cubits was left for an entrance. It was composed of four pillars with a hanging of twenty cubits suspended from them. Unlike the hangings of the enclosure (“kelah”), it was called masach and was made of blue, purple, and scarlet material and twisted linen with work called “rokem.” In the LXX translation this term is rendered by the expression “ποικιλίᾳ τοῦ ῥαφιδευτοῦ,” in the Slavonic – “embroidered ornament,” in Latin – “opus plumarii.” It is known that the name “plumae” – feathers designated little pieces on military armor, arranged like bird feathers or fish scales. Hence “plumaria” were called ornaments on garments similar to feathers, little pieces and flowers woven or embroidered with a needle. The Talmud and Rabbis, in explaining the term “rokem,” say that by it are meant ornaments sewn on with a needle across a woven field and having one side, i.e., the same on the front and back. Accordingly, the work “rokem” means such a finishing of cloth in which a white field of linen was decorated with blue, purple, and bright-red threads in the form of squares or lattice. By its color and work, the entrance hanging stood out sharply among the white linen enclosure of the tabernacle. The contrast was even more striking if the hanging indeed had the dimensions mentioned in the LXX translation: instead of 5 cubits height it had twenty. Intended to cover the entrance, the hanging was, of course, not fastened at the bottom and could, as needed, be raised to a certain height.

Exodus 27:17. All the pillars around the courtyard shall be joined with bands of silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze. This clarifies the instruction of verse 10 in that it speaks of the bands between pillars around the entire enclosure.

Exodus 27:18. The length of the courtyard shall be a hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, with hangings of twisted linen and bases of bronze for the pillars. For the sake of clarity, the measurements of the entire courtyard are repeated, making it quite clear that both longitudinal sides should be a hundred cubits, the short sides fifty cubits each, and the height everywhere should be five cubits.

Exodus 27:19. All the furnishings of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the courtyard – shall be of bronze. The mention of the pegs of the tabernacle and the courtyard shows that pegs and ropes were required to anchor the upper coverings of the tabernacle to the earth and to secure the pillars of the courtyard (Num 3:37, Exod 35:18).

Exodus 27:20. And you shall command the people of Israel to bring you pure beaten oil of olives for the lighting, so that a light may be kept burning always. Exodus 27:21. In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the ark of the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. This shall be a statute forever for the people of Israel throughout their generations. Concerning the offering of oil for the golden lampstand: in the midst of describing the construction of the future tabernacle, oil is mentioned because it was to be just as necessary a part of the sanctuary as its furnishings. The oil brought by all the Hebrews should be prepared from olives: it should be “pure,” that is, without sediment, without admixture, and without refuse; it should be “beaten,” that is, not pressed in a press but poured from crushed olives. Oil burned “always,” – not only by day but also by night, as confirmed both by the positive law regarding the perpetual burning of the lamp (Exod 30:8, Lev 24:3-4), the morning arrangement of the lamps (Exod 30:7), and also by the fact that in the absence of windows the sanctuary could not do without light even by day. The tending of the lamp was to be done by Aaron and his sons, that is, the high priest and the priests, not the Levites.