Exodus27

New American Standard

TranslationKJV WEB ASV ESV NIV NASB NKJV NLT

¹“Now you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.

²You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.

³And you shall make its pails for removing its ashes, and its shovels, its basins, its forks, and its firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.

⁴You shall also make for it a grating, a netting of bronze, and on the netting you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.

⁵And you shall put it under the ledge of the altar, so that the netting will reach halfway up the altar.

⁶You shall also make carrying poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood and overlay them with bronze.

⁷Its poles shall be inserted into the rings, so that the poles will be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried.

⁸You shall make it hollow with planks; as it was shown to you on the mountain, so they shall make it.

⁹“Now you shall make the courtyard of the tabernacle. On the south side there shall be hangings for the courtyard of fine twisted linen, a hundred cubits long for one side;

¹⁰and its pillars shall be twenty, with their twenty bases of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.

¹¹Likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars with their twenty bases of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.

¹²For the width of the courtyard on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten bases.

¹³The width of the courtyard on the east side shall be fifty cubits.

¹⁴The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases.

¹⁵And for the other side there shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases.

¹⁶And for the gate of the courtyard there shall be a curtain of twenty cubits, of violet, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver, with their four pillars and their four bases.

¹⁷All the pillars around the courtyard shall be joined together with silver, with their hooks of silver and their bases of bronze.

¹⁸The length of the courtyard shall be a hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits of fine twisted linen, and their bases of bronze.

¹⁹All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the courtyard, shall be of bronze.

²⁰“And you shall command the sons of Israel that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.

²¹In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the Lord; it shall be a permanent statute throughout their generations for the sons of Israel.

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Exodus 27.

Full AI study →

Chapter Summary

In this chapter: The altar of burnt offerings. (1–8). The court of the tabernacle. (9–19). The oil for the lamps. (20, 21).

vv1-8

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.

vv9-19

The tabernacle was enclosed in a court, about sixty yards long and thirty broad, formed by curtains hung upon brazen pillars, fixed in brazen sockets. Within this enclosure the priests and Levites offered the sacrifices, and thither the Jewish people were admitted. These distinctions represented the difference between the visible nominal church, and the true spiritual church, which alone has access to God, and communion with him.

vv20-21

The pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which all believers receive from Christ, the good Olive, and without which our light cannot shine before men. The priests were to light the lamps, and tend them. It is the work of ministers, by preaching and expounding the Scriptures, which are as a lamp, to enlighten the church, God's tabernacle upon earth. Blessed be God, this light is not now confined to the Jewish tabernacle, but is a light to lighten the gentiles, and for salvation unto the ends of the earth.