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Exodus Chapter
Twenty-seven
Exodus 27
Chapter Contents
The altar of burnt offerings. (1-8) The court of the
tabernacle. (9-19) The oil for the lamps. (20,21)
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.
Commentary on Exodus 27:9-19
(Read Exodus 27:9-19)
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.
Commentary on Exodus 27:20,21
(Read Exodus 27:20,21)
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.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Exodus》
Exodus 27
Verse 1
[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.
As God intended in the tabernacle to manifest
his presence among his people, so there they were to pay their devotions to
him; not in the tabernacle itself, into that only the priests entered as God's
domestic servants, but in the court before the tabernacle, where, as common subjects
they attended. There an altar was ordered so be set up, to which they must
bring their sacrifices; and this altar was to sanctify their gifts; from hence
they were to present their services to God, as from the mercy-seat he gave his
oracles to them; and thus a communion was settled between God and Israel.
Verse 2
[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.
The horns of it, were for ornament and for
use; the sacrifices were bound with cords to the horns of the altar, and to
them malefactors fled for refuge.
Verse 4
[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.
The grate was set into the hollow of the
altar, about the middle of it, in which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice
burnt; it was made of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the fire
might burn the better, and that the ashes might fall through. Now, this brazen
altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. Christ
sanctified himself for his church as their altar, John 17:19, and by his mediation sanctifies the
daily services of his people. To the horns of this altar poor sinners fly for
refuge, and are safe in virtue of the sacrifice there offered.
Verse 9
[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:
Before the tabernacle there was to be a
court, enclosed with hangings of fine linen. This court, according to the
common computation, was 50 yards long, and 25 broad. Pillars were set up at
convenient distances, in sockets of brass, the pillars filleted with silver,
and silver tenterhooks in them, on which the linen hangings were fastened: the
hanging which served for the gate was finer than the rest. This court was a
type of the church, enclosed, and distinguished from the rest of the world; the
inclosure supported by pillars, noting the stability of the church hung with
the clean linen, which is said to be the righteousness of saints, Revelation 19:8. Yet this court would contain
but a few worshippers; thanks be to God, now the inclosure is taken down; and
there is room for all that in every place call on the name of Christ.
Verse 20
[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.
We read of the candlestick in the 25th
chapter; here is order given for the keeping of the lamps constantly burning in
it. The pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which are
communicated to all believers from Christ the good olive, of whose fulness we
receive, Zechariah 4:11,12. The priests were to light the
lamps, and to tend them; to cause the lamp to burn always, night and day. Thus
it is the work of ministers to preach and expound the scriptures, which are as
a lamp to enlighten the church. This is to be a statute for ever, that the
lamps of the word be lighted as duly as the incense of prayer and praise is
offered.
──
John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Exodus》
27 Chapter 27
Verses 1-8
An altar of shittim wood.
The altar of burnt-offering
I. The altar of
burnt-offering was made partly of wood, and partly of brass. The wood was
incorruptible; and was therefore a lively type of the incorruptible humanity of
Jesus.
II. The altar of
burnt-offering, was not a golden altar; but a brazen altar. Brass is a durable
metal, and an emblem of strength. Christ was equal to His mighty work. “I have
laid help upon one that is mighty.” He is “mighty to save,” and strong to plead
the cause of His people.
III. The altar was
foursquare. There were firmness, stability and strength. The purposes of Divine
love cannot be overturned. The atonement Christ has made is perfect and
complete. Our altar presents a bold front to the enemy. It is a solid mass of
strength.
IV. It was a horned
altar. In Christ we have sovereignty, protection, dignity and glory. Horns in
Scripture are almost invariably emblems of power--regal power. Christ is King
of kings and Lord of lords.
V. It was an
anointed altar. The holy anointing oil was poured upon it, and thus it was
sanctified, and became most holy. Christ was anointed with the oil of gladness
above His fellows. The fulness of the Spirit was upon Him.
VI. The sanctified
altar sanctified all that was laid upon it. “Whatsoever toucheth the altar
shall be holy.” The altar was therefore greater than the sacrifice. It is the
altar that sanctifieth the gift. The Divine nature of Christ sustained His
human nature, and gave efficacy to His sacrifice. Christ’s glorious Person is
the only Altar on which we can offer acceptable sacrifices to God.
VII. Christ is a
spiritual altar, and on it we may offer spiritual sacrifices. To this Altar we
must bring our prayers. If we pray in the name of Jesus, we give wings to our
feeble breathings. To this Altar we must bring our praise. “By Him therefore
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
our lips giving thanks to His name.” No service of song can be acceptable to
God apart from Jesus Christ.
VIII. It was a sacrificial
altar. On this altar was offered the daily sacrifice--a lamb every morning, and
a lamb every evening. “Behold the Lamb of God! “ Christ is the Lamb of God’s
providing.
IX. It was a
burning altar. On the altar sacrifices were continually burning. The fire was
never to go out. Perfection was not to be found under the old dispensation.
Christ’s sacrifice was one; and it was offered but once. “Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many.” “By one offering He hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified.” At the Jewish altar the fire consumed the
sacrifices; but the sacrifice Christ offered consumed the fire. “It is
finished.”
X. The altar of
burnt-offering was God’s altar (Psalms 43:3-4). Jesus is the Christ of
God. He is God’s beloved Son. In coming to Christ we come to the altar of God’s
providing; we come to the altar of God’s appointment.
XI. It is the
sinner’s altar. The altar was erected on purpose for the guilty; and Christ
came into the world to save sinners.
XII. It is a
blood-stained altar. Where the blood is, it is safe for the sinner to go. Being
sprinkled with blood, it is a protecting altar.
XIII. The altar of
brass was a nourishing altar. The priests had a portion of the sacrifices for
their food (1 Corinthians 9:13). “We have an
altar”--the glorious Person of Christ--“whereof they have no right to eat which
serve the Tabernacle.” The old dispensation has passed away. The present
dispensation is spiritual. Having “the heavenly things themselves,” we have no
need of “the patterns.” In Christ we have all the “good things,” of which the
Tabernacle and its services were “shadows.” All believers are priests. All wait
at the altar. All live on Christ.
XIV. It was a
conspicuous altar. No one could enter the court of the Tabernacle without
seeing the brazen altar. Christ must be the preacher’s theme. Christ is the
only object of saving faith, and Jesus only must be the subject of our
ministry. (B. E. Sears.)
The size of the altar
It is observable in Scripture that Moses’ altar was but five
cubits in length, and five in breadth, and three in height (Exodus 27:1); but Solomon’s altar was
much larger (2 Chronicles 4:1). Now the reason
hereof seems to be this, because Moses was in a warfare, in an unsettled condition,
in the wilderness, in continual travel, full of troubles, and could not
conveniently carry about an altar of that bigness; but Solomon was on his
throne in a tranquil state, settled in quiet possession of his kingdom, and as
his name was, so was he a true Solomon, that is, peaceable. Thus it ought to be
with all good men, that when they have more peace and prosperity than others,
their service of God should be proportionable. Solomon’s Temple must outstrip
Moses’ Tabernacle in beauty and glory, and Solomon’s altar must exceed the
bigness of Moses’ altar. In their peace and plenty, their holiness should
outshine others that are in want and misery, when God lays not so much sorrow
upon them as upon others, they should lay the more duty upon themselves. If God
send them fewer crosses and more comforts, they are to return more service and
commit less evils. (J. Spencer.)
The altar of brass
The altar was four-square, and it had four horns. The animals
offered in sacrifice were horned animals, and were doubtless bound by their
horns to the horns of the altar, and then slain (Psalms 118:27), so that the ground round
about the altar would be always red and wet with blood. Life is in the blood;
to shed the blood is to sacrifice the life; and the first thing that meets our
eye as we enter the gate of the court, and look at the earth on which we are
walking, is blood--sacrificed life. To this altar the sinner came leading his
sin-offering. Here he stood before God, and his sins were confessed, and
transferred or imputed to the unblemished and innocent animal, which had then
to suffer and to die for sin, but not for its own sin. The innocent one died
for the guilty one. These sacrifices were typical of Christ’s sacrifice. He
suffered, the Just for the unjust: on Him our sins were laid; He bore them in
His body on the tree. He was made sin, or a sin-offering, for us, and by His
stripes we are healed. His blood was shed for the remission of sins, and now it
cleanseth us from all sin (1 Peter 3:18; Isaiah 53:5-6; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Matthew 26:28; 1 John 1:7). Christ is our Altar,
our Sacrifice, and our Priest. He offered Himself for us. And having met most
fully all God’s claims, He now meets and supplies all the penitent believing
sinner’s need. Every saved sinner has come to this spot--has seen Jesus as the
Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29). We have seen Christ as the
Redeemer, and as the Gate or Way to God, and now we see Him as the Altar,
Priest, and Sacrifice. Here we stand with our hand of faith on His head, and we
feel that as our Sin-offering He has suffered for our sin, and has put it away.
Our life was forfeited, but Christ who loved us, and gave Himself for us, has
sacrificed His own life to save us from eternal death (Ephesians 5:25; John 10:11; John 10:15). (G. Rodgers.)
Significance of the altar of burnt-offering
In other cases an altar was said to be built, or elevated; but the
portable structure used as such in the Tabernacle is spoken of as made, or
constructed, because it had a frame of wood overlaid with copper. This frame
was probably filled with earth to answer the requirements of the general
statute. There is no intimation of this, indeed, in the writings of Moses; but neither
does he mention any other expedient for holding the fire in place. Copper as
dug out of the ground, similar to it in colour, and inferior to that metal
which among metals represented celestial glory, was appropriately associated
with earth in an altar belonging to a permanent and yet portable institution.
By the affinity of the copper with the earth, this frame of an altar, which
could be carried from place to place, fulfilled the same end in the expression
of thought, as an altar of earth. The wood being, in the first place, designed
for a frame on which the copper might be fastened so as to give sufficient size
and strength without too great weight, was of acacia for the same reason which
required this particular species of timber in the planks of the house, and the
pillars of the court. The Tabernacle being a place of life, acacia wood, on
account of its superiority to decay, was sought for every purpose which was to
be answered with wood, whether in the edifice or its furniture. Not only the
frame, or wall of the altar, was of acacia covered with copper, but also the
horns; and this fact may help to determine the significance of these
projections. The horn is, in cornute animals, the instrument of power, and
thence becomes an emblem of strength, and as such is congruous with all the
other elements combined in the altar as a symbol. It has, accordingly, been
commonly understood that the horns of the altar represented the power of its
ministrations. But recently it has been suggested that among the metaphorical
significations of the horn, height was no less appropriate than strength as an
attribute of an altar. The horn is the highest part of the animal, carried
aloft as a badge of power and the honour consequent on power, and therefore
used as a sign of elevation. To lift up the horn is to exalt, either in the
physical or in a figurative sense. The horns of an altar may be intended,
therefore, to symbolize still more emphatically the elevation of the earth on
which the sacrifice is offered toward heaven, the residence of the Being to
whom it is presented. The copper with which the horns were overlaid seems to
countenance this interpretation. May not both shades of meaning be comprehended
in one and the same emblem? The horns elevating the place of sacrifice nearer
to heaven, the efficacy of the altar was especially conspicuous in these
symbols of elevation. (E. E. Atwater.)
The brazen altar
This altar of burnt-sacrifice, with the offerings presented upon
it, stands before us as a type of Christ and His cross. And the materials of
which the altar was composed point strikingly to His twofold nature. His
humanity, if found alone, would have been consumed by the fire of Divine
justice, which blazed forth against Him when He stood as our substitute and
bore our sins in His own body on the tree. And then, on the other hand, His
Divinity, if found alone, like the altar, if all of brass, would have been too
oppressive for us. It would have made us afraid by its excellency, and would
have overwhelmed us by its majesty. But blended with the humanity, and tempered
and softened by its transmission through the vail of flesh, it meets our
necessities in every respect, and furnishes us with just the help and comfort
that we need. (R. Newton, D. D.)
Lessons
I. Look now at the
position which God assigned to the altar of sacrifice in the Jewish Tabernacle,
that heaven-sketched symbol of the Church. Behold one of the marks of a true
Church. It will give great prominence to the altar, the cross of Christ, or the
doctrine of His atoning sacrifice.
II. The relation
which it bore to every other part of the Tabernacle. It was the most important
part of the whole Tabernacle. Like the root to the tree, like the foundation to
the building, like the fountain to the stream, like the mainspring to the
watch, like the heart to the body, it was that, on which every other part of
the sacred structure depended, and from which it derived all its value. This
altar represents the cross of Christ. As we look at it from this point of view,
we seem to see written on it as with a sunbeam, the great practical truth, that
the way to heaven--the only way by which any of our ruined race can enter
there--lies over Calvary. There is no pardon, no renewal, no acceptance, no
righteousness, no peace, no grace, no blessing, no salvation to any of Adam’s
children, but through the sacrifice once offered upon the cross. And this is
true not of our persons only, but of our services also. “Accepted in the
beloved,” is the great underlying doctrine of the gospel. Our prayers, our
praises, our sighs, our tears, our repentance, our faith, our words, our
actions, our labours, our sufferings, our vows, our alms-givings, our sermons,
our sacraments--all things that may be crowded into the entire circle of our
services--have worth, or merit, not in themselves, but only as they stand
connected with the sacrifice which Jesus offered on the cross, and are
sprinkled with His atoning blood, in all its prevailing efficacy.
III. Our third
lesson from this altar is suggested by the continuity of the offerings
presented upon it. There was to be no cessation, no suspension, or interruption
of the service here rendered. The sacrifice on the Jewish altar was an
imperfect sacrifice, and hence the necessity for its repetition. They were “sacrifices,”
as St. Paul says, “offered year by year continually, which could never make the
comers thereunto perfect.” Our sacrifice, offered upon the cross, is a perfect
sacrifice, and therefore it needs no repetition. It was offered “once for all”;
and by this one offering, Jesus, our great High Priest, “perfects for ever them
that are sanctified “; i.e., all His believing people. The
offering was once made, but the merits, the influence, the efficacy of the
offering, abide continually. And because it thus abides, there needs no
repetition of it.
IV. Our fourth
lesson is taught us, when we consider the efficacy of the offerings presented
on the brazen altar. You may say, indeed, that we have just spoken of their
imperfection, and that is true. They were not intended to do for the Jews what
the sacrifice of Christ does for us. They were only types, or shadows of that
sacrifice. Of course they could only have a typical, or shadowy efficacy. This,
however, they had in perfection. And here the brazen altar points significantly
to the cross of Christ. It speaks to us, in eloquent tones, of the thorough
efficacy, the absolute perfection of the sacrifice He offered.
V. The fifth and
last lesson taught us by this altar is seen, when we observe the extent of its
benefits. It was open to all. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The brazen altar of burnt-offering
In this we have a significant type of our Lord, regarded more
particularly in His Divine nature. This view “is supported by our Lord Himself,
when He says that the altar is greater than the sacrifice (Matthew 23:19). Both sacrifice and altar
were but shadows, and derived their importance wholly from the reality to which
they referred. But as a shadow of Christ’s sacrifice, the importance of the
legal victims was immeasurable; and yet our Lord says the greatness to which
the altar pointed transcends it. Then lies not the thought very near, that the
altar pointed to His Divinity? And still further is this conclusion justifiable
by the additional saying of our Lord, that the altar sanctifies the sacrifice;
for was it not the union of His Divine with His human nature which imparted to
the latter its majesty inconceivable, and to His sacrifice its miraculous and
eternal efficacy?” A remarkable confirmation of this view is found in the fact
that the altar, during removal, was covered with a purple cloth, which
colour symbolized the hypostatic union. The construction of the altar pointed
another lesson. The outer covering of brass concealed and protected an interior
of wood. In fact, the altar was said to be made of wood. Now in Hebrew, wood
and tree are synonymous, and trees are frequently spoken of in the Bible as
emblematic of God’s saints. By the wood of the altar was signified the members
of Christ: “It was a visible parable of the mystical union between Christ and
His people. As the wood was hidden within the altar, so in God’s eye were they
hid in Him.” And the lesson thus taught by the altar was this: Romans 8:1. “The altar was surmounted by
four horns, the well-known emblems of power; and these horns were deeply marked
with sacrificial blood; and it fell from them as it fell from Him whom the altar
typified in the garden and on the cross. These horns were, therefore, at once
symbols of might and reconciliation, and were outstretched to the four corners
of the earth, to call men to flee unto Christ to be saved.” (E. F. Willis,
M. A. , with quotations from H. Douglas, M. A.)
The altar of burnt-offering
This altar was the foundation of all the Tabernacle worship. The
priests could not enter into the holy place except on the ground of sacrifice
presented on the brazen altar. Nor could the high priest on the great atonement
day enter the holy of holies without having first offered not only the ordinary
sacrifice, but an additional sin-offering on the altar in the court. Not only
was the Shekinah glory within the vail impossible of access, but the bread of
the presence, the light of the lamps, the privileges of the altar of incense,
were all closed until a sacrifice had been offered upon the altar. Thus were
the children of Israel taught, and thus,too are we taught, that the first thing
for the sinner to do, before he can taste the heavenly bread, before he can see
the heavenly light, before he can even pray with acceptance, is to avail
himself of the atonement which God has provided. The altar was the people’s
place of meeting with God. It was free to all. The call was addressed to every
child of Israel: “Come into His courts and bring an offering with you.” The
atonement which God provides is free to all without exception, and without
distinction. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)
The court of the Tabernacle.
The court of the Tabernacle
I. This court may
be an emblem of that sacred enclosure which always surrounds the Church. “A
garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse.” God Himself, with all His infinite
perfections and attributes, is round about His people. Every attribute of God
is a pillar in our protecting wall, power, sovereignty, justice, righteousness,
truth and faithfulness, appear in perfect harmony with love, benevolence,
mercy, tenderness, compassion and goodness. All unite to uphold the separating
wall between the Church and the world.
II. We may look
upon this court as emblematical of the life and ministry of Christ. Only the
true Christian can enter into Christ, but a sinner may read His life. As the
court led to the Tabernacle, so the reading of the life of Christ has often
been the means of the soul believing in Jesus. In the life of Christ we have a
perfect model for the Christian’s imitation. Christ has left us an example that
we should follow His steps.
III. We may view the
court of the Tabernacle as an emblem of the Holy Scriptures. We cannot come to
God without entering the court of revelation. He that loves the Bible has
entered the outer court of the Tabernacle. Reverence for the Word of God is a
good sign.
IV. The court of
the Tabernacle was a place of worship. Here the Israelites came with their
various sacrifices; and here God accepted them. If we would be accepted by God,
we must observe God’s order, and come to the place He has appointed. We must
also come in a right spirit.
V. In the court of
the Tabernacle we have a figure of the professing Church.
1. Not all who entered the court entered the Tabernacle. Not all who
make a profession of religion possess it. The heart, as well as the lip, must
be right. The court was the way to the Tabernacle. There is no evidence that a
man possesses grace while he neglects the means of grace. If a man has no love
to God’s house, he can have no love to God. If we have no desire to be numbered
with God’s people, there cannot be much desire after God Himself. (R. E.
Sears.)
Hangings of the court
It is likely that those hangings would be of open work, and that
the people would be able to look through this linen fence, and see what was
being done inside. This would set forth the guilelessness of Christ’s
character. He was no deceiver; there was no guile in His lips. He lived in a
very hollow age, when deceit was the order of the day; but He was a transparent
Man, an unselfish Man, a perfect Man. At the east end was a hanging called the
gate. The basis of this gate would be the same as the fine linen in other parts
of the court, and the meshes would be nearly filled up with blue, purple, and
scarlet wools. This gate is Christ, the one gate, the one only door to God and
to happiness in this life, or in the life which is to come. Those white
hangings were suspended from upright pillars, standing in blocks of brass. The
pillars were strong enough to sustain the weight of the hangings, and they were
high enough to keep the fine linen from touching the ground, or contracting
defilement in any part. So our Lord Jesus was sustained in His holy conduct in
every part of His life by those upright principles which He had in His holy
nature. (G. Rodgers.)
Fine linen
The fine linen was a thing of the earth. It had grown from
seed which had been cast into the ground, and had died there, after which life
came up out of death; there was death and resurrection. After this it went
through many processes before it was seen about the dwelling-place of God. So
the Christian has to learn death and resurrection. We have to die, and to be
quickened to life, and we have to pass through some painful processes. Satan
himself is sometimes permitted to sift us and to twist us, and he handles the
soul roughly; but it is all needed to make us the fine-twined linen such as God
would have us be. All things do indeed work together for our good, if they help
to conform us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29). (G. Rodgers.)
The gate of the court
The word “hanging” is in the Hebrew exclusively used for
the vail the door of the Tabernacle, and the gate of the court; and serves,
therefore, to connect together these three in type. Each of these hangings
covered or hid the interior from the eyes of one approaching from the outside.
Each had the character of a door. All three were made of the same materials
arranged in precisely the same order; and all three were of the same dimensions
as regards their area. The same truth seems, therefore, to be embodied in each
of these typical curtains. The same Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, is
pourtrayed in each. There could be no access to God of any kind, whether of
comparatively distant worship or of closest intimacy, but through the one door,
the Lord Jesus (John 10:7). Cain was the first who tried
another path; and instead of being able to draw near, his very attempt ended in
his going out from the presence of God into the land of banishment. Thousands
follow in his footsteps, and think to worship and to offer without passing
through the door. (H. W. Soltau.)
The hanging of fine linen
The court itself, with the exception of the gate, was closed by a
hanging of fine-twined linen, five cubits high. Fine linen seems to be used in
Scripture as a type of righteousness--a righteousness equal to all the demands
of God--enabling him who possesses it to stand in God’s glory; in contrast with
sin, by reason of which, all come short of the glory of God. The Israelite, who
entered through the gate of the court, would be encompassed, shut in, and
protected by this hanging of fine-twined linen. Though in a wilderness, he
stood on holy ground; and the fine linen by which he was surrounded shut out
from his eye the dreary barren prospect, through which he was wending his way.
The lovely Tabernacle of God stood partially revealed to his gaze. The courts
of the Lord’s house, overshadowed by the cloud of glory, were before him. The
altar, with its lamb for the burnt-offering, sent up an odour of a sweet savour
on his behalf. The laver, filled with water, told him of a fountain filled with
life and purity, which would cleanse away even the ordinary defilement
contracted whilst passing through a wilderness of death. He had entered through
the gate of the court, the appointed doorway; within, every object proclaimed
life, peace, righteousness, acceptance, and nearness to God. Moreover, no
deadly foe could enter these precincts. Thus the court presented a place of
security, of holiness, and of intercourse with God. Jerusalem on earth will
hereafter afford some such place of refuge for the nations of the earth. (H.
W. Soltau.)
The pins
By means of these pins of brass, the Tabernacle and the court were
securely fastened to the desert ground, so that no storm or flood of waters
could sweep away this structure, although many of the materials were such as to
be easily affected by the wind or rain. May we not be reminded by this type, of
the stedfast purpose of Christ, to pursue the path marked out for Him by the
counsels of God, even though that path ended in the storm of judgment and in
the billows of wrath. What a wondrous object of contemplation is the blessed
Lord, as revealed to us in the Scriptures of truth. Weak, yet immovably firm.
Himself the mighty God, yet dependent for everything on God His Father. Oh! the
wondrous power of that weakness. Oh! the marvellous victory of that death. Oh!
the eternal stability of Him laid low in the depths of the grave. (H. W.
Soltau.)
Verse 20-21
Pure oil olive beaten for the light.
Symbolic references
I. The purity of
the light (Psalms 26:9).
II. The perfection
of the light.
III. The perpetuity
of the light. Christ can never be superseded. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Oil for the light
1. The source whence the oil was obtained--the “olive.” Thus is
grace, free and full, obtained from Christ, the “Plant of renown.”
2. The qualification it was to possess--it was to be “pure.” All the
grace which comes from Christ is pure and unalloyed.
3. The instruments of its dispensation--“the children of Israel.” The
children of God are now the recipients and dispensers of Christ’s grace.
4. The uses to which it was put--it caused “the lamp to burn always.”
Grace causes the life of each Christian to shine with a brighter glow. (S.
Thomas.)
Lamps burning always
It is difficult to understand from the various passages
bearing on the subject, whether the lamps burned both day and night, or only
during the night--some passages apparently favouring the one view, and some the
other; thus, “To cause the lamp to burn always” (Exodus 27:20); and, “Command the children
of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure olive oil, beaten for the light, to
cause the lamps to burn continually” (Leviticus 24:2). These passages seem to
teach that the lamps burned both day and night. If they do not teach that, the
meaning must be that “continual” and “always “ signify at regular intervals, as
in the case of some ordinances and offerings which are called perpetual, though
occurring only at intervals. The other view, that they burned only during the
night, seems to be supported by, “Aaron and his sons shall order it from
evening to morning” (Exodus 27:21); “And Aaron shall burn
thereon (the golden altar) sweet incense every morning, when he dresseth the
lamps” (Exodus 30:7-8). From these texts it would
appear that the lamps burned only during the night. If they were not intended
to teach that, the meaning must be that the lamps were dressed in the morning,
probably one after another, not necessitating more than one being extinguished
at a time, and after being dressed and lighted, burned during the day, the
lamps receiving such further attention in the evening as admitted of their
burning till the morning. As there were no windows in the Tabernacle, and the
priests had duties to perform during the day in the holy place, it is almost
certain that the lamps burned always. (W. Brown.)
Light symbolism
As the first apartment in the Tabernacle was illuminated by the
sevenfold light of the candlestick, and as the Church, composed of all genuine
believers on earth in every age, is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, so will the
Church triumphant in heaven, that great temple not made with hands, be a place
of glorious light; and the light shall never go out, it will burn always; so
that there shall be no night there, nor sun, nor moon, nor stars shall shine in
that happy place, for the glory of God and the Lamb is the light thereof. (W.
Brown.)
Burning with pure oil
It is related in the biography of one who lived to become a
devoted Christian man, that while he was yet a little boy, the passage read
from the Bible in the family on a certain occasion was Exodus 27:20, describing the oil used in
the vessels of the Tabernacle. The meaning and application of the verse was
explained by other passages from the New Testament. This boy was then but five
years old, and it was not supposed that he could understand or feel the
slightest interest in a subject considered far beyond his age. The older
children left the room after family worship, but the little boy was detained,
as usual, to be taught some simple verses of the Bible by his mother, and to
pray with her. He kneeled down at length to pray, and in the midst of his
prayer he paused, and exclaimed, earnestly, “O my God, make me to burn this day
with pure oil!” The morning lesson had not been lost upon him; he had
understood its import. “Most evidently,” says his biographer, “was this prayer
heard and answered throughout the day of his life.” How appropriate is this
petition for the morning offering of every Christian, “Make me to burn this day
with pure oil”! If He who hath all hearts in His keeping vouchsafe a gracious
answer to that prayer, the example of the disciple must be one that will
glorify the name of Jesus. Such a man will walk with God. No unhallowed fires
will be lighted in his bosom. Neither revenge nor hate can burn there. The
peace and joy of the believer will fill his soul..
──《The Biblical Illustrator》