Scripture Daily

Context No. 3254 of 4322 · Exodus

Context · Reflection

Exodus 38:1-7: in context

1He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. It was square. Its length was five cubits, its width was five cubits, and its height was three cubits. 2He made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. 3He made all the vessels of the altar: the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its vessels of bronze. 4He made for the altar a grating of a network of bronze, under the ledge around it beneath, reaching halfway up. 5He cast four rings for the four corners of bronze grating, to be places for the poles. 6He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bronze. 7He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks.

This is the account of building the altar of burnt offering: acacia wood overlaid with bronze, five cubits square, with horns at its four corners, its pots and shovels and basins and forks, its bronze grating, and the poles for carrying it. Every part is made to the pattern God gave.

To modern eyes it reads as dry inventory, but the altar was the place where sacrifice was offered and atonement made, standing at the very entrance to God's dwelling. Every measurement was given by God; nothing was left to human preference. The care lavished on the place of sacrifice tells us that approaching God was not a casual thing; it required a prepared and God-appointed way. The altar stood at the threshold as a reminder that there is no coming into God's presence except through the sacrifice he provides, which points ahead to the one sacrifice of Christ, offered once for all.

Do I remember that coming into God's presence is not casual but comes through the sacrifice he himself provides, fulfilled in Christ?

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