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ND 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. 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. 3 And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass. 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. (Exodus 27:1-4)
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ND it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy. (Exodus 29:3b)
The Word of God is designed for the simplest understanding. Theologians love to devise terms that are beyond the understanding of the laity to grasp, but if they would simply render those terms in plain language, then even a child would understand. The Children of Israel were in the wilderness and many lacked understanding of fancy words and meanings;
If a three-year-old asks his father for the meaning of a magnetic compass, the father would not describe the principles of the earth’s magnetic fields in explanation. He would likely take out a paper and pencil and draw a compass and explain what the compass needle always pointed toward. God has given us the Tabernacle of the Wilderness, full of word pictures, to reveal mysteries theretofore unknown to them (and to us).
Due to the depth of meaning of each article in the Tabernacle, I will only cover one feature of the Tabernacle, and that very lightly. For a more in-depth understanding, I suggest you read the account in Exodus in full.
If a man is traveling to a great fortress, what is the most important design feature he will seek first? Will it not be the DOOR of the fortress (for the walls will be impregnable). Doors are of great significance in the Bible. Once the Ark was completed, what was the most important design feature? Was it not the DOOR. Remember Noah went into the Ark, and the animals went in unto Noah – and who closed the DOOR? Was it Noah? No, it was God. Why? Because only God has the prerogative to close the door of salvation on mankind.
What is the most important point of a sheepfold, the DOOR of the Sheepfold, and that DOOR represents Christ! Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. (John 10:7) Christ is the GATE of salvation and the WAY into Heaven. Every place of security has a gate or Door.
The Door of the Tabernacle was on the East side – the same as the rising of the Sun of Righteousness. (Malachi 4:2).
There was a cost established to enter the Tabernacle. What was it? It was a blood offering to be offered on the Brazen Altar just inside the Door. No man could pass into the Tabernacle proper without that blood sacrifice being offered. That DOOR and that ALTAR represented the Lord Jesus Christ. Every man brought his offering, and the offering was sacrificed on the Brazen Altar before the Priests would intercede in prayer for his petitions through the High Priest. There would be no other approach to God than through this Gate and this Altar.
Nothing has changed from the Wilderness days until today – except in substance. All the symbols remain constant, but their substance has been made more absolute and clear. The Brazen Altar has been made flesh for us. It is Jesus Christ that the Altar represented. Before we can come to God, we must come by way of Christ, and we do so without any blood sacrifice other than that once-and-for-all sacrifice of our Lord at Mount Calvary.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
Just as the world sought vainly for the Door of Noah’s Ark when the fountains of the deep were broken up and the water descended, so shall those who have rejected Christ on the last Trump seek vainly for the Door of the Great Ark of Salvation that is Christ.
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