The Torah · Old Testament
Exodus 27
The altar, courtyard and tending of the lamp
General context
The Lord instructs Moses to make a square wooden altar, five cubits on each side and three high, with horns at its corners and a brass covering. Its utensils, grating and rings are also brass. Covered wooden poles fit through rings on its sides so it can be carried. The altar is to be hollow and made according to what Moses was shown on the mountain. The courtyard is then specified through linen hangings, pillars, sockets and silver fittings. Its north and south sides are each a hundred cubits long, and its width is fifty. A twenty-cubit embroidered gate hanging stands on the east between two fifteen-cubit sections. The enclosing hangings are five cubits high. The chapter closes with an instruction for Israel to bring pure beaten olive oil for the light. Aaron and his sons are to tend it from evening to morning in the tent, outside the veil before the testimony. This continuing responsibility follows the instructions for making the physical setting.
Cited passages: Exodus 27:1, Exodus 27:2, Exodus 27:3, Exodus 27:4, Exodus 27:5, Exodus 27:6, Exodus 27:7, Exodus 27:8, Exodus 27:9, Exodus 27:10, Exodus 27:11, Exodus 27:12, Exodus 27:13, Exodus 27:14, Exodus 27:15, Exodus 27:16, Exodus 27:17, Exodus 27:18, Exodus 27:19, Exodus 27:20, Exodus 27:21
Exodus 27 (KJV)
1And 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.
2And 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.
3And 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.
4And 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.
5And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.
6And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.
7And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.
8Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.
9And 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:
10And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
11And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
12And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
13And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.
14The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.
17All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.
18The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.
19All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.
20And 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.
21In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the Lord: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
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Historical context
The altar's hollow wooden construction, brass overlay and carrying poles are expressly stated. Its network is placed beneath the surrounding ledge and reaches the middle of the altar in the cited wording; the passage does not give every detail needed for a modern working model. The courtyard dimensions are stated in cubits, with silver hooks and bands and brass sockets. The gate has colored needlework rather than the plain linen specified for the surrounding hangings. The light requires olive oil, and Aaron's family is given responsibility for tending it. The statement that the lamp burns continually is retained alongside the evening-to-morning service instruction, without inventing a detailed daytime routine.
Cited passages: Exodus 27:1, Exodus 27:2, Exodus 27:3, Exodus 27:4, Exodus 27:5, Exodus 27:6, Exodus 27:7, Exodus 27:8, Exodus 27:9, Exodus 27:10, Exodus 27:11, Exodus 27:12, Exodus 27:13, Exodus 27:14, Exodus 27:15, Exodus 27:16, Exodus 27:17, Exodus 27:18, Exodus 27:19, Exodus 27:20, Exodus 27:21
Literary context
The sequence moves from the altar to the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle, then from construction to an ongoing act of service. Measurements and material assignments dominate the first two sections. The closing verses introduce supplies brought by the people and work assigned to Aaron and his sons. The location outside the veil ties their task to the previously described arrangement of sacred space. The generational language at the end carries the instructions beyond a single act of building.
Cited passages: Exodus 27:1, Exodus 27:2, Exodus 27:3, Exodus 27:4, Exodus 27:5, Exodus 27:6, Exodus 27:7, Exodus 27:8, Exodus 27:9, Exodus 27:10, Exodus 27:11, Exodus 27:12, Exodus 27:13, Exodus 27:14, Exodus 27:15, Exodus 27:16, Exodus 27:17, Exodus 27:18, Exodus 27:19, Exodus 27:20, Exodus 27:21
Key moments
- The altar’s dimensions are given (Exodus 27:1). The square altar is to be five cubits long and wide and three cubits high.
- The altar is to follow the shown design (Exodus 27:8). The altar is prescribed as hollow construction made according to the mountain pattern.
- The people must supply olive oil (Exodus 27:20). Israel is to bring pure beaten olive oil for the light.
- Aaron and his sons tend the light (Exodus 27:21). Their service runs from evening to morning before the Lord, outside the veil.
For reflection
What changes in emphasis when the chapter moves from making the altar and courtyard to tending the light?
