27:1 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.
[2] {altar} Brazen altar, type of the Cross upon which christ, our whole burnt-offering offered Himself without spot to God # Heb 9:14
[3] {height}(Cf) # Ex 25:10 The altar of burnt offering is double the height of the mercy-seat. The atonement more than saves us--it glorifies God # Joh 17:14
27:2 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.
27:3 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.
27:4 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.
27:5 And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar. 27:6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves [of] shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.
27:7 And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it. 27:8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make [it].
27:9 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:
[4] {fine twined linen} The fine linen commonly typifies personal righteousness # Ex 26:1 ref. (d), and in the hangings of the court stands for that measure of righteousness which God demands of any who would, in his own righteousness, approach. Christ, figuratively speaking, put up the hangings of the court in # Lu 10:25-28 The only way of approach was the "gate" # Ex 27:16 Joh 10:9 The hangings of the court bar out equally the self-righteous man and the open sinner, for the height was above seven feet. # Ex 27:18
27:10 And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets [shall be of] brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets [shall be of] silver.
27:11 And 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.
27:12 And [for] the breadth of the court on the west side [shall be] hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
27:13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward [shall be] fifty cubits.
27:14 The hangings of one side [of the gate shall be] fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
27:15 And on the other side [shall be] hangings fifteen [cubits]: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
27:16 And 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.
[1] {gate} In the hangings of the court (v. 9, ref), representing that practical righteousness which God demands in the law, and which, therefore, bars out all men # Ro 3:19,20 10:3-5 No colours are inwrought. But the "gate" is Christ # Joh 10:9 and so the colours reappear as in the veil # Ex 26:31
27:17 All the pillars round about the court [shall be] filleted with silver; their hooks [shall be of] silver, and their sockets [of] brass.
[2] {pillars} The fillets and hooks upholding the linen hangings are of silver ¯ See Note "Ex 38:27" for it is in virtue of His redemptive work that Christ is our way of access, and not by virtue of His righteous life (symbolized by the fine linen); but the pillars of the court rest upon brass sockets, not silver as in the case of the boards ¯ See Note "Ex 26:19" and brass symbolizes divine righteousness in judgment ¯ See Note "Nu 21:9" Redemption not only displays God's mercy, but vindicates His righteousness in showing that mercy. # Ro 3:21-26
27:18 The 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. 27:19 All 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.
27:20 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.
[3] {oil} Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (Cf) # Joh 3:34 Heb 1:9 In Christ the oil-fed Light ever burns, the Light of the world # Joh 8:12 But here we have not the world, but the sanctuary. It is a question, not of testimony in and to the world, but of our communion and worship as believer-priests in the holiest # Heb 10:19,20 In the Tabernacle there were two compartments, two lights: the holy place with the candlestick ¯ See Note "Ex 25:31" the holy of holies with the shekinah, or manifested glory of God. These two places are now one # Mt 27:50,51 Heb 9:6-8 10:19-21 but it is important to see that there are still two lights: Christ, the Light of life # Joh 8:12 through the Spirit giving light upon the holy things of God, the showbread and altar of incense; and also the shekinah, now on the face of Jesus Christ # 2Co 4:6 Into this twofold light we, as believer- priests, are brought # 1Pe 2:9 We "walk in the light," not merely which He gives, but in which He lives # 1Jo 1:7 But what of the command to "bring pure oil" # Ex 27:20 Because our access, apprehension, communion, and transformation are by the Spirit # Eph 2:18 1Co 2:14,15 2Co 13:14 Php 2:1 2Co 3:18 Our title to His presence is the blood # Eph 2:13 but only as filled with the Spirit # Eph 5:18 do we really walk in the light.
27:21 In 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.
