This chapter treats of the altar of burnt offering, and of all things relative to it, Ex. 27:1–8, of the court of the tabernacle, its hangings on each side, with pillars, sockets, and hooks for them, Ex.

And thou shall make an altar of shittim wood This is a different altar from that made of earth before the tabernacle was built, and from the altar of incense, this was to offer burnt offerings on, and was placed at the door of the tabernacle, in the court of the people, where they brought their…

And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof Which were either for ornament, or for keeping what was laid upon the altar from falling off, or for the fastening of the sacrifice to them, and were what criminals fled to for refuge, and laid hold on; and may denote the power of…

And thou shall make his pans to receive his ashes Not to receive them in as they fell, but to gather them up in, and carry them away; and this was done every morning about cockcrowing, not much sooner nor later [[2]]: and his shovels; to throw up the ashes together to be put into the pans; Jarchi…

And thou shalt, make for it a grate of network of brass Or “sieve”, as in , it was a plate of brass with holes in it, to let through either the blood that drained from the parts of the sacrifice, or the ashes of it; for this was the focus or hearth, on which the sacrifice and the wood were laid and…

And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, &c.] That is, the grate was to be put within the square compass of the altar, in the hollow part of it, for the wood and sacrifice to be laid upon it: that the net may be even to the midst of the altar; and as the altar was three cubits…

And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood Like those that were made for the ark, and for the same purpose: and overlay them with brass; with plates of brass, whereas those for the ark were overlaid with gold.

And the staves shall be put into the rings Not into the rings of the grate, as Jarchi and others: though Dr. Lightfoot [[5]] thinks these came out of each corner through the altar frame, and hung out of the frame, and in these the staves being put, made the frame and the grate sure together, and so…

Hollow with boards shalt thou make it The frame of it being made of boards of shittim wood, there was nothing within side but the grate, which was put within the square, down into the middle of it, and so was light of carriage; though the Targum of Jonathan, and other Jewish writers, represent this…

And thou shall make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward This was a large court yard to the house of God, or tabernacle, which stood in it at the upper end of it; it was enclosed, but open to the air; and in it, between the entrance into it and the holy place, stood the altar…

And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass On these pillars the hangings, rails, or curtains were set, and they were for one side, the south side, in number twenty; and so must stand five cubits, or two yards and a half or more, distant from each other, since the…

And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of one hundred cubits long The north and south sides of this court being equal, the same length of hangings were for the one as the other; and his twenty pillars, and their twenty sockets of brass; there went on this side the same…

And for the breadth of the court, on the west side On the west end, the upper end of the court, near to which reached the holy of holies: shall be hangings of fifty cubits: or twenty five yards and more, so that the court was but half as broad as it was long: their pillars ten, and their sockets…

And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward Which was the entrance into it: shall be fifty cubits; the east end and west end were of the same measure.

The hangings of one side of the gate Or entrance into the court: shall be fifteen cubits; or seven yards and a half: their pillars three, and their sockets three; and so stood at the same distance from one another as the rest of the pillars did, the distance of five cubits.

And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits, &c.] On the other side of the gate, or entrance into the court, on the northeast side, as the other may be supposed to be the southeast side, there was the same length of hangings: their pillars three, and their sockets three; the same as on…

And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits Which, with the fifteen on each side, make the fifty cubits, the breadth of the court eastward, , this hanging was better than the rest, much finer and richer; for it was of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen,…

All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver This is observed, because only mention is made before of the pillars that were on the south and north sides of the court, as filleted with silver; but inasmuch as those at both ends, east and west, were to be so likewise, this is…

The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits And as may be concluded from the length of the hangings on each side: and the breadth fifty everywhere; at both ends, and was the breadth of the hangings there, and which all around made the court: and the height five cubits; or two yards and a…

All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, &c.] Which either refers to the vessels belonging to the altar of burnt offering, and so is a repetition of what is said, or rather to instruments that were used at the setting up and taking down of the tabernacle; such as hammers and…

And thou shall command the children of Israel Here begins a new section of the law; an account being given of the tabernacle, and its parts, and the furniture thereof, next the several parts of service done in it are observed; and the account begins with that of the candlestick in the holy place,…

In the tabernacle of the congregation The reasons usually given for this name of the tabernacle are, either because the children of Israel gathered and met together here at certain times, or because here the Lord met with Moses, and his successors, as he had promised, , but neither of them will…