Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Exodus
Book: Exodus
Chapter: 27
Overview:
The
Altar of burnt offerings.
(1-8) The
Court of the
Tabernacle.
(9-19) The
Oil for the lamps.
(20,21)
1-8 In the
Court before the
Tabernacle, where the people
attended, was an
Altar, to which they must bring their
sacrifices, and
On which their priests must offer them to
God.
It was of
Wood overlaid with
Brass. A
Grate of
Brass was let
into the hollow of the
Altar, about the middle of which the
Fire
was kept, and the
Sacrifice burnt. It was made of
Net-work like
a sieve, and hung hollow, that the
Ashes might fall through.
This brazen
Altar was a
Type of
Christ dying to make
Atonement
for our sins. The
Wood had been consumed
By the
Fire from
Heaven, if it had not been secured
By the
Brass: nor could the
human nature of
Christ have borne the wrath of
God, if it had
not been supported
By Divine power.
9-19 The
Tabernacle was enclosed in a
Court, about sixty yards
long and thirty broad, formed
By curtains hung upon brazen
pillars, fixed in brazen sockets. Within this enclosure the
priests and Levites offered the sacrifices, and thither the
Jewish people were admitted. These distinctions represented the
difference between the visible nominal
Church, and the true
spiritual
Church, which alone has access to
God, and
Communion
with him.
20,21 The pure
Oil signified the
Gifts and graces of the
Spirit, which all believers receive from
Christ, the good
Olive,
and without which our
Light cannot shine before men. The priests
were to
Light the lamps, and tend them. It is the work of
ministers,
By preaching and expounding the Scriptures, which are
as a
Lamp, to enlighten the
Church,
God's
Tabernacle upon
Earth.
Blessed be
God, this
Light is not now confined to the Jewish
Tabernacle, but is a
Light to lighten the
Gentiles, and for
Salvation unto the ends of the
Earth.