The Altar of Burnt Offering

27 “You(A) are to construct the altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, 7½ feet long, and 7½ feet wide;[a] it must be 4½ feet high.[b] Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece.[c] Overlay it with bronze.(B) Make its pots for removing ashes, and its shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans; make all its utensils of bronze. Construct a grate for it of bronze mesh, and make four bronze rings on the mesh at its four corners. Set it below, under the altar’s ledge,[d] so that the mesh comes halfway up[e] the altar. Then make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. The poles are to be inserted into the rings so that the poles are on two sides of the altar when it is carried. Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. They are to make it just as it was shown to you on the mountain.(C)

The Courtyard

“You(D) are to make the courtyard for the tabernacle. Make hangings for the south side of the courtyard out of finely spun linen, 150 feet[f] long on that side 10 including twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and silver bands[g] for the posts. 11 And so make hangings 150 feet long for the north side, including twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and silver bands for the posts. 12 For the width of the courtyard, make hangings 75 feet[h] long for the west side, including their ten posts and their ten bases. 13 And for the width of the courtyard on the east side toward the sunrise, 75 feet, 14 make hangings 22½ feet[i] long for one side of the gate, including their three posts and their three bases. 15 And make hangings 22½ feet long for the other side, including their three posts and their three bases. 16 The gate of the courtyard is to have a 30-foot[j] screen(E) embroidered[k] with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. It is to have four posts and their four bases.

17 “All the posts around the courtyard are to be banded with silver and have silver hooks and bronze bases. 18 The courtyard is to be 150 feet long, 75 feet wide at each end, and 7½ feet high,[l] all of it made of finely spun linen. The bases of the posts are to be bronze. 19 All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use and all its tent pegs as well as all the tent pegs of the courtyard are to be made of bronze.

The Lampstand Oil

20 “You are to command the Israelites to bring you pure oil from crushed olives for the light, in order to keep the lamp burning regularly. 21 In the tent of meeting outside the curtain that is in front of the testimony,(F) Aaron and his sons are to tend the lamp(G) from evening until morning before the Lord. This is to be a permanent statute(H) for the Israelites throughout their generations.

Footnotes

  1. 27:1 Lit five cubits in length and five cubits in width
  2. 27:1 Lit wide; and its height three cubits
  3. 27:2 Lit piece with it
  4. 27:5 Perhaps a ledge around the altar on which the priests could stand; Lv 9:22
  5. 27:5 Or altar’s rim, so that the grid comes halfway down
  6. 27:9 Lit 100 cubits, also in v. 11
  7. 27:10 Or connecting rods, also in v. 11
  8. 27:12 Lit 50 cubits, also in v. 13
  9. 27:14 Lit 15 cubits, also in v. 15
  10. 27:16 Lit 20-cubit
  11. 27:16 Or woven
  12. 27:18 Lit be 100 by the cubit, and the width 50 by 50, and the height five cubits

Instructions for Making the Bronze Altar

27 “And you will make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar will be square, and its height will be three cubits. And you will make its horns on its four corners; its horns will be of one piece with it,[a] and you will overlay it with bronze. And you will make its pots for removing its fat-soaked ashes and its shovels and its sprinkling bowls and its forks[b] and its fire pans; you will make all its equipment with bronze. And you will make for it a grating, a work of bronze network, and you will make on the network four bronze rings on its four ends. And you will put it under the ledge of the altar, below, and the network will be up to the middle of the altar. And you will make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and you will overlay them with bronze. And the poles will be put into the rings, and the poles will be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it. You will make it hollow with boards. As it was shown you on the mountain, so they will do.

Instructions for Making the Courtyard

“You will make the courtyard of the tabernacle; for the south[c] side will be hangings for the courtyard of finely twisted linen, one hundred cubits long for the one side. 10 And its twenty pillars and their twenty bases will be bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands will be silver. 11 And likewise for the north side along the length will be hangings one hundred cubits long; and its twenty pillars and their bases will be bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands will be silver. 12 And the width of the courtyard for the west[d] side will be hangings of fifty cubits, their ten pillars and their ten bases. 13 And the width of the courtyard for the east side, toward sunrise, will be fifty cubits. 14 And hangings for the shoulder[e] will be fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three bases. 15 And fifteen cubits of hangings will be for the second shoulder[f] with their three pillars and their three bases. 16 And for the gate of the courtyard there will be a screen of twenty cubits of blue and purple and crimson yarns and finely twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer; with their four pillars and their four bases.

17 “All the pillars of the courtyard all around will be banded with silver, and their hooks will be silver, and their bases will be bronze. 18 The length of the courtyard will be one hundred cubits and the width fifty cubits[g] and the height five cubits, of finely twisted linen, with their bronze bases. 19 Bronze will be for all the equipment of the tabernacle in all its service and all its pegs[h] and all the pegs[i] of the courtyard.

Instructions for Making Oil for the Lampstand

20 “And you will command the Israelites,[j] and they will bring to you pure, beaten olive oil for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. 21 In the tent of assembly outside the curtain that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons will arrange it, from evening until morning, before Yahweh as a lasting statute throughout their generations from the Israelites.[k]

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 27:2 Literally “from it”
  2. Exodus 27:3 1 Samuel 2:13 mentions a fork with “three teeth” used by priests
  3. Exodus 27:9 Literally “south southward”
  4. Exodus 27:12 Or “sea”
  5. Exodus 27:14 Or “side,” referring to the span on one side of the courtyard’s entry
  6. Exodus 27:15 Or “side,” referring to the span on one side of the courtyard’s entry
  7. Exodus 27:18 Or “fifty with fifty.” Some suggest that the word for cubits has been accidentally omitted and the number fifty repeated in the Hebrew text. Others suggest that repetition of the number is original and indicates that the two ends of the courtyard are the same size
  8. Exodus 27:19 Literally “hands”
  9. Exodus 27:19 Literally “hands”
  10. Exodus 27:20 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  11. Exodus 27:21 Literally “sons/children of Israel”