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The Altar for Sacrifices

27 You shall make the altar of acacia wood, seven and a half feet long and seven and a half feet wide. The altar shall be square, and it shall be four and a half feet high. You shall make horns on its four corners. These horns are to be made as one piece with the altar, and you are to overlay the altar with bronze.

Make pails to take away its fat-drenched ashes. Make shovels, basins, meat hooks,[a] and fire pans for the altar. Make all its utensils of bronze.

Make a grate for it which is a latticework of bronze, and make four bronze rings for the four corners of the latticework grate. Set the grate in place below the top edge of the altar, so that the grate rests halfway down from the top of the altar.[b]

Make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. These poles are to be put through the rings on the two sides of the altar whenever it is carried. You are to make the altar hollow, with sides made of boards. They are to make it as it is being shown to you on the mountain.

The Courtyard

You shall make the courtyard for the Dwelling.

For the south side of the courtyard there shall be hangings of fine woven linen, one hundred fifty feet long for that side. 10 There shall be twenty posts for it, and their twenty socket bases shall be bronze. The hooks for the posts and the connectors[c] shall be silver.

11 In the same way, for the north side there shall be hangings one hundred fifty feet long, with twenty posts and twenty bronze socket bases. The hooks for the posts and their connectors shall be silver.

12 For the courtyard on the west side there shall be hangings seventy-five feet wide, with ten posts and ten socket bases.

13 The width of the courtyard on the east side shall be seventy-five feet. 14 The hangings on one side of the entry gate shall be twenty-two feet six inches wide with three posts and three socket bases. 15 For the other side there shall be hangings twenty-two feet six inches wide with three posts and three socket bases.

16 For the entryway into the courtyard there shall be a screen thirty feet wide, made of blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen, the work of an embroiderer. Make four posts for it and four socket bases. 17 All the posts around the courtyard shall be connected with silver.[d] Their hooks shall be silver, and their socket bases bronze. 18 The length of the courtyard shall be one hundred fifty feet, and the width seventy-five feet on both ends. The height of the hangings of fine woven linen shall be seven and a half feet. Its socket bases shall be bronze. 19 All the utensils for all the services of the Dwelling, all its tent stakes, and all the stakes for the courtyard shall be bronze.

Oil for the Lamps

20 You shall command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives[e] for the Light so that the lamp may burn every night.[f] 21 In the Tent of Meeting, in front of the veil which is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend the lamp before the Lord from evening to morning. This shall be a permanent regulation throughout their generations for the people of Israel.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 27:3 Or forks
  2. Exodus 27:5 The Hebrew of verses 4 and 5 is difficult, and interpretations of the placement of the grate vary.
  3. Exodus 27:10 It is not clear if this refers to bands connecting the hooks to the posts or to connecting rods between the posts.
  4. Exodus 27:17 See the note on verse 10.
  5. Exodus 27:20 The basic meaning of the Hebrew verb ktt is “beat.” The translation assumes that oil from beaten olives is the highest grade “extra virgin” olive oil from the first crushing of the olives, which was done by hand, not by a mechanical press.
  6. Exodus 27:20 The Hebrew word means continually. It seems, however, that the lamps burned from evening to morning. See the next verse and 30:8. So in this context continually means every night, not at all times.

27 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.

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.

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.

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.

And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.

And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.

Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

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:

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.

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.

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.

13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.

14 The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

15 And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

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.

17 All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The altar for sacrifices

27 Use acacia wood to make an altar. It must be square, 2.2 metres long and 2.2 metres wide. It must be 1.3 metres high. Make four horns, one at each corner of the altar. The horns and the altar itself must be one piece of work. Then cover the whole altar with bronze. Make all the tools for the altar with bronze. Make pots to remove the ashes, spades and bowls. Make forks for the meat. Make dishes to carry the fire. Use bronze to make a square net and rings at each corner. Fix this net inside the altar, in the middle, between the top of the altar and the ground.[a] Use acacia wood to make poles for the altar. Cover them with bronze. You must put the poles through the rings when you carry the altar. There will be a pole on each of two sides of the altar. Use boards to make the altar, so that it is empty inside. You must make it in the way that the Lord showed you on the mountain.

The yard

Make a yard around the tent of the tabernacle. The south side must be 45 metres long. It will have curtains that are made of good linen. 10 Make 20 poles and 20 bronze bases to hold the poles. Use silver to make hooks and sticks to hold the curtains. 11 The north side of the yard must also be 45 metres long. It will also have 20 poles with their bronze bases, as well as their silver hooks and sticks.

12 The west end of the yard must be 23 metres long. Make curtains for it, with ten poles and their bronze bases. 13 The entrance to the yard is at its east end. That end must also be 23 metres long. 14-15 There will be 7 metres of curtain on each side of the entrance. There will be three poles with their bases to hold the curtains on each side.

16 Make a curtain 9 metres wide for the entrance to the yard. Make it out of blue, purple and red material, as well as good linen. Choose a worker who can use special skills to make the curtain look beautiful. Make four poles and their bases to hold the curtain at the entrance.

17 All the poles around the yard must have bronze bases. They will also have silver hooks and sticks to hold the curtains. 18 The yard will be 45 metres long and 23 metres wide. Use good linen to make the curtains. They must be 2¼ metres high on the bronze bases.

19 Use bronze to make all the tools that you will use in the tabernacle. Also use bronze to make the pegs that fix the tent of the tabernacle to the ground. And make bronze pegs to fix the curtain around the yard to the ground.

Olive oil for the lamps

20 Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil from fresh olives. You will use this oil to make the lamps give light all the time. 21 Aaron and his sons must make sure that the lamps always give light from evening until morning. The lampstand will be in the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that hangs in front of the Covenant Box.[b] The lamps must always give light there, where the Lord is. This will always be a rule for the Israelites, now and in the future.

Footnotes

  1. 27:5 The net would hold the coal for the fire and the ashes would fall through it.
  2. 27:21 ‘Tent of Meeting’ was another name for the tabernacle.