Preparing your Garden for the Lord. (Exodus 27: 1-19)

If you were going to build a house, you would probably start by designing the layout of the house. And if you were going to do it in detail, you might go one step further and design the furniture that would go in the house. Then you would consider your job done, right? Well, probably not. There's one other aspect of building your living space house that you might want to consider, namely the area around it. Today we do all sort of fancy garden design projects but at the time of these events people didn’t stay in one place for any length of time so the area around their abode was more just a space a bit like a modern yard. 

When God designed His house on the earth, He started not with the yard, not with the building, but with the furniture. Items of furniture, things like a chest called the Ark of the Covenant and the showbread table as well as a large candelabra. He then gave instructions for the furniture to be placed in the holy places. The next thing He did was give the instructions, the blueprints for the house itself—the Tabernacle proper, the structure sat at the back of the open courtyard area. 

We've looked at, the furniture, and we've looked at what the scripture says about the construction of the house. But there's one last part, and that's the space around the building. Today, we're going to look at the yard around the Tabernacle. Again, there are two parts to this chapter, the first part of this passage, again deals with some sort of what you might call furniture and then the yard itself. The two things that are mentioned here are an outside altar for burnt offerings and the courtyard itself. So, with that in mind, let's begin in verse one.

1 “You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide—the altar shall be square—and its height shall be three cubits. 2 You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 Also you shall make its pans to receive its ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and its firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze. 4 You shall make a grate for it, a network of bronze; and on the network you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. 5 You shall put it under the rim of the altar beneath, that the network may be midway up the altar. 6 And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. 7 The poles shall be put in the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar to bear it. 8 You shall make it hollow with boards; as it was shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it.

(Exodus 27: 1-8)

"You shall make an altar of acacia wood, 5 cubits long and 5 cubits wide. So the altar shall be square, and its shall stand 3 cubits high. As you've heard me say a cubit was approx. 18 inches. Actually, it was from the elbow to the top of the index finger, roughly 18 inches. If that's the case, that means this altar was about 7 ½ feet wide sq and with its feet and it was about 4 feet 6 inches high. Being made of wood covered with bronze would have made it fireproof but still light enough to carry. The bronze covering would make it fireproof. After all, they we're going to sacrifice animals on it. 

Verse two says, "You shall make its horns on four overlaid with bronze." Now, these horns were little projections that looked like animal horns. And from the rest of the scripture, not in this passage, we know there were four different things these horns were used for. One was the priest applied blood on them during the ritual of sacrifice. Secondly, we also know that some guilty person could flee to them and grab them by hanging onto the horn as a sort of a place of refuge. 

In the third place, the priest sometimes bound an animal about to be sacrificed to that horn so used it as a form of hitching post. And the other thing is they would be covered with blood at the consecration of the priest on the day of their consecration. So, these horns did have some practical use. They just weren't decorative.

Then the next verse tells us that there were utensils connected with this burn altar. These were the utensils it's going to take to operate this altar. You're going to have to catch the ashes, so they had a shovel for that. Just like a fireplace at home you cannot have a fireplace without a fireplace set. If you are going to operate a fire and you're going to burn wood, you're going to have to have utensils to clean it out and sweep it out afterwards. At any rate, that's what these utensils are practically for.

Verse four says, there was a grate halfway to the ground inside the altar that allowed air to circulate under the sacrifices and ashes to fall to the ground. So, it was simply a grate in the middle of this altar. The sacrifices laid on the grate, the fire was under the grate, and then they had to clean out the ashes with the pans that caught them and the shovels and all that stuff.

Verse five says, "talks about a rim, an edge or a ledge, and it appears to project out from the altar, about halfway up the side. Some have suggested that perhaps it was on the outside of the altar and the priests stood on it. Others have said it was on the inside and the grate rested upon it. But either on the outside or the inside, there was this rim ledge that was all the way around.

Poles again are created on the two side of the altar, to bear it, it says. We've looked at poles before in some of the articles of furniture earlier and these was so that four people could pick this piece of furniture up, one on each end of the two poles, and carry it. Remember there in the wilderness, and they didn't know that at this time, but they knew eventually they're going to spend 40 years wandering in the wilderness. And as they do, they're going to have to pick up this tabernacle and carry it. So, these poles are designed to carry the tabernacle.The basin placed between it and the tabernacle, is what is called a laver. The priests would go to that and wash there, it’s not mentioned in this chapter, but it is elsewhere.

So, we've come to all the items of furniture in the courtyard in this passage, and all we have is this brazen altar. This altar is an illustration of the fact that to approach God, you had to come through a sacrifice. 

As you walked into the tabernacle area the first thing you would see was an altar, thereby the first thing you understood is there had to be a sacrifice on the way to meet God in the holy of holies. The first eight verses in this chapter simply give us the instructions for that brazen altar. As one of the commentators said, the position of the altar just inside the entrance to the court makes it clear, as symbolically could, that the beginning of fellowship between God and man must be in sacrifice. If you were an Israelite and you entered the gate (which we'll get to in a minute), the first thing you saw was a brazen altar that required a sacrifice. Knowing that God was in the holiest of holies in the back of the courtyard in the second half of the Tabernacle proper. So, that's the altar. The second part of this passage that we're going to get today is the courtyard.

9 “You shall also make the court of the tabernacle. For the south side there shall be hangings for the court made of fine woven linen, one hundred cubits long for one side. 10 And its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets shall be bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be silver. 11 Likewise along the length of the north side there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, with its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze, and the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. 12 “And along the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. 13 The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. 14 The hangings on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets. 15 And on the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets.16 “For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. It shall have four pillars and four sockets. 17 All the pillars around the court shall have bands of silver; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of bronze. 18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, made of fine woven linen, and its sockets of bronze. 19 All the utensils of the tabernacle for all its service, all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.

(Exodus 27: 9-19)

Now, the courtyard consisted of a fence and the fence was made out of linen. Have you ever seen a linen fence? I don't recall ever seeing a fence made out of linen, but it is in this case it was.  What is given to us is the dimensions: a hundred cubits long on one side, which means that it was 150 feet long, which is half the distance of a football/soccer field. In order to hold up the linen fence, twenty pillars with twenty sockets with silver hooks had to be installed on the South side. So, verses 9 and 10 are giving us the South side. Verse 11 and 12 give us the identical measurements for the North Side.

Next, we are given the West and the East side, that's in verse 13 and the width of the West side was seventy-five feet wide, and the linen fence on the West side was supported by ten poles.  So, it's half as wide as it is long. So, there were twenty poles along the length and ten along the width. This is the west side of the fence because the East side had the gate in it, which comes up next.

Verse 14 says the gate is on the East side of the fence. The gate is in the middle of the East side of the fence. It’s in the center of the East side was that gate, and it was twenty-two and a half feet long, supported by three pillars and three sockets. That means that the gate itself was thirty feet wide.

Verse 16 says there shall be a ‘screen'. The word translated screen means covering, or as one version translates it as curtain, as part of the fence. And the screen was to be thirty feet long, made of purple and scarlet yarn, woven linen. We also find out that all the pillars around the court have bands of silver, with hooks of silver, and their sockets of bronze.' Which is pretty self-explanatory.

So, one more time, the courtyard was 150 feet long by 75 feet wide. The linen fence was seven and a half feet high, which provided some kind of privacy for the worshippers. The Tabernacle structure within  took up less than 10% of the total area. That is, that little building at the back called the Tabernacle proper, only took up about one-fifteenth of the whole area. 

Let me explain that building, the Tabernacle proper. The idea is that if you were approaching the Tabernacle, you would see the fence, but you would see all of the Tabernacle proper. Sort of like approaching a house with a high fence, you would see the top-story towering above the fence. 

One more verse, verse 19. 'All the utensils of the service of the Tabernacle, and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.' All the pegs are made of bronze.

So did all that information and statistics really grab hold of you? I think this might appeal to an engineer, given all of these measurements, but what's the point? 

The point is not within the structure the point is that this where the sacrifices were made, they sung Psalms of praise there, the believers offered their sacrifices and they had their sins forgiven, they came to pray, and the came to hear from God. It was sacred because God met them there, they sort of left the world, and stepped behind the veil, so to speak, and came into His presence. That gets closer to what this is all about. It's not just about the measurements, though that's important if you're going to build it. It is what happened in the courtyard from the Old Testament POV that made this important. Sacrifices were made." It was sacred because God met them there and they left the world behind, and they went into the very presence of God.

Alright, what should we say is the application of this for us? All those other things that happened in the Old Testament, what does the New Testament say about this? Well, I think that is very important. Last time, I talked about the fact that people make all kinds of interpretations out of all the little details of the Tabernacle, none of which are mentioned in the New Testament. What interests me is what is the application of this portion of Scripture in the New Testament?

Look with me Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10, and I’m going to be reading starting at verse one. Keep in mind that the backdrop of the Book of Hebrews is these are Christians who were Jews, and because of persecution or pressure, they were contemplating abandoning Christianity and going back to Judaism. That's the backdrop for the whole Book of Hebrews. The author of Hebrews is arguing, "Why would you want to even consider doing that? We have a better priest in Jesus. We have a better sacrifice. The word 'better' is used over and over again." He's arguing that Christianity is better, it has a better way to God, and this portion of the Book of Hebrews really centres on that." So, chapter 10, verse 1, 

For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

(Hebrews 10: 11)

He's simply saying why would you want to go back to the Old Testament, to Judaism? Now, at this point, the Tabernacle had been replaced by the temple, and the temple still existed, and they were still making sacrifices there. That brazen altar in the temple was still functional. And he says, but, you must remember, that Old Testament, brazen altar, wasn't able to make you perfect. He then says in verse 2,

For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year.

(Hebrews 10: 2-3)

Those sacrifices, he says, there just a reminder of sins every year. His argument is they had to keep making sacrifices. They had to just keep doing it over and over and over. And he says, well, if it really took away sin, you would have to do it every year, on the Day of Atonement. 

So that's his argument. He then goes on, verse 4.

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. .5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’ ” 8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

(Hebrews 10: 4-10)

He's talking about the brazen altar; he's taken away the first altar because he wants to tell us about the second type of sacrifice. How we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Earlier he said, you had to make a sacrifice every year on the Day of Atonement and that year and every year thereafter, year after year. But that whole system has been replaced, he says. We don't need that system. We have a sacrifice for our sin in Jesus Christ, and he did  it once for all, not once a year.' He continues.

11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

(Hebrews 10: 11-14)

He asks the question. Are all those offerings offered in the Tabernacle, on that brazen altar, able to make you perfect?' No, how do we know that? Because you had to keep doing it. If it had done the job, you would not have to repeat it. He says, 'Look, we have one offering, and this one is going to make us perfect. It's going to set us apart to God. We're being sanctified unto him.' 

15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

(Hebrews 10: 15-18)

The great thing you need to know about the Tabernacle is we don't need it anymore. The thing you need to know about the brazen altar is you also don't need that anymore. We are made clean once and for all by the sacrifice of Jesus, but what do we get out of this chapter today? 

Two things. Number one, there's only one way. There's only one gate. 

There were four sides to the Tabernacle, north, south, east, west, but only one gate. One gate, only one way to get to the Lord. Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me.' And the second great blessing that we learn from this passage is, that this was all symbolic of Jesus coming and giving himself as a sacrifice for sin, once for all. It's done, and it’s been done forever.

There is no telling how many millions of animals were sacrificed on that altar and later in the temple. And they did that until 70 AD, day after day, year after year. 

In the Old Testament, when you wanted to approach God, the first thing you saw was the need to make a blood sacrifice. The same thing is true in the New Testament. But today the service and the sacrifice was done by Jesus and the service is to remember that. Remember that by loving one another, forgiving one another, serve one another, and making a sacrifice of praise. 

To remember. But what are the two external things he still wants us to do to remember? He wants us to baptize. That's an external ritual. And he wants us to do what else? Observe the Lord's Supper. 

So, while we preach the gospel to unbelievers and tell them they need to know that Jesus made a sacrifice for their sins and arose from the dead and that they can trust in him, apparently the Lord also wants believers to remember this every week. That’s because God still wants us to remember that you come to Him through a sacrifice.' But the sacrifice we have is once for all and forever. But you still should  remember the path , the way to God was through a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, and you went to the Tabernacle. Now, we don't have a Tabernacle, and we don't have a temple. 

God still wants us to remember and that is why he gave us a symbolic representation of what we wants us to remember. In order to get  to God, we simply have to remember what he did and as the Book of Hebrews says, 'And we need to remember we have a sacrifice. It's a much better sacrifice, and it's forever.' So, we look at the cross and say, 'Hallelujah, my sins are forgiven.' And that all we need, but we need to be reminded of that, all the time.