The Purpose of the Wilderness Tabernacle: The Copper Altar of Sacrifice
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| The Tabernacle was a microcosm of a heavenly temple. Model at Timnah Park in Israel |
The Origin and Purpose of The Wilderness Tabernacle
Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.— Exodus 25:8
From the Fall in Genesis until the construction of the Tabernacle, the Bible records people occasionally walking and talking with God, but not dwelling with Him. As we shall see, within the framework of this Old Testament sanctuary, God draws His people closer to Himself through an intricate sacrificial system. Today, this arrangement can speak volumes about the specifics of such a great salvation and indescribable gift.
... how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation ... ?
— Hebrews 2:3
Every detail that Christ accomplished to restore our relationship with God finds its discovery in the particulars of the wilderness tabernacle. This article will study the significance of the Copper Altar of Sacrifice and the meaning of its placement within the Tent of Meeting.
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| Blueprint of the Tent of Meeting spaces |
The Position of the Copper Altar of Sacrifice
For this particular furnishing, we move to the third mentioned, but first visited on the human side, space of the Tent of Meeting as a whole, called the outer Courtyard in the diagram above.
This is a quick reminder that we are studying the furnishings according to the spaces they resided in, beginning with the Holiest place and working back to the Courtyard. They are ordered this way in their first descriptions in Scripture.
- Holy of Holies
- Holy Place
- Courtyard
- Courtyard
- Holy Place
- Holy of Holies
- Ark of the Covenant
- Atonement Cover including Cherubim
- Table of Bread
- Menorah
- Golden Altar of Incense
- The Copper Altar of Sacrifice
- The Copper Laver
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| The Copper Altar of Sacrifice, representing the confrontation of sin, resided in the outer court, outside of the holy
spaces. |
The Purpose of The Copper Altar
Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep ... I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture ... and I lay down My life for the sheep ... Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.No one comes to the Father except through Me.
— John 10:7-15, 14:6
Inside, the Copper Altar of Sacrifice was the first piece of furniture that confronted the sinner who brought His sacrifice to the Tent of Meeting door. It was the largest of all the furnishings and intentionally unavoidable. There was simply no way to ignore it or bypass it. There would be no meeting with God without addressing the issue confronted at this station.
The Copper Altar was where the judgment of sin would take place, making it clear that this is, in fact, the first order of business. Nothing impure can stand in His presence.
... according to the law, almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
— Hebrews 9:22
Without the remission of sins, there is no holiness. And without holiness, no one will see the Lord.
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
— Hebrews 12:14
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| The altar of the cross by James Tissot |
Wood and the Altar of the Cross
You shall make an altar of acacia/shittim wood ...— Exodus 27:1
- The Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies (The blood that was shed was sprinkled on the mercy seat)
- The Table of the Bread of Presence (The bread and wine are symbols and reminders of His body that was broken and His blood that was shed)
- The Golden Altar of Incense (each of the prescribed spices depicted the details of His suffering on our behalf)
- The Copper Altar of Sacrifice (Christ on the cross)
For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ (quoted from Psalm 16 written by David)“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.— Acts 2:27-32
The Copper Altar of Sacrifice most clearly typified the cross. In his book The Tabernacle: God's Portrait of Christ, J. Vernon McGee makes this same observation.
"The cross of Christ was more than a Roman gibbet. It was more than a public place of execution for criminals. It was an altar where a priest was offering a sacrifice to God. Nay, it was more than that; it was the place where God Himself became both offering and the offerer at the eternal brazen (copper) altar."
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.— Romans 6:23
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The Dimensions
... five cubits long and five cubits wide.— Exodus 27
Five in Scripture is the number of God's grace. God's grace sent His one and only Son to die for us so that we would not perish but have eternal life.
... to the praise of the glory of His grace, He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
— Ephesians 1:6-7
The next instructive dimension was the following.
... the altar shall be four square ... You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it.
— Exodus 27
The number four in the Bible is the number that categorizes things in the natural physical world and speaks of the universal sin dilemma of all humankind from all four corners of the earth.
“There is none righteous, no, not one ... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
— Romans 3:10, 23
The cross offered the opportunity for whoever (from the four corners of the earth) would come to be saved.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
— John 3:16
The Copper Altar was square, having all equal sides. In comparison, Christ was equal to the requirement. He was the only righteous one who could fulfill it.
And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man (Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
— Hebrews 10:11-14
All sides being equal also speaks to God's fairness and justice. It was fair of God to judge sin.
“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. When a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
— Ezekiel 18:25
Christ took on the unfair part of bearing our sins on the cross.
While being reviled and insulted, He did not revile or insult in return; while suffering, He made no threats [of vengeance] but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges fairly.
— I Peter 2:23
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| Sarah G Sharp |
The Altar's Horns
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.— I Corinthians 1:18
The sacrifice was tied to the altar's horns, typifying that there was no way to escape judgment. Henry W. Soltau explains this in his book The Holy Vessels and Furniture of the Tabernacle.
" ... there was no escape from the judgment which He (Christ) came to bear because no other plan or way of salvation could be devised. The unsearchable wisdom of God could provide no other remedy—could discover no other way of redemption: His only-begotten Son must be delivered up to death, even the death on the cross. The blessed Lord Himself realized this truth in His own soul; for after praying, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me—if thou be willing, remove this cup from me," He adds, "Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done." "The Son of Man must be lifted up;" refuge failed Him, and He was a victim appointed to the slaughter, for whom there was no escape.
1. The determinate counsel of God,
2. the ruin of man, for which there was no other remedy,
3. the devotedness of His own heart's obedience to the Father, and
4. His deep and boundless love for the Church acted as so many constraining powers to bind Him to the work"
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| Copper Altar of Sacrifice |
The Copper Altar's Height is Related to Christ's Resurrection
The Altar of Incense was the tallest measured furnishing in the Tabernacle proper (Holy Place and Holy of Holies), measuring two cubits high. The Altar of Sacrifice is the tallest of all the furniture, measuring three cubits high.... and its height shall be three cubits.
— Exodus 27
The number three in Scripture categorizes things that have to do with heaven and things that are "lifted up." It speaks of Christ being "lifted up" on the altar of the cross.
No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life ...
... And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. ("heaven" three mentions, "lifted up" three mentions)
— John 3:14-15, 12:32
Things lifted up and above also refer to His resurrection.
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
— Mark 8:31
The Hebrew word for "burnt offering" is "Olah-(עלה). "At its root, it means to ascend.
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| Copper and fire are symbols of judgment |
Copper, Fire, and Judgment
Cover it with copper. Make pails for removing its ashes and its shovels, bowls, meat forks, and trays. Make all its equipment out of copper. Make for the altar a grate made of copper mesh. Make four copper rings for each of the four corners of the mesh. Slide the mesh underneath the bottom edge of the altar and then extend the mesh halfway up to the middle of the altar. Make acacia-wood poles for the altar and cover them with copper. Put the poles through the rings so that the poles will be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. Make the altar with planks, but hollow inside. All these should be made just as you were shown on the mountain.— Exodus 27:2-8
Copper's connection with judgment is best illustrated in Jeremiah chapter 52, when the children of Israel were taken captive to Babylon as God's judgment for their continuing sins of idolatry and the awful human-harming God-separating behavior that came with that.
Then the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze (copper) fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death ... Now the bronze (copper) pillars which belonged to the house of Yahweh and the stands and the bronze (copper) sea, which were in the house of Yahweh, the Chaldeans shattered and carried all their bronze (copper) to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the bowls, the pans, and all the bronze vessels (copper) which were used to minister. And the captain of the guard also took away the cups, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the pans, and the offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze (copper) bulls that were under the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh—the bronze (copper) of all these vessels was beyond weight. As for the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, and it was twelve cubits in circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. Now, a capital of bronze (copper) was on it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze (copper). And the second pillar was like this, including pomegranates. There were ninety-six exposed pomegranates; all the pomegranates numbered one hundred on the network all around.
— Jeremiah 52:17-23
Although gold and silver are briefly mentioned in the above narrative, Jeremiah connects copper to the concept of judgment nine times. Nine in Scripture represents fruit, good or bad, as in judgment or reward. In this case, the fruit of their doings produced judgment. God allowed the Babylonians to execute judgment on His people by taking them and the temple treasures into exile.
"Fire" is also the main feature of this altar. Its association with judgment connects it with the eternal consequence of sin, with its continual burning.
The altar fire must be kept burning; it must not go out. Each morning, the priest will burn wood on it, will lay out the entirely burned offering on it, and will completely burn the fat of the well-being offering on it. A continuous fire must be kept burning on the altar; it must not go out.
— Leviticus 6:13
The grate was halfway down inside the square altar, forming a pit or furnace for the flames. The book of Jude speaks of an eternal fire that is the judgment of the immoral.
... And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire
— Jude 1:6-8
The Altar of Sacrifice vividly illustrates an innocent victim receiving judgment for our sin.
... he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it as a sin offering at the place where they kill the burnt offering ... Then the priest shall burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to the Lord. So the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
— Leviticus 4:32-35
The Leviticus verse vividly demonstrates that Jesus took our place in the fiery flames of judgment as a substitute for us.
He made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
— II Corinthians 5:21
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| The High Priest attending to the Copper Altar of Sacrifice |
God's Free Gift Through the Sacrifice of His Son
Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest (Jesus), who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man ... Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.— Hebrews 10:8.19
J. Vernon McGee writes about the believer's application.
"Christ died that the Holy Spirit might take a rebellious sinner, deserving the wrath of God, and make him an obedient son, a recipient of the favor of God...He took our place, that He might offer us His place. He took our Hell that we might have His Heaven."
In the beginning, God freely gave us everything. Instead, we chose the one forbidden thing that came with a price we could not pay. It cost us our lives.
God, in Christ, freely gave us His life through His one and only Son. Christ died for our justification that we may once again stand before a holy God and freely partake of His eternal life. Forgiveness certainly was not free, but it was freely given at the altar of the cross.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God ... in due time Christ died for the ungodly ... God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him ... But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification ... as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
— Romans 5
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