On altar furniture see POT; SHOVEL; BASIN; FLESH-HOOK; FIREPAN. In the temple built after the Exile the altar was restored. (1Ch 21:29) When the ark of the covenant was moved to Zion by David, it had not been in the tabernacle for many years. Dimensions. The fencelike curtain around it was 5 cubits (2.2 m; 7.3 ft) high. Whether either or both of these altars had steps (compare Ezekiel 43:17) or were approached by a slope as in Fig. The Court (Exodus, chapters 25-40): . The altar which stood before the tabernacle was a portable box constructed of acacia wood and covered on the outside with plates of brass (Exodus 27:1). See further, \TEMPLE\, Noah built an altar and offered a sacrifice to Yahweh. The first will be termed "lay altars" since, as will be seen, the Law permitted any layman to offer certain sacrifices at an altar of earth or unhewn stone without the assistance of a priest, while the second while be styled "horned altars," owing to their possession of horns which, as already pointed out, could not exist in a lay altar that conformed with the provisions of the law. Fugitives caught hold of them (1 Kings 1:50,51), and victims could be tied to them (Psalms 118:27). R. Kittel, Studien zur hebraischen Archaologie und Religions-Geschichte, I and II; Hastings, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics; Murray, Illustrated Bible Dictionary; EB, under the word "Altar"; EPC, chapter 6. On the other hand, the shape, pattern and material are of great interest. Before considering the Biblical texts attention must be drawn to the fact that these texts know of at least two kinds of altars which were so different in appearance that no contemporary could possibly confuse them. The altar of incense was placed inside the sanctuary in front of the curtain screening the Holy of Holies. It differed in construction at different times. On the rear or W end there were six panel frames and at the back corners two frames called “corner posts.”​—Ex 26:22-24. Archaeology has provided numerous examples of altars from Palestine dating back to approximately 3000 b.c. In Ezekiel's vision the courtyard altar also was horned ( Eze 43:15 ). 22-25. The sacred tent (Heb. (Ex 36:3, 6, 7) Doubtless the gold, silver, and copper, as well as the yarns, fabrics, and skins, came as contributions largely from that which the Israelites had taken out of Egypt. The use of this altar in the ritual of the Tabernacle falls under the heading SACRIFICE. This was done "under the mount," where, beside the altar, were reared twelve pillars, emblematic of the twelve tribes of Israel (Exodus 24:4). A network of bronze was to reach halfway up the altar to a ledge. It appears that in time chambers were built for the use of the priests in the courtyard of the tabernacle, probably at the sides of the structure. The interior was hollow. Evidently the top and bottom rows consisted of two bars each, for only the bar at the center is described as “running through from end to end.” These bars were of wood overlaid with gold.​—Ex 26:26-29. Again Hosea's "Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars `to sin,' altars have been to him `for sin'" (Hosea 8:11, compare Hosea 10:1-8; 12:11 (12)), is not in contradiction to Exodus 20:24-26 because the prophet is not speaking of lay altars. In Solomon's temple the altar was considerably enlarged, as was to be expected from the greater size of the building before which it stood. To have burnt this incense within the veil would have required repeated entries into the holy of holies, which entries were forbidden (Leviticus 16:2). In chastising the religious establishment, Jesus underlined the sacredness of the altar, making clear his understanding that the altar "makes the gift sacred" ( Matt 23:19 ). The more important material used is bronze, and the whole construction was as unlike that of the ordinary lay altar as possible. A Gezer Altar. They were made of brass. (Nu 4:24-26; 7:7) The Merarites, with four wagons, took care of the very heavy items, including the panel frames and the pillars, socket pedestals and related tent pins, and cords.​—Nu 4:29-32; 7:8. He responded to Noah's action by declaring that he would never again destroy all living things through a flood. Jacob built no new altars, but again and again repaired those at Shechem and Bethel. The fire on the altar was not permitted to go out ( Leviticus 6:9 ). (Ex 26:18, 20) Each frame was 10 cubits (4.5 m; 14.6 ft) high and one and one half cubits (67 cm; 26 in.) In moving the tabernacle and its furniture and utensils, the priests covered the utensils of the holy place; and then the Kohathites carried the covered ark of the covenant, table of showbread, lampstand, and altars. short of reaching the ground on each side of the structure.​—Ex 26:1-6. The Tabernacle was the holy tent where God met His people in worship, from the time of Moses until the Great Temple was built in Jerusalem many years after Samuel’s death. The Molten Sea or Brazen Sea (ים מוצק yām mūṣāq "cast metal sea") was a large basin in the Temple in Jerusalem made by Solomon for ablution of the priests. "It was just 3 ft. high, and in shape roughly like a truncated pyramid, the four sides at the bottom being each 18 inches long, and the whole ending at the top in a bowl a foot in diameter. That the Herodian temple also had its altar of incense we know from the incident of Zacharias having a vision there of "an angel .... standing on the right side of the altar of incense" when he went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense (Luke 1:11). Lastly, as already noticed, this law excludes the possibility of giving the altars horns or causing them to conform to any given pattern, since the stone could not be wrought One other law must be noticed in this connection: Deuteronomy 16:21 f: `Thou shalt not plant thee an 'asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. To the outer edge of this, again, a grating or network of brass was affixed, and reached to the bottom of the altar. As to the length of the Holy of the tabernacle, these points are significant: Each of the two sections of the linen covering was 20 cubits wide. These sites became, in after years, the most venerated and coveted perquisites of the nation, and fights for their possession largely determined its history. Genesis 8:20; 12:7; 13:4. In the stark and moving story of Abraham's encounter with God at Moriah, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it ( Gen 22:9 ). Altars are commanded to be made of earth or of unhewn stone, yet so as to have, not steps, but only slopes for ascent to the same--the injunction implying that they stood on some elevation (see ALTAR, sec A, above). (Ex 26:37) Considering the weight of silver, these pedestals evidently would not be very thick, but would be more in the nature of heavy plates. 2 Kings 18:22), and the altar assumed its old place in the temple service till its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. History. Article Images Copyright © 2021 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. For usage information, please read the Baker Book House Copyright Statement. See especially \HIGH PLACE\. In a context discussing the pattern made by the tabernacle and the services carried on therein, he speaks of Jesus Christ as “a public servant of the holy place and of the true tent, which Jehovah put up, and not man.” (Heb 8:2) Farther on he says: “Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come to pass, through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.” (Heb 9:11) The tent in the wilderness was an arrangement set up by God’s command for approach to him in true worship, an arrangement for typical removal of sins. As the priests were forbidden to ascend the altar by steps, ( Exodus 20:26 ) it has been conjectured that a slope of earth led gradually up to the ledge from which they officiated. It had no fixed shape, but varied with the materials. It differed too in the material of which it was made, being entirely of brass. The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. Thus, a criminal seeking asylum fled to an altar of this type, as appears from the horns which are mentioned in the two historical instances and also from such expressions as coming down or going up. The latter gives it as a square of fifty cubits (BJ, V, v, 6). It was five cubits long, five cubits broad, and three cubits high; on the ordinary reckoning, about 7 1/2 ft. on the horizontal square, and 4 1/2 ft. in height (possibly less; see CUBIT). It was at this altar Zacharias ministered when an angel appeared to him ( Luke 1:11 ). The angles are prolonged upward for an additional 1 1/2 inches as rounded knobs--no doubt the `horns' of the altar. How Transported. On the other hand we meet with a group of passages that refer to altars of quite a different type. Some modern scholars also hold the view that the panel-frame construction rather than a solid-board design was used. It was in all probability the site of the altar of burnt offering. This altar, as erected in the tabernacle, is described in Exodus 27:1-8 . (12-21) Solomon's prayer. The reason for this departure from the strict rule of temple ritual was that sweet incense was to be burnt daily upon it at the offering of every daily sacrifice, the lamps being then lit and extinguished (compare Numbers 28:3; Exodus 30:7,8), so that a cloud of smoke might fill the inner chamber at the moment when the sacrificial blood was sprinkled (see MERCY-SEAT). (See also Watson in PEFS (January, 1910), 15, in reply to Smith.). 1915. The second is a conjectural restoration of Hebrew altars of burnt offering and incense of the second kind. The next is the altar built at the place of Shechem, by which Abraham formally took possession, on behalf of his descendants, of the whole land of Canaan (Genesis 12:7). It was also evidently 10 cubits in width. Underneath this rock is a cave, which may probably have been the granary of Araunah's threshing-floor ( 1 Chronicles 21:22 ). Ezekiel also gives a description of an altar (Ezekiel 43:13-17), but there is nothing to show whether it is purely ideal or represents the altar of Solomon or that of Ahaz, and modern writers take different views. 1 Kings 8 – The Dedication of the Temple A. This king saw an altar in Damascus of a different pattern and had a great altar made for the temple on its model. The Most Holy compartment was apparently a cube 10 cubits on a side —even as the Most Holy of Solomon’s temple built later was cubical, each dimension being 20 cubits (8.9 m; 29.2 ft). The earliest provision for an altar as a portion of a fixed establishment of religion is found in Exodus 20:24-26, immediately after the promulgation of the Decalogue.