The courtyard 27:9-19

The courtyard was 50 cubits wide by 100 cubits long (75 feet by 150 feet, half the length of an American football field). This area is about the size of a modest residential lot in the United States. The curtains that formed its perimeter were only half as high as those surrounding the tabernacle building (7 feet instead of 15 feet). So the Israelites outside the courtyard could see the top part of the tabernacle building.

"All its vessels were of copper-brass, which, being allied to the earth in both colour and material, was a symbolic representation of the earthy side of the kingdom of God; whereas the silver of the capitals of the pillars, and of the hooks and rods which sustained the hangings, as well as the white colour of the byssus-hangings, might point to the holiness of this site for the kingdom of God."⁴⁶⁵

"The whole arrangement of the outer court, and in particular the placement of the altar of sacrifice and the laver, speak pointedly of man's approach to God."⁴⁶⁶

". . . this structure provided the same kind of physical separation between the holy God and his people as did the mountain at Sinai (temporal separation is also provided in the annual feasts and celebrations, e.g., the yearly Day of Atonement, Lev 16)."⁴⁶⁷

"The court preserved the Tabernacle from accidental or intentional profanation, and gave the priests a certain measure of privacy for the prosecution of their duties. Its presence was a perpetual reminder that man should pause and consider, before he rushes into the presence of the Most High [cf. Eccles. 5:2]."⁴⁶⁸