The priests began to offer these sacrifices as soon as the tabernacle was complete (ch. 40).
In the offering of a young lamb each morning and each evening with flour, oil, and wine, the Israelites consecrated their lives afresh daily to the Lord. This was an offering of worship and expiation (i.e., the removal of sin, Lev. 1:9). It insured Israel's continuing communion with her God.
". . . thus the day was opened and closed with gifts to Yahweh, from whom all gifts were believed to come."486
The place of this altar in the tabernacle has been a problem for some readers of the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews 9:4 can be understood as describing its location as being inside the holy of holies with the ark.487However Old Testament passages say that it was inside the holy place with the golden lampstand and the table of showbread (cf. 30:6; 40:3-5, 21-27). Most commentators on Exodus locate it in the holy place.488Furthermore, Leviticus 16:2 and Hebrews 9:7 say that the high priest went into the holy of holies only once a year on the day of Atonement.489
The priests would offer incense on this altar each morning and each evening, and the incense would burn all the time. The priests made the daily burnt offering and the daily incense offering together each day. Both were demonstrations of constant uninterrupted devotion to God. Students of Exodus have almost universally recognized the incense offered as a symbol of prayer that ascends to God. It was a sweet aroma in His nostrils and was essential to the maintenance of the divine-human relationship.
"Morning and evening prayers have been the habit of all ages. With the one we go forth to our labour till the evening, asking that our Father will give us His God-speed and guidance and protection. With the other we entreat forgiveness and mercy."490
"He who offers no sacrifice in his prayer, who does not sacrifice his self-will, does not really pray."491
The horns of this altar (v. 10), as well as the horns on the altar of burnt offerings (the brazen altar), probably symbolized strength.492
Once a year Aaron applied the atonement blood on this altar to cleanse it afresh for another year (v. 10).
The directions concerning the sanctuary conclude with this section.
The directions regarding the tabernacle opened with instructions concerning contributions for its construction (25:1-9). They close with this directive that every Israelite 20 years or older was to pay a flat fee of half a shekel during Israel's census for the tabernacle's maintenance (Num. 1:2; 26:2). Everyone was to pay the same amount because the cost of everyone's atonement was the same in the Lord's sight.
"It was no ordinary tribute, therefore, which Israel was to pay to Jehovah as its King, but an act demanded by the holiness of the theocratic covenant. As an expiation for souls, it pointed to the unholiness of Israel's nature, and reminded the people continually, that by nature it was alienated from God, and could only remain in covenant with the Lord and live in His kingdom on the ground of His grace, which covered its sin."493
Israel's leaders collected this money whenever they took a census. In time it became a yearly "temple tax"(Matt. 17:24). A half shekel weighed .2 ounces, and it was silver. "Money"in verse 16 is literally "silver."In our Lord's day it amounted to two days wages (Matt. 17:24). Evidently the taking of a census incurred some guilt (v. 12). Perhaps it reflected lack of complete trust in God to multiply the nation as He had promised (cf. 2 Sam. 24).
"Do you recognize that you belong to a redeemed world? Even if all do not avail themselves of the Redemption which has been achieved, yet it is available for all; and more benefits than we can ever estimate are always accruing since God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son."494
The laver was a large reservoir for the water that the priests used to wash with as they performed their duties. It stood between the brazen altar and the sanctuary. Its presence there symbolized the fact that cleansing is necessary after the making of atonement and before the enjoyment of fellowship with God.
"The necessity of daily cleansing on the part of those who are engaged even in the most holy service, and of all who would approach God, is so obvious as hardly to require comment. The body washed with pure water has for its counterpart the daily cleansing of the soul, without which no man may minister in the Divine presence [cf. John 13:10]."495
The "base"(v. 18) was probably not a pedestal but a smaller vessel used to draw as much water out of the laver as the priest might need to wash. The priests washed their feet as well as their hands (v. 21).
The special mixture God specified here was for use only in anointing the tabernacle, its furnishings, its utensils, and the priests. Four fragrant spices blended with olive oil to produce an excellent perfume. It was holy in that the Israelites used it exclusively for this special purpose in the service of God. The priests could use it for no other purpose in Israel.
As with the anointing oil, only a certain mixture of four ingredients was acceptable as incense for burning on the incense altar. Similarly not just any prayer is acceptable to God; only prayers offered as He has instructed will be acceptable (cf. 1 John 5:14).
"Stacteis a fragrant resin obtained from some species of cistus, or rockrose.' Onychais the horny plate that covers a species of mussel found in the lakes of India which, when burned, emits a musky odor. Galbanumis a pleasantly aromatic gum resin derived from certain umbelliferous plants. Frankincense(from the Old French for pure incense'), as used by the Jews, Greeks, and Romans, was a gum resin now called olibanumwhich was derived from certain trees of the genus boswelliafound growing on the limestone of South Arabia and Somaliland. Thus, three of the four ingredients in the incense burned on the golden altar were gum resins. Gum resins are mixtures of gum and resin obtained from plants or trees by incision. Resins burn readily because they contain volatile oils."496
