5. The tabernacle courtyard ch. 27:1-19

In this section Moses described the altar of burnt offerings, the courtyard itself, and the oil for the lamps on the lampstand that the priests evidently prepared in the courtyard.

 The altar of burnt offerings 27:1-8

The height of this altar was 5 feet. This height has led some commentators to suggest that a step-like bench or ledge may have surrounded it on which the priests stood when they offered sacrifices.⁴⁶³In view of the command prohibiting steps up to Israel's altars (20:26), a ramp seems more probable (cf. Lev. 9:22). However there may have been neither a ramp nor steps. The altar had four horns (v. 2), one on each corner, to which the priests applied blood ritually (29:12). People occasionally clung to this altar as a place of refuge (cf. 1 Kings 1:50-51; 2:28). The priests also bound some animals to these horns when they sacrificed them (Ps. 118:27). There was a grate (v. 4) halfway to the ground inside the altar that allowed air to circulate under the sacrifices and ashes to fall to the ground below. The "ledge"appears to have projected out from the altar about half way up its sides. Perhaps the priests stood on this ledge while placing the offerings on the altar.

This altar received the offerings of the Israelites. God met the Israelite where he was, in the courtyard, rather than where He was, within the veil. Nevertheless the Israelite had to make a special effort to approach God by entering the courtyard to present his offering (cf. 2 Cor. 5:18-20).

"The position of the Altar just inside the entrance to the court made it as clear as symbology could that the beginning of fellowship between God and man must be in sacrifice."⁴⁶⁴

The Book of Hebrews viewed this altar as a prototype of the better altar, which is Jesus Christ (Heb. 13:10).

 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