Wed.’s Devo - The outer curtain and the brazen altar

Read Ex. 27 I explained this yesterday but here is the description of the brazen altar. It was the bar-b-que spit on the platform where the priests would burn the animals. This altar was 7.5 feet square and 4.5 feet tall. It had 4 horns on the four corners. Horns in scripture stand for powers or kingdoms. When Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, God showed him a ram whose horns were stuck in the thicket, to sacrifice instead. That ram stood for the substitute for Jesus. I think these horns stood for the promise of a better sacrifice - Jesus. Whenever a person wanted mercy, he would run to the altar and take hold of the horns. This showed his repentance and cry for mercy. The priest would sprinkle these horns with blood during all sacrifices. These same horns were on the table of incense - only smaller. When the priests offered animals on the altar they would wring out the blood on the north side of the altar. The altar was the picture of Jesus on the cross. Golgotha was on the north side of Jerusalem. He was the lamb slain for our sins. His blood flowed from his right side when the soldier pierced his side. God had painted them a perfect picture of the cross so they would recognize it when it came. The last part of this chapter gives us the dimension and description of the curtains that went around the courtyard. The tabernacle itself was 810 sq. feet. The courtyard was 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. This tabernacle was where God would dwell among them. Through Christ we have a new and better way. Heb. 8 talks about the true tabernacle that God made that is so much better than the one he showed Moses to make. Moses was copying the one in heaven but now according to verse 6, “God has obtained a more excellent ministry, where he is the Mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises.” Verse 10, “ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Amen! Lord, put your laws in our minds and write them on our hearts today.