Brazen Altar מזבח תשחנה-Mizbah Ha Olah

I would like to continue discussing aspects of the wilderness tabernacle focusing on the Brazen Altar. This elevated structure was separately located outside the tent sanctuary housing the Ark of the Covenant and was the first object to be seen upon entering the gate of the outer court. The brazen altar is called Mizbah Ha Olah in Hebrew.

Before getting into its details, I need to provide some basic details regarding the whole of the tabernacle itself as a backdrop. First, the tabernacle can be divided into the following three different areas:

The Outer Court:
Contains the brazen altar, which is what we will be looking at today, and the brazen laver

The Holy Place:
Housed inside the tent sanctuary and containing the incense altar,
the menorah (seven-pronged candle) and the Table of Shewbread

The Holy of Holies:
Also housed inside the tent sanctuary and containing the famed Ark of the Covenant.
ONLY THE HIGH PRIEST IS ALLOWED TO ENTER ONCE A YEAR TO ATONE FOR THE SINS OF ISRAEL.
(The Holy Place and The Holy of Holies are divided by a curtain known in Hebrew as the parochet.)

The second fundamental point that needs to be made is that designated levels of holiness have been assigned to each area. The Outer Court is the area of least holiness. Next is the Holy Place. Finally, the most holy place of them all is the Holy of Holies where as mentioned only the High Priest was allowed to enter once a year.

Levels of holiness were also designated by what types of metal the objects in each area were overlaid with. Inside the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, all items including the various utensils to be used were overlaid with pure gold. However, within the outer court, all items were to be overlain with bronze, a less valuable metal than gold corresponding to the courts lower level of holiness.

So now that we have an understanding of the basic layout of the wilderness tabernacle, I would like to explain how the Brazen Altar foreshadows Yeshua’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins.

First the location of the brazen altar holds great significance. It was situated between the gate of the Outer Court and the entrance to the tent sanctuary where the Holy Place and Holy of Holies was housed. In other words, upon entering the Outer Court, one couldn’t avoid having to pass by the brazen altar in order to reach the sanctuary. Every time before entering the Holy Place, the priest had to make a blood sacrifice by binding a chosen animal to the horns of the altar and have its blood spilled as atonement.

This is a perfect connection to the cross of Christ. As a sacrificial animal had to be killed on the brazen altar before the priest could enter the Holy Place, so to did Yeshua have to have His blood spilled on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Without the sacrifice of the cross, we cannot approach G-d’s Holy Place.

Another important spiritual truth fleshed out through the brazen altar is the fact that only shed blood can pay the price for sin. Over the years to come, the Israelites would have had to sacrifice literally thousands upon thousands of innocent animals to pay for their sins. It is the same with us modern day believers as well as all of mankind. We are all sinners and without a means to atone for our sins, we are all eternally doomed. I am talking about eternal separation from G-d, the Creator and the Author of peace and everything that is good in the universe.

However, by accepting Yeshua’s sacrifice, we can have peace with G-d and gain access to the Holy Place. And there is no longer the need for a Brazen Altar.

Amen.