Exodus 27

1 And thou shalt make an altar [of] shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and its hight [shall be] three cubits.

2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: its horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

3 And thou shalt make its pans to receive its ashes, and its shovels, and its basins, and its flesh-hooks, and its fire-pans: all its vessels thou shalt make [of] brass.

4 And thou shalt make for it a grate of net-work of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in its four corners.

5 And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

6 And thou shalt make staffs for the altar, staffs [of] shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.

7 And the staffs shall be put into the rings, and the staffs shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.

8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shown thee on the mount, so shall they make [it].

9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward [there shall be] hangings for the court [of] fine twined linen of a hundred cubits long for one side:

10 And its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets [shall be of] brass: the hooks of the pillars and their fillets [shall be of] silver.

11 And likewise for the north side in length [there shall be] hangings of a hundred [cubits] long, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets [of] brass: the hooks of the pillars and their fillets [of] silver.

12 And [for] the breadth of the court on the west side [shall be] hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.

13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward [shall be] fifty cubits.

14 The hangings of one side [of the gate shall be] fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

15 And on the other side [shall be] hangings, fifteen [cubits]: their pillars three, and their sockets three.

16 And for the gate of the court [shall be] a hanging of twenty cubits, [of] blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needle-work: [and] their pillars [shall be] four, and their sockets four.

17 All the pillars around the court [shall be] filleted with silver: their hooks [shall be of] silver, and their sockets [of] brass.

18 The length of the court [shall be] a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the hight five cubits [of] fine twined linen, and their sockets [of] brass.

19 All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, [shall be of] brass.

20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring the pure olive-oil beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.

21 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which [is] before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: [It shall be] a statute for ever to their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

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Exodus 27 Commentary

Chapter 27

The altar of burnt offerings. (1-8) The court of the tabernacle. (9-19) The oil for the lamps. (20,21)

Verses 1-8 In the court before the tabernacle, where the people attended, was an altar, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God. It was of wood overlaid with brass. A grate of brass was let into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt. It was made of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the ashes might fall through. This brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. The wood had been consumed by the fire from heaven, if it had not been secured by the brass: nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the wrath of God, if it had not been supported by Divine power.

Verses 9-19 The tabernacle was enclosed in a court, about sixty yards long and thirty broad, formed by curtains hung upon brazen pillars, fixed in brazen sockets. Within this enclosure the priests and Levites offered the sacrifices, and thither the Jewish people were admitted. These distinctions represented the difference between the visible nominal church, and the true spiritual church, which alone has access to God, and communion with him.

Verses 20-21 The pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which all believers receive from Christ, the good Olive, and without which our light cannot shine before men. The priests were to light the lamps, and tend them. It is the work of ministers, by preaching and expounding the Scriptures, which are as a lamp, to enlighten the church, God's tabernacle upon earth. Blessed be God, this light is not now confined to the Jewish tabernacle, but is a light to lighten the gentiles, and for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 27

This chapter treats of the altar of burnt offering, and of all things relative to it, Ex 27:1-8, of the court of the tabernacle, its hangings on each side, with pillars, sockets, and hooks for them, Ex 27:9-19 and it is concluded with an order to the Israelites to bring oil olive for the lamp of the sanctuary, Ex 27:20,21.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible