27:1-8

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Altar of burnt offering

(Ex 27:1-8)

All animal sacrifices were offered on what has become known as the brazen altar (though the metal referred to in older English versions as brass was probably bronze or, less likely, copper).

The altar was made of timber overlaid with bronze and was hollow inside. Its utensils also were made of bronze (Ex 27:1-3).

The instructions do not tell us how sacrifices were burnt on this altar. Either the altar was filled with earth to form a mound on which the sacrifices were burnt, or it had an internal grid for the same purpose.

Halfway up the altar on the outside was a horizontal ledge supported by a grating. The priest may have stood on this ledge while offering the sacrifices, to avoid treading in the blood of the sacrificial animals that was poured out at the base (Ex 27:4-8).