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You shall make it hollow with planks; as it was shown to you on the mountain, so they shall make it.
Exodus 27:8 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB You shall make it with hollow planks. They shall make it as it has been shown you on the mountain.
  • KJV Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.
  • BSB Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.
  • NKJV You shall make it hollow with boards; as it was shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it.
  • NLT The altar must be hollow, made from planks. Build it just as you were shown on the mountain.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The altar was to be made of hollow planks, exactly as shown to Moses on the mountain. Once more, faithful adherence to God's pattern was commanded.

Overview

Built hollow with boards, the altar followed the divine design revealed on Sinai. The repeated emphasis on the mountain pattern shows that even the altar of sacrifice conformed to God's revelation. As with the whole sanctuary, its God-given design pointed beyond itself to the heavenly realities fulfilled in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Exod 25:40See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.
  • Exod 25:9According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it.
  • Heb 8:5who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for he said, “See, you shall make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.”
  • Matt 15:9And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’”
  • 1 Chr 28:11Then David gave to Solomon his son the plans for the porch of the temple, for its houses, for its treasuries, for its upper rooms, for its inner rooms, for the place of the mercy seat;
  • 1 Chr 28:19“All this”, said David, “I have been made to understand in writing from Yahweh’s hand, even all the works of this pattern.”
  • Exod 26:30–37You shall set up the tabernacle according to the way that it was shown to you on the mountain.
  • Col 2:20–23If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 27:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.

How Exodus 27:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.