Exodus 27

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¹“Using acacia wood, construct a square altar 7-1/2 feet wide, 7-1/2 feet long, and 4-1/2 feet high. ✦ ²Make horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar are all one piece. Overlay the altar with bronze. ✦ ³Make ash buckets, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans, all of bronze. ✦ ⁴Make a bronze grating for it, and attach four bronze rings at its four corners. ✦ ⁵Install the grating halfway down the side of the altar, under the ledge. ✦ ⁶For carrying the altar, make poles from acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. ✦ ⁷Insert the poles through the rings on the two sides of the altar. ✦ ⁸The altar must be hollow, made from planks. Build it just as you were shown on the mountain. ✦ ⁹“Then make the courtyard for the Tabernacle, enclosed with curtains made of finely woven linen. On the south side, make the curtains 150 feet long. ✦ ¹⁰They will be held up by twenty posts set securely in twenty bronze bases. Hang the curtains with silver hooks and rings. ✦ ¹¹Make the curtains the same on the north side—150 feet of curtains held up by twenty posts set securely in bronze bases. Hang the curtains with silver hooks and rings. ¹²The curtains on the west end of the courtyard will be 75 feet long, supported by ten posts set into ten bases. ¹³The east end of the courtyard, the front, will also be 75 feet long. ¹⁴The courtyard entrance will be on the east end, flanked by two curtains. The curtain on the right side will be 22-1/2 feet long, supported by three posts set into three bases. ✦ ¹⁵The curtain on the left side will also be 22-1/2 feet long, supported by three posts set into three bases. ¹⁶“For the entrance to the courtyard, make a curtain that is 30 feet long. Make it from finely woven linen, and decorate it with beautiful embroidery in blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Support it with four posts, each securely set in its own base. ✦ ¹⁷All the posts around the courtyard must have silver rings and hooks and bronze bases. ¹⁸So the entire courtyard will be 150 feet long and 75 feet wide, with curtain walls 7-1/2 feet high, made from finely woven linen. The bases for the posts will be made of bronze. ¹⁹“All the articles used in the rituals of the Tabernacle, including all the tent pegs used to support the Tabernacle and the courtyard curtains, must be made of bronze. ✦ ²⁰“Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. ✦ ²¹The lampstand will stand in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant. Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning in the Lord’s presence all night. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel, and it must be observed from generation to generation. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

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.

Where this chapter connects

Exod 25 ·7 Exod 38 ·7 Exod 26 ·7 Ezek 40 ·6 Exod 29 ·5 Num 4 ·4 Exod 40 ·4 Exod 39 ·4

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical
On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
VideoSpoken GospelSpoken Gospel · Free · evangelical
Short, gospel-centered videos and spoken-word poems showing how each passage points to Jesus — especially strong on the Old Testament.
DocumentaryPatterns of Evidence: The ExodusTim Mahoney · Paid · evangelical
Investigates the archaeological evidence for the Exodus. Note: it advances a minority biblical chronology that mainstream scholars dispute — engaging, but weigh its conclusions critically.

Pastoral

★ Start hereCommentaryExodus (New American Commentary)Douglas K. Stuart · Paid · evangelical
The best evangelical, semi-technical commentary on Exodus — accessible to pastors and serious students.
DocumentaryThat the World May KnowRay Vander Laan · Paid · evangelical
Ray Vander Laan's on-location series immersing you in the Bible's historical and cultural world. (Mostly paid via Focus on the Family; some free clips.)
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 27YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Exodus 27David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Exodus 27Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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