Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.
Parallel translations
- KJV A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.
- BSB It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece.
- NKJV A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.
- NASB Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it.
- NLT Make it 18 inches square and 36 inches high, with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar itself.
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 incense altar was a small square with horns, made as one piece. Its careful design reflects that worship is to be ordered exactly as God directs.
Overview
The precise measurements and the horns, a symbol of strength and the place where blood was applied, mark this as a holy object. Every detail was given by God, leaving no room for human invention in worship. The exactness of the tabernacle pattern reminds us that acceptable worship is defined by God, fulfilled in Christ to whom all the symbols point (Hebrews 8:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Exod 27:2You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it; and you shall overlay it with brass.
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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 30:2 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
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