Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.
Parallel translations
- WEB “You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting.
- KJV And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
- NKJV Then you shall set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.
- NASB And you shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.
- NLT Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the Tabernacle entrance.
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
Moses was to set the altar of burnt offering in front of the tabernacle entrance. The place of sacrifice stood at the threshold of approach.
Overview
The bronze altar was positioned first in the courtyard, directly before the entrance, so that no one could approach God's dwelling without passing the place of sacrifice. This taught that fellowship with a holy God requires atonement for sin. It foreshadows the cross of Christ, the one sacrifice through which sinners are reconciled and given access to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Exod 40:29He placed the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the LORD had commanded him.
- Exod 38:1–7Bezalel constructed the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood. It was square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
- Exod 27:1–8“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
- Eph 1:6–7to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.
- Heb 13:10We have an altar from which those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
- 1 Jn 4:9–10This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
- 1 Jn 2:2He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
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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 40:6 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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