Over the golden altar they shall spread a violet cloth, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and they shall insert its carrying poles;
Parallel translations
- WEB “On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.
- KJV And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:
- BSB Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with fine leather, and insert the poles.
- NKJV “Over the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of badger skins; and they shall insert its poles.
- NLT “Next they must spread a blue cloth over the gold incense altar and cover this cloth with fine goatskin leather. Then they must attach the carrying poles to the altar.
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 golden incense altar was covered with blue cloth and sealskin and its poles set in place. The place of fragrant prayer-offering was reverently prepared.
Overview
The golden altar before the veil bore the sweet incense that symbolized the prayers of God's people rising before Him. Its careful covering preserved its holiness in transit. The incense altar points to the acceptable intercession we have through Christ, whose mediation makes our prayers pleasing to God (Revelation 5:8).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Exod 30:1–19“You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood.
- Exod 37:25–28He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. It was square: its length was a cubit, and its width a cubit. Its height was two cubits. Its horns were of one piece with it.
- Exod 40:26–27He put the golden altar in the Tent of Meeting before the veil;
- Exod 39:38the golden altar, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door of the Tent,
- Exod 40:5You shall set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the door to the tabernacle.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 4:11 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.