The first altar mentioned in the Word was the one built by Noah after he came out of the ark, after being saved from the great flood. On that altar, he sacrificed clean animals to the Lord.

Mountains represent the Lord because of their height; we need to raise our thoughts above worldly things when "talking" with the Lord. An altar is a small artificial mountain. When it's used in worship, it can call to mind this raising of thought. The fire and smoke that rise from an altar are symbolically being sent to the Lord.

Most altars were made from unhewn stones. Stones represent truths. Unhewn stones - ones that have not been shaped by men - represent truths from the Word, truths that have not been adulterated.

The clean beasts to be sacrificed represent good things, charitable acts done because they are right. The clean birds represent thoughts about doctrine and actions, and about what is right. Presenting these things is an acknowledgment that we have them from the Lord, and a giving thanks to Him for them.

In the Israelitish Tabernacle, the altar of burnt offering represented the acknowledgment of good and the altar of incense that of truth. For this reason this larger altar, which was outside by the door, was made of brass which signifies natural good, while the altar of incense was made of gold, which signifies love to the Lord from whom comes truth.

10121. Verses 36-46 And a young bull of sin [offering] you shall offer daily at ¹ propitiations. And you shall cleanse from sin on the altar when you make propitiation on it; and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. Seven days you shall make propitiation on the altar, and sanctify it. And the altar shall be the holy of holies ² ; everyone touching the altar will be sanctified. And this is what you shall offer on the altar: Two lambs, the sons of a year, ³ each day - a continual [offering]. You shall offer one lamb in the morning, and you shall offer the other lamb between the evenings, and a tenth [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with beaten oil, a quarter of a hin, and a drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine, for the first lamb. And you shall offer the second lamb between the evenings; according to the morning minchah and according to its drink offering you shall do for it, for an odour of rest, a fire offering to Jehovah, a continual burnt offering throughout ⁴ your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, where I will meet with you to speak to you there. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and it will be sanctified in My glory. And I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar, and Aaron and his sons [I will sanctify], to serve Me in the priestly office. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will be their God. And they will recognize that I am Jehovah their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell in their midst; I am Jehovah their God.

'And a young bull of sin [offering] you shall offer daily at propitiations' means the continuous removal of evils and consequently of falsities in the natural man by means of the good of innocence from the Lord. 'And you shall cleanse from sin on the altar' means purification from evils in heaven and in the Church. 'When you make propitiation on it' means the resulting ability to receive good from the Lord. 'And you shall anoint it' means consecration to represent the Divine Good of Love from the Lord as He exists in heaven and in the Church. 'To sanctify it' means thus the Lord there. 'Seven days you shall make propitiation on the altar' means the completeness of the influx into heaven and into the Church. 'And sanctify it' means in order to receive the Lord. 'And the altar shall be the holy of holies' means the celestial kingdom, where the Lord is present in the good of love. 'Everyone touching the altar will be sanctified' means whoever receives what is Divine and the Lord's. 'And this is what you shall offer on the altar' means that which has regard in general to reception of the Lord in heaven and in the Church. 'Lambs, the sons of a year, each day' means the good of innocence in every state. 'A continual [offering]' means within all Divine worship. 'You shall offer one lamb in the morning' means the removal of evils by means of the good of innocence from the Lord in a state of love and consequently of light in the internal man. 'And you shall offer the other lamb between the evenings' means a similar removal of evils in a state of light and love in the external man. 'And a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with beaten oil, a quarter of a hin' means spiritual good derived from celestial good, the amount needed for a joining together. 'And a drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine' means spiritual truth, the amount needed for a joining together. 'For the first lamb' means this [good and truth] in the internal man. 'And you shall offer the second ram between the evenings' means the removal of evils by means of the good of innocence from the Lord in a state of love and consequently of light in the external man. 'According to the morning minchah and according to its drink offering you shall do for it' means spiritual good derived from celestial good, and its truth, the amount needed for a joining together. 'For an odour of rest' means the perception of peace. 'A fire offering to Jehovah' means springing from the Lord's Divine Love. 'A continual burnt offering' means all Divine worship in general. 'Throughout your generations' means what is everlasting in the Church. 'At the door of the tent' means the joining together of good and truth. 'Before Jehovah' means from the Lord. 'Where I will meet with you to speak to you there' means His presence and influx. 'And there I will meet with the children of Israel' means the Lord's presence in the Church. 'And it will be sanctified in My glory' means reception of Divine Truth from the Lord. 'And I will sanctify the tent of meeting' means reception of the Lord in the lower heavens. 'And the altar' means reception of what is Divine from the Lord in the higher heavens. 'And Aaron and his sons [I will sanctify], to serve Me in the priestly office' means that which is representative of the Lord in both groups of heavens in respect of the work of salvation. 'And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel' means the Lord's presence and His influx through good in heaven and in the Church. 'And I will be their God' means the Lord's presence and His influx into truth in the Church. 'And they will recognize that I am Jehovah their God' means perception that the Lord is the source of all good and all truth. 'Who brought them out of the land of Egypt' means salvation from hell by the Lord. 'That I may dwell in their midst' means what is Divine and the Lord's, which is the All in all of heaven and of the Church. 'I am Jehovah their God' means the source of all the good of love and truth of faith.

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