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Exodus 27

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1 `And thou hast made the altar of shittim wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth -- the altar is square -- and three cubits its height.

2 And thou hast made its horns on its four corners, its horns are of the same, and thou hast overlaid it [with] brass.

3 And thou hast made its pots to remove its ashes, and its shovels, and its bowls, and its forks, and its fire-pans, even all its vessels thou dost make of brass.

4 `And thou hast made for it a grate of net-work of brass, and hast made on the net four rings of brass on its four extremities,

5 and hast put it under the compass of the altar beneath, and the net hath been unto the middle of the altar.

6 `And thou hast made staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and hast overlaid them [with] brass.

7 And the staves have been brought into the rings, and the staves have been on the two sides of the altar in bearing it.

8 Hollow with boards thou dost make it, as it hath been shewed thee in the mount, so do they make [it].

9 `And thou hast made the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward, hangings for the court of twined linen, a hundred by the cubit [is] the length for the one side,

10 and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets [are] of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets [are] of silver;

11 and so for the north side in length, hangings of a hundred [cubits] in length, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets [are] of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets [are] of silver.

12 `And [for] the breadth of the court at the west side [are] hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.

13 And [for] the breadth of the court at the east side, eastward, [are] fifty cubits.

14 And the hangings at the side [are] fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three.

15 And at the second side [are] hangings fifteen [cubits], their pillars three, and their sockets three.

16 `And for the gate of the court a covering of twenty cubits, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of an embroiderer; their pillars four, their sockets four.

17 All the pillars of the court round about [are] filleted [with] silver, their pegs [are] silver, and their sockets brass.

18 `The length of the court [is] a hundred by the cubit, and the breadth fifty by fifty, and the height five cubits, of twined linen, and their sockets [are] brass,

19 even all the vessels of the tabernacle, in all its service, and all its pins, and all the pins of the court, [are] brass.

20 `And thou -- thou dost command the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee pure beaten olive oil for the light, to cause the lamp to go up continually;

21 in the tent of meeting, at the outside of the vail, which [is] over the testimony, doth Aaron -- his sons also -- arrange it from evening till morning before Jehovah -- a statute age-during to their generations, from the sons of Israel.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 392

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392. Then another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer. (8:3) This symbolizes spiritual worship, which originates from the goodness of charity expressed through truths of faith.

The altar at which the angel stood, and the golden censer that he had in his hand, symbolize worship of the Lord springing from a spiritual love, which is worship that originates from the goodness of charity expressed through truths of faith.

The children of Israel had two altars, one outside the Tabernacle, the other inside the Tabernacle. The altar outside the Tabernacle was called the altar of burnt offering, because burnt offerings and other sacrifices were presented on it. The altar inside the Tabernacle was called the altar of incense, and also the golden altar.

They had these two altars because worship of the Lord originates from celestial love and from spiritual love - from celestial love in the case of angels in His celestial kingdom, and from spiritual love in the case of angels in His spiritual kingdom. Regarding these two kingdoms, see no. 387 above.

Regarding the two altars, see the following passages in the books of Moses: On the altar of burnt offering, Exodus 20:24-26; 27:1-8; 29:36-43, Leviticus 6:8-12; 8:11; 16:18-19, 33-34. On the altar of incense, Exodus 30:1-10; 31:8; 37:25-29; 40:5, 26, Numbers 7:1.

John saw altars, censers, and the burning of incense, not because things of that kind are found in heaven. They were simply images representative of the worship of the Lord there. John saw them because such things were instituted among the children of Israel, and are often mentioned, therefore, in the Word. Moreover that church was a representational church, for every aspect of their worship was representative, and therefore those things now symbolize the Lord's Divinely given celestial and spiritual elements which are connected with His church in heaven and on earth.

[2] These same things are therefore symbolically meant in the Word by these two altars in the following places:

Send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me... to Your habitations. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God... (Psalms 43:3-4)

I wash my hands in innocence, and go around your altar, O Jehovah, and I will make to be heard the voice of confession... (Psalms 26:6-7)

The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron... on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars... (Jeremiah 17:1-2)

God is Jehovah, who gives us light; bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. (Psalms 118:27)

In that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt... (Isaiah 19:19)

An altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt symbolizes worship of the Lord originating from love in the natural person.

The thistle and thorn shall rise up on their altars. (Hosea 10:8)

These symbolize worship originating from evils and from the falsities accompanying evil.

See also elsewhere, such as Isaiah 27:9; 56:6-7; 60:7.

[3] Since an altar represented and so symbolized worship of the Lord, it is apparent that the altar here in the book of Revelation has no other meaning, and so, too, elsewhere. As for example:

...I saw under the altar the souls of those slain for the Word of God... (Revelation 6:9)

...the angel stood and said, ."..measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it." (Revelation 11:1)

...I heard another (angel) from the altar saying, ."..true and just are Your judgments." (Revelation 16:7)

Since representative worship was carried out principally upon the two altars, and since it was abolished by the Lord when He came into the world because He laid open the inner qualities of a church, we are accordingly told in Isaiah,

In that day a man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel, and... not... to the altars, the work of his hands. (Isaiah 17:7-8)

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.