1 And thou shalt make an Altar of Shittim wood, fiue cubits long, and fiue cubites broad: the Altar shall be foure square, and the height thereof shalbe three cubits.
2 And thou shalt make the hornes of it vpon the foure corners thereof: his hornes shall be of the same: and thou shalt ouerlay it with brasse.
3 And thou shalt make his pannes to receiue his ashes, and his shouels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepannes: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brasse.
4 And thou shalt make for it a grate of networke of brasse; and vpon the net shalt thou make foure brasen rings in the foure corners thereof.
5 And thou shalt put it vnder the compasse of the Altar beneath, that the net may bee euen to the midst of the Altar.
6 And thou shalt make staues for the Altar, staues of Shittim wood, and ouerlay them with brasse.
7 And the staues shalbe put into the rings, and the staues shall be vpon the two sides of the Altar, to beare it.
8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.
9 ¶ And thou shalt make the Court of the Tabernacle for the Southside, Southward: there shall be hangings for the Court, of fine twined linnen of an hundred cubits long, for one side.
10 And the twenty pillars thereof, and their twenty sockets, shall be of brasse: the hookes of the pillars, and their fillets shalbe of siluer.
11 And likewise for the Northside in length, there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars, and their twenty sockets of brasse: the hookes of the pillars, and their fillets of siluer.
12 ¶ And for the breadth of the Court, on the Westside shalbe hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars tenne, and their sockets ten.
13 And the breadth of the Court on the Eastside Eastward, shall bee fiftie cubits.
14 The hangings of one side of the gate shalbe fifteene cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15 And on the other side shalbe hangings, fifteene cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 ¶ And for the gate of the Court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits of blew, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linnen, wrought with needle worke: and their pillars shall be foure, and their sockets foure.
17 All the pillars round about the Court shalbe filletted with siluer: their hookes shalbe of siluer, and their sockets of brasse.
18 ¶ The length of the Court shalbe an hundred cubits, and the breadth fiftie euery where, and the height fiue cubits of fine twined linnen, and their sockets of brasse.
19 All the vessels of the Tabernacle in all the seruice thereof, and all the pinnes thereof, and all the pinnes of the Court, shalbe of brasse.
20 ¶ And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oyle Oliue beaten, for the light, to cause the lampe to burne alwayes.
21 In the Tabernacle of the Congregation without the Uaile, which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sonnes shall order it from euening to morning before the Lord: It shall be a statute for euer, vnto their generations, on the behalfe of the children of Israel.
The altar of burnt offerings. (1-8) The court of the tabernacle. (9-19) The oil for the lamps. (20,21)1-8 In the court before the tabernacle, where the people attended, was an altar, to which they must bring their sacrifices, and on which their priests must offer them to God. It was of wood overlaid with brass. A grate of brass was let into the hollow of the altar, about the middle of which the fire was kept, and the sacrifice burnt. It was made of net-work like a sieve, and hung hollow, that the ashes might fall through. This brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. The wood had been consumed by the fire from heaven, if it had not been secured by the brass: nor could the human nature of Christ have borne the wrath of God, if it had not been supported by Divine power.
9-19 The tabernacle was enclosed in a court, about sixty yards long and thirty broad, formed by curtains hung upon brazen pillars, fixed in brazen sockets. Within this enclosure the priests and Levites offered the sacrifices, and thither the Jewish people were admitted. These distinctions represented the difference between the visible nominal church, and the true spiritual church, which alone has access to God, and communion with him.
20,21 The pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which all believers receive from Christ, the good Olive, and without which our light cannot shine before men. The priests were to light the lamps, and tend them. It is the work of ministers, by preaching and expounding the Scriptures, which are as a lamp, to enlighten the church, God's tabernacle upon earth. Blessed be God, this light is not now confined to the Jewish tabernacle, but is a light to lighten the gentiles, and for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.