Jesus in the Tabernacle V
The Altar is another box, though not a perfect cube this time. The acacia wood—tabernacle wood—is made into a box slightly shorter than the square on its top is wide. It has horns on its corners, but made of one piece with it. That’s skilled carpentry. The whole thing is overlaid with bronze.
It has a set of pots and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans, all of which are also bronze. Like the other furniture it’s got hoops for carrying it when the people of God went on the move, because it’s only to be touched for divine worship, not something as common as walking.
It’s hollow, with a sort of grate set into it. It is, essentially, a lot like the fire pit at the bottom of my garden on a much grander scale. It’s a large lidless barbeque.
It can seem like the centre of Israelite worship, with the various kinds of sacrifices, seven of them, being made on it or around it. I think that’s the wrong way of thinking about it.
Sacred Geography
The Altar is set in the courtyard of the tabernacle. It’s outside the tent, which itself is ‘outside’ the holy of holies. We’re in the very outer layer of the box (or cosmos) as we continue to move through the instructions from the inside out. It’s in front of its entrance. What’s the story here?
In order to enter the presence of God, the first thing we must come past is the Altar. We know that it was essentially the same for Isaiah when he visited the heavenly temple: a Seraphim (a winged firey lightning snake with six wings; not scary at all) burns his lips in atonement with a coal from the altar. To enter the presence of God requires bloodshed. It requires more than that, it needs a ‘going-up’ or ‘ascension’ offering. This whole burned offering is turned into smoke to allow the offerer to symbolically ascend to the heavens. If they are a priest who then enters the tabernacle they have then ‘ascended’ into the heavens, entering the heavenly temple. The aroma arises to God in heaven to turn aside his anger (in the Hebrew idiom, the heat of his nose).
Christ our sacrifice
We can also enter the heavenly temple because of who has ascended on our behalf, just as a priest can enter the tabernacle/heavenly temple because an animal has ascended on their behalf. That’s what happens every single time you pray. You ascend with the one who has ascended and your prayers are joined with his prayers. The Father gives the Son everything he asks for. That’s the logic of prayer; every prayer is an intra-Trinitarian miracle. We should wonder at that more, and will return to it when we reach the incense altar.
Of course, when sin has been committed various kinds of cleansing and atonement can be made at the Altar. For us, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross has fulfilled the promise of all seven of Israel’s animal sacrifices. Each pointed to him. Each is made perfect in his death. Each can be claimed by us as a joy.
We can enter God’s presence freely, cleansed from unrighteousness, covered over, and at peace with God.
Time to party
Which means it’s time to party. The peace offering is the one cooked on the BBQ Altar, well spiced I hope, and then shared with others by the one who brought it. It’s to celebrate God’s goodness to them. It’s not to ask God for peace but to enjoy being at peace with God.
That’s our worship. That’s the communion table as we feast together in the presence of the Lord, but it’s also all of our collective worship: we come to party because God has made peace with us. Our warfare has ended. Let us eat and drink and be merry, for tomorrow we live.
Photo by Joshua Kantarges on Unsplash
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nuakh 