1“You shall also make an altar, for the burning of incense, from setim wood,
2having one cubit in length, and another in width, that is, four equal sides, and two cubits in height. Horns shall proceed from the same.
3And you shall clothe it with the purest gold, both its grating and the walls around it, and also the horns. And you shall make for it a crown of gold in a circle,
4and two gold rings under the crown on each side, so that the bars may be set in them and the altar may be carried.
5Also, you shall make its bars of setim wood, and you shall overlay them with gold.
6And you shall set the altar opposite the veil, which hangs in front of the ark of the testimony, before the propitiatory with which the testimony is covered, where I will speak to you.
7And Aaron shall burn incense upon it, a sweet fragrance, in the morning. When he lights the lamps, he shall burn it.
8And when he assembles them in the evening, he shall burn an everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
9You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition, nor an oblation, nor a victim; neither shall you offer libations.
10And Aaron shall pray over its horns once a year, with the blood of what was offered for sin. And he shall make atonement over it in your generations. It shall be the Holy of holies to the Lord.”
11And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
12“When you have taken the sum of the sons of Israel, according to their number, each shall give a price for their souls to the Lord, and there will be no scourge among them, when they will be reviewed.
13Then all those who pass shall give by name: one half shekel, according to the measure at the temple. A shekel has twenty obols. The half part of a shekel shall be offered to the Lord.
14He who has been numbered from twenty years and above shall give the price.
15The rich shall not add to the half shekel, and the poor shall diminish nothing.
16And the money received, which was collected from the sons of Israel, you shall deliver for the uses of the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he may act favorably toward their souls.”
17And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
18“You shall also make a bronze washtub with its base to wash in; and you shall place it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar. And when water has been added,
19Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it:
20when they enter the tabernacle of the testimony, and when they approach to the altar so as to offer incense to the Lord upon it,
21otherwise, they may die. This shall be an everlasting law to him, and to his offspring, throughout their successions.”
22And the Lord spoke to Moses,
23saying: “Take for yourself aromatics: of the first and best myrrh, five hundred shekels, and of cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred and fifty shekels; of sweet flag similarly two hundred and fifty,
24but of cassia, five hundred shekels by the weight of the sanctuary, and of the oil of olives the measure of a hin.
25And you shall make the holy oil of unction, an ointment composed with the skills of a perfumer,
26and with it you shall anoint the tabernacle of the testimony, and the ark of the testament,
27and the table with its vessels, and the lampstand and its utensils, the altars of incense
28and of holocaust, and all the items that pertain to their rituals.
29And you shall sanctify everything, and they shall be the Holy of holies. He who will touch them must be sanctified.
30You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall sanctify them, so that they may exercise the priesthood for me.
31Likewise, you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘This oil of unction will be holy to me throughout your generations.
32The flesh of man shall not be anointed from it, and you shall not make any similar compound, for it has been sanctified and it shall be holy to you.
33Whatever man will have composed such a thing and have given it to a stranger, he shall be exterminated from his people.’ ”
34And the Lord said to Moses: “Take to yourself aromatics: stacte, and onycha, galbanum of sweet odor, and the clearest frankincense, all these shall be of equal weight.
35And you shall make incense composed with the skills of a perfumer, diligently mixed, and pure, and most worthy of sanctification.
36And when you have crushed all these into a very fine powder, you shall place some of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I will appear to you. The Holy of holies shall this incense be to you.
37You shall not make such a compound for your own uses, because it is holy to the Lord.
38Whatever man will have made anything similar, so as to thoroughly enjoy its smell, he shall perish from his people.”
Verse 1
An altar to burn incense: This burning of incense was an emblem of prayer, ascending to God from an inflamed heart. See Ps. 140. 2; Apoc. 5. 8, and 8. 4.
Verse 6
The ark of the covenant, which was inside the veil, … very suitably symbolizes the nature of [Christ’s] humanity. The urn [containing] manna symbolizes the fullness of his divinity. The staff of Aaron symbolizes the indestructible power of his priesthood, [and] the tablets of the covenant symbolize that it is he who gave the law and will also give his blessing to those who fulfill the law.
Verse 7
In the third book there is also a discussion of how the high priest begot sons, since he had the obligation to enter the Holy of Holies twice a day where the altar of incense was, to offer incense morning and evening. Into [this], as the law states, he could not enter while unclean, and the law says that a man is even made unclean as a result of conjugal coition, and indeed it orders him to be washed with water, but it states also that he, although washed, “is unclean until evening.” Hence I said, “It follows logically that he either be continent or that, on some days, the offering of incense be interrupted.” I did not realize that this is not a logical consequence. For what is written, “he will be unclean until evening,” can be understood to mean that he was no longer unclean during the evening itself but up to the evening, so that, cleansed, he could offer incense during the evening even though, after morning offering of incense, he had had conjugal relations with his wife for the procreation of children.
Verse 10
Therefore, if I should consider how the true “high priest,” my Lord Jesus Christ, having indeed been placed in the flesh, was with the people all year, that year about which he himself says, “He sent me to proclaim good news to the poor and to announce the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of forgiveness,” I perceive how “once” in this “year” on the Day of Atonement he enters into “the Holy of Holies.” That is, when with his dispensation fulfilled “he penetrates the heavens” and goes to the Father to make atonement for the human race and prays for all those who believe in him. Knowing this atonement by which he propitiates the Father for humans, the apostle John says, “I say this, little children, that we may not sin. But if we should sin, we have an advocate before the Father, Jesus Christ the just; and he himself is the propitiation for our sins.” But Paul also in a similar way mentions this atonement when he says concerning Christ, “Whom God appointed as a propitiator by his blood through faith.” Therefore the Day of Atonement remains for us until the sun sets;11 that is, until the world comes to an end.
Verse 13
Half a sicle: A sicle or shekel of silver, (which was also called a stater,) according to the standard or weight of the sanctuary, which was the most just and exact, was half an ounce of silver, that is, about half a crown of English money. The obol, or gerah, was about three halfpence.
Verse 18
In the first instance, we can understand this basin (or flanged bowl, as it is called further on) to be the water of baptism, in which all those who enter the doors of the church must bathe in order to be cleansed. It was put between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar of the holocaust, and the priests were commanded to wash themselves in it twice a day (that is, morning and evening) when they were going to the altar of incense to offer to the Lord. We, however, are not supposed to be washed in the water of baptism more than once; consequently the basin commends to us that washing of compunction and of tears which is required of us at all times, and especially when we draw near to minister at the heavenly mysteries.
Verse 34
“You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition.” Later in this book the spices from which this incense was to be composed are specified by name: stacte, and onycha, galbanum of pleasing fragrance, and the purest frankincense. It is obvious that all of these signify the eternal goods which we ought to seek from the Lord before anything else. Consequently upon the altar of gold they were not supposed to offer incense of any composition other than that which the Lord had decreed, because when we pray we ought to seek from the Lord nothing other than that which he himself has commanded and has promised to give us. And we ought to believe nothing concerning him other than that which he himself has taught.