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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain Exodus 30:5:
Exodus 30:1-8
Excerpted from: Approaching God Through Christ (Part 6)Once again, this is a very simple piece of furniture. There is nothing difficult about it at all. Like the table of showbread, this altar is made from acacia wood; a very durable wood to last a long time, especially covered with gold. It is very finely grained.
It is 18 inches on each side—square. And, it is only three feet high—two cubits. So, it is not a very large thing at all. It is almost end-table sized. Like the brazen altar outside, this also has four horns on the corners, meaning that these are four curved pieces of ornament, covered with gold.
Around the top edge was some sort of an ornamental molding, maybe appearing as a crown, acting as a border around the top probably both decoration, and a lip so that anything would be placed on it would not necessarily fall off.
Now, the only thing that may be controversial about this is that the text can read that it had two rings for the carrying poles. Of course, the carrying poles are acacia wood overlaid with gold. And these rings would have to be situated on opposite corners. This is one way that it could be read. Now this would mean that if there were only two rings, it would have to be carried diagonally, and most likely placed in the tabernacle diagonally too. This means that it would show a corner to the veil, and not an edge.
The usual rendering of it is two rings on both sides with the altar being carried and placed square. I do not know if this matters a whole lot, whether you approached on the point, or on the end. It does not matter, I suppose, but it is interesting.
What we find in Exodus 30 is that this altar of incense stood centered directly in front of the veil to the Holy of Holies. Remember, I described the veil before, showing that it was made of blue, and these various other colors—purple, scarlet, and white. And, it was made—woven—to have cherubim facing each other in the veil. And then, the altar of incense was right below, and in front of them, centered.
Now this gave an image of what was behind it, except for the fact that the veil itself did not show the Ark of the Covenant, with the mercy seat on top of that. The veil just showed only the cherubim, which represented the fact that they were covering God's throne. In the imagery, the incense being burned on the altar of incense wafted up into the blue heavenly-like image where the cherubim were, representing God's throne. So, you would be able to see this in type.
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