We have the last significant piece of furniture to consider in the Holy Place – The Altar of Incense. Moses first hears of it in Exodus 30:1-6.

“You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood. A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.

The Altar of Incense has various names in scripture. 

The Altar of Incense—Exodus 30:27 and 31:8

The Golden Altar—Exodus 39:38 and 40:26

The Altar of Gold—Exodus 40:5 

The Incense Altar—Exodus 35:15 and 37:25

The Whole Altar that is by the Oracle—1 Kings 6:22

The Altar before the LORD—Leviticus 16:12, 18

And others.

The altar stood before the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The smoke rising from the burning incense represented the prayers and intercession of the people. 

David wrote in Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

God instructed them to make the Altar of Incense of incorruptible acacia or shittim wood. They covered the wood with gold. The wood represented the Messiah’s incorruptible humanity and the gold of His deity. He was God and man. 

John 1:1-3, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made… 

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 

Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

The Lampstand and the Table of Shewbread illustrated God’s provision for His people. In contrast, the Altar of Incense represented the people’s offering to the LORD. It was here that prayers and praise were lifted to Yahweh. 

The golden crown around the top of the altar points to Yeshua’s place as King. 

Daniel 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. 14 And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Revelation 19:16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

The Altar of Incense was the tallest piece of furniture in the Tabernacle. The ministry of intercession is the most important ministry Christ does for the Church. 

Hebrews 7:25 He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

It is also a picture of Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Like the Brazen Altar, the Altar of Incense was foursquare—one cubit wide or eighteen inches on each side. Eighteen in Hebrew refers to Life. Yeshua is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Plus, the four sides show that this was a place of intercession for every believer, worldwide. Four in Hebrew is the number of the earth. 

Another place where we see the number four on the altar is the placement of four horns. There is one on each corner of the top. Horns in the Bible represent power. One place we see this application is in Daniel where he had a dream about four beasts. The last beast had ten horns and a little horn rose out of the ten. Daniel asks about that little horn in Daniel 7:8 and an angel answers him in Daniel 7:23-24. Let’s take a look.

Vs. 8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.

Vs. 23-24 Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.

Kings represent power and authority. 

In Matthew 28:18, we find, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

The last description of the altar is about the four gold rings attached under the four corners of the top. These rings were all gold, and they held the four carrying staves. The staves were also made of acacia or shittim wood and covered with gold. They represented Yeshua and Holy Spirit. Both of them minister in the ministry of intercession. 

The Altar of Incense stood before the Ark of the Covenant or throne of God, with only the veil separating them. It was at the center or heart of the Tabernacle. When we pray, we are closer to God than at any other time. It is a time of intimate communication with Him, whether we are interceding or praying for our needs. 

James 4:8 says, Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

Next time, we will see how God instructed Moses to use the Altar of Incense. And we will take a closer look at the kind of incense God chose. 

Shalom ♥