The Brass altar is the first and largest piece of furniture of the tabernacle. This is most meaningful. God dwells in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle, yet He does not allow man to come directly to Him without first going through the process of all the items of furniture in the tabernacle. For men to approach God they must begin at the Brass altar which signifies the cross of Christ. The Brass altar is the largest piece of furniture of the tabernacle. In fact, all the other pieces combined (laver, shewbread table, lampstand, incense altar, ark of the testimony) can all fit inside the Brass altar! This signifies that all the experiences of Christ, all the spiritual experiences related to the tabernacle, are contained in the cross of Christ. Apart from the cross, we cannot have any experience of the Spirit. Apart from the cross of Christ we cannot experience the spiritual significance of the laver, the shewbread, the lampstand, the incense altar or the ark of the testimony. Apart from the cross of Christ we cannot enjoy Christ, magnify Christ, serve Christ, live Christ or be conformed to Christ's image. The cross of Christ is the base, the ground, the initial factor, of all spiritual experience.

The Lord Jesus came from heaven to dwell on the earth for thirty-three and a half years. Although He was physically living and walking on the earth, spiritually He existed in the Holy of Holies with God the Father and God the Spirit as the Triune God. His brief visit to earth was for the purpose of bringing man, who is outside of God's presence, into the very presence of the Triune God. To accomplish this, Christ had to die on the cross, which is typified by the Brass altar in the outer court. He went to the cross, to the altar, with the intention that we, fallen sinners, might be brought back to God Himself in the place where He dwells, the Holy of Holies. Hallelujah!

As we can see, the Brass altar where the offerings and sacrifices were offered up to God, typifies the cross of Christ. The altar among the Israelites in ancient times was a type of the cross of Christ as the real altar. Today we have this Brass altar in reality. This altar is realized in the Lord's Table by the bread and the wine. On this table we can see the shed blood and the slain body represented by the cup and the loaf. Concerning the Lord's table, the Lord Jesus Himself said that we should take and eat of His body and drink of His blood. In other words, we should remember the Lord and declare His death by eating the bread and drinking the cup together with other members of the Body of Christ. The reality of the Brass altar is the cross of Christ and the reality of the cross is our participation in the Lord's table for our enjoyment to remember Him.

26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is My body. 27 And He took a cup and gave thanks, and He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, 28 For this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:26-28

19 And He took a loaf and gave thanks, and He broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. 20 And similarly the cup after they had dined, saying, This cup is the new covenant established in My blood, which is being poured out for you. Luke 22:19-20

The Lord and the disciples first ate the Passover (Matt. 26:20-25; Luke 22:14-18). Then the Lord established His table with the bread and the cup (Matt. 26:26-28; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) to replace the Feast of the Passover because He was going to fulfill the type and be the real Passover to us (1 Cor. 5:7) by dying on the cross. Now we are keeping the real Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matt. 26:17; 1 Cor. 5:8). [The New Testament Recovery Version, Matthew 26:26 Footnote 1, Living Stream Ministry]

The bread of the Lord's table is a symbol signifying the Lord's body, which was broken for us on the cross to release His life that we may participate in it. By participating in this life we become the mystical Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27), which also is signified by the bread of the table (1 Cor. 10:17). Hence, by partaking of this bread we have the fellowship of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16). [The New Testament Recovery Version, Matthew 26:26 Footnote 2, Living Stream Ministry]

The Lord's blood redeemed us from our fallen condition back to God and back to God's full blessing. Concerning the Lord's table (1 Cor. 10:21), the bread signifies our participation in life, and the cup, our enjoyment of God's blessing. Hence, the cup is called

the cup of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16). In it are all the blessings of God and even God Himself as our portion (Psa. 16:5). In Adam our portion was the cup of God's wrath (Rev. 14:10). Christ drank that cup for us (John 18:11), and His blood constitutes the cup of salvation for us (Psa. 116:13), the cup that runs over (Psa. 23:5). By partaking of this cup we have the fellowship of the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16) which was shed on the cross. [The New Testament Recovery Version, Matthew 26:27 Footnote 1, Living Stream Ministry]

The product of the vine (Matt. 26:29) within the cup of the Lord's table also is a symbol, signifying the Lord's blood shed on the cross for our sins. His blood was required by God's righteousness for the forgiveness of our sins (Heb. 9:22). [The New Testament Recovery Version, Matthew 26:28 Footnote 1, Living Stream Ministry]

The altar was made of acacia wood (Exo. 27:1a). Acacia, a tree, grows in the deserts of Sinai and et-Tih, and around the Dead Sea. The wood is hard, very heavy, and indestructible to insects. It is remarkably luxuriant in dry places. [The New Unger's Bible Dictionary, p. 1326]

Acacia wood signifies the regenerated and uplifted humanity of the new creation in Christ as the basic material, strong for standing. Through regeneration we have become acacia wood, possessing the uplifted humanity of Christ. The altar being made of acacia signifies the humanity of Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5) being judged as our substitute by God. (Brass always signifies judgment in the Bible.)

The dimensions of the Brass altar formed a perfect square. To be square means to be upright, perfect, without any deficiency. The Lord Jesus in His humanity was "square;" He was upright, perfect and without deficiency. Not only that, He could pass any test to prove He was qualified to be our Redeemer, and that He was equipped to be our perfect Substitute.

As we mentioned before, brass in the Bible always signifies God's judgment. In Numbers 16 the brass used to overlay the altar came from the censers of the 250 rebellious ones who were judged by God with fire. After God judged them, He charged Moses to take the brass censers and use them to overlay the altar. Thus, the brass overlaying the altar indicates judgment. When Christ was on the cross, He was a man, signified by the acacia wood. But He was overlaid with brass, with God's judgment. Thus, as the man who died on the cross, Christ was fully judged by God as our Substitute.

Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

The Brass Altar in the outer court of the tabernacle is the place of God's judgment. In the New Testament reality, the Brass Altar represents the cross of Christ where He paid the price for our redemption by taking our deserved judgment from God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

The horns on the brass altar signify strength. All four corners of the altar had horns signifying the four ends, or corners, of the earth. Revelation 6:9 says, "And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had. In Revelation, the altar was equivalent to the earth. In figure, the altar is in the outer court of the tabernacle and the temple, and the outer court signifies the earth. Putting the thought together shows us that the redemptive work of Christ is so effective that it can spread throughout the entire earth. It has the strength, the power, to reach the four corners of the earth.

There are five major sacrifices offered at the Brass Altar: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering and the trespass offering. These offerings are described in detail in the book of Leviticus chapters 1-9. All of these offerings have tremendous practical application to our daily lives in Christ. We no longer have the physical sacrifices and a physical altar because Christ came as the reality of the altar and the reality of all the Old Testament sacrifices. Today, in the Spirit, Christ is the reality of the burnt offering, Christ is the reality of the meal offering, Christ is the reality of the peace offering, Christ is the reality of the sin offering, and Christ is the reality of the trespass offering. We will discuss these offerings in detail at a later time.