The position of the incense altar is different in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. This difference has rich spiritual meaning. Firstly, there is a close relationship between the incense altar in the Holy Place and the ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies. Postiionally, the incense altar is before the ark of the testimony (Exo. 30:6). Although the incense altar is physically in the Holy Place, its function is for the ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies. Therefore, 1 Kings 6:22 states that the incense altar belongs to the inner sanctuary although it is physically in the Holy Place.

Regarding the place where the incense altar stood, there is apparently a discrepancy between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Exodus 30:6 says that the incense altar was put before the veil, i.e., outside the veil. This indicates clearly that the incense altar was put in the Holy Place, which is outside the veil, not in the Holy of Holies, which is within the veil. But Hebrews 9:4 it says that the Holy of Holies has the incense altar. Therefore, most Christian teachers and Bible readers have thought that some error or misconstruction must somehow have occurred. But this is not so! The apparent discrepancy has great spiritual significance, as shown by the following points:

(1) The Old Testament record of the incense altar's location implies the closest relationship between the incense altar and the ark of the testimony, over which was the propitiatory cover, where God met with His people (Exo. 30:6). The record even says that the incense altar was set before the ark of the testimony, with no mention being made of the separating veil that stood between them (Exo. 40:5).

(2) First Kings 6:22 (ASV) says that the incense altar belonged to the oracle. The Hebrew word for oracle includes the meaning the speaking place of God. The oracle denotes the Holy of Holies, in which was the ark of the testimony with the propitiatory cover, where God spoke to His people. Thus, the Old Testament indicated beforehand that the incense altar belonged to the Holy of Holies. (Though the incense altar was in the Holy Place, its function was for the ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies. On the Day of Propitiation, both the incense altar and the propitiatory cover of the ark of the testimony were sprinkled with the same blood for propitiation -- Exo. 30:10; Lev. 16:15-16.) Hence, in Exodus 26:35 only the shewbread table and the lampstand are mentioned as being in the Holy Place; the incense altar is not mentioned.

(3) The incense altar is related to prayer (Luke 1:10-11), and in the book of Hebrews we are shown that to pray is to enter the Holy of Holies (10:19) and to come to the throne of grace, which is signified by the propitiatory cover over the ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies. Our prayer often begins with our mind, which is a part of our soul, signified by the Holy Place. But our prayer always ushers us into our spirit, signified by the Holy of

(4) On account of all the above points, the writer of Hebrews had to consider the incense altar as belonging to the Holy of Holies. Hebrews 9:4 does not say that a golden altar was in the Holy of Holies, as the lampstand and the table were in the Holy Place (v. 2). It says that the Holy of Holies had a golden altar, because the altar belonged to the Holy of Holies. This concept fits the entire emphasis of the book of Hebrews, i.e., that we should press on from the soul (signified by the Holy Place) to the spirit (signified by the Holy of Holies). The incense altar belongs to the oracle -- the speaking place of God, i.e., the Holy of Holies. The incense altar typifies Christ in His resurrection as the sweet and fragrant incense, in which God extends to us His well-pleased acceptance. We pray with such a

Christ in order to contact God that God may be pleased to speak to us. We speak to God in our prayer with Christ as the sweet incense, and God speaks to us in the sweet savor of this incense. This is the dialogue in the sweet fellowship between us and God through Christ as the sweet incense. [The New Testament Recovery Version, Hebrews 9:4 Footnote 1, Living Stream Ministry]

The incense altar is the center of God's administration. This means that for God to carry out His administration, His economy, on the earth, He needs men to pray at the incense altar. The incense altar is Christ in His resurrection as the sweet and fragrant incense, in which God extends to us His well-pleased acceptance. We pray with such a Christ in order to contact God that God may be pleased to speak to us. When we speak back to Him these same words, desires and intentions God is bound by His oath to us to answer such prayer. Wow! We have the ability in Christ at the "incense altar" of our prayer life to move God's hand, to carry out God's purpose on the earth and to fulfill God's hearts desire in the universe!

The prayer of the incense altar is too marvelous and too crucial for our daily Christian life and for our daily church life. Let's put the entire experience of the tabernacle together based on the incense altar. When we pray in Christ's resurrection (not our natural man or natural inclination or natural ability) we are moved! Nothing changes us more than prayer! Nothing moves God's hand without prayer! Nothing can effect our lives and God's economy more than proper prayer of the incense altar.

Firstly, when we touch the Christ of resurrection in our fellowship with him, in our prayer with Him, we are moved to repent! This is the experience of the Brass altar. Whenever we contact our God in prayer we immediately realize that we have need of a Savior who propitiated our sins before God as our Substitute. As we repent for shortcomings, failures, weaknesses, limitations, sins, sin, etc. we come to the Lord's Word for washing. This is the experience of the laver. The Lord will not leave us condemned at the altar because we fall short of the glory of God. On the contrary He will move us forward towards the Holy of Holies where He dwells to infuse and impart Himself into us. The laver washes away the old concepts, the spots, the wrinkles of our natural life. This is the baptism of the Spirit in our experience. The Word actually washes us (Eph. 5:25-26), baptizes us, into the Spirit so we are no longer in our flesh or our natural man, but in our spirit ready to serve the living God.

We are now ready to enter the Holy Place to begin our spiritual service to the Lord at the shewbread table and the golden lampstand. Based on our experience of the Brass altar and the laver, the separating veil between the outer court and the Holy Place is removed so that we may enter boldly into the Holy Place. To begin our service to the Lord we come to the bread of the Presence to eat! How marvelous! Service to God begins with eating Him as our spiritual food! At the shewbread table we enjoy Christ as our nourishing and strengthening life supply to serve Him. Without such a supply we can never meet God's demand.

Once we enjoy Christ as our bread of life, we experience the shining of the lampstand. This shining mainly infuses the resurrection life of Christ into us for our daily overcoming and daily expressing of Christ to those around us. We get enlightened both in the positive things and the negative things. The Lord shines His light to show us His direction, to grant us His vision, to unveil His intention. He also shines to expose more things in our natural life and flesh that get in the way of our serving Him. This requires us to repent once more and get washed and eat more Christ to get more light. As you can see this process is very alive and organic. It is not a system of theology but a living process in which we continually experience Christ as every aspect of the tabernacle.

Once we receive the positive shining and infusion of Christ's resurrection life in prayer, we are ushered in our spirit directly into the Holy of Holies where God Himself dwells! Now we touch the very testimony of God! No one can enter the Holy of Holies in a natural way or in a fleshly way. We enter boldly based on the blood of Christ and based on our being in spirit to worship Him (John 4:23-24). To touch the testimony of the Triune God is to touch the very center of the universe. To touch the testimony of the Triune God in the Holy of Holies is to touch the very meaning of our human existence. There are no longer any veils between us and God. There is the propitiatory blood of Christ between us and God in His righteous and holy Godhead, but otherwise we are directly in His presence face to face ready to enjoy the hidden manna, the budding rod and the ark of the testimony itself. These experiences cause us to be filled with God, even to be constituted God-men. This means that we are not only human but divine. We are not only divine but also human. We NEVER experience becoming the Godhead, however, we are sons of God in life, in nature, in function, in expression and in testimony.