Scripture Reading: Exo. 27:1-8; Heb. 9:14; 13:10
Ⅰ
The two altars—the altar of burnt offering and the golden incense altar—are for the carrying out of God's economy—Exo. 27:1-8; 30:1-10; Heb. 13:10; 9:4; Rev. 8:3:
A
God's work is to complete His economy, and in His economy God desires to have an enlarged, universal, divine-human incorporation—John 14:20:
１
God has come out of the tabernacle in order to bring us into the tabernacle, to bring us to the very place where He dwells.
２
The Lord Jesus went to the cross with the intention that we, fallen sinners, might be brought back to Himself in the place where He dwells—vv. 3, 10-11, 20; 17:21, 24.
B
The two altars are related to God's complete salvation—Rom. 5:10:
１
The altar of burnt offering is related to God's judicial redemption accomplished in the physical realm by Christ in His earthly ministry—v. 10a; 8:3; Heb. 9:14; 7:27; 10:10.
２
The golden altar of incense is related to God's organic salvation carried out in the divine and mystical realm by Christ in His heavenly ministry—Rom. 5:10b; 8:34; Heb. 7:25; 9:24.
C
We need to see that the two altars (Exo. 40:5-6) are connected by the anointing (30:26-28), by the blood of the sin offering (Lev. 16:18; 4:7), and by the fire that burned the offerings (6:13; 16:12).
Ⅱ
The altar of burnt offering typifies the cross of Christ—Exo. 27:1; 38:1; 40:6, 29; Heb. 13:10:
A
The cross is the base, the ground, of all spiritual experience; all spiritual experience begins from the cross—Gal. 6:14; 1 Cor. 2:2; Gal. 2:20.
B
The cross is the center of God's operation in His economy—3:1; 1:4; 2:19-21; 3:13; 5:24; 6:14:
１
In His economy God gives us one person—Christ—and one way—the cross—Col. 1:12, 20, 27.
２
The cross is the center of God's government; God governs everything by the cross and deals with everything by the cross.
Ⅲ
The altar of burnt offering was made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze—Exo. 27:1-2:
A
The basic substance of the altar of burnt offering was acacia wood:
１
The acacia wood signifies the humanity of the Lord Jesus, who was judged by God on the cross as our Substitute—1 Tim. 2:5.
２
The cross is not merely a thing; the cross is related to a person, and this person is Christ.
３
The saving element is not in the cross as a thing but in a person, in the One who was crucified for us—Gal. 2:20.
４
The effectiveness of the cross is not in the cross itself; it is in that humanity, which is related to the cross and which was crucified on it.
B
The bronze signifies God's righteous judgment on Christ as our Substitute—Exo. 27:2; Num. 16:37-39; Rom. 8:3.
C
The acacia wood overlaid with bronze signifies that Christ became a man to die on the cross to bear the judgment of God for us—1 Pet. 3:18.
Ⅳ
The grating is the most important part of the altar, for it depicts the mystery of Christ's redemption—Exo. 27:4; Rom. 3:24; Col. 1:14:
A
The grating signifies Christ the Redeemer in His redemptive work—Exo. 27:4; Eph. 1:7.
B
The bronze grating, with its rings and poles, is the content of the altar, signifying the inner content of Christ's redemption—Exo. 27:4.
C
The bronze grating within the altar signifies that God's judgment reached the inward parts of Christ—Psa. 22:14.
D
That the grating was within the altar signifies that God's judgment (bronze) upon Christ as our Substitute was not merely outward but reached the inward parts of Christ—v. 14:
１
The holy fire of God's judgment was not only outside of Christ but also burned within Him.
２
When Christ bore God's judgment, that judgment reached His heart, His inward parts; His heart melted in His inward parts—v. 14.
３
God's judgment upon Christ was experienced more inwardly than it was outwardly:
ａ
Actually, Christ suffered more inwardly than He did outwardly.
ｂ
The grating—the place where the holy fire of God's judgment burned—was in the Lord Jesus, in His inward parts.
ｃ
The significance of the grating being within the altar is that Christ bore God's judgment with His heart and not only on His body.
E
Redemption is not merely a matter—it is a person, Christ Himself; therefore, Christ and His redemption cannot be separated—Heb. 9:12.
Ⅴ
The four rings of bronze at the four ends of the grating typify the eternal Spirit—Exo. 27:4; Heb. 9:14:
A
The all-inclusive Christ died an all-inclusive death through the eternal Spirit; thus, the efficacy of Christ's redemption depends upon the eternal Spirit:
１
Christ's blood is effective because He offered Himself to God through the eternal Spirit—1 John 1:7.
２
Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice, but the efficacy and power of Christ's redemption depend on the eternal Spirit; it is crucial that we see this—Heb. 9:14.
B
The rings forming one piece with the grating indicates that the redeeming Christ issues in the Spirit—John 7:39; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Gal. 3:1-2.
Ⅵ
The poles upon the two sides of the altar signify the move of the cross by the coordination of the believers as a testimony—Exo. 27:6-7:
A
Those who preach the cross, proclaiming Christ crucified, must do so in coordination as a testimony—1 Cor. 1:23.
B
If we are living persons preaching the cross by bearing a testimony in coordination, we will be qualified to carry the altar in its journey on earth.
Ⅶ
With the altar of burnt offering, we have a picture of the entire New Testament—the redeeming Christ, the Spirit,and the church—Rom. 8:3, 9-11; 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 15:3-4, 45b;12:12-13; Gal. 1:4; 3:1-2, 13-14; 6:10, 15:
A
In the Gospels we see Christ as the redemptive grating and the rings in the process of being formed—John 1:29; 3:14; 12:24; 19:34; 7:37-39; 14:16-18.
B
In the book of Acts we have the Spirit as the four rings—1:8.
C
In the Epistles we have the definition of the four rings—Heb. 9:14; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17; Gal. 3:1-2, 14; Rev. 5:6.
D
The Body of Christ carries the redeeming Christ throughout the earth by the all-inclusive Spirit—1 Cor. 12:12-13; Rev. 1:12-13a; 2:1, 7a.
E
The Body of Christ bears the testimony of Jesus throughout the earth by the all-inclusive Spirit; this is the revelation of the New Testament—2 Cor. 4:5, 7.