Exodus 30:1-10

The Altar of incense: its construction and place (vv.1 6), and its use (vv.7 10).

1 6 (cf. Exodus 37:25-28; Exodus 40:26). The altar of incense was to be of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, a cubit (1½ ft.) broad and long, and 2 cubits (3 ft.) high; at its upper corners were to be four horns (cf. Exodus 27:2); a rim or moulding of gold was to run round it, probably near its top; and close under this moulding, on two of the opposite sides, there were to be two gold rings to receive the poles for carrying it. It was to stand in the Holy place, directly in front of the mercy-seat. A remarkable incense-altar, decorated with lions and composite animal figures, has been found at Taanach (see the writer's Schweich Lectures, p. 84 f., with an illustration); but it bears no resemblance to the altar here described.