Object
The Brazen Altar
The first thing you meet inside the gate
The shadow (Old Testament)
Just inside the courtyard of the tabernacle stood the brazen (bronze) altar, where every burnt offering and every sin offering was killed and consumed by fire (Exodus 27:1-8). Before anyone — priest or worshiper — could take a single step further toward God, they had to pass the altar. The way in ran through sacrifice.
- Exodus 27:1-8— The brazen altar
The substance (Christ)
It's still true. There is no approach to God except through the cross. "We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat" (Hebrews 13:10). Christ crucified is the only altar where guilty sinners are actually accepted.
Apostolic commentary
Hebrews 13:10-15 — the believer's altar is outside the camp, with Christ.
- Hebrews 13:10-15— We have an altar
Take it in
You cannot skip the altar to reach the sanctuary. Begin every day at the cross.