Altar of Incense

The Altar of Incense was a small, portable altar at the heart of the Tabernacle’s sacred interior: made of acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold, and placed before the veil near the Ark of the Covenant. Its scheduled incense offerings joined the daily rhythm of worship, and its annual atonement rite established its status as most holy.

Construction and Design

The prescribed altar was square, one cubit long and one cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns were made as one piece with it, and a gold crown ran around its upper edge. Two gold rings beneath the crown held carrying poles made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold, making the altar portable along with the other furnishings of the Tabernacle.

The completed altar followed this design: its acacia-wood frame was covered in pure gold, including its top, sides, and horns, and it had the surrounding gold crown, carrying rings, and gold-covered poles. The same account records the preparation of holy anointing oil and pure incense made from sweet spices.

Placement and Ritual Use

The altar stood before the veil beside the Ark of the Covenant, at the place associated with God’s meeting with Moses. Aaron was to burn sweet incense there every morning while tending the lamps, and again at dusk when he lit them. The incense was to continue through the generations, making the altar part of the sanctuary’s recurring daily service.

The altar had a restricted function: no other incense, burnt offering, meal offering, or drink offering was to be placed upon it. Once a year Aaron was to make atonement on its horns with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The instruction concludes that the altar was most holy to the LORD.

Installation and Significance

When Moses erected the Tabernacle on the first day of the first month in the second year, he set the golden altar inside the tent of meeting before the veil and burned sweet spices upon it, carrying out the commanded arrangement. It stood apart from the Altar of Burnt Offering at the Tabernacle entrance, distinguishing the incense service within the sanctuary from the offerings made outside it.

The altar’s placement, repeated morning-and-evening service, and annual atonement rite made it a carefully ordered point of contact within the sanctuary. Its materials and portability belonged to the Tabernacle’s movable furnishings, while its restricted use and designation as most holy set it apart for a particular form of worship.