We have seen how all the ingredients of the incense include and signify both the Person and work of the Lord Jesus—His divinity mingled with humanity, and His all-inclusive death and resurrection. We have also seen that the incense is mainly of four ingredients, but that there is another fifth ingredient, salt, added in. So we may say that it is of four kinds of fragrant drugs, and we may also say that it is of five elements. We must realize that the number five signifies ability for responsibility. On our hand we have four fingers plus one thumb, which together take the responsibility for doing things. Thus, in the incense we have four kinds of fragrance plus one additional element, the salt. With the Person of the Lord Jesus there is everlasting ability to bear responsibility.
We have also noticed that no weight is mentioned regarding any of the ingredients. The Person and work of the Lord Jesus as a kind of incense is immeasurable, yet so balanced and equal in every direction. This is the incense we must put into all our prayers and praises and burn before God. The content of our praises must be Christ with all He has accomplished. For this we need daily practice—privately, publicly, individually, and corporately. We need practice to be delivered from praising in the old, traditional way and to learn to praise God with the incense. May I suggest that four or five brothers and sisters come together periodically just to learn how to praise with Christ as the incense. This means that our praises must have Christ as their content, that we must praise God with Christ, with all that He is and all He has accomplished.
In Psalm 84 we have a psalm full of praises for the dwelling place of God. In verse 1 we read, “How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts!” Why are the dwelling places of God so lovely? In verse 3 we have the answer. It is due to the two altars: “Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.” The dwelling places are lovable because of the two altars. In the tabernacle, the type of God’s house in the Old Testament, there were two altars, the outer altar and the inner altar. The outer altar was in the outer court; it was the altar for offering all kinds of sacrifices. The inner altar was in the Holy Place, just before the ark of the testimony with the separating veil between; it was the place for burning the incense. On one side of this altar was the table of showbread, while on the other side was the lampstand. The central position was occupied by this inner altar, the altar of incense.
By referring to a diagram of the tabernacle, you will see that the outer altar is positioned in the center of the outer court, in a direct line with the Holy Place. You will notice also that the inner altar is in the center of the Holy Place, in a direct line with the ark of testimony, the place where God meets with man. If you consider the diagram of the entire situation according to the arrangement of all these utensils, you will see the figure of a cross. From the outer altar you go in a direct line to the inner altar, and from the inner altar on to the ark of testimony—these three components of the tabernacle are in one direct line. On the two sides are the showbread table and the lampstand, both in one line, which forms with the other line a cross. The two altars are on the main line, firstly the offering altar and secondly the incense altar. The offering altar was wrought of brass, and the incense altar was overlaid with gold; so in the Bible they are sometimes called the brazen altar and the golden altar. These are the two altars in the dwelling place of God by which God’s house was made lovely. The Psalmist could say that even the sparrows and the swallows find a resting place at these altars, not only for themselves, but for their young. This is figurative language. We are the sparrows and the swallows, small and helpless. But in the house of God, at the altars of God, we find our home. There is no other place for us to take refuge. Only at the offering altar and at the incense altar can we find our shelter and rest, not only for ourselves, but also for our young. The dwelling place of God is lovely just because of these two altars.
Between these altars there is a close and real relationship. We may say that they are one thing with two ends: at one end in the outer court is the offering altar, and at the other end in the Holy Place is the incense altar. We should never separate these two altars. The first is for the second, and the second is based upon the first.