According to verse 1, the altar was five cubits long and five cubits wide. Five times five signifies Christ bearing full responsibility on the cross to fulfill all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. Five is the number of responsibility, and five times five indicates full responsibility, responsibility upon responsibility. The Lord Jesus bore such a responsibility on the cross in fulfilling God’s threefold demands.
Verse 1 also indicates that the height of the altar was three cubits. Why was the altar three cubits high? Why was the height less than the length and the width? This is not easy to understand. The fact that the height is less than the length and width indicates that the Lord’s redemption is spreading in a wide way. Furthermore, the altar is all-inclusive. If it were too narrow, it could not include so much. Also, if it were too high, we could not reach it.
The number three refers either to the Triune God or to resurrection. I do not believe that the thought of resurrection is appropriate here. Thus, the number three here should refer to the Triune God.
The redemption accomplished on the cross was not only by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; it was accomplished by the Triune God. Hebrews 9:14 says that the Lord Jesus offered Himself to God through the eternal Spirit. According to Colossians 2, God the Father was busy when Christ was crucified on the cross. While God the Son was dying an all-inclusive death, God the Father was very active. As we pointed out already, the evil spirits were also busy. Hebrews 9:14 shows that the Triune God was involved in the accomplishing of redemption: It tells us that Christ offered Himself to God through the Spirit. This is the Triune God signified by the three cubits as the height of the altar. Thus, the Triune God is the standard of redemption. Redemption was accomplished by the Triune God according to the standard of the Triune God.
The three parables in Luke 15 also show that the Triune God is involved in man’s redemption. The Son, signified by the shepherd, seeks out the lost sheep; the Spirit, signified by the woman lighting a lamp, searches for the lost coin; and the Father, signified by the father of the prodigal son, receives the returned prodigal, covers him with the best robe, and feeds him with the fatted calf. Here we see that the Triune God is involved in receiving back a repentant sinner. This is the significance of the height of the altar being three cubits.
From our experience we know that the Triune God was involved in our redemption. When as sinners we heard the gospel, the Spirit was working within us. When we repented, we began to appreciate the Lord Jesus. At the same time, the Father also was working. Thus, the Spirit, the Son, and the Father all worked together to redeem us, bring us back, and accept us. This is the meaning of the height of Christ’s redemption. The three cubits as the height of the altar signifies that it is built by the Triune God and according to the Triune God. I believe that this is the true significance of the height of the altar. The redemption accomplished on the cross was by the Triune God, by the Son, the Spirit, and the Father.
Verse 2 says, “And you shall make its horns upon its four corners.” The horns upon the four corners of the altar signify the power of the cross of Christ (see Psalm 92:10a) to reach the four corners of the earth. The horns at the corners were sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifices (Lev. 4:25, 34). I believe this was the reason someone could take hold of the horns of the altar and be forgiven. An example of this is found in 1 Kings 1:50. In contrast, another verse, Exodus 21:14, says that even if a certain kind of sinful person does lay hold of the horns on the altar, he will not receive forgiveness.
The horns signify strength, and in typology the four corners signify the four ends, or corners, of the earth. This means that the redemptive work of Christ is so effective that it can spread throughout the earth. It has the strength, the power, to reach the four corners of the earth. In history, especially today, it has been seen that the efficacy of Christ’s redemption has reached the uttermost part of the world. This indicates the power of the redemption of Christ. Therefore, the horns on the four corners of the altar signify the power and strength of Christ’s redemption.
Verse 2 says that “its horns shall be from it.” This indicates that the horns were one with the altar. The horns were not made separately and attached to the altar. Instead, they were made of one piece with the altar. This indicates that the power and strength of Christ’s redemption cannot be separated from Christ’s cross. Without the altar there would be no horns, no power or strength. Do not think that you can have any strength or power in the spiritual realm apart from the cross of Christ. This power can never be separated from the cross. The horns must be one with the altar.
Verse 2 says concerning the altar, “And you shall overlay it with bronze.” This signifies God’s righteous judgment on Christ as our Substitute (Num. 16:37-38). In Numbers 16 we see that the bronze used to overlay the altar came from the censers of two hundred fifty rebellious ones who were judged by God with fire. After God judged them, He charged Moses to take the bronze censers and use them to overlay the altar. Thus, the bronze overlaying the altar indicates judgment. In typology, copper, bronze, and brass all signify God’s judgment.
When Christ was on the cross, He was a man, signified by the acacia wood. But He was overlaid with bronze, with God’s judgment. Unlike the ark, which was overlaid with gold signifying God’s nature, the altar was overlaid with bronze, signifying God’s righteous judgment. Thus, as the Man who died on the cross, Christ was fully judged by God as our Substitute. He bore for us the judgment which we should have borne. He was fully covered, overlaid, by God’s judgment. On the cross He was the Man judged by God.
Verse 3 says, “And you shall make its pots to remove its ashes, its shovels, and its sprinkling bowls, and its flesh-forks, and its fire pans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.” The pots for receiving ashes, the shovels for removing ashes, the sprinkling bowls for receiving blood (Zech. 9:15), the flesh-forks for turning meat, and the fire pans for containing charcoal were all made of bronze, the same material as that used to overlay the altar. The fact that all the utensils were made of bronze signifies that all things related to the cross are for God’s judgment.