Jan 23

"…thou shalt overlay it with brass.” Exodus 27:2

Moses was obedient to do as God commanded him in the building of the tabernacle and all the items of its furniture, taking no shortcuts, nor re-interpreting the commands, for the sake of comfort or ease. The brazen altar was a place of sacrifice, a place where symbolically sin was judged. It is interesting that this altar which was constructed in wood should be overlaid with plates of brass. No doubt this made it resistant to the fire, which would otherwise destroy the timber, but it also has a greater and deeper purpose and meaning. Brass as a metal in scripture is often significant of hardship, judgement and punishment. Jesus fulfils all the typology of the tabernacle and sacrifices associated with it. In this piece of furniture, we see the hardship He suffered, in the punishment which He personally took on our behalf, because our sins were judged in Him. We see also the strength, lustre and resistance of the brass to the fire of sacrifice, representing the glory, majesty and overcoming of Christ at Calvary. God in great wisdom and in so many ways, communicated through types and shadows, His great and ultimate plan to bring redemption and salvation to fallen man. His plans and purposes were laid out from eternity, and established from everlasting, for He knows the end from the beginning. The smallest detail in what God does and commands us to do, may hold great implication and carry great weight. As Moses was obedient, we too should follow carefully the mandates and directions of God in our lives, much more than our immediate situation may be at stake!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion