Exodus 30:1-21 NKJV
30 “You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. 4 Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.
7 “Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. 8 And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it. 10 And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”
11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12 “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them. 13 This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half-shekel shall be an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord. 15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves. 16 And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.”
17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 18 “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it, 19 for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. 20 When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, lest they die. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die. And it shall be a statute forever to them—to him and his descendants throughout their generations.”
While reading the first ten verses of Exodus 30, one might wonder why God was so picky about how the incense was to be burned, the size and shape of the incense altar, the gold overlay (seems so lavish!), and the placement of it all. In fact, the entire set of instructions from God about His temple – what goes on there, who was and was not to offer incense, where the priests and the people could and could not go – all seems to be so much overkill…to some.
But God gives Moses these intricate instructions to show, at the very least, that He means business when it comes to how His people are to worship Him. It is to be orderly, reverent, respectful, and according to God’s institution and not man’s whim and will. The basic framework of Old Testament worship is still in place today in the Divine Service, for everything the Church does should most definitely reflect the holiness of God and especially what He gives and does in the Divine Service. While all these specific Old Testament instructions are not necessarily in play anymore, an overall awareness of the fact of Who it is we are worshiping, and that God Himself has given us the promise of eternal life through faith in His crucified and risen Son, must rein in any and all foolishness in church.
In verse 11 the word “ransom” takes us immediately to Christ who gave His life to as a ransom price to atone for all sin in order that, through faith in His work for us, we have forgiveness and the promise of eternal life.
The basin, or laver, mentioned in vv. 17ff teach us that the priests should wash and be clean as they approach the altar to conduct God’s Divine Service. In some churches today, the pastor will wash his hands before the liturgy of Holy Communion to reflect this Old Testament practice. It is more than “washing before you eat;” it exudes a reverent and respectful approach to the conduct of the liturgy.
Let us pray: Let the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before You, O Lord, and let Your lovingkindness descend on us that, with purified minds, we may sing Your praises with the Church on earth and the whole heavenly host and may glorify You forever. Amen.