Hello and welcome back to Igniting the Gospel. In this episode we will take a look at the final piece of furniture in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle: the Altar of Incense (or Golden Altar).

Exodus 30:34-38

We talk about the Holy Place, the first apartment in the Sanctuary and the pieces of furniture within it: the golden lamp stands, the table of shewbread and finally the altar of incense.

Exodus 30:1-10

We discuss how the Altar of Incense is sacred and only the High Priest can light it. It burns continually before the Lord. The smoke of the incense wafted up and over the top of the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant (God’s throne on earth) was. This symbolizes our prayers coming before God.

Psalm 141
Revelation 5:8

We discuss the horns on the altar and their symbolism of intercession where the priest intercedes on behalf of the sinner before God. The blood is placed on all four horns by proxy of the blood of the sacrifice. The horns on the Altar were touched with blood of the sin offering, representing Christ’s sacrifice for us that makes it possible for our prayers to be heard by God.

Habbukuk 2
Zechariah 1:18-19
Luke 1:9-12

This Altar was a way for the priest to be directly in the presence of God - as we are when we offer our hearts in prayer. The altar represented a continual intercession before God - much like Jesus is interceding for us now before the Father. This is like the Daily service - much like our daily prayers and time with Jesus. This was the work of the High Priest to pray on behalf of the people.

As our High priest in heaven (Hebrews 8:5), Jesus hears our prayers and covers us with His righteousness to make them acceptable to God.

Isaiah 61:10

The incense is a picture of our prayers going up over the veil and God hearing them. In ancient Israel, the smoke of the incense carried outside the sanctuary to the camp - a call to all to repent and pray. The smoke goes up before the veil and over the top into the Most Holy Place before God. 

The blood on the horns gives us covering to enter into God’s presence with our prayers. 

Revelation 8:1-4

The two altars (alter of burnt offering and altar of incense)( are connected. The coals from the altar of burn offering were used to light the altar of incense. This is like the cross and the crown of Jesus. Jesus ascended into heaven and the sacrifice is only acceptable to God because of the blood of Jesus.

Hebrews 7:25
Revelation 8:5

This allows believers to enter boldly into the veil.

The Veil
The veil was a large heavy piece of material that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. It was made of linen, blue and red thread, just like the other curtains in the Sanctuary. 

Exodus 26:31-33

The cotton is from plants, the wool is from animals and the Gold and silver are from Earth. All of God’s kingdom represented.

The making of the veil was a year long endeavor: very detailed. The design had cherubim. The design was woven into the material.

This is similar to the heavenly throne of God which we see in Revelation 5 - the Throne Room of God. 

Hebrews 10:19-20

The veil is a picture of Jesus’s flesh. It was woven i

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Igniting the Gospel is hosted by Pastor Damon Snead and Danielle Clark and produced by Rex Morris as a ministry of the Conroe Seventh Day Adventist Church in Conroe, TX.

Check out our full Show Notes at:
Igniting The Gospel Podcast
www.conroesda.net/igniting-the-gospel-podcast

Have questions or comments? Contact us at biblequestions@conroesda.net