What is the context?
The Lord gives the altar’s measurements using the same long cubit described earlier: a cubit plus a handbreadth. The structure rises through ledges to the hearth, with four horns projecting upward.
The hearth is twelve cubits square, and the larger ledge is fourteen cubits square. Rims and a gutter surround the structure, and its steps face east.
The altar stands within the holy area already measured. The next section explains how it is to be cleansed and set apart before regular offerings begin.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Wesley identifies this as the altar for burnt offerings and explains its raised stages. Cambridge also understands it as a structure rising in stages, while differing from the gutter reading in its explanation of the lowest part.
The BSB’s wording describes a gutter. The main arrangement is clear: a substantial altar with ledges, a square hearth, horns and an approach from the east.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.