It is written:
“Put the altar just outside the special curtain that hangs in front of the Box of the Agreement. So the altar will be in front of the mercy-cover that is above the Agreement. This is the place where I will meet with you. 7 “Aaron must burn sweet-smelling incense on the altar every morning. He will do this when he comes to care for the lamps. 8 He must burn incense again when he checks the lamps in the evening so that incense will be burned before the LORD every day forever.” (Exodus 30:6-8)
The final piece of furniture in the Holy Place was the altar of incense. Several passages of Scripture teach that this was prophetic and symbolic of very important truths.
First, the altar was symbolic of prayers which ascended before the Lord.
Psalm 141:1-2-A praise song of David. LORD, I call to you for help. Listen to me as I pray. Please hurry and help me! 2 Accept my prayer like a gift of burning incense, the words I lift up like an evening sacrifice.
The saints of God in Paradise are pictured as being in a posture of prayer, interceding before the Lord along with God’s people still on the Earth.
Revelation 5:8-After the Lamb took the scroll, the four living beings and the 24 elders bowed down before the Lamb. Each one of them had a harp. Also, they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s holy people.
Revelation 8:3-4-Another angel came and stood at the altar. This angel had a golden holder for incense. The angel was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all God’s holy people. The angel put this offering on the golden altar before the throne. 4 The smoke from the incense went up from the angel’s hand to God. The smoke went up with the prayers of God’s people.
Writing of the Messianic prophecy inherent in the Altar of Incense, one author has noted:
““The incense was made from three specific sweet perfumes (Ex. 30:34) mixed with frankincense: Stacte, which was either a sweet gum that exuded ed from the storax tree (similar to a poplar tree) growing in Israel or a few drops of myrrh; onycha (Heb., shell), which comes from the shell of a mollusk and, when burned, gives off a perfumed fragrance; and galbanum, banum, a gum resin that emits a milky sap with a balsamic odor and comes from the Syrian fennel. “Frankincense is a fragrant white gum that comes from a tree called the salai found in Arabia. The spices were weighed out equally (Ex. 30:34), mixed into one substance by the perfumers fumers (Ex. 30:35), and beaten to emit their fragrances (Ex. 30:36). The sweet smelling incense was a beautiful picture of Christ in all His perfection and grace before God and mankind. His life emitted a fragrant perfection of purity and holiness unmarred by sin or fleshly motives.” (David Lee, The Tabernacle: Shadows Of The Messiah-It’s Sacrifices, Services, And Priesthood, 466-472 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications)
Everything in Scripture points to Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Are you His follower?
If not, please become one today (Matthew 28:18-20).
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