Bible Strands
Exodus 27:8
Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to Moses during the wilderness tabernacle instructions, detailing the final construction specifications for the bronze altar. This command occurs immediately after instructions for the carrying poles and before the courtyard layout.
The words — The Hebrew term נְב֥וּב (nevuḇ) denotes a hollow or excavated interior, paired with לֻחֹ֖ת (lûḥōṯ) for the boards forming the altar's structure. The verb תַּעֲשֶ֣ה (taʿăśeh) commands the builder to execute this hollow construction precisely as shown.
The thread — This directive echoes the pattern command in Exodus 25:9 and Exodus 25:40, where God instructs Moses to build according to the mountain vision. Hebrews 8:5 later identifies this mountain pattern as a heavenly copy and shadow.
Why it lands — The text demands exact replication of a divine blueprint rather than human improvisation. It requires the builder to prioritize obedience to the revealed pattern over practical convenience or aesthetic preference.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.
Cross-references
- Exodus 25:40 See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
- Exodus 25:9 You must make the tabernacle and design all its furnishings according to the pattern I show you.
- Hebrews 8:5 The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
- Exodus 26:30 So you are to set up the tabernacle according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
- 1 Chronicles 28:11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, storehouses, upper rooms, inner rooms, and the room for the mercy seat.
- 1 Chronicles 28:19 “All this,” said David, “all the details of this plan, the LORD has made clear to me in writing by His hand upon me.”
- Matthew 15:9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”
- Colossians 2:20 If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations: