Bible Strands
Exodus 40:26
Moses placed the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting, in front of the veil,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses arranges the tabernacle furnishings during the final consecration of the Tent of Meeting. He positions the altar specifically in the holy place, directly before the curtain that separates it from the Most Holy Place.
The words — The verb וַיָּשֶׂם (va-yasem) literally means "and he put" or "he placed." It takes מִזְבַּח הַזָּהָב (mizbach ha-zahav) as its object, translating directly to "the gold altar."
The thread — This spatial instruction fulfills the earlier command to set the gold altar before the ark of the Testimony behind the veil (Exodus 40:5). Its designated use for burning incense is established in Exodus 30:1 and later referenced in Matthew 23:19.
Why it lands — The text demands exact compliance with divine spatial and ritual instructions for worship. It requires the reader to recognize that proximity to God's presence is governed by consecrated arrangement rather than human 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
And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail:
Cross-references
- Exodus 40:5 Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the Testimony, and hang the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.
- Exodus 30:1 “You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense.
- Matthew 23:19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred?
- John 11:42 I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.”
- John 17:1 When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.
- Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
- Hebrews 10:1 For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.
- 1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.