The Law · Chapter 30 of 40

Exodus 30

God adds further instructions: a golden altar of incense before the veil, where Aaron burns sweet incense morning and evening. Each Israelite counted must pay a half-shekel ransom for his soul. A brass laver is set for the priests to wash before serving, that they not die. A holy anointing oil of costly spices consecrates the tabernacle and priests, and a sacred incense is compounded, both reserved for God alone and never imitated.

What happens in Exodus 30

Four items complete the tabernacle furnishings. First, a small golden altar of incense stands before the veil near the ark, where Aaron burns sweet incense every morning and evening, a perpetual incense before the LORD, with atonement on its horns once a year. Second, when Israel is numbered, each man over twenty gives a half-shekel ransom for his soul, rich and poor alike, to prevent a plague and fund the sanctuary's service as a memorial and atonement.

Third, a brass laver with water is placed between the tent and the altar so Aaron and his sons wash hands and feet before ministering, that they not die. Fourth, Moses compounds a holy anointing oil from myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia, and olive oil to anoint the tent, furniture, and priests, and a sacred incense from sweet spices and frankincense. Both are holy to the LORD; anyone who copies them for common use is cut off from the people.

Exodus 30 in context

This chapter gathers items not covered in the ordered tour of chapters 25 to 27, adding the incense altar, the ransom census tax, the laver, and the holy oil and incense. Together they deepen the picture of approaching God: prayer rising as incense, a price paid for each soul, cleansing before service, and everything set apart as holy.

The repeated warnings, that they not die and be cut off, underscore that nearness to the holy God is a gift not to be handled carelessly.

Main themes of Exodus 30

Exodus 30 (KJV)

1And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. 2A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. 3And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. 4And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. 5And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 6And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. 7And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. 8And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. 9Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. 10And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD. 11And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. 14Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. 15The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. 16And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. 17And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 18Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 19For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD: 21So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations. 22Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, 24And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 25And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. 26And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 27And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 28And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. 29And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 30And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 31And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. 32Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 33Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people. 34And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: 35And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: 36And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. 37And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. 38Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

Verses to carry from Exodus 30

“And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.”Exodus 30:7

“When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.”Exodus 30:12

“For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:”Exodus 30:19

Reflection

Your prayers are not lost in the air. Like incense they rise before God, made acceptable through Christ your intercessor. And you were ransomed at the same infinite price as every other soul, so you can neither boast nor despair. Come washed and welcomed, and let your prayers ascend as a sweet fragrance today.

A prayer from Exodus 30