The tabernacle and Christ

The Altar of Incense

In the tabernacle of Moses · Exodus 25 to 40 · Prayer

The golden altar of incense stood before the veil, and on it sweet incense was burned every morning and evening, its fragrant smoke rising continually toward the presence of God. Scripture itself likens incense to the prayers of the saints, and points to Christ who ever lives to make intercession for us, so that the rising smoke is a picture of prayer offered and prayer heard.

And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.Exodus 30:1 (KJV)

What the altar was

And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. Small and square, overlaid with pure gold, with a horn at each corner and a golden crown around its top, it stood in the holy place directly before the veil, as near to the most holy place as the daily service could come. It was not for sacrifice of animals but only for incense, a special blend of sweet spices that God reserved for this use alone.

And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. So twice a day, as the priest tended the lampstand, he laid fresh incense on the coals, and a fragrant cloud rose and filled the holy place and drifted toward the veil and the glory beyond it. The fire that kindled it was taken from the altar of sacrifice in the court, so that the incense burned by the strength of the altar's fire.

What it meant for Israel

The rising incense was understood as prayer. Long before the New Testament, David sang, Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. The sweet, ascending smoke was the visible form of Israel's worship going up to God, morning and evening, without ceasing. That its fire came from the altar of atonement quietly taught that acceptable prayer rests on sacrifice; the incense could not be kindled by common fire.

The altar's place, before the veil, was significant too. It stood at the very border of the most holy place, so that the prayers of the people rose closest to where the glory dwelt. Prayer was Israel's nearest approach to God in the daily service, the fragrance that reached furthest in.

How it points to Christ

The connection between incense and prayer is one Scripture makes explicitly. In the Revelation, John sees another angel come and stand at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God. Earlier he sees golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. Incense means prayer; the Bible says so.

And the incense points to Christ in his work of intercession, which the New Testament states plainly: he ever liveth to make intercession for the saints, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. As the incense rose by the fire taken from the altar of sacrifice, so our prayers ascend and are accepted on the ground of Christ's finished sacrifice, offered in his name. He is both the altar from which our prayer rises and the priest who makes it acceptable.

So the small golden altar before the veil gathers up the whole life of prayer. It tells us that God means to be spoken to, that he receives the prayers of his people as a sweet fragrance, and that every true prayer goes up kindled by the sacrifice and carried by the intercession of Jesus. Morning and evening the fragrance rose in the tent; morning and evening, and always, the prayers of the saints rise still, and are heard for Christ's sake.

Prayer that rests on the altar

The most searching detail of the incense altar is where its fire came from. The coals that kindled the sweet incense were taken from the bronze altar of sacrifice in the court; the incense could not be lit with common fire. Once, when two of Aaron's sons offered incense with strange fire that God had not commanded, they were struck down. The lesson stands to this day: acceptable prayer is not self-made. It rises by the fire of the altar, which is to say, on the ground of the sacrifice, in the name and merit of Christ.

This is a great comfort to anyone who has ever felt their prayers were too poor to be heard. Our prayers do not ascend because they are eloquent or worthy; they ascend because they are kindled by the finished work of Jesus and carried up by his intercession. He ever liveth to make intercession for us, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. The weakest prayer offered in his name reaches the throne, for it goes up in his fragrance and not our own.

The altar of incense also stood nearer the most holy place than anything else in the daily service, right before the veil. Prayer was the closest approach the ordinary worship could make to the glory of God. That nearness is now our own, for through the torn veil we may come with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. The fragrant cloud that once drifted toward a curtain now passes freely into the presence of God, because the way is open and the Priest is our own.

A fragrance God delights to receive

There is something tender in the fact that God asked for incense at all. He did not need it; the God who owns the cattle upon a thousand hills is not fed by sacrifices or perfumed by spices. Yet he chose to receive the prayers of his people as a sweet savour, a fragrance he delights in, stooping to be pleased by the halting words of those he loves. The incense altar tells us that our prayers are not a nuisance to heaven but a pleasure, welcomed like a favourite scent in a beloved home.

And the incense was a special blend, made after the art of the apothecary and reserved for God alone, so that no one might make the like of it for himself. Prayer offered to God is holy, set apart, unlike any other speech. When we pray in the name of Jesus we are not performing a ritual or merely filling a silence; we are sending up before the throne a fragrance God has appointed and loves to receive. The smallest sincere prayer rises like that costly incense, and God bends near to breathe it in.

The link between incense and the prayers of the saints is stated explicitly in Scripture (Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4; Psalm 141:2), and Christ's ongoing intercession for us is likewise explicit (Hebrews 7:25; 1 Timothy 2:5; Romans 8:34). This is taught truth, not private symbolism.

Related: The veil · Christ our High Priest · Who is Jesus? · The whole tabernacle