Exodus 27: Altar-ations

YINR 929: Tanach Yomi · Dec 15, 2025 · 3m

The outer altar was made of wood and covered in copper. Covering an altar with a precious metal is a new concept in the Torah at this point. Throughout Genesis, many people built altars. Noah built one after the flood, Avraham built many altars at points of interaction with God. Moses also built an altar. For most of these altars, the Torah does not specify what material was used. Almost all of them use the verb “and he built” to describe their assembly. The assumption then is that these were all built out of stone. This differs from the copper altar.

In verse 1, God commands Moshe to “make”…