1 'And thou hast made the altar of shittim wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth — the altar is square — and three cubits its height.
2 And thou hast made its horns on its four corners, its horns are of the same, and thou hast overlaid it [with] brass.
3 And thou hast made its pots to remove its ashes, and its shovels, and its bowls, and its forks, and its fire-pans, even all its vessels thou dost make of brass.
4 'And thou hast made for it a grate of net-work of brass, and hast made on the net four rings of brass on its four extremities,
5 and hast put it under the compass of the altar beneath, and the net hath been unto the middle of the altar.
6 'And thou hast made staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and hast overlaid them [with] brass.
7 And the staves have been brought into the rings, and the staves have been on the two sides of the altar in bearing it.
8 Hollow with boards thou dost make it, as it hath been shewed thee in the mount, so do they make [it].
Note · Exode 27.1–8
Un autel adapté à un peuple en déplacement
Les barres et les anneaux montrent que l’autel appartient à un sanctuaire mobile. Le sacrifice est inscrit dans une organisation précise, pas laissé à l’improvisation individuelle. La lecture chrétienne ne reçoit pas ici une consigne de rétablir les sacrifices animaux, mais une étape de l’histoire biblique du culte.
9 'And thou hast made the court of the tabernacle : for the south side southward, hangings for the court of twined linen, a hundred by the cubit [is] the length for the one side,
10 and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets [are] of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets [are] of silver ;
11 and so for the north side in length, hangings of a hundred [cubits] in length, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets [are] of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets [are] of silver.
12 'And [for] the breadth of the court at the west side [are] hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.
13 And [for] the breadth of the court at the east side, eastward, [are] fifty cubits.
14 And the hangings at the side [are] fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three.
15 And at the second side [are] hangings fifteen [cubits], their pillars three, and their sockets three.
16 'And for the gate of the court a covering of twenty cubits, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of an embroiderer ; their pillars four, their sockets four.
17 All the pillars of the court round about [are] filleted [with] silver, their pegs [are] silver, and their sockets brass.
18 'The length of the court [is] a hundred by the cubit, and the breadth fifty by fifty, and the height five cubits, of twined linen, and their sockets [are] brass,
19 even all the vessels of the tabernacle, in all its service, and all its pins, and all the pins of the court, [are] brass.
Note · Exode 27.9–19
Une enceinte qui donne un ordre à l’approche
Le parvis définit un espace commun et une entrée identifiable. Les mesures et les matières rendent cet espace concret. Rien n’oblige à en faire un plan directement applicable aux bâtiments chrétiens ; sa première fonction se comprend dans l’organisation du camp et du sanctuaire d’Israël.
20 'And thou — thou dost command the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee pure beaten olive oil for the light, to cause the lamp to go up continually ;
21 in the tent of meeting, at the outside of the vail, which [is] over the testimony, doth Aaron — his sons also — arrange it from evening till morning before Jehovah — a statute age-during to their generations, from the sons of Israel.
Note · Exode 27.20–21
La lumière dépend aussi d’un service discret
L’huile vient du peuple et les prêtres entretiennent les lampes. La contribution et le service se répondent. La répétition de cette tâche souligne que le soin régulier a sa place dans la relation à Dieu, même lorsqu’il ne produit pas l’éclat d’un événement spectaculaire.