Exodus 30

This chapter belongs to the closing portion of the instructions for building the tabernacle, which run through Exodus 25–31. After chapter 29 establishes the ordination of the priests and the daily burnt offering, this chapter adds ordinances for the remaining furnishings and for the materials used in worship.

Outline

• Verses 1–10 An altar of incense is to be made of shittim (acacia) wood. It is one cubit long, one cubit wide, and two cubits high, and it is overlaid with pure gold. It is set outside the veil that hangs before the ark of the testimony, and Aaron burns incense on it every morning and evening. No strange incense, burnt offering, meat (grain) offering, or drink offering may be offered on it, and once a year atonement is made upon its horns with the blood of the sin offering.
• Verses 11–16 When a census is taken, every person twenty years old and above pays half a shekel as a ransom for his soul (money given as the price of one's life). Rich and poor pay the same amount, and the money is used for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
• Verses 17–21 A laver (a large basin holding water for washing) and its foot are to be made of bronze and placed between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar. Aaron and his sons wash their hands and feet in its water so that they do not die.
• Verses 22–33 The holy anointing oil (oil used for anointing) is made from 500 shekels of myrrh, 250 shekels of sweet cinnamon, 250 shekels of sweet calamus, 500 shekels of cassia, and a hin of olive oil. It is applied to the tabernacle and its furnishings and to Aaron and his sons. Anyone who makes the same compound or puts it on anyone else is to be cut off from his people.
• Verses 34–38 The holy incense is made by mixing stacte, onycha, and galbanum with frankincense in equal weights and seasoning the mixture with salt. Anyone who makes it for private use is to be cut off.

Key Verses

• Exodus 30:8 "a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations" — This refers to the incense offered without ceasing morning and evening; later readers came to regard it as a symbol of prayer.
• Exodus 30:15 "The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel" — This is commonly interpreted to mean that every life has equal worth before God.
• Exodus 30:30 — The ordinance for anointing the priests with oil to consecrate them, which forms the background of the concept of anointing.

People and Places

• Moses: The recipient of the instructions in this chapter.
• Aaron and his sons: The priests who burn incense, wash their hands and feet, and are anointed.
• Tabernacle of the congregation: Literally "tent of meeting," another name for the tabernacle.
• Ark of the testimony: Another name for the Ark of the Covenant.

Points for Reflection

• Scholars offer differing explanations for why the altar of incense appears separately in this chapter rather than alongside the other furnishings in chapters 25–27.
• The text places the altar of incense outside the veil (v. 6), yet Hebrews 9:4 mentions a "golden censer" in the Most Holy Place. Interpreters are divided over whether this word refers to the altar of incense or to a censer.
• Imagery likening incense to prayer appears in Psalm 141:2, Revelation 5:8, and Revelation 8:3–4. Luke 1:9–10 depicts Zechariah burning incense in the temple.
• The half shekel is understood as the basis for the later temple tax and is connected with the account of the temple tax in Matthew 17:24–27.
• "Anointed one" is the meaning of both Messiah and "Christ." Interpretations that liken the laver to baptism or purification (compare Hebrews 10:22) are analogical readings within the Christian tradition, not something the text itself directly states.

In Korean Churches

This chapter is treated in expository sermon series on the tabernacle, tabernacle seminars, and Sunday school curricula on the tabernacle. Sermons commonly interpret the altar of incense as representing prayer and the laver as representing repentance and cleansing.