43:13 “These are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): its base shall be one cubit high and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span round its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: 14 from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; 15 and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upwards, four horns. 16 The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. 17 The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim round it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all round. The steps of the altar shall face east.”
18 And he said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it, 19 you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord God, a bull from the herd for a sin offering. 20 And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all round. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. 21 You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. 22 And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. 24 You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. 25 For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. 26 Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it. 27 And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord God.”
This passage brings us to the second of the three parts into which the last section of Ezekiel's prophecy naturally divides (43:13-46:24), with the general theme of 'The People and the Temple'. The description of all the ordinances and the sacrifices relating to the altar, the law of the offerings and the festivals, tends to bewilder us just a little, and it may be wiser to take a general sweep through the section, rather than study it in detail, in order to appreciate the significance of what is said. We must try to extract from the welter of regulations, which to us have no immediate application or indeed practical concern, some principles of interpretation which will help us. We have already seen that worship is the ultimate reality, and that the creation of a worshipping people is always a sign of the Lord's presence (in 1-12 we saw the glory of the Lord returning to His people). Here, at the outset, we have the establishment of the altar, as the centrepiece, so to speak, in the worshipping community, and its setting apart for its holy function through being cleansed from all taint of the secular, a process taking seven days. 'The Lord is coming to His holy temple and before He will have fellowship with us and even accept our offer of ourselves for His devotion, there must be a complete and perfect "week" of sin offering in which we take our place with Him outside the camp, as He bears His holy blood into the sanctuary on our behalf' (W. Still, Gilcomston Record). This has considerable implications for the spiritual life, and we shall spend some time in the next Note discussing them.