New Living Translation

Exodus 27

Plans for the Altar of Burnt Offering

1“Using acacia wood, construct a square altar 7 1⁄2 feet wide, 7 1⁄2 feet long, and 4 1⁄2 feet high.[a] Make horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar are all one piece. Overlay the altar with bronze. Make ash buckets, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans, all of bronze. Make a bronze grating for it, and attach four bronze rings at its four corners. Install the grating halfway down the side of the altar, under the ledge. For carrying the altar, make poles from acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. Insert the poles through the rings on the two sides of the altar. The altar must be hollow, made from planks. Build it just as you were shown on the mountain.

Plans for the Courtyard

“Then make the courtyard for the Tabernacle, enclosed with curtains made of finely woven linen. On the south side, make the curtains 150 feet long.[b] 10 They will be held up by twenty posts set securely in twenty bronze bases. Hang the curtains with silver hooks and rings. 11 Make the curtains the same on the north side—150 feet of curtains held up by twenty posts set securely in bronze bases. Hang the curtains with silver hooks and rings. 12 The curtains on the west end of the courtyard will be 75 feet long,[c] supported by ten posts set into ten bases. 13 The east end of the courtyard, the front, will also be 75 feet long. 14 The courtyard entrance will be on the east end, flanked by two curtains. The curtain on the right side will be 22 1⁄2 feet long,[d] supported by three posts set into three bases. 15 The curtain on the left side will also be 22 1⁄2 feet long, supported by three posts set into three bases.

16 “For the entrance to the courtyard, make a curtain that is 30 feet long.[e] Make it from finely woven linen, and decorate it with beautiful embroidery in blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Support it with four posts, each securely set in its own base. 17 All the posts around the courtyard must have silver rings and hooks and bronze bases. 18 So the entire courtyard will be 150 feet long and 75 feet wide, with curtain walls 7 1⁄2 feet high,[f] made from finely woven linen. The bases for the posts will be made of bronze.


Light for the Tabernacle

20 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. 21 The lampstand will stand in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant.[g] Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning in the Lord’s presence all night. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel, and it must be observed from generation to generation.


  1. 27:1 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters] wide, 5 cubits long, a square, and 3 cubits [1.4 meters] high.
  2. 27:9 Hebrew 100 cubits [46 meters]; also in 27:11.
  3. 27:12 Hebrew 50 cubits [23 meters]; also in 27:13.
  4. 27:14 Hebrew 15 cubits [6.9 meters]; also in 27:15.
  5. 27:16 Hebrew 20 cubits [9.2 meters].
  6. 27:18 Hebrew 100 cubits [46 meters] long and 50 by 50 [23 meters] wide and 5 cubits [2.3 meters] high.