Exodus 27:1  And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.
2  And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
3  And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.
4  And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof.
5  And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.
6  And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass.
7  And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar, to bear it.
8  Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it was shewed thee in the mount, so shall they make it.

Next God directed Moses in how the altar needed to be built. Once again, it needed to be made of shittim wood. This altar was bigger because it needed to be able to hold a bullock or a lamb. It was about 7.5 feet long and wide making it a square. It was to be 4.5 feet high. The altar was to have four horns, one on each corner. The entire altar was to be overlaid with brass.
Brass is a material made by using heat to melt specific materials together to form brass. It is a picture of the suffering that Jesus Christ would face on the cross. The brazen altar was the place where the animal sacrifices were made. Under this altar was a place for the ashes to fall. The ashes needed to be removed every so often. As we read, the instruments used at this altar was also made of brass. Brass is made using high heat, and it can withstand a certain amount of heat as well.
The Lord Jesus Christ took a beating like no mere human being could take. Then He was nailed to the cross, and there He shed His blood and died. They did not need to break His legs. They pierced His side, but He was already dead when they did that.
This altar had a grate which was also made of brass. This grate had four brazen rings in the four corners. This altar needed a place to put the wood that would be the fire for the burning of the sacrifices.
God knew exactly how to design this altar so that they could build a fire in it and lay the animal over the wood and that the fire would not be put out by the animal, but the animal would be burnt according to God’s command. The altar was made so that the air would be drawn up from the bottom through the grate upon which the wood was laid, thus making for a hot enough fire to burn the sacrifice.
This altar also needed to be portable so that it could be moved from place to place as God would direct the nation to move through the wilderness. Thus there was a need for staves that were made of shittim wood and overlaid with brass. This altar did not have gold on it, but it still depicted the Lord Jesus Christ, but a different aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As with all the vessels of the Tabernacle, they needed to be carried by the priests. They were a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The type is always less than the real thing. Jesus Christ did not need to be carried by anyone.
Prior to His trial, He took His disciples to the Mount of Olives. There He asked them to pray for Him and for themselves as He went a little further from them and prayed to His Father. He found the disciples asleep. They did not grasp the gravity of the situation. Because they did not ask God to prepare their hearts for the situation at hand, they fled when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus. Peter tried to mount an attack but that was a fleshly attack and did not help the situation. Jesus healed the servant’s ear. That was not the time to fight. It was the time to lay down His life.
He encouraged them. They had nothing to offer Him. Peter tried to be brave at Jesus’ trial, and was confronted by different people as to his identity with Jesus. Peter denied Jesus three times and when the cock crowed for the second time, he went out and wept bitterly. Jesus was still standing at that time, but Peter had fallen. Jesus went to Golgotha and there He laid down His life and they nailed Him to the cross. It was not until He had competed His work of redemption that He cried out to His Father: “it is finished”. That is when He died.
Shortly before that, His mother Mary was near the cross with John the disciple. There Jesus again did not need the help of His mother, but rather He commanded John to take Mary into his care. We do not read of Joseph, but Mary needed a man to look after her and John was appointed to that task. The Bible never hints at Mary being the co-redemtrix with Jesus Christ. She was His mother in the incarnation, but she had no part in the salvation of sinners. In fact, she acknowledged that she needed a Saviour and she recognized Jesus Christ as Her Saviour.

Luke 1:46  And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
47  And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Jesus Christ finished all the typology and He is the risen Saviour. There is no need for the Tabernacle or the instruments within it, today. Those who listen to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, turn to God in repentance and are saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are saved, come to God in the name of Jesus Christ, confessing their sin and receiving forgiveness and restoration of fellowship with the Father and with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Salvation is never lost for the true child of God. That is assured and secured by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Fellowship can be strained when a Christian does not deal with their sin. The sinning Christian does not want to draw nigh to God because of the guilt in their heart. The Holy Spirit Who dwells within the true child of God brings about the conviction of sin and helps the saved person seek forgiveness from the Father through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a beautiful thing to be forgiven and be walking in close fellowship with the Lord. That is what God wants for all people. Only those who are born again have that privilege. The rest can only live an imaginary life that does not satisfy. That is why most churches have to change their music and their standards and their messaging. They are grasping at straws and trying to find that which is missing and will never be found unless true salvation is attained through repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Be sure you are pursuing truth today.
Pastor Bartel