Exodus 30:1–21-Daily Devotional · Thursday, December 18, 2025

Exodus 30:1–21 (Transcript)

Daily Devotional · Thursday, December 18, 2025

Speaker: Pastor John Chen
Transcribed & Edited by: Joseph Wang(Yufan)
Category: Daily Devotional

Peace to you, dear brothers and sisters.

By the grace of God, we come to a new day to study our daily devotional reading.
Today’s passage is Exodus 30:1–21, which records the making of three sacred furnishings in the tabernacle.

Let us pray.

Gracious God, we thank You for Your kindness and mercy. You reveal these holy furnishings to us one by one, so that we may understand Your heart—how You preserve us in Jesus Christ, and how we ought to respond to You. This is all Your mercy and grace. Help us this morning to know You more deeply and to enter into Your wonderful presence.
In Christ’s name, Amen.

After the instructions concerning the ordination of the priests in chapter 29, chapter 30 continues with the making of the furnishings of the sanctuary.

The Altar of Incense

The first item described is the altar of incense.
In the Most Holy Place stood the ark and the mercy seat. In the Holy Place there were three items: the golden lampstand, the table of the bread of the Presence, and the altar of incense.

The altar of incense was made according to God’s appointed dimensions. It had horns on its corners, a molding around it, and poles for carrying it. Only pure incense was to be burned on it. Incense was to be offered every morning when the lamps were trimmed, and every evening when the lamps were lit. This incense was to be burned continually before the LORD throughout their generations.

No burnt offering, grain offering, or drink offering was to be placed on this altar. Once a year, blood from the sin offering was to be applied to it for atonement, so that the altar itself would be consecrated as most holy.

By now, brothers and sisters, it should be clear to us what the altar of incense signifies. It represents the prayers of God’s people. Just as the incense filled the Holy Place and drifted into the Most Holy Place, so our prayers rise before God and enter His presence.

Through the blood of Jesus Christ, and through Christ Himself, we may come boldly to the throne of grace, to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Here we must pause and examine our understanding of prayer.

Many Christians, sadly, treat prayer as a burden—something heavy, something forced. This is a deeply mistaken view. Prayer is not a burden; it is meant to be a normal state of spiritual life.

Prayer includes thanksgiving, praise, confession, repentance, and petition. Yet many believers do not see prayer as a privilege or a blessing, but as an obligation. The altar of incense corrects this thinking.

To be able to pray to the Creator of heaven and earth is an unspeakable honor for a creature. To bring our praise, confession, and requests before the sovereign Lord is not a burden—it is grace.

Why then do we feel prayer is burdensome? Because we have grown accustomed to living by our own strength. We arrange our lives according to our own understanding, and only turn to prayer when everything else fails. This reveals a fundamentally flawed view of prayer.

Prayer is the breath of the Christian life. We need prayer constantly. Prayer is a way of living before God—a posture of the heart. Morning and evening incense teaches us that prayer is not occasional, but continual.

Prayer is not something extra added to life. It is life lived before God.

The Atonement Money

Next, the LORD commands that each Israelite male give half a shekel as atonement money for his life, to be used for the service of the tent of meeting.

This teaches us something crucial: not only the Egyptian firstborn deserved judgment—every Israelite deserved judgment as well. God’s holiness does not tolerate sin, whether Egyptian or Israelite.

No one could come before God simply because he belonged to Israel. Even the covenant people required atonement. The half shekel was not a payment that truly redeemed life, but a sign pointing forward.

Ultimately, the true ransom was paid by Jesus Christ, who gave His life as the final and sufficient atonement. God does not forgive sin arbitrarily. In His covenant faithfulness, He reveals His justice: atonement requires a price, and Christ paid that price fully.

The Bronze Basin

The third item is the bronze basin, placed between the altar and the tent of meeting. The priests were required to wash their hands and feet before entering to minister, lest they die.

This washing was not merely physical. It pointed to the deeper truth that those who serve God must be cleansed entirely. After sacrifice comes cleansing. After atonement comes sanctification.

The sacrifices point to Christ’s work of redemption. The washing points to the ongoing cleansing by the Word of God. Those who have been redeemed are called to live holy lives.

Only then could the priest enter the Holy Place to tend the lamps, arrange the bread, offer incense, and ultimately enter the Most Holy Place.

Christ at the Center

The structure of the tabernacle is clear:

• The altar points to Christ’s sacrifice.

• The basin points to sanctification through God’s Word.

• The lampstand speaks of divine illumination.

• The bread of the Presence speaks of God’s provision.

• The altar of incense speaks of prayer.

• The ark and mercy seat speak of God’s dwelling with His people.

None of these are random instructions. Every detail points to Christ.

Therefore, when we read these passages, we must not rush past them as irrelevant. They reveal how we are able to live before God today.

A Call to Daily Examination

We must ask ourselves:
From the moment we wake until we go to sleep, are we living consciously before God?

Have we lived today for God’s glory?
Have we sinned against Him?
Have we walked in prayer and obedience?

This is what it means to live a life offered as a continual sacrifice.

We must lift our eyes above life “under the sun” and live with our gaze fixed on what is above. Only then will our earthly lives be rightly ordered.

May God help us to live heavenly lives while still on earth.

That is all for today. Thank you.