Exodus 38 finishes the work of the courtyard: the altar of burnt offering, the bronze laver, the hangings of the court, and a full inventory of the gold, silver and bronze that went into the tabernacle. Elder Arturo Tejeda reads the whole chapter and works through it in large sections, closing out a book the church began preaching in August of 2024.

Along the way he stops at details easy to pass over: the laver made from the polished mirrors of the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting, the curtained court that fenced God's people into one nation and would one day be enlarged, and the tonnage of metal given freely by a people who had carried it out of Egypt as plunder.

The last third of the sermon returns to the brazen altar. It stood at the entrance where no worshiper could miss it, always burning, smeared with blood, and bronze because bronze endures fire. That altar pointed forward to Calvary, where Christ bore the judgment and was not consumed, so that no one comes to the Father except through him.

In this sermon

• Exodus 38 continues the construction begun in chapter 35, now in the court where everyone could see
• Bezalel finished the gold work first, then turned to the bronze items of the courtyard
• Everything that touched the consecrated altar was made holy, and the offerings were brought by faith
• The laver was made from the mirrors of the serving women, ordinary women devoted to gathering and worship
• The priests saw their own dirt as they washed, as the word of God shows us our blemishes
• The enclosed court pictured a confined Old Testament assembly that Isaiah 54 promised would be enlarged
• The inventory lists roughly a ton of gold, three tons of silver and two tons of bronze, given willingly
• The metals came from the spoils of Egypt, so God supplied from their enemies what he asked them to give
• The brazen altar stood at the door, perpetually burning and bloody, the place of substitutionary sacrifice
• Hebrews 10 shows the one offering of Jesus Christ accomplishing what yearly sacrifices never could
• Bronze resists fire, picturing the one who endured God's judgment without being consumed

Chapters
0:00 Two years through the book of Exodus
2:08 Reading Exodus 38 aloud
7:04 Bezalel and the altar of burnt offering
9:51 The bronze laver and the serving women
15:33 The court and the Old Testament assembly
20:22 Taking our service to God seriously
23:08 Inventory of gold, silver and bronze
29:02 Where the metals actually came from
30:35 The brazen altar described in detail
36:20 Substitution at the place of sacrifice
41:31 Hebrews 10 and one sacrifice for all time
44:25 Bronze, judgment and the power to endure
46:04 Jesus Christ our brazen altar
49:40 Closing prayer

Scripture: Exodus 38:1-31 · Exodus 27 · Exodus 35 · Isaiah 54 · Exodus 29 · Leviticus 9 · Leviticus 16 · John 14:6 · Hebrews 10:1-18 · 1 Peter 2:24

About Mercy and Grace Church
Mercy and Grace is an expository preaching church in National City, California, committed to preaching Christ, and him crucified, by Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone. Each week Pastor Bobby Lugo and our teaching elders walk verse by verse through God's Word.

Join us in person — Sundays at 12:00 PM, 1200 E. 8th Street, National City, CA 91950.
Website: mercyandgracechurch.com
Email: ncmercyandgrace@gmail.com