THE brazen altar in the outer court spoke, of old, of the cross-work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The golden altar in the holy place, immediately before the veil, typified His intercessory work on the throne in heaven. There He ever lived to present our cause before the Father; He is our Advocate, our Great High Priest, and our Mediator.
We are oppressed at times with the sense of the feebleness and inadequacy of our prayers, but nothing that is imperfect goes up to God. Our Lord, officiating at the golden altar, removes from our petitions everything that is unworthy and presents our prayers in all the value of His own perfections.
The very judgments that are destined to fall upon a Christ-rejecting world will come in answer to the cries of God’s hidden ones.
“‘Twas God’s most gracious favor
That gave His Son to die,
To live our intercessor,
To plead for us on high.
To all our prayers and praises
He adds His sweet perfume,
And love the censer raises
These odors to consume.”