The Golden Altar of Prayer: Christ, Intercession, and Access to God

The Golden Altar of Incense provides a powerful picture of prayer and access to the presence of God. Located immediately before the veil separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, the altar represented the prayers of God's covenant people ascending before Him.

In this sermon, we examine the biblical pattern and purpose of the Golden Altar of Incense in Exodus 30 and consider how the Tabernacle points us ultimately to Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest. The daily offering of fragrant incense illustrates the continual prayers of God's people, while the blood applied to the altar on the Day of Atonement demonstrates a crucial truth: acceptable prayer cannot be separated from atonement.

Our prayers do not purchase access to God. We approach the Father through the finished work of Christ.

Hebrews 7:25 tells us that Christ “always lives to make intercession” for those who come to God through Him. Our confidence, therefore, is not in the eloquence or perfection of our prayers but in the perfection of our High Priest, Mediator, and Savior.

The sermon also addresses Hebrews 9:4, which describes the Most Holy Place as having the golden altar of incense, even though Exodus places the altar immediately outside the veil. The altar's position and liturgical function demonstrate its intimate association with the Holy of Holies and God's throne.

Ultimately, the torn veil announces that through Christ we have bold access to the throne of grace. Christians are called to pray continually, depend upon the Holy Spirit, intercede for others, and recognize prayer as a powerful instrument of spiritual warfare.