“There I will make the horn of David grow; I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed.” (Ps 132:17)
In Ex 27:2 God gives Moses the following guidelines for erecting the altar of burnt offering: “And You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay it with bronze.”
The horn plays a very significant role in Scripture. Besides its uses as shofar (1 Kings 1:39), it was also utilised as a musical instrument (Lev 25:9), method of announcement (Ex 19:3), pertaining directly to certain festivals (Lev 23:24; Ps 81:4), as instrument of proclamation (Lev 25:8-10), used specifically at festivals and other marches (2 Sam 6:15; Ps:47:6), used as warning sign (Neh 4:18, 20) or weapon of war (Jos 6:4-5), when kings ascended to the throne (2 Sam 15:10), as anointing instrument (1 Sam 16:1) or inkwell (Ez 9:3). We will later return to the significance of these uses when we look at the golden altar of incense.
The horns on the sides of the bronze altar fulfilled four functions. According to Lev 8:15 the altar was firstly purified by smearing blood on the horns. “And he (=Moses) poured the blood at the base of the altar, and consecrated it, to make atonement for it.” Secondly, according to Ex 29:12 – “You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the base of the altar.” We know that in Hebrew the same word for ram’s horn, vovel, also means “to bring forth”, thus we know that the blood on the horns also brought forth salvation. Horns symbolize power, strength and authority (Deut 33:17; Job 16:15; Lam 2:3). Thirdly: of the most important sacrifices were fastened to the horns. Ps 118:27b states it as follows – “Tie the sacrifice with cords, to the horns of the altar.” (LITV). Lastly those who had sinned and deserved death could flee to the altar and cling to the horns, and in this way request acquittal (Ex 21:13). This happened in the case of Adónia (1 Kings 1:50) and Joab (1 Kings 2:28-29).
All these functions of the horns of the bronze altar were fulfilled in Christ, and we are “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb 10:10). Thus Zechariah, in Luke 1:68-69, prophesies the following – “ Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David“! That which God promised in Ps 132:17 became a reality in the manifestation of Christ. Witness how He brought about the realisation of the prophecy in Hab 3:4 – “And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.” This is indeed the power and the light, He “who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” (1 Tim 6:16).
- Sela: Link the horn’s four functions more specifically to Christ.
- Read: : 2 Sam 6; Prov 10; Heb 4
- Memorise: Heb 4:12, 15 & 16
- For a deeper understanding: Listen to http://www.bible-istory.com/sketches/ancient/ancient-horns.html, and pray 1 Cor 15:52 en 1 Sam 2:1.
