According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “the Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life” (CCC, 1324). Yet, when it comes to the words and actions that make up the liturgy of the Mass, most Catholics know what to do—what to say, when to sit, stand, or kneel—but not necessarily why. Likewise, many are familiar with the sacred furnishings of a church building—the altar, the ambo, the tabernacle—but not necessarily what these signs mean and where they come from.

How can the Christian altar be both an “altar of sacrifice” and “the table of the Lord”?

What Is the Altar?

When it comes to the Church building, by far one of the most important signs is the altar. But what exactly is an altar? In Sacred Scripture, the word “altar” (Hebrew mizbeach; Greek thysiastērion; Latin altare) means a “place of sacrifice.”¹ We find a much fuller definition in the Catechism:

“ALTAR: The center and focal point of a church, where the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is made present under sacramental signs in the Mass. Among the Israelites the altar was the place where sacrifices were offered to God. The Christian altar represents two aspects of the mystery of the Eucharist, as the altar of sacrifice where Christ as the sacrificial victim offers himself for our sins and as the table of the Lord where Christ gives himself to us as food from heaven” (CCC Glossary, ‘Altar’).²

This definition raises several important questions: Why is the altar the “center” and “focal point” of a church building? How is it related to the altar on which the ancient Israelites offered their sacrifices to God? How can the Christian altar be both an “altar of sacrifice” and “the table of the Lord”?

Jewish Roots of the Catholic Altar

Once again, the Church gives us helpful guidance on how to answer these questions and deepen our understanding of the mystery of the altar. In order to understand what is happening in the Catholic Mass, one needs to go back not only to Sacred Scripture (CCC, 1100), but to the Jewish roots of Christian worship. As the Catechism states about Jewish liturgy and Christian liturgy: “A better knowledge of the Jewish people’s faith and religious life as professed and lived even now can help our better understanding of certain aspects of Christian liturgy” (CCC, 1096). In this series of articles, I will follow the Catechism’s advice and take a closer look at three kinds of altars that played an important role in ancient Jewish liturgy:

1. The Bronze Altar (Exodus 27:1-8)

2. The Golden Table (Exodus 25:23-30)

3. The Altar of Incense (Exodus 30:1-10)

As we will see, in the light of Sacred Scripture and the living tradition of the Church, each of these altars is a kind of prefiguration or “type” (Greek typos) of the one altar that will become “the center and focal point” of every Catholic Church, where “the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is made present.”³

The Bronze Altar

In this first article in the series we will examine the altar from the Old Testament known as the “bronze altar” of sacrifice (1 Kings 8:64). For most of Israel’s history, this was the primary place where bulls, goats, and lambs would be sacrificed.⁴ Eventually, the bronze altar would become the central place of bloody sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple at the time of Jesus—for example, during the sacrifice of the lambs at the annual feast of Passover (cf. Luke 22:7; Hebrews 7:13).

The first mention of the bronze altar in Jewish Scripture takes place after the Twelve Tribes of Israel are freed from slavery to the Egyptians and set free to travel to Mount Sinai (Exodus 1-19). After God seals the covenant with Israel (Exodus 24), one of the first things he does is give them instructions for how to build a portable sanctuary—known as the “tent” of meeting or “tabernacle” (Hebrew mishkan; Greek skēnē; Latin tabernaculum)—where he will dwell and where they can worship him (Exodus 25:9).

Immediately inside the entryway to the Tabernacle is an “altar” where the various kinds of sacrifices will be offered to God: “You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and it shall be three cubits high. You shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze…. You shall make it hollow, with boards. They shall be made just as you were shown on the mountain” (Exodus 27:1-3, 8).⁵

After God seals the covenant with Israel, one of the first things he does is give them instructions for how to build a portable sanctuary—known as the “tent” of meeting or “tabernacle”—where he will dwell and where they can worship him.

Notice here that though the altar is covered in bronze, it is actually made of “acacia” (Hebrew shittim) wood.⁶ Acacia wood was considered sacred, was known for its durability, and was basically incorruptible. Notice also that the altar is a freestanding square with “four corners” in the shape of “horns,” around which the priests can walk (cf. Psalm 26:6-7). Finally, notice that the altar is the place where all of the sacrificial animals—the bulls, goats, sheep, and pigeons—will be offered to God by having their blood poured out and their bodies burned (hence the need for “firepans” and shovels for “ashes”). As the book of Leviticus states: “The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is in the tent of meeting before the Lord; and the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting” (Leviticus 4:7).

In other words, the bronze altar was the place where priests would offer sacrifice to God by pouring out blood at the foot of the altar and offering animals on the wood of the altar. Because Scripture teaches that “the life” was “in the blood,” the pouring out of the blood symbolizes the offering of one’s life to God (cf. Leviticus 17:11). Again, it was this altar that would be the central place of sacrifice, not only in the Tabernacle of Moses (Exodus 27:1-8), but also in the Temple of Solomon (see 1 Kings 8:22-63).

The Bronze Altar at the Time of Jesus

If we fast-forward from Old Testament times to the time of Jesus (first century AD), the bronze altar of sacrifice was the primary place of sacrifice in the Temple, but it had changed in three key ways.

First, at the time of Jesus, the bronze altar in the Jerusalem Temple was much bigger than it had been in the Tabernacle of Moses. According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus—who served as a priest in the Temple—the first-century bronze altar was over 20 feet high and had to be approached by the priests by a means of ramp going up to its summit. It was also separated from the place of the Israelite laity by a low stone wall remarkably similar to a modern-day “altar rail”: “In front of [the Sanctuary] stood the altar, fifteen cubits [about 22 feet] high, and with a breadth and a length extending alike to fifty cubits [about 75 feet], in shape a square with horn-like projections at the corners, and approached from the south by a gently sloping ramp…. Surrounding both the Sanctuary and the altar was a low stone parapet, fair and graceful, about a cubit [about 1.5 feet], which separated the laity outside from the priests” (Josephus, Jewish War 5.225-26).⁷ As this fascinating description shows, at the time of Jesus, the bronze altar was almost like a small hill or mountain which the priests walked up, carrying the wood and sacrifices to the very top, where they would be offered to God. Its base was also where the blood would be poured out in sacrifice.

At the time of Jesus, the bronze altar was almost like a small hill or mountain which the priests walked up, carrying the wood and sacrifices to the very top, where they would be offered to God.

Second, at the time of Jesus, there were many more sacrifices offered on the altar than at the time of Moses or Solomon. For example, Josephus tells us that in the first-century AD, many thousands of lambs were offered on a single altar at the feast of the Passover: “On the occasion of the feast called Passover, at which they sacrifice from the ninth to the eleventh hour [3-5pm]…the [lambs] were counted and amounted to two hundred and fifty-five thousand six hundred” (Josephus, War 6:423-24).⁸ Most modern people have never seen a single lamb sacrificed, much less tens of thousands in one day! One reason this background is important for understanding what happens to Jesus on the cross is because of the way in which the blood of the lambs was disposed of. If thousands of lambs were sacrificed in a single day, where did all the blood go?

According to ancient Jewish tradition, by the first century AD, there were so many sacrifices being offered that a drain had to be installed under the altar so that the blood could drain out into the spring that ran out of the side of the Temple: “At the south-western corner [of the Altar] there were two holes like two narrow nostrils by which the blood that was poured…used to run down and mingle in the water-channel and flow out into the brook Kidron” (Mishnah, Middoth 3:2).⁹ In other words, at the time of Jesus, if you were approaching the Jerusalem Temple around 3 o’clock in the afternoon on the feast of Passover, what would you have seen? A stream of blood and water flowing from the altar, coming out the side of the Temple mountain.

The New Sacrifice and the New Altar

With this fuller background of the ancient Jewish altar in mind, we can see more clearly how it is that in the New Testament, the death of Jesus on Calvary is revealed as much more than just an ancient Roman execution. Even more, it is Jesus’ offering of the new sacrifice of himself on the new altar of the Cross.

For one thing, from the very beginning of his ministry, John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the true sacrificial “lamb” of God: “The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29). Now, if Jesus is the true lamb of God, then that means that wherever his blood is poured out is the place of the true sacrifice. Sure enough, as the Gospel of John tells us, it was at the foot of the altar that the blood of Christ was poured out in sacrifice: “When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, ‘It is finished’; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit…. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.)” (John 19:30, 34-35).

Just as the blood and water flowed from the altar in the Jerusalem Temple at Passover, so too the blood of Christ flows from the Catholic altar every time the sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated.

Why does John interrupt his Gospel to emphasize that he saw the blood and water flow from the side of Jesus? Because he sees in this mystery a revelation of Jesus’ identity as both the new lamb of God and the new Temple where a new Passover sacrifice will be offered.¹⁰ Just as the blood of the bulls and goats would have been poured out at the foot of the bronze altar—which was made of acacia wood—so too the blood of Christ was poured out at the foot of the new altar of the wooden Cross.

Should there be any doubt about this, consider the words of the author of Hebrews, who associates the place of Jesus’ crucifixion with the altar of the new covenant: “We have an altar [Greek thysiastērion] from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood” (Hebrews 13:10-11). Although the exact interpretation of this verse continues to be debated, since ancient times, interpreters have seen in it both “the eucharistic altar” and the altar of “the cross.”¹¹ Consider, for example, the words of Pope St. Leo the Great (fifth century): “Offering himself to the Father as a new and real sacrifice…, he was crucified…‘outside and beyond the camp.’ That was, as the mystery of the ancient sacrifices was ceasing, a new victim would be put on a new altar, and the Cross of Christ would be the altar not of the temple but of the world” (Leo the Great, Sermon 59.5).¹² Seen in this light, the true “altar” is the wood of the Cross. For it is on this altar that the blood of Christ was poured out in sacrifice, and from this altar that we receive and “eat” the “body” of the true Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7; 10:16-18).¹³

The Mystery of the Altar

In sum, when we look at the Old Testament in the light of the New (and vice versa), we can see more clearly how the ancient Jewish altar of sacrifice is fulfilled in the Crucifixion of Christ and the mystery of the Mass, in a few key ways.

First, over the centuries, ecclesiastical writers have recognized that the Old Testament altars—including the bronze altar of sacrifice—prefigure both the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary and the altar of the Mass in which Christ’s sacrifice is made sacramentally present. Consider, for example, the words of William Durand(13th century), in his extremely influential medieval commentary on the Mass: “There are three reasons why there is an altar in a church…. As it is written, that first Noah, then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob built altars…. Moses also made an altar of shittim [acacia] wood…as can be read in Exodus 25, 27, and 30, where the form of the altar is also set forth…altars, which are erected with four corners, are derived from these ancient fathers…” (William Durand, Rationale Divinorum Officiorum 1.2.1).¹⁴ Notice here that Durand explicitly connects the bronze altar in Exodus 27 with the altars built in the churches of his day. Notice also that he extends this typological significance even to the shape of the altars with which he is familiar, which are apparently erected with “four corners” like the bronze altar of Moses. Clearly, for Durand, the Catholic altar is a visible fulfillment of the ancient Jewish altar of sacrifice.

The Roman Missal prescribes, “Either on the altar or near it, there is to be a cross, with the figure of Christ crucified upon it.

Second, and equally important, in the Catholic tradition, the altar is not just the place where the sacrifice of the Mass is offered by a Catholic priest. It is also a symbol of the Cross, where Jesus offered the ultimate sacrifice of himself. Consider the words of Amalar of Metz in his influential medieval commentary on the Mass: “Insofar as it relates to Christ’s burial, the altar represents the cross” (Amalar of Metz, On the Liturgy (ninth century)).¹⁵ In light of this link between the altar and the Cross, it makes sense that by the high Middle Ages, the custom would arise of celebrating Mass with an image of Christ crucified present. As St. Bonaventure (13th century) writes: “The relationship of the passion of the Lord to the sacrifice of the Mass is of such paramount importance that the holy fathers decreed that no priest should ever celebrate the Eucharist unless an image of the crucified Savior be present and visible…. The cross is the altar upon which… the Father of the heavens sacrificed Our Lord Jesus Christ” (St. Bonaventure, Explanation of the Mass, 5).¹⁶ In this same spirit, to this day, the Roman Missal prescribes, “Either on the altar or near it, there is to be a cross, with the figure of Christ crucified upon it…so as to call to mind for the faithful the saving Passion of the Lord.”¹⁷

Last, but certainly not least, if the altar is the fulfillment of the ancient Jewish altar and a symbol the Cross, then this means that the Eucharist is both a “memorial” of the Last Supper and “a sacrifice,” precisely because “it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross” (CCC, 1366). This connection between the altar and the sacrifice of the Mass is beautifully expressed in the words of the Preface said by the priest in the Roman Mass for the Dedication of a New Altar:¹⁸

_{Having become both the true Priest and the true oblation,
he has taught us to celebrate for ever
the memorial of the Sacrifice
that he himself offered to you on the altar of the Cross.
Therefore, Lord, your people have raised this altar,
which we dedicate to you with joyful praise.
Truly this is an exalted place,
where the Sacrifice of Christ is ever offered in mystery,
where perfect praise is rendered to you
and redemption flows forth for us….}

^{_{–Roman Missal, Ritual Mass for the Dedication of an Altar, Preface} 19}

Indeed, just as the blood and water flowed from the altar in the Jerusalem Temple at Passover, so too the blood of Christ flows from the Catholic altar every time the sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated. With that said, whereas only a stream of blood and water flowed from the earthly Temple during the Passover, since Jesus instituted the Last Supper almost 2,000 years ago, rivers of his living blood have flowed forth from Catholic altars over the centuries. It still flows today from every altar at every Mass in every church around the world, and it will do so until the end of time. For while we cannot see it with our earthly eyes, at every single Mass, when we stand before the altar, we are standing at the foot of the Cross, the true altar of the world.

In my next installment, we will take a closer look at a second ancient Jewish altar that sheds further light on the mystery of the Catholic altar: the golden table of the mysterious “bread of the Presence.”

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1. See Robert D. Haak, “Altar,” in Anchor Bible Dictionary (ed. David Noel Freedman; 6 vols.; New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1992), 1:162–67.
2. In Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.; Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2019), 865 (emphasis added).
3. Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary (“Altar”).
4. Over the course of Israel’s history, there were three principal sanctuaries: (1) the portable Tabernacle of Moses (late 15th-10th centuries BC); (2) the Temple built by King Solomon in Jerusalem (ca. 957 BC) and later destroyed by the Babylonians (587 BC); and (3) the Second Jerusalem Temple, built after the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile (ca. 515 BC), expanded under King Herod (first century BC), and then destroyed by the Romans (70 AD).
5. All translations of Scripture are from the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (RSVCE). All emphases are the author’s own.
6. See William H. C. Propp, Exodus (2 vols.; Anchor Yale Bible 2-2A; New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1999, 2006), 2:420–25 for extensive commentary on the bronze altar.
7. In Josephus, The Jewish War, Books V-VII (trans. H. St. J. Thackeray; Loeb Classical Library 210; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1928), 71 (slightly adapted).
8. In Josephus, The Jewish War, Books V-VII, 301.
9. In Herbert Danby, The Mishnah (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933), 594.
10. See Alan R. Kerr, The Temple of Jesus’ Body: The Temple Theme in the Gospel of John (Library of New Testament Studies; London: T&T Clark, 2002), for a full study.
11. See Harold W. Attridge, Hebrews (Hermeneia; Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress, 1989), 396-97.
12. In St. Leo the Great, Sermons (trans. Jane Patricia Feeland, CSJB and Agnes Josephine Conway, SSJ; Fathers of the Church 93; Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1996), 257.
13. See Stefan Heid, Altar and Church: Principles of Liturgy from Early Christianity (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2023), 32-42.
14. In The Rationale Divinorum Officiorum of William Durand of Mende (trans. Timothy M. Thibodeau; New York: Columbia University Press, 2007), 26.
15. Amalar, On the Liturgy, 3.26.13. In Amalar of Metz, On the Liturgy (2 vols.; trans. Eric Knibbs; Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 36; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2014), 2:185.
16. St. Bonaventure, Expositio Missae: The Mysteries of the Mass Explained (trans. Robert Nixon, OSB; Gastonia, N.C.: TAN Books, 2024), 38 (emphasis added).
17. General Instruction of the Roman Missal no. 308.
18. See Paul Turner, New Church, New Altar: A Commentary on the Order of Dedication of a Church and an Altar (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2021), for a full study.
19. See The Roman Missal: Renewed by Decree of the Most Holy Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, Promulgated by the Authority of Pope Paul VI and Revised at the Direction of Pope John Paul II (3rd typical ed.; Totowa, N.J.: Catholic Book Publishing, 2021), 1077.