Exodus 27 opens with the LORD giving Moses detailed instructions for constructing the altar of burnt offering for the tabernacle. The altar was to be built from shittim wood and measured five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits tall, making it a large square structure. The LORD directed that horns be fashioned at each of its four corners as part of the same piece, and that the entire altar be overlaid with brass. All of the altar's utensils — including pots, shovels, basins, forks, and fire pans — were also to be made of brass.

The LORD then instructed Moses to make a brass grating in the form of a network, to be placed beneath the altar's ledge, with a brass ring at each of its four corners. Carrying poles made of shittim wood and covered in brass were to be inserted through these rings, allowing the altar to be transported. The altar itself was to be constructed as a hollow shell made of planks.

Exodus 27 then turns to the instructions for the courtyard of the tabernacle. The courtyard was to be enclosed by linen curtains hanging from brass posts set in brass bases, with the south and north sides each measuring one hundred cubits and the east and west sides measuring fifty cubits. The posts were to have silver hooks and silver bands.

Special attention was given to the entrance of the courtyard, which faced east. The gateway was to be twenty cubits wide and screened with a decorative curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn along with finely twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer. The four posts supporting this curtain were also to have silver hooks and bands, set in brass bases.

Finally, the LORD commanded that the Israelites be required to bring pure, pressed olive oil to keep the lamps of the tabernacle burning continually. This was to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, observed by Aaron and his sons from evening until morning before the LORD.