Neville Goddard on Exodus 38:1-7 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Exodus 38 in context

Scripture Focus

1And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.

2And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.

3And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.

4And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.

5And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.

6And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.

7And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.

Exodus 38:1-7

Biblical Context

Exodus 38:1-7 describes the altar of burnt offering: a shittim wood altar overlaid with brass, square in shape, with horns on its corners. It includes brass vessels, a grate, rings for the staves, and a hollow construction carried by those staves.

Neville's Inner Vision

Consider the altar not as a thing out there, but as a map of your mind. The altar is the center of your being where the fire of imagination burns away illusion. The shittim wood represents your humble, mortal self; the brass overlay is the cleansing light of awareness. The horns signify fixed points of will—your determined turns toward truth. The four corners mark the four quarters of attention you gather into one focus. The rings and staves show you bear the altar within by the act of assumption; you carry its life in your imagination. The hollow core reveals your inner life as a vessel prepared to receive the divine Presence. When you dwell in the feeling of I AM, you are placing offerings—old beliefs and identities—on the fire of awareness. You are not pleading with God from afar; you are awakening to God within through a steady, imaginative act. Practice: assume the end, revise any lack, and feel it real until your inner state matches the altar you have chosen.