Prayer should arise from our hearts to God the way incense naturally and fragrantly rises.
In the tour the Lord has given of His home on earth, we noticed that He left the golden altar and its censer until after the section on the priests. Most commentators slip it in while we are in the Holy Place where it belongs, right? The Lord didn’t think so, and perhaps we can find the reason. But first, here’s the description: “You shall make an altar to burn incense on…of acacia wood. A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold” (Ex 30:1-3). So we have an altar much smaller than the great bronze altar in the court, not for animal sacrifice but “an altar to burn incense on.” David explains what is pictured in the incense altar. “Let my prayer be set before You as incense” (Ps 141:2). Again the acacia wood covered in gold takes our minds to the Lord Jesus with His perfect humanity linked with His deity. You see why both the humanity and deity of Christ are essential for His role in the prayer life of the believer? “In all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Heb 2:17-18). To intercede between God and us, He must be both merciful and faithful. He must satisfy the perfect requirements of a holy God and at the same time understand the challenges faced by humanity living in a fallen world. And He does just that! The fact that it was the smallest of all the furniture may remind us that it isn’t the size of our prayers, but the sincerity of them, that matters.