Grate; Grating

grat, grat'-ing (mikhbar, resheth; the King James Version Grate): This "grating of network of brass" (Exod 27:4; Exod 38:4), called also "the net" (Exod 27:4), and "grating of brass" (Exod 38:4), was that reticulated casting or wrought work of bronze which, in the tabernacle system, formed an element of the altar of sacrifice. Its position is well defined: "Thou shalt put it under the ledge round the altar beneath, that the net may reach halfway up the altar" (Exod 27:5; compare Exod 38:4). The altar being a hollow box--"hollow with planks" (Exod 27:8)--3 cubits high, overlaid with brass, and presumably filled with stones, there appears to have been a ledge round about it halfway from the base, from which depended vertically this grating of bronze. On the grating were four rings through which the staves were passed by which the altar was borne (Exod 27:4; Exod 27:7). If the ledge was for the priests to stand on while handling the sacrifices on the altar, the grating need be thought of only as an ornamental support for the ledge. Others ascribe to it different uses.

W. Shaw Caldecott