Exodus 30
Incense altar
“Also make a square altar out of acacia wood for burning incense measuring 1.5 feet by 1.5 feet and 3 feet tall. Make the whole altar out of a single piece including its horns. Overlay its top, sides, and horns in pure gold. Give it a gold border that goes completely around it. Put two gold rings on either side of it so that poles can be inserted into them for carrying it. Put this altar behind the the curtain that veils the chest of evidence, in front chest’s golden lid where I’ll meet with you. Have Aaron burn incense on this altar every sunrise and sunset when he tends to the lamps. There should constantly be incense burning to the Existing One throughout your generations. Don’t offer any foreign incense, roasted offerings, gifts, or drinks on this altar. Aaron will use the blood from the corruption offering to make amends on this altar’s horns once a year throughout your generations. It is set apart to the Existing One.”
Annual payment to God
The Existing One also told Moses,
“When you take a census of the Israelites, each of them should pay the Existing One a ransom for his own soul so they don’t get struck. Everyone 20 years old or older should make a contribution to the Existing One of [silver?] equal the weight of 50 coffee beans. The contribution will be the same for the rich and the poor. Use that money for the meeting room and its workers so that it reminds the Israelites to make amends while they know God is watching.”
Priests should clean themselves before approaching God
The Existing One told Moses,
“Make a bronze basin with a bronze base. Fill it with water and put it between the meeting room and the altar. Aaron and his sons will need to wash their hands and feet in it before entering the meeting room so they don’t die. They’ll also need to wash their hands and feet when they approach the altar to offer roasted sacrifices to the Existing One so they don’t die. That will be an ongoing assignment for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”
Sacred oil recipes
The Existing One also told Moses,
“Gather these spices:
• myrrh (weighing as much as 50,000 coffee beans)
• cinnamon (weighing as much as 25,000 coffee beans)
• calamus (weighing as much as 25,000 coffee beans)
• cassia (weighing as much as 50,000 coffee beans)
• olive oil (1.25 gallons of it)“All the weights should be determined by the standard weight kept in the dwelling place. Give them to a professional perfume maker to make a special oil that will be set apart for dedication ceremonies. Use it to consecrate the meeting room, the chest of evidence, the table and its accessories, the lamp stand and its accessories, the incense altar, the altar for roasting offerings, and the tub and its stand. Smear it on Aaron and his sons, dedicating them to serve as my priests. Tell the Israelites that it will be a sacred oil for dedicating things to me throughout your generations. Don’t use it for your bodies like other oils, and don’t make any other oil with that recipe because this oil is set apart, and it will be sacred for you. Whoever replicates it or offers it to a foreigner will be estranged from his people.”
Then the Existing One told Moses,
“Take spices for yourself: stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense. Take equal parts of each ingredient and have a professional perfume maker make incense with them. Filter it, season it with salt, and set it apart. Grind up some of it and put it in front of the evidence in the meeting room where I’ll visit you. Regard it as set apart. Don’t use that recipe for incense that you make for yourselves because that recipe is reserved for the Existing One. Whoever makes one like that for personal use will be exiled from his people.”