Altars are one of the most important items used in the worship of the Old Testament. How are we to apply their significance to New Testament Christians?
Allegory
In the New Testament, centered on the sacrifice of Christ, altars, the place of sacrifices, are highly significant. Ultimately, we can see every function of the altar in the person of Christ. Christ is our entrance into the heavens through his ascension. He brings us up to the mountain of God. Christ purifies us through his sacrifice so that our corrupt flesh may approach. Christ offers himself as a new food for those who enter into his courtroom. He is a new food that signifies peace between man and God. Christ also functions as a witness. He is a witness between men and God. As ministers of the gospel, we are called to present Christ crucified in our preaching (Galatians 3: 1). Christ is also a refuge to whom all can flee. Paul draws an analogy between Christ and the altar in 1 Corinthians 10: 17-18. He tells us that just as we participate in Christ through partaking of the Lord’s supper, so Israel, in a fleshly sense, participated in the altar her peace offerings (Of course if the Israelite had faith, he would ultimately be participating in Christ as well).
Tropology
Through Christ, we can apply altars to the life of those who are in him. We can appeal to Pentecost for this, where God sends his flame, his Spirit, into every believer’s heart. God brings his flames down upon men, just as he did upon altars in the Old Testament. We are the places where sacrifices are brought to God. Further support this understanding can be seen in Paul’s exhortation to be living sacrifices in Romans 12: 1 as well as Revelation 8:4 where the incense of the altar of incense is compared with the prayers of the saints. We function as altars as well. We are called to show a sacrificial spirit both in our worship and before one another.
Anagogy
We also sense a new significance to the altar as a mound of earth. The name “Adam” is related to the word for earth. We are literally mounds of earth or mounds of dust. Through the refining fire of the Spirit, we are glorified so that we become like the bronze altar and then like the golden incense altar. We follow the same pattern that the altars followed in the history of altars in the Old Testament.