We are rolling into chapter thirty-eight of Exodus with our word for today. קֶ֫רֶן horn, strength, might. It is used 75 times in the Old Testament. Our word is used the most in the sense of one of the body outgrowths on the heads of hoofed mammals. A good example is the ram that God provides for the sacrifice for Abraham. Genesis 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by בְּקַרְנָ֑יו his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. Our word is also used in the sense of strength or might. Jeremiah 48:25 The קֶ֣רֶן horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, declares the Lord. Lamentations 2:3 He has cut down in fierce anger all the קֶ֣רֶן might of Israel; he has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy. Our word is also used in the sense of a projection point on an altar shaped similar to the horn of a bull. Exodus 29:11-12 Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the קַרְנֹ֥ת horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. This is exactly how our word is used in our chapter today. Exodus 38:1-2 He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height. He made קַרְנֹתָ֗יו horns for it on its four corners. קַרְנֹתָ֑יו Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. I think the point of having horns on the altar is to show God’s strength to accomplish salvation for his people which is what the sacrifices were pointing toward in Christ. I’ll close with this great Psalm. Psalm 18:1-3 I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, וְקֶֽרֶן and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
