Numbers 4:11

And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) And shall put to the staves thereof.—Better, And shall put in the staves thereof, as in Numbers 4:6; Numbers 4:8; so also in Numbers 4:14.

Benson Commentary

Numbers 4:11-12. The golden altar — All covered with plates of gold. The instruments of ministry — The sacred garments used by the priests in their holy ministrations. Cover them — All these coverings were designed, 1st, For safety, that these holy things might not be sullied by rain, or tarnished by the sun. 2d, For decency, most of them had a cloth of blue, or purple, or scarlet over them; the ark, a cloth wholly of blue, perhaps an emblem of the azure skies, which are spread between us and the Majesty on high. 3d, For concealment. It was a fit sign of the darkness of that dispensation. The holy things were then covered. But Christ hath now destroyed the face of the covering.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:4-20 The Kohathites were to carry the holy things of the tabernacle. All the holy things were to be covered; not only for security and respect, but to keep them from being seen. This not only marked the reverence due to holy things, but the mystery of the things signified by those types, and the darkness of the dispensation. But now, through Christ, the case is altered, and we are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

wholly of blue - Compare Exodus 25:4 note. The third and external covering of the ark only was to be of this color. The table of showbread had Numbers 4:8 an outer wrapping of scarlet; the altar Numbers 4:13 one of purple.

Put in the staves - Probably, "put the staves in order." These were never taken out of the golden rings by which the ark was to be borne (see Exodus 25:14-15), but would need adjustment.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10. a bar—or bier, formed of two poles fastened by two cross pieces and borne by two men, after the fashion of a sedan chair.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The golden altar; all covered with plates of gold.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue,.... The altar of incense, which was overlaid with gold, and therefore called a golden one, to which the allusion is in Revelation 8:3,

and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins; after the cloth of blue was spread upon it:

and shall put to the staves thereof; into the rings, both made to bear and carry it, upon occasion, from place to place.

Geneva Study Bible

And upon the golden {f} altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put to the staves thereof:

(f) Which was to burn incense, read Ex 30:1.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Numbers 4:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

So again they were to wrap up the altar of incense (Exodus 30:1), to adjust its bearing poles; and having wrapped it up in such coverings, along with the vessels belonging to it, to lay it upon the frame.