Grate

A network of brass for the bottom of the great altar of sacrifice (Ex. 27:4; 35:16; 38:4, 5, 30).

grat, grat'-ing (mikhbar, resheth; the King James Version Grate): This "grating of network of brass" (Ex 27:4; 38:4), called also "the net" (Ex 27:4 f), and "grating of brass" (Ex 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" (Ex 27:5; compare Ex 38:4). The altar being a hollow box--"hollow with planks" (Ex 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 (Ex 27:4,7). 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