Exodus 20:26, Beware the Stairs!

‘Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’

//In Israel in the temple courtyard was an altar for sacrifice. Have you ever seen pictures of this altar, artists’ imagination of what it must have looked like? Have you ever seen a picture without stairs going up the altar?

One wonders if all these renditions of the Temple are accurate. Presumably, the priests–who wore robes, not slacks–were not to approach the top of the altar by stairway. It was apparently immodest, too much risk that their nakedness be exposed to those below.

Is there a lesson here for Christians today? Should we ban stairways in public buildings?

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