In this act of worship, incense symbolised prayer. It taught that prayer, to be really effective, must be ignited with a sacrifice that pointed forward to the Lamb of God that God declared He would provide for the needs of humanity.

The metals of the two altars were significant. Brass is the metal of flesh; gold is the metal of a tried faith (1 Pet. 1:7). The basis of acceptable worship is sacrifice and faith. Sacrifice is necessary because of the nature of flesh; whereas prayer is an act of faith which brings the worshipper into the very presence of God.

The Golden Altar of incense was placed at the far end of the Holy Place, in direct line of approach to the Mercy Seat, and, therefore, before the Ark of the Covenant. This was the most sacred place in all Israel, for the Ark constituted the dwelling place of the Lord God. He declared: "There will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee, from above the Mercy Seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the Ark of the Testimony."

But on normal days, a curtain divided the Most Holy from the Holy Place, so that the Golden Altar of incense was as far as the priest could go. He burned incense upon it, as symbolic of prayer, by means of which it is possible to enter into heaven itself, the antitypical Holiest of all (Heb. 10:19). It is as far as we can go under present conditions.

There appears to be a special relationship between the three pieces of furniture in the Holy Place, created by the ministry of the priests between the one and the other. The principal link was between the Lampstand and the Golden Altar. The priest burned incense upon the Golden Altar at the time when he trimmed the lamps both morning and evening. These were joint ministries. They always will be. Prayer and testimony go together. The Word is a light, and as we trim that lamp, and the light burns brighter, so the ascending odour of prayer becomes more efficacious.

The relationship of incense and prayer is expressed in Revelation 8:3: "And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne."
Thus incense is aligned with prayer.

Whilst the priest trimmed the lamps and burned the incense within the Holy Place, the people outside engaged in prayer. Luke records that when Zecharias went into the Temple for that purpose, "the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense" (Luke 1:10).

Great things have happened at such a time, illustrating how powerful prayer can be. "And it came to pass at the time of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel .... Then the fire of God fell" (1 Kings 18:36-38). "Yea, whilst I was speaking in prayer," records Daniel, "even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation" (Dan. 9:21). The prophet was given a wonderful revelation concerning the future of his people, from the lips of this visiting angel. "Now Peter and John went up together into the Temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour" (Acts 3:1). In their going, they met and healed the lame man at the Beautiful gate. "And Cornelius said, 'Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour 1 prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard ...."' (Acts 10:30-31). The result was that the gospel was proclaimed to Gentiles for the first time. "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, and yielded up the spirit. And behold the veil of the Temple was rent in twain" (Matt. 27:45-51). This indicated that the way into the Most Holy was about to be revealed.

All these significant happenings occurred at the hour of prayer; at the time when the incense was offered upon the Golden Altar, surely demonstrating the efficacy of prayer; revealing its power.
Before considering incense in detail notice the contrast between the two altars with which it was related. The Brazen Altar was outside, and the Golden Altar inside. The former was made of wood overlaid with brass. The latter was made of wood overlaid with gold The first altar had no crown; the second had a crown. The first altar represented Christ in his humiliation, it was related to him as a sacrifice; the second represented him in his glory, at the right hand of the Father. The Brazen Altar was the place of suffering, and typified Christ as Saviour. The Golden Altar was the place of glory, and typified Christ as Mediator. Sinners came to the first to be made saints; saints made their way into the second to worship God acceptably.

In several places in Scripture, the fragrant, ascending incense has been set forth as the symbol of prayer. "Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Ps. 141:2). "Golden vials full of odors (mg. incense), which are the prayers of saints" (Rev. 5:8). In prayer, Christ past, present and future passes before the mind.

The word incense is translated from the Hebrew qetoreth, and signifies to fumigate, or to purify. This suggests that prayer is designed to purify.

And it does purify. Prayer will glorify God in word, and cause the mind to meditate His greatness. This must play a part in purifying the mind and action. It will help concentrate the mind upon hope, and centre the attention on the future set before us in the Word. It will confess to sins in order that they may be covered; for to speak of sin in such a context is to recognise its true nature, and provide the first step to the forsaking of it.