The most important article of furniture in the Lodge is the altar. When we talk about this type of furniture, we intend it to be a chair, a table, a desk, etc. not the symbolic furniture.
Altars in ancient times were made generally of turf and stone. When permanently erected, were cubical and built long before temples. Altars of sacrifice were erected outside, and altars of incense inside. These altars were for sacrifice and incense, only because at this early period the holy scripture had not yet been written.
The Masonic altar is both sacrificial and incense. You lay down your passions and vices in an obligation to the All Mighty God as a sacrifice to him. You offer up the thoughts of a pure heart as a fitting incentive to the Supreme Architect of the Universe.
The altar is therefore the most holy place in the Lodge.
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