ועשית את המזבח, the copper altar located in the courtyard in front of the Tabernacle.

ממנו תהיין קרנותיו, integral parts of the structure, not something superimposed.

ויעיו; shovels used to scoop up the ashes of the remains of the sacrifices offered on the altar. The ashes in turn would be placed inside the pots mentioned at the beginning of the verse.

ומזרקותיו, to catch the blood which is to be sprinkled on the altar.

ומזלגותיו, these forks were used by the priests to handle parts of the limbs of sacrificial animals on the altar and to turn them over and move them so that would burn up within the time limit assigned for this.

(4) AND THEIR FIRE PANS. With which to rake coals, as it is written (Isa. 30:14), "to scoop coals from a brazier," and (Prov. 6:27), "can a man rake embers into his bosom."

מכבר, a netting; compare Amos 9,9 כאשר יגוע בכברה ולא יפול צרור ארץ, “as one shakes in a sieve and not a pebble falls to the ground.”

כרכב. A narrow projection running about halfway up the wall of the altar. It enabled the priests to walk there and reach the upper parts of the altar. It was immediately above the netting. This expression is also used in the Talmud when discussing the ritual rulings pertaining to the sacrificial service. (Chulin 25)

עד חצי המזבח, in order to make a separation between the blood which had to end up on the top of that altar, and that which would be absorbed by the netting surrounding the altar at the top of the lower half of the altar. For the sake of easy recall remember that the blood of bird offerings that were known as עולת העוף had to reach the top of the altar, whereas the blood of offerings known as חטאת העוף, sin offerings consisting of a bird, had to be sprinkled or smeared against the lower half of the altar at the netting. All these details have been spelled out in Zevachim 53.

נבוב לוחות, hollow. We find a similar expression in Job 11,12 איש נבוב לוחות, “a hollow man, etc.” Whenever the Israelites made camp they would fill the inside of this altar with earth. Only after that would they use it to offer their sacrifices.

קלעים. According to Menachem these are curtains of sorts. They constituted a second division, separation between domains of different levels of sanctity. This word also occurs in this sense in Kings I 6,32 וקלע עליהם מקלעות כרובים, where it describes carvings of figurines in wood. Also in verse 18 of the same chapter in Kings we have the line מקלעת פקעים where it also means “carvings of gourds and calyxes.” I believe that the Torah tells us that the hanging curtains forming the outer wall of the courtyard also had figurines woven into their texture.

וחשוקיהם מוקפים כסף. The raw material that the bands consisted of matched that of the hooks, i.e. silver.

עמודיהם עשרה. One such pillar which had been placed five cubits apart from the next one; the hooks were attached to them so as to hold up the curtains.

וחמש עשרה אמה קלעים לכתף, in the easterly direction of the courtyards, an area that was 50 cubits wide. Allowing for the width of the Tabernacle of 20 cubits, this left 15 cubits of empty space on either side between the structure and the curtains enclosing the courtyard. It follows that a width of 50 cubits was enclosed in the sense that outsiders could not look beyond these curtains. [according to several opinions (both in Eyruvin 2 and in Zevachim) the measurement given here for the height of the curtains, i.e. 5 cubits, refers only to the height over and above the height of the copper altar, which itself was 10 cubits, so that the overall height of these curtains was 15 cubits. Ed.]

ורוחב חמישים בחמישים, how so? The overall length of the courtyard was 100 cubits stretching from east to west, both to the north and the south of the Tabernacle itself. The courtyard was 50 cubits wide when viewed from north to south. The Tabernacle itself was 30 cubits long and 10 cubits wide. Moses erected the Tabernacle not in the center of the courtyard but in the western half of the courtyard, so that the approach to the Tabernacle beginning with the easterly entrance to the courtyard occupied an area of 50 cubits square. The Tabernacle itself was surrounded on the other three sides by 20 cubits of free space, i.e. both to the north, the south and to the west, seeing that it was only 30 cubits long.

יתידותיו, which were tied to the curtains forming the wall of the courtyard. These pegs were driven into the ground so that the curtains would not be in constant motion, fluttering at their base due to the prevailing winds.

ואתה תצוה, whereas in 25,2 Moses had been told by G’d to raise the donations for the building of the Tabernacle with the words ויקחו לי תרומה, and that had referred to a one time contribution, now Moses is instructed of the ongoing obligation to provide oil for the Menorah in the Tabernacle. The syntax has been changed here with the introduction of the word תצוה, “you will command.” Whenever that root occurs the subject matter it addresses is one of ongoing importance, not a commandment to be carried out only once, only because of special circumstances. This principle has been spelled out by Torat Kohanim in Leviticus at the beginning of Parshat Tzav, as well as in Sifrey on Parshat Nasso section 1.

זך, free from sediments. The olives are to be crushed in a mortar for if they were to be ground in a mill the result would not be satisfactory.