And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood,.... Of the same wood the altar itself was made:

and overlay them with gold; as that was; these rings and staves may be an emblem of the precious ordinances of Christ, in which he grants his presence; and where he is held forth in different ages and places as the interceding high priest of his people, their advocate with the Father, pleading continually his propitiatory sacrifice in their favour.

And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

Margin shittim

i.e. acacia.

30:1-10 The altar of incense represented the Son of God in his human nature, and the incense burned thereon typified his pleading for his people. The continual intercession of Christ was represented by the daily burning of incense thereon, morning and evening. Once every year the blood of the atonement was to be applied to it, denoting that the intercession of Christ has all its virtue from his sufferings on earth, and that we need no other sacrifice or intercessor but Christ alone.