Heb 13:10-11 We have an altar that those who serve in the tabernacle have no right to eat from.  For the bodies of those animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp.

The main contours of the author’s argument are clear enough: the readers are not to get ‘carried away’ by ‘strange teachings’, such as those involving ritual meals.  We are nourished spiritually by God’s grace, not by the foods we eat or abstain from.  The priests who ministered at the tabernacle had a share in the food that was offered at the altar.  But, so long as they remain wedded to the shadow of former things and not the reality that has come in Christ, they cannot be nourished by his self-sacrifice.  This privilege belongs to us, to Christ’s people.

Some may have accused the readers of having no altar.  To the contrary, says our author, we do have an altar.  And it is one to which the ministers of the old covenant have no right of access.

But are we to understand ‘altar’ literally, or figuratively?

1. Literal interpretation

Some interpreters (including most Roman Catholic and Orthodox) see this as a reference to the eucharist:

‘There can be little doubt that the writer is referring to the eucharist in distinction from the sacrifices of the old covenant. It is important to take note that he refers not simply to an altar in the new dispensation but to a place where eating takes place, a sacrificial act. In the Greek text of this passage the term for altar is the normal term used to describe both Jewish and Pagan altars of sacrifice in the Septuagint, e.g. Lev 6:9 and Jud 6:25. The fact that this term is applied to the eucharist is of considerable significance. The reference to the eucharist as “a pure sacrifice” by the writer of the Didache, ch. 14, about AD 100, also underlines this fact. Ignatius of Antioch in his epistles, written about 107, also makes numerous references to the altar (the same term) and the eucharist, thus “Be careful to use one eucharist, for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup for union with his blood, one altar, as there is one bishop”.’ (Ep. Php 4:1) (C.E. Pocknee, A New Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship, art. ‘Altar’)

Similarly, but more briefly, the Orthodox Study Bible says that ‘we have an altar’ confirms the continued use of an altar in Christian worship.

2. Figurative interpretation

The ‘altar’ stands for the cross of Christ, or the self-sacrifice that he made on it.

There are many reasons why this second interpretation should be favoured.

Our author has repeatedly argued that ‘the high priesthood, sacrifices, and sanctuary of the Old Testament find their antitype and fulfilment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Here also, altar is a cultic term used in a shorthand and figurative way for the many dimensions of Christ’s death.’ (O’Brien)

‘The New Testament tends to focus all the images of sacrifice into a single composite picture of Christ and his cross-work.  He is the great high priest, the sacrificial lamb, and also (as here) the altar.  (DBI, art. ‘Altar’)

There is a marked contrast between those who serve the tabernacle and those who serve Christ.  The one involves material food; the other spiritual food (Guthrie).  To take the view that the ‘altar’ here refers to the communion table would be to substitute one material thing for another, which would undermine the argument of the entire Epistle (S.N. Gundry, EDT, art. ‘Altar’).

Hebrews repeatedly insists that Christ offered his sacrifice once for all (Heb 9:25, 26, 28; 10:9, 12, 14).  It would be entirely consistent with this emphasis to read the present reference to ‘altar’ in the same vein (Kistemaker).

There is no material altar in the new covenant.  The sacrifice was Christ’s body on the cross (College Press).

The author of Hebrews nevers mentions the eucharist, even though he had every opportunity to do so (F.F. Bruce).

Nor is there any mention in Hebrews of any sacrificial altar in the heavenly sanctuary (Allen).

The Christian’s altar is Christ.  Through him we offer our ‘spiritual sacrifices’ to God (Heb 13:15; 1 Pet 2:5). (Wiersbe)

While Hebrews insists on the once-for-allness of Christ’s sacrifice, the benefits of that sacrifice are continually available to the faithful, as they draw near to God through Christ (Heb 4:14-16; 7:25; 10:19-22).  As we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we do indeed feed on Christ in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving (Book of Common Prayer).  But this is quite different from the idea that the table from which we eat is our altar. (Peterson, TNTC)

The sacrifice we offer at this altar is ‘a sacrifice of praise’ (v15).  This takes us away from any thought of a physical altar. (John Owen)

The entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament – priesthood, sacrifice and sanctuary – find their fulfilment in the person and work of Christ.  The word ‘altar’ here is figurative shorthand for the multidimensional nature of Christ’s death.  By his one sacrifice we are both saved and sustained (O’Brien).

Christians had no religious paraphernalia – no sacred buildings, no altars, no sacrificing priest.  It was thought that they therefore had no God.  Their Jewish neighbours might well think that their worship was poverty-stricken, because it lacked these things.  But to those who accused Christians of having no altar, the reply could be given: We do have an altar, and a better one than was provided under the old dispensation.  Our altar is Christ and his sacrifice, and the benefits of these are eternally accessible (F.F. Bruce).

There is no direct connection between this passage and the eucharist.  In fact, our author does not mention the Eucharist even when he had every opportunity to do so.  For example, when speaking of Melchizedek, he might have mentioned the bread and wine, but he did not do so. (F.F. Bruce)

The Catholic Study Bible:

‘this does not refer to the Eucharist, which is never clearly mentioned in Hebrews, but to the sacrifice of Christ.’

We have an altar: not a material one, but a personal one – Christ himself.  He is both our altar and our sacrifice (Matthew Henry).

It is inconceivable that the author thought of the eucharistic table as an altar, since the only altar he knows of is in heaven.  The ‘altar’ mentioned here refers to the spiritual benefits that proceed from the death of Christ, using the imagery of the old covenant. (Howard Marshall, (New Testament Theology)

The term ‘altar’ is never connected in the New Testament with the Lord’s Supper.  Plainly, no altar was present when our Lord instituted this Supper in the upper room. (Hughes)

The term ‘altar’ was not associated with the eucharist until the second century (Lane, WBC, Allen, NAC).