“They shall remove the ashes from the altar and spread a cloth of purple wool over it. They shall place upon it all its utensils with which they serve upon it the fire-pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of the hide of a taḥash, and place its staves” (Numbers 4:13–14). The bronze altar that stood in the Courtyard, they would remove the ashes from upon it and would spread a cloth of purple wool to separate between it and the utensils that are placed upon it.
That is what is written: “They shall remove the ashes from the altar and spread a cloth of purple wool over it.” The altar of the burnt offering, because it was not inside, they would not cover it with sky-blue wool, but rather with purple wool, because it would weave Israel from sin,24Buttress Israel against sin. as upon it they would sacrifice daily offerings each day and sin offerings, guilt offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings.
After they would cover it they would place its utensils on it, as it is written: “They shall place upon it all its utensils with which they serve [upon it].” It was taught: “A perpetual fire” (Leviticus 6:6) – even on Shabbat, even in impurity; “it shall not be extinguished” (Leviticus 6:6) – even during journeys. What would they do to it? They would overturn a pot over it, this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda.
Rabbi Shimon says: Even during the journeys they would remove the ashes from the altar, as it is stated: “They shall remove the ashes from the altar.”25Sifra, Tzav 2:10. According to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, it works out well that this pot was not mentioned with the altar utensils on the journey, as it is stated: “The fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins,” but it does not mention pots.
Why? It is because they would overturn them over the fire. According to the opinion of Rabbi Shimon, “all the utensils of the altar,” is to include the pots. According to the opinion of Rabbi Shimon, “they shall remove the ashes from the altar” works out well.
According to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, they would remove the ashes from it, they would place fire there, and then overturn the pot over it so that it would not be extinguished. Although there was a distinction between the vessels that were situated inside and the vessels standing outside regarding the cloth of sky-blue wool; however, regarding the taḥash, these and those are equal, as it is stated: “They shall spread upon it a covering of the hide of a taḥash, and place its staves.”