The Torah contains a dramatic command about a murderer who has taken refuge at the altar: "From My very altar shall you take him to die" (Exodus 21:14). Even the holiest place in the Tabernacle cannot protect a deliberate killer. God's altar offers no sanctuary for murder.
But the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael reads this verse with surgical precision. The Torah says "to die" — and the rabbis insist that this phrase limits the scope of the command. A priest may be dragged from the altar to face execution for murder. But he may not be removed from the altar for lesser legal proceedings.
Specifically, the Mekhilta identifies three categories where the altar's protection holds firm. A priest cannot be pulled from the altar to be judged in a monetary dispute. He cannot be removed to receive lashes. And he cannot be taken away to be sent into exile. In all of these lesser cases, the priest continues his sacred service undisturbed.
The principle goes even further. In these non-capital situations, the priest is not merely allowed to finish his current task — he is not prevented even from beginning to sacrifice. He may start a new offering while the court waits. The altar's sanctity overrides the claims of civil and criminal proceedings short of murder.
This teaching establishes a remarkable hierarchy. The altar is not above all law — a murderer finds no refuge there. But it is above most law. The sacred service takes precedence over monetary claims, corporal punishment, and exile. Only the ultimate crime — the taking of human life — can breach the altar's protection.