What Does Exodus 20:16 Mean?

And the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your Sheep and your oxen.

In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.'" The altar instruction immediately following the Decalogue's end (verse 18) initiates the Covenant Code's practical worship legislation: after the ten complete principles, the specific altar design is the first concrete application. The "altar of earth" (mizbach adamah, an altar of ground/soil) is the simplest possible altar: natural earth mounded up, not crafted or embellished.

The contrast between the forbidden "gods of silver and gold" (elaborate, humanly crafted divine representations) and the commanded "altar of earth" (simple, natural, non-crafted worship infrastructure) is the worship theology's core distinction: elaborate human craftwork that attempts to represent the divine is forbidden; simple, natural structures dedicated to YHWH's worship are commanded. The altar should not draw attention to itself or to the worshipper's craft skill; it should point to YHWH through its simplicity and natural materials. The golden calf (chapter 32) will be the exact opposite of this altar-instruction's principle.

"In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you": the promise of YHWH's presence and blessing at any location where the earth-altar is set up and his name is called upon is the pre-tabernacle worship theology: YHWH is not restricted to one geographical location but will show up wherever his name is honored.

Deuteronomy 12 will eventually centralize worship at "the place the LORD your God will choose": the tension between the "every place" of Exodus 20:24 and the "the place" of Deuteronomy 12 is the canonical development of Israelite worship theology from decentralized (wilderness period) to centralized (monarchial period).