Numbers 16 – What was used on the altar as a reminder of their rebellion? 2023

Num 16:38
"As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the LORD and they are holy; and they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel."

The censers of the 250 men were to be gathered up, hammered into plates, and used as a covering for the altar. That way all the people could see it as a reminder of this instance and of the consequences of rebellion..

Num 16:39
So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered; and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar,

Num 16:40
as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the LORD; that he might not become like Korah and his company-- just as the LORD had spoken to him through Moses.

This is to be a strong reminder to the people. No one who is not a descendant of Aaron should come near to offer incense before Elohim. However, this warning was not always heeded (2 Chron. 26:18-20).