Exodus 27:2

His horns. That is, “its horns.” These projected from the four upper corners of the altar. The words “be of the same” indicate that the horns were part of the altar itself, not additions to it. To these horns the priest touched his finger, dipped in the blood of the sin offering (Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 8:15; 9:9; 16:18). Offerings awaiting sacrifice were sometimes bound to them (Psalm 118:27). Criminals seeking sanctuary sometimes clung to them (1 Kings 1:50, 51; 2:28). In his graphic picture of the second advent of our crucified Lord, the prophet Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:4) saw “horns coming out of his hand”; “there,” in the prints of the nails in Christ’s hand, “was the hiding of his power.”

The word qeren, “horn,” originally designated the horn of an animal (Deuteronomy 33:17). Inasmuch as an animal having horns generally uses them for attacking other animals, horns came to be symbolic of strength or power (1 Samuel 2:1, 10; Psalm 75:10; 112:9; etc.).

In this sense David referred to God as “the horn of my salvation” (2 Samuel 22:3; Psalm 18:2; Luke 1:69). The word “horn” is also symbolic of the strength and power of God’s chosen people (Psalm 148:14; Ezekiel 29:21; etc.). Thus a “horn” became symbolic of national power, and is commonly used by the prophets in this sense (Jeremiah 48:25; Daniel 8:3; 7:11; Revelation 12:3; etc.).