In the Old Testament, building an altar marked a new dedication to God or a new experience of God’s presence and leading.1 There are several occasions on which altars were built by God’s people (Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:4; Genesis 22:9; Genesis 26:25; Genesis 33:20; Genesis 35:1, Genesis 35:7; Exodus 17:5). Abraham built an altar to Yahweh immediately after entering the land for the first time (Genesis 12:7). Joshua likewise built an altar to Yahweh after entering the land following the exodus (Joshua 8:30–31). Altars were also erected upon the first entry into the land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 27:1–8). The building of an altar in the present context was a way of thanking the Lord for restoring them to the land but also a way of showing their claim upon the city of Jerusalem and the land of Judah.
2 Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.