Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.
The altar stood outside the veil yet faced toward the mercy-seat within it, teaching us that though our eyes cannot see God's throne of grace, faith must direct our prayer toward it. The incense burned in a censer set upon the altar itself, so no coals or ashes defiled that holy wood and gold.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 30:1-10
Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon,.... Which had not the same, but was made of other materials, or had more or fewer; whatever was not exactly the same was not to be offered; and so to make use of other mediators than Christ, whether angels or men, or to put up prayer to God for the sake of our own righteousness, pleading the merits...
Ye shall offer no strange incense--that is, of a different composition from that of which the ingredients are described so minutely.