Why in Leviticus 1:11, were the goats to be killed on the north side of the altar?

March 23rd 2026 | 1682 views 

There is no reason directly stated for killing the animals on the north side of the altar. However, in Psalm 48:2, the north is described as the dwelling place of God. 

The judgments of God are also said to come from the north. “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psalm 75:6,7). 

When Lucifer chose to rebel against divine authority, the Prophet Isaiah described his words. “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north” (Isaiah 14:13).

From these scriptures, we understand that the north represents the dwelling place of God. 

Regarding the symbolism, the noted Tabernacle scholar, Anton Frey, wrote the following.

We believe, therefore, that there is significance to the fact of Jehovah’s instructions to the ancient Israelitish priesthood, to kill the animals to be offered and sacrificed upon His altar “on the side of the altar northward.” (Leviticus 1:11) Of the four sides of this altar, figuratively speaking, the side northward was closest to Him. And that sacrifice which was to sanctify the antitypical altar—the ransom sacrifice of Christ Jesus—was graciously supplied by Him, Jehovah, out of His place in the north, as an expression of His LOVE for the world of mankind. (John 3:16) And thus, in obedience to and in emulation of Jehovah God, the antitypical priests serve the “altar” from the “side of the altar northward”! (Notes on the Tabernacle, page 123)

In harmony with this understanding, when individual Israelites offered the various sacrifices described in Leviticus 1-7, they were acknowledging that God had first provided the animals that they offered back to Him. For believers today, the principle is still true. What we can offer to God is only possible because He first provided something for us to offer.

Although the north side of the altar is only directly mentioned in relation to the sheep and goats, all sacrifices that were offered on the altar were also killed on the north side. When referring to other burnt offerings, sin offerings and trespass offerings, the instructions were that they should be killed in the same place. 

For example, when describing the trespass offering of a lamb, it was to be killed where burnt offerings and sin offerings were killed. “And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy.” (Leviticus 14:13) That means that each of those offerings was presented in the same location, i.e., on the north side of the altar. Earlier, in Leviticus 1:5, the bull is said to be killed “before the Lord.”  This phrase is mentioned more than 60 times in Leviticus and likely refers to the north side. 

God’s instructions for the operation of the Tabernacle were very specific. It illustrates that there is only one proper way of approaching God. Personal offerings must follow a prescribed method to be acceptable to Him.
 

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