What was the copper Michbar? What purpose did it serve?
Rashi: It was an ornamental netting that surrounded the Mizbe'ach underneath the Karkov; 1 the top of the network served as the halfway mark, 2 and it was on it that the four rings that housed the staves were fixed.
Rashbam and Targum Yonasan: It was a netting 3 that caught any limbs that fell off the Mizbe'ach, which the Kohanim would retrieve and re-place on the Mizbe'ach.
Rashi (in Pasuk #1) writes that one opinion holds that the Mizbe'ach was ten Amos tall, bearing in mind that the rings for the staves were fitted on the Michbar, five Amos from the ground, how did the Levi'im carry it?
Shabbos (92a): The Levi'im were all ten Amos tall. 1
Rashi (in Shabbos, Ibid.): Even if the Levi'im were only seven Amos tall or so, they would have been able to carry it without any problem.
The Torah states that the rings that housed the staves to carry the Mizbe'ach were on the Reshes, which was up to half the Mizbe'ach's height (Pasuk 5). But the Gemara in Shabbos, 92a states that when people carry on staves, a third of the load is above their shoulders and B'nei K'has carried the Mizbe'ach on [staves on] their shoulders - Bamidbar 4:13,15, 7:9)?
Moshav Zekenim (25:12): The rings had a large gap. 1 The top of the gap was at two thirds of the Mizbe'ach's height, so only this amount was carried above their shoulders.
Da'as Zekenim: The Gemara proved that it was carried at least 10 Tefachim above the ground if it was carried normally, and all the more so it was above 10 since the rings were in the middle!
Rashi says that the Reshes was an Amah wide. According to the opinion that the Mizbe'ach was three Amos tall, two thirds of its height was a half Amah above the middle, in the middle of the rings were attached towards the top of the Reshes, which was until half the Mizbe'ach's Moshav Zekenim (25:12) said that it is normal to carry a third - of the weight, above the shoulder. Perhaps the bottom half of the Mizbe'ach contained two thirds of the weight. 2 (PF).
Da'as Zekenim: If not that people normally carry a third above the staves, one could have said that the rings had a large gap, and the bottom of the Mizbe'ach was within ten Tefachim of the ground.
Even though the base of the Mizbe'ach was wider (five Amos, with the Yesod) than the rest of the Mizbe'ach (three), this calculation would require that it was denser on bottom than on top, in order to we would not Amos tall, this is very reasonable. The total area of the side walls, excluding and corners, was thirty-eight [square Amos]; eighteen of which were above the rings, and eighteen below. The area of the base was twenty-five side walls, excluding the base and corners, and , even though the bottom of the Mizbe'ach with the Yesod was five Amos wife, and above this it was only three Amos wide, was
