Has the writer in Hebrews 9:4 placed the golden altar of incense on the wrong side of the veil?

This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 1998.

In answer to your question, I take the liberty of quoting from my book on Hebrews, An Unshakeable Kingdom, page 169, footnote 1:¹

In v. 4, when he says that the Most Holy Place 'had' the golden altar of incense, he does not mean that the golden altar stood inside the Most Holy Place. This altar 'belonged to' the innermost sanctuary (see 1 Kings 6:22, NIV) because in function it was closely tied to the ark. When a priest prayed at the golden altar he faced and addressed the God who sat enthroned between the cherubim above the ark. There had to be a veil between the priest and God; but the two vessels were functionally tied together. It was in that sense that the Most Holy Place 'had' an altar of incense, even though that altar stood outside the Most Holy Place. So we can say of a modern office complex, 'The managing director\'s private office has a waiting room', without meaning to imply that the waiting-room is actually inside his private office.

Yours very sincerely in Christ,

¹ See chapter 10 of An Unshakeable Kingdom.