Did the Mishkan have a ramp?

     The parshiot describing the building of the tabernacle in Shemot 25 to 40 describe in great detail the blueprints for the tent, its accessories, furniture and its plaza.  In addition, a model of the mishkan -tabnit_was shown to Moses at Sinai to eliminate any ambiguity which might arise from textual or verbal instruction (Shemot 25:9).  So in regards to the menorah specifically it is said the Moshe was shown a model because the textual instructions would have been insufficient.

      If one looks at pictures of models of the mishkan which have been created for books on the mishkan one will note that many if not most have a ramp leading up to the bronze altar on its south side.   Yet if one reads the entire pericope on the mishkan in sefer Shemot there is no mention anywhere about a ramp or any other type of ascent.  Is it possible that in the very detailed set of instructions for the building of the mishkan there is no mention of a ramp which would be a prominent feature visible to cohen, levi and yisrael in the courtyard of the mishkan. That would indeed be a conspicuous omission.

     To ascertain the reason for this seeming omission  we must consider several factors.  Firstly we know that the altar in the second beit hamikdash had a ramp ascent to the altar.  The basic reason is the verse in Shemot (20:23) "Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed there."  The altar in the second temple was according to the Talmud 10 cubits high (about 15

feet) by 32 cubits across (49 ft).  This makes it impossible for a man to get to the top of the altar for the purpose of performing sacrifices or cleaning the ashes or setting the fires.  The altar in the mishkan was 3 cubits high ( 4 and a half feet) by 5 cubits across (7 and a half feet).  The altar in the mishkan on the other hand could be maintained by a normal sized man without an ascent on a ramp.  The dimensions of the bronze altar quoted here are  the peshat- exactly what the text prescribes. The talmud has a different interpretation of the dimensions in sefer Shemot. In Menachot 97b the height of the bronze altar of the desert tabernacle is given as 10 cubits.  This is based on Bamidbar 3:26 which groups the altar with the Tabernacle- both given a height of 10 cubits.  The analogy is tenuous because the verse talks of the hangings of the courtyard which are only 5 cubits (Shemot 38:18) and in any event is interpretive   Certainly this height goes against the plain meaning of the text.  The Mekhilta also notes that there is a ramp for ascending the bronze altar of the tabernacle.(Yitro   DebeHodesh 11)

    So it seems that if you interpret the height of the altar to be 10 cubits, you must of necessity conceive that a ramp would be necessary to reach that height.