You shall make pots for it is literally “And you [singular] shall make its pots.” The word for pots may also mean “pans” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) or “pails” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). It refers to a large container with a wide mouth. To receive its ashes translates one word that means “to clean fatty ashes from it.” The noun form of the word refers to fat, so the ashes refers to the “greasy ashes” (Good News Translation), or “hot ashes” (Contemporary English Version) that were left after the animal sacrifice was burned.

The shovels were “scrapers” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) used for cleaning the altar. The basins were “bowls” (Good News Translation) similar to those mentioned in 24.6, but the word here is related to the act of tossing or sprinkling. They were evidently used for splashing liquid, so New Jerusalem Bible has “sprinkling basins,” Revised English Bible “tossing-bowls,” and New International Version, Contemporary English Version “sprinkling bowls.”

The forks were large “pronged-forks” (Durham) or “flesh hooks” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) that were used in turning the flesh of the animal as it was being burned on the altar. They probably had three prongs, as indicated in 1Sam 2.13. In some languages this instrument may be described as “large metal forks [or, instruments] with three sharp points [or, prongs].” The firepans were buckets or trays for carrying burning coals or hot ashes. The same word is used in 25.38 for “trays” for the lampstand. One may also express these as “containers for carrying away the hot ashes.”

All its utensils refers to all the tools and “equipment” (Good News Translation) for the altar. You shall make of bronze makes clear that none of the items mentioned were to be made from pottery, but rather from bronze. Note that bronze is the metal for the altar outside the tabernacle, while gold is specified for the incense altar that was to be placed inside the tabernacle. It is possible to restructure this verse as follows:

• Have them make all the equipment for the altar out of bronze: the pans for holding the hot ashes, the scrapers for cleaning the altar, the bowls for sprinkling [liquid], the three-pronged forks, and the pans for carrying away hot ashes.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .