Tamid, Chapter 4, Mishnah 1. Until now the masechet has followed the kohanim through the pre dawn work of the Beit Hamikdash: the lottery, the clearing of the ashes, the arranging of the wood, the inspection of the lamb. Now the chapter turns to the korban tamid itself: how the lamb was bound, where it was slaughtered, and how its blood was placed upon the mizbeiach that stood in the open courtyard.
The Manner of Binding
The mishnah's first words describe what the kohanim avoided: "lo hayu kotfin," they did not fasten the animal in the ordinary way, tying the pair of front legs to each other and the pair of rear legs to each other. Their practice was rather "me'akdin oto," binding it as Yitzchak was bound at the akeidah: the right front leg joined with the right rear leg, and the left front with the left rear, each flank tied to itself.
Why insist on this particular knot? Because the nations who served avodah zarah would bind their animals in the other fashion, front legs together and hind legs together. To keep the service of Hashem visibly distinct from the practices of the idolaters, the kohanim bound the tamid in the way that recalled the binding of Yitzchak on the mountain.
"Mi shezachu ba'eivarim": those kohanim to whom the lottery had awarded the carrying of the limbs up the ramp. Their assignment began already at this stage, for the mishnah adds "ochazim bo": they took hold of the animal and kept it firm, so that it would not twist or lurch while the shechitah was being performed.
Where the Lamb Was Placed
"Vechach hayta akeidato": such was the manner of its binding. So bound, the lamb was brought to the place of shechitah, the section of the courtyard lying north of the mizbeiach. The mishnah fixes its position: "rosho ledarom," the head pointed southward, toward the mizbeiach itself. That left the animal's rear turned northward, away from the mizbeiach, so that any waste it might pass would bring no dishonor upon the mizbeiach. Its face, however, was directed westward, "ufanav lema'arav." As for the kohen who slaughtered, the mishnah stations him "bamizrach," on the animal's eastern side, looking west as he did his work.
The Twenty Four Rings
Set into the pavement of the courtyard, in that same northern section beside the mizbeiach, were twenty four rings of metal. Each one served to hold an animal fast during shechitah: the ring was lifted open, the neck of the beast was lowered into it, and the ring was shut again over the neck, keeping the animal in place while the kohen slaughtered.
Which of those rings belonged to the tamid? For the morning lamb, "shel shachar," the mishnah designates the "keren tzafonit ma'aravit": the shechitah took place opposite the northwestern corner of the mizbeiach, at the second of the rings as one counts away from the mizbeiach.
The reason lies in the sunlight. The Torah says of the tamid, "Shenayim layom olah tamid," two each day. The word "yom" indicates daytime, and daytime means the light of the sun. This particular ring stood in direct sunlight at that hour throughout every season of the year, and so it was always the place of the tamid shel shachar.
The afternoon lamb, "shel bein ha'arbayim," had a place of its own: the mishnah assigns it the "keren mizrachit tzafonit," the northeastern corner, and there too the second ring. That spot could be relied upon to lie in the sun at the hour when the second tamid was offered, and so it became the fixed station for the afternoon lamb.
Receiving and Applying the Blood
"Shachat hashocheit vekibeil hamkabeil": the shechitah completed, a second kohen, appointed for this task, received the blood as it flowed, gathering it into a vessel. Bearing the vessel, he made his way to the mizbeiach, to its northeastern corner, "keren mizrachit tzafonit." There he placed the blood, "mizracha tzafona," upon the corner in such a way that part of it reached the eastern face and part of it the northern face.
From there he moved to the opposite corner, the "ma'aravit deromit" in the southwest, and did the same again, "ma'arava daroma," part of the blood striking the western face and part the southern. With these two applications at the two diagonal corners, all four sides of the mizbeiach had received the blood.
"Sheyarei hadam": the blood still left in the vessel he poured out upon the yesod on the southern side, the base of the mizbeiach. A channel opened there, running down through the yesod and discharging into the water that ran through the chatzer, and that current bore the blood away and out of the Beit Hamikdash.