עֲשָׂרָה נִסִּים נַעֲשׂוּ לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְּבֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ. לֹא הִפִּילָה אִשָּׁה מֵרֵיחַ בְּשַׂר הַקֹּדֶשׁ, וְלֹא הִסְרִיחַ בְּשַׂר הַקֹּדֶשׁ מֵעוֹלָם, וְלֹא נִרְאָה זְבוּב בְּבֵית הַמִּטְבָּחַיִם, וְלֹא אֵרַע קֶרִי לְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, וְלֹא כִבּוּ גְשָׁמִים אֵשׁ שֶׁל עֲצֵי הַמַּעֲרָכָה, וְלֹא נָצְחָה הָרוּחַ אֶת עַמּוּד הֶעָשָׁן, וְלֹא נִמְצָא פְסוּל בָּעֹמֶר וּבִשְׁתֵּי הַלֶּחֶם וּבְלֶחֶם הַפָּנִים, עוֹמְדִים צְפוּפִים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים רְוָחִים, וְלֹא הִזִּיק נָחָשׁ וְעַקְרָב בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם מֵעוֹלָם, וְלֹא אָמַר אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ צַר לִי הַמָּקוֹם שֶׁאָלִין בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם:
Ten miracles were performed for our fathers in the Temple: No woman ever miscarried because of the smell of the sacrifices; the flesh of the offerings never putrefied; a fly was never seen in the slaughterhouse; the high-priest never had a seminal emission on Yom Kippur. [Because it is a tumah that issues from his body, it is more repugnant than other types]; a rain never put out the fire on the wood pile, [even though the altar was exposed], the wind never stirred the smoke column from its place [that it not rise in a column]; a psul [a disqualifying defect] was never found in the Omer [offering], the two loaves, or the show-bread. [For if a psul were found before the (prescribed time of) their mitzvah, it was not possible to offer others in their stead. For the omer was harvested at night, and they did not harvest much; and the two loaves were baked on the eve of yom tov, and their baking does not override yom tov. And, similarly, the show-bread was baked on the eve of Sabbath]; they stood in constriction (tzfufuim) [as in "tzaf (floating) on the face of the waters." There were so many of them that they were pressed against each other to the point that their feet left the ground and they "floated" in the air] and they bowed in expansion. [When they bowed a miracle was performed for them and they bowed in (ample) room, each one four ells removed from his neighbor, so that one not hear the other when he confessed his sins]; and a snake or a scorpion never harmed anyone in Jerusalem, and no one ever said to his neighbor "Jerusalem is 'too tight' for me to live in." [because the place afforded them a livelihood, and there was no need for anyone to leave and say "Things are 'too tight' for me and I cannot live in Jerusalem." Some editions have "to sleep over" (instead of "to live in"), the reference being to the festival pilgrims, none of them finding it too difficult to sleep over in Jerusalem because of lack of space (see Yoma 21b)].
Bartenura
Rabbeinu Bahya
A great miracle occurred on a regular basis on this altar. Although the fire on the altar burned around the clock, neither the wooden boards nor the copper overlay burned or melted. This was also one of the miracles mentioned in Avot 5,5 that even when it used to rain the fire on the altar where the wood was stacked would not be extinguished by the rain. It (the altar during the period when the Temples were standing) was standing in the area called עזרה, an enclosure without a roof, corresponding to the courtyard mentioned in connection with the Tabernacle.
In Tanchuma Terumah 11 we find the following comment:. Moses was afraid that the fire might burn the wood of the altar. G’d reassured him, saying: “why are you afraid Moses? Who ordered fire to burn? You should learn from your own experience. When you came up to the mountain and you entered the ערפל, and you walked between rows of fire you did not get burned. Moreover, you entered My domain, and I Myself Am consuming fire (Deut. 4,24) and you remained unscathed. Similarly, the altar’s boards and covering will not be burned either.” If someone were to say that the copper overlay over the boards of the altar was so thick that no miracle was required to protect it form melting, Rabbi Nechemyah said that it was no thicker than the coin called a דינר. Rabbi Pinchas, son of Bar Chama, said that the altar constructed by Moses (Betzalel) was more beloved by G’d than that constructed for Solomon’s Temple even though Solomon’s altar was much larger, seeing that we read in Kings I 3,4 that Solomon’s altar could accommodate 1.000 burnt offerings (presumably at one time).