Chabad.org — English translation + Rashi
Torah Temimah points to Yoma 58b.
E-Daf.com — Yoma 58b
HebrewBooks / Shas PDF
English: Rabbi Nechemiah said: to teach you that the altar is before Hashem and the kohen is not before Hashem — he stands outside the altar and sprinkles.
Position relative to the inner altar — the kohen stands outside the incense altar and applies blood to its horns.
The kohen stands outside the incense altar and applies blood to its horns. Rabbi Nechemiah reads the verse as teaching that the altar itself is “before Hashem,” while the kohen remains outside that immediate zone. The blood is therefore applied from a position exterior to the altar rather than from a stance that would place the kohen “before Hashem” in the same sense as the altar.