And this is the thing which thou shalt do to them to hallow them, that they may serve me as priests take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish,
God has just described the tabernacle and the priestly garments. Now He turns to the men who will wear them. The chapter opens with one bull and two rams. Everything that follows rests on them, which raises the question of why service to God starts with a sacrifice.
The verse tells Moses what to do to them. The office came from God's side, not theirs.
This privilege had not been earned by Aaron and by his sons. It was conferred on them by pure grace. Hebrews 5:4 says plainly that "no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was". So the privilege of priestly status and service comes by divine appointment.
The verse ends by giving the reason for all the detail that follows: "that they may serve me as priests."
The main aim of everything that comes out in this chapter is given to us in the very first verse. God Himself here tells us that the great end in view in consecration is service in the sanctuary. "That they may serve me" expresses this. Here in type we have a company set apart in holy conditions and filled with what speaks of Christ. The purpose is that they may minister to God out of that fulness, for the delight and satisfaction of His heart of love… We believe it is important to present Christ to sinners. More important to present Christ to the saints. Most important to present Christ to God.
God stops describing the sanctuary, deals with Aaron, then returns to the vessels. That looks odd until you ask what the priesthood was for.
No doubt, at a quick glance, it seems strange. In the middle of describing the parts of the sanctuary, the account breaks off to bring in the consecration of Aaron and his sons. But suppose two separate objects stand behind these types: first, God showing Himself to man; and second, man in consequence drawing near to God. Then the way of it all is clear. The priesthood was plainly that group of people who had the privilege and the duty of going into the sanctuary on behalf of the people.
The three animals are not interchangeable. Each has its own use later in the chapter.
Consecrating the priests — that is, putting them into their priestly office — involved much detail. First, because it is most important, Moses was to take one young bull and two rams, all without blemish (v. 1)… These things emphasise what is basic to priesthood. All of them are presented to God as offerings, though we only see the animals actually sacrificed in verses 10 and 11. The bull was for a sin offering (v. 14), one ram was for a burnt offering (v. 18) and the other ram was for a peace offering (v. 28). All these are typical of the sacrifice of Christ in three distinct aspects.
The offering also includes a basket of unleavened bread, carried in with the animals.
Everything in that basket is brought along with the bull and the two rams, so we must not separate His life from His death. Many try to do this today, but we must always remember that the one completes the other. He was who He was, and He was what He was in all His sinless perfection. Without that, His death could never have availed either for the glory of God or the blessing of man. It was His perfect Manhood and spotless Life that gave His death all its power.
The word "consecrate" has a picture behind it.
The word "consecrate" here means to fill their hands. (See 29:9, margin.) Aaron and his sons were a company whose hands were filled with the excellencies of Christ, and who entered into the delight of God in Him. The sweet savour of Christ to God filled their hands.
Some steps in the ceremony take Aaron alone. Others take him with his sons.
In the setting apart of the priestly family, notice the following points. First, they were all washed in the water, Aaron and his sons… Then Aaron is clothed, just as Christ appears before God for us in His priestly character. Then the high priest alone was anointed. In the same way Christ could be, and was, sealed by God the Father without blood. The Spirit attested both the absolute purity of His person and the truth of His Sonship as man… Grace binds us with Christ as Aaron with his sons.
- Called. No one takes the honour of priesthood for himself. God appoints; Aaron never earned it.
- Cleansed. Water comes first: Aaron and his sons are all washed, and then Aaron is clothed to appear before God.
- Covered. One bull and two rams open the chapter. Sin offering, burnt offering and peace offering — three aspects of the one sacrifice of Christ.
- Filled. "Consecrate" means to have the hands filled; the priest's hands hold what God delights in.
- Serving. Every step aims at one stated goal: that they may serve Him. Priesthood ends in the sanctuary, presenting Christ to God.
and unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil -- of wheaten flour shalt thou make them.
Exodus 29 begins the ceremony that made Aaron and his sons priests, and verse 2 lists the bread they brought with the animals. Three kinds of bread, all unleavened, all of fine wheat flour — why does a ceremony so full of blood also need a basket of bread?
The bread of verse 2 is a grain offering; older translations call it the "meat offering." No animal is killed in it, and nothing in it could atone. Yet the basket had to come with the bull and the two rams. One writer sees everything brought that day, animals and bread alike, speaking of one Person:
All of this was needed for their proper installation into the priesthood. All of it spoke of Him who is God's High Priest — whether of His death, or of His life here below.
The verse says "unleavened" three times. Leaven stands for evil, so its absence says something about a life with no evil in it at all:
There has been only one untainted sheaf of human fruit — only one perfectly unleavened grain offering. In all His springs of thought, affection, desire and imagination there was not so much as a particle of leaven. He was the sinless, spotless, perfect Man. In the grain offering, sin is not in question. It is not the type of a sin-bearer. It is the type of a real, perfect, unblemished Man — conceived and anointed by the Holy Spirit, with an unleavened nature, living an unleavened life down here.
The verse names the material too: fine wheat flour. Why does the quality of the flour matter?
The "fine flour" was the finest part of wheat flour (Ex. 29:2). The Spirit chose it to describe the One in whom every element of the moral glory of Jesus as a man was blended perfectly. Nothing in Him was out of proportion; all was perfectly even in character and expression.
The verse separates cakes mixed with oil from wafers smeared with oil — older translations say "anointed." Oil stands for the Spirit of God, and the two ways of using it point to two different moments:
These were not blood sacrifices, so they were always offered together with an animal sacrifice. But they speak of the purity of Christ's person in lowly Manhood. Being mixed with oil symbolizes the Spirit of God permeating Him in all His life (Luke 1:35). The wafers anointed with oil speak of His anointing by the Holy Spirit when John baptized Him (Matt. 3:13-16), at the beginning of His public service. So the perfection of His person and the great value of His sacrificial work are bound up with His own High Priesthood. They are bound up with the priesthood of all believers as well.
One writer reads off what each item in that basket stands for, then draws a warning:
"Unleavened bread" — His sinless, spotless manhood. "Mixed with oil" — His body conceived by the Holy Spirit. "Anointed with oil" — His public anointing by the Holy Spirit on the banks of the Jordan. "Wheaten flour" — the second Man out of heaven. These were all to be put in one basket. We must hold all of this together in our minds when we think of Him in His life and testimony in this world: His sinless perfection, His conception by the Spirit, His public anointing and His heavenly origin. Everything in that basket comes along with the bull and the two rams, so we must not separate His life from His death. Many try to do this today, but we must always remember that each one completes the other. Had He not been who He was, and what He was in all His sinless perfection, His death could never have availed either for the glory of God or the blessing of man.
Later in the chapter Moses puts this same bread into the hands of Aaron and his sons:
Their hands were filled with Christ. The unleavened bread (the grain offering) showed Christ in the devotedness of His life. The burnt offering testified of Christ in His devotedness unto death. The meaning of "to consecrate" is "to fill the hand." So Aaron and his sons were consecrated by having their hands filled, in figure, with Christ — with Him as the only acceptable offering they could bring before the Lord.
- Bread. A grain offering with no blood, yet needed at the consecration — the life of Christ set beside His death.
- Unleavened. Leaven pictures evil; its threefold absence marks out a nature and a life with no trace of sin in it.
- Fine flour. The finest, evenest part of the wheat — every quality in Him balanced, nothing out of proportion, and the Man Himself from heaven.
- Oil. Mixed in speaks of the Spirit permeating His humanity from His conception; smeared on speaks of His public anointing at His baptism.
- One basket. All of it goes with the sacrificed animals — life and death held in balance — and all of it fills the priests' hands. To be consecrated is to have your hands full of Christ.
And thou shalt put them into one basket, and present them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams.
Exodus 29 gives God's instructions for making Aaron and his sons priests. Verse 3 gathers the whole provision into one act: the bread goes into a single basket, and the basket travels with the animals. Why one basket? What is in it? And why does the bread never go in alone?
Verse 3 belongs to a list of items that must all arrive together in God's presence.
First, and most important, Moses was to take one young bull and two rams, all without blemish (v. 1). He was also to put unleavened bread, cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, all made of wheat flour, into one basket, and to present them with the bull and the rams. These things show what is basic to priesthood, since all of them are presented to God as offerings... The bull was for a sin offering (v. 14), one ram was for a burnt offering (v. 18) and the other ram was for a peace offering (v. 28). All these picture the sacrifice of Christ in three distinct aspects.
Nothing in this procession is decoration.
All of this was needed to install them properly as priests, and all of it spoke of Him who is God's High Priest — either of His death, or of His life here on earth.
Each detail of the bread carries meaning: no leaven, mixed with oil, brushed with oil, made of wheat flour. Each one stands for a feature of the Lord Jesus in His life on earth. One basket holds them together.
"Unleavened bread" is His sinless, spotless manhood. "Mixed with oil" is His body conceived by the Holy Spirit. "Anointed with oil" is His public anointing by the Holy Spirit at the Jordan River. "Wheat flour" is the second Man out of heaven. These were all to be put in one basket. We must hold all four together in our minds — His sinless perfection, His conception by the Spirit, His public anointing, and His heavenly origin — when we think of His life and witness in this world.
The basket does not go in alone. The bull and the two rams go with it, and that pairing carries a warning.
Everything in that basket is brought in along with the bull and the two rams, so we must not separate His life from His death. Many try to do this today, but we must always remember that each one completes the other. If He had not been who He was, and if He had not been what He was in all His sinless perfection, His death could never have been of any value, either for the glory of God or for the blessing of man.
This pattern is not unique to Exodus 29. The grain offering has a fixed place in the whole system of sacrifice.
We never read of a grain offering being offered alone. It always came with the burnt offering or the peace offering. This was not a blood sacrifice, and in approaching God a blood sacrifice was essential. The grain offering says nothing about the blood shedding of the Lord Jesus. It speaks of the perfection of His humanity shown in His life on earth. In that sense His whole life was an offering to God, but it could not make atonement for man's sin.
Later in the chapter this bread goes into the hands of Aaron and his sons. That moment explains why it was carried in at all.
Different parts of the ram of consecration, along with oiled bread and a wafer of unleavened bread, were put into the hands of Aaron and his sons, and waved as a wave offering before the Lord. Their hands were filled with Christ... The meaning of "to consecrate" is to "fill the hand". So Aaron and his sons were consecrated by having their hands filled, in picture, with Christ — with Him as the only acceptable offering they could bring before the Lord.
The chapter also names the goal that all this provision serves.
God Himself tells us in the very first verse that the great aim of consecration is service in the sanctuary. "That they may serve me" expresses this. Here we have a picture: a company set apart in holy conditions, filled with what speaks of Christ. They are to minister to God out of this fulness, for the delight and satisfaction of His heart of love... We believe it is important to present Christ to sinners. More important to present Christ to the saints. Most important to present Christ to God.
- One basket. The unleavened bread, the oiled cakes and the anointed wafers go into one container. They are separate details of one perfect life, and we must never pull them apart.
- One journey. The basket goes in with the bull and the two rams. The life of Christ and the death of Christ arrive before God together.
- One rule. The grain offering never goes in on its own. Coming to God required a blood sacrifice, and a spotless life could not atone by itself.
- One purpose. What comes in the basket later fills the priests' hands — and "to consecrate" means to fill the hand.
- One end. Filled hands are for service: bringing that fulness back to God for His own delight.
And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring near the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shalt bathe them with water.
Exodus 29 opens the instructions for making Aaron and his sons priests, and the first act is not a sacrifice or a robe but a bath. Why does approach to God start with a washing, and why does someone else do it for them?
The whole ceremony only makes sense once you see what priests were for.
What was the purpose of the priesthood? Clearly it was for drawing near to God... Without question, the priesthood consisted of the people who had the privilege and duty of going into the sanctuary on behalf of the people.
The water carries a meaning that Scripture spells out elsewhere.
The first part of the process was washing them with water, at the door of the tent of meeting (v. 4). This action is very significant, as water is a symbol of the word of God, as for example in John 3:5; Ephesians 5:26. So this pictures the new birth, or being set apart by the Word, and so set apart for the service of God. Our Lord prayed like this: "For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth" (John 17:19).
Blood cleanses too, and the two are not the same.
This bath is distinct from our cleansing by blood (1 John 1:9). For the blood cleanses in God's eyes from the guilt of our sins, while the bath in the water is the new birth which cleanses away moral defilement. It is the Word of God applied to our souls which does this.
Aaron went into the same water as his sons. Commentators differ on what that means. Some see it as an admission about Aaron himself:
Aaron was washed with water like his sons because he was a sinner. It made him, as a picture, what Christ is in Himself: holy.
Others read the same detail as a picture of Christ joining Himself to His people:
We know this cleansing has nothing to do with Christ's own person. But Aaron's bath pictured Christ identifying Himself with His own when they were washed. This is wonderful grace.
There are two washings here, and Jesus takes up both.
On the day Aaron and his sons were set apart as priests they were washed with water (Lev. 8:6), and later they were sprinkled with blood (Lev. 8:23). This washing was never repeated. Yet at the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar they washed their hands and their feet whenever they went into the tent and came near to the altar. ... Jesus says to Peter, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean." He declares that this first washing with water never needs to be repeated. It belongs to the giving of a new life and nature by the Spirit, and in that alone there is true cleansing. Second, there is the constant need to apply the water to our ways. In such a world we are easily defiled and made unfit to enjoy the presence of the Son with the Father.
Because the washing came first, it decided who could stand there at all.
Aaron and his sons were washed with water on the day of their consecration (v. 4). Only those who have been born again "of water and the Spirit" (John 3:5) can be part of the priestly family.
Dennett presses this into a question about who may appoint priests.
Priests cannot be made by man... Priests can only be made by God, and everyone who is born again, cleansed by the precious blood of Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit is a priest.
The location of the washing points forward. Hebrews picks up both halves of the ceremony, the sprinkled blood and the washing water.
This work was done "at the entrance of the tent of meeting." That suggests it looks ahead to going in to God in the place where He dwells. Hebrews 10:22 takes up "wash them with water" as well, right after the call to us to draw near with confidence into the holiest. Both sprinkling and washing are named there, and this twofold work gives us boldness to enter. The heart "sprinkled clean from an evil conscience" gives us full assurance of faith. The body "washed with pure water" gives us a true heart.
- Purpose — The priesthood existed for drawing near to God on behalf of the people. Every step of setting them apart serves that one end.
- Washing — The first step is water. It pictures the Word and the new birth, which cleanses moral defilement as blood cleanses guilt. No one serves as a priest without it.
- Done to them — Someone else washed them; they did not wash themselves. Aaron went into the same water as his sons. Commentators read that either as his own need as a sinner or as Christ identifying with His own.
- Once — The bath was never repeated. Afterwards only the feet needed washing, because the world still defiles us.
- Entry — Washed at the doorway, the priest could go in. Hebrews applies both the sprinkling and the washing to us. So we may draw near with a true heart and full assurance.
And thou shalt take the garments, and clothe Aaron with the vest, and the cloak of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and shalt gird him with the girdle of the ephod.
Moses has washed Aaron at the tent door. Now he dresses him piece by piece in garments God Himself designed. Commentators read the robing two ways: it puts Aaron into his office, and each garment pictures who Christ is as Priest.
This is not a costume change. The robing puts Aaron into an office, and the clothes themselves say something about it:
The clothing of Aaron is the first step in his installation in his office. The garments are "for glory and for beauty." How beautiful Christ is in this place as mediator! How glorious He has made a place of service!
Notice who does the dressing. Aaron stands still while Moses robes him. That matches how he got the office in the first place:
This privilege had not been earned by Aaron and by his sons. It was conferred on them by pure grace. Hebrews 5:4 says plainly that "no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was". So the privilege of priestly status and service comes by divine appointment.
The sons are not dressed yet. Writers treat that gap as deliberate. Aaron alone means one thing; Aaron with his sons means another:
Aaron now stands apart from his sons for the next action. He alone is robed and anointed. First come the priestly garments described in the last chapter — the garments for glory and beauty... when Aaron is alone he stands before us as a type of Christ; but when he is in company with his sons, the Church is shown as the priestly family.
The list runs from the inside out. What the verse leaves unsaid matters too:
Aaron was then clothed before his sons. The tunic was first put on, though we do not read of the trousers at this time. Yet the trousers must have been there too, for without these they could not minister in the tabernacle (Ex. 28:42-43). Next came the robe of the ephod, the ephod with the breastplate, and the band (or belt) of the ephod. Last of all came the turban with the golden plate, or "crown."
That first layer is plain white. Writers read its place against the body as part of its message:
To be dressed, Aaron first had to put on the coat and tie on a sash. Both were white linen. As the innermost garment, it surely shows the spotless purity of the One Aaron pictured. Over the white linen coat came the robe, whose colour was blue.
The ephod is the priestly garment above all others. One writer sets its materials beside those of the veil, the tabernacle curtain woven with cherubim — figures of angels:
The ephod was the priestly garment above all others. It was made of the same things as the veil. The difference was that the veil had no gold in it, and it did have cherubim... The ephod had gold but no cherubim, because the priest must have divine righteousness, yet he was not in the place of rule and government... The ephod also signified the essential purity and the graces of Christ. The girdle was of the same materials as the ephod to which it belonged.
The band around the ephod was made of the same materials as the ephod itself. One writer finds the wonder in the gap between those materials and what the band stands for:
The girdle is the emblem of service; compare Luke 12:37; 17:8. The gold, purple and so on show the Deity and royalty of our Lord Jesus. So the thought is overwhelming: that such a One could make Himself the servant of His people. Yet it is true, so wonderful is His grace... He ministers on our behalf in the heavenly sanctuary during our earthly pilgrimage.
The breastpiece — the breastplate in these writers' translation — carried the names of Israel's twelve tribes. Aaron bore those names in two places at once, and carried Israel's judgment with them:
On the ephod's shoulder-pieces were the two onyx or beryl stones, engraved with the names of the children of Israel, six on each. All were carried before Jehovah as a memorial... The breastplate of judgment was on his heart as a memorial always, with the still more precious token of twelve stones of rare value, each one bearing the name of one of Israel's sons; and there Moses put the Urim and the Thummim — the lights and the perfections — for Aaron's approach to Jehovah, so that he might bear their judgment on his heart before Jehovah always.
after_note: DISCUSS
- Called — no one takes the priesthood for himself. Moses dresses Aaron, because the office came by God's appointment and pure grace.
- Clothed — the robing is the installation. The garments are "for glory and for beauty," so the office opens with a display of who the Priest is.
- Covered — the innermost coat is white linen, worn against the body. It speaks of the spotless purity of the One Aaron pictures. The blue robe goes over it.
- Girded — the woven band is made of the same materials as the ephod, and it is the sign of service. The glorious One ministers for His people in the heavenly sanctuary.
- Carried — the breastpiece and shoulder stones bear every tribe's name before God always, on the Priest's shoulders and on His heart.
And thou shalt put the turban upon his head, and fasten the holy diadem to the turban,
The consecration of Aaron ends at his head. The turban goes on first, then the narrow band of gold above it. Older translations call the turban a "mitre" and the band "the holy crown." Both raise one question: why crown a priest at all?
One writer counts the golden band as the eighth of the garments made "for glory and for beauty", and looks at what it carried:
The holy crown was the small band of gold worn above the cap and over the forehead. It was the eighth of the garments of glory and beauty. It went on last, and indeed the crown always goes on last upon the wearer's head. All the other robes lead up to the crown. The high priest's crown was remarkable for its simplicity. It was a narrow band of gold. Its ornament was not jewels or feathers, but a few plain words: "Holiness to Jehovah." He appeared before the people as Jehovah's representative, and before Jehovah as Israel's representative. Either way, there always shone over his brow an ornament and glory more precious than jewels or earth's costliest gifts — words of God.
The verse names two separate items. A Bible dictionary describes each one, and what they pictured:
The head-dress of the high priest. It was made of fine linen. A blue cord fastened "the plate of the holy crown of pure gold" to it. The plate carried the engraved words "Holiness to the Lord." This plate came across the forehead. The mitre pictured how the Lord Jesus upholds purity, righteousness and holiness as the Minister of the sanctuary, or holy place.
The plate sat across Aaron's forehead, but its benefit went to other people. One writer reads it as a picture of Christ's own holiness:
The golden plate on Aaron's forehead was the type of the essential holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. "It shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord." What rest for the heart, through all the ups and downs of our experience! Our High Priest is "always" in the presence of God for us. He represents us, and we are accepted in Him. His holiness is ours.
(The ESV of Exodus 28:38 reads "regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.")
Another writer asks what God saw when He looked at the priest:
Whatever God saw in the people of Israel, He always saw holiness in the priest. This was true in the picture, of course; in himself, Aaron was no better than his fellow Israelites. The high priest was responsible for the people in the things of God — in everything to do with their worship and sacrifices. We never need the gracious help of the Lord Jesus more than when we gather for worship. We are so weak that, with the purest motives and the best intentions, we still cannot offer God perfect spiritual sacrifices.
One writer follows the words used of Aaron's garments into the Septuagint, the old Greek Old Testament, and finds them again in Hebrews:
Aaron's garments pictured the "glory and honour" that make up our Lord's present crown. They were said to be for him "for glory and beauty" (Ex. 28:2). The Septuagint uses the very same two words for "glory and beauty" that our translators rendered "glory and honour" in Heb. 2:7. So the Lord's present crown is a priest's crown or mitre, and not a king's. He has not put on His royal crown yet.
A crowned priest points forward to One who will be both priest and king:
Yet why should the high priest wear a crown? No high priest in Israel was king. We have already pointed out that the priest-king was in Jehovah's mind before He separated priest and king into two offices in Israel. The priest-king is of the order of Melchizedek. The glory of the coming Priest-King, His chief honour in His kingdom on earth, and the beauty of His crown shall all be "Holiness to Jehovah."
The order of the ceremony carries its own meaning:
Here Aaron stands alone, robed and girded. In him we see a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Great Priest over the house of God. Aaron is robed and anointed here first, before his sons are robed and before the blood is shed. Christ Himself needed no blood shed to fit Him for the presence of God. We do.
- Crowned last. The gold band goes on after every other garment; the robes of glory and beauty all lead up to it.
- Crowned with words. The ornament is not a jewel but a sentence — "Holiness to the Lord" — worn across the forehead on a cord of blue.
- Crowned for others. The priest wears the crown, and the worshippers gain by it. They are accepted through His holiness, not their own.
- Crowned as priest. Christ wears a priest's crown of glory and honour now. The royal crown is still future.
- Crowned without blood. Aaron stands crowned before any sacrifice. He pictures One already fit for God's presence.
and shalt take the anointing oil, and pour [it] on his head, and anoint him.
God tells Moses to pour the holy anointing oil over Aaron's head — and no animal has died yet. Aaron receives the oil first, alone, and without blood, and everything commentators say about this verse turns on why.
One writer sets verse 7 beside the sprinkling that comes later in the same ceremony:
In verse 7 we have the Spirit. But note that Aaron was anointed before the blood was shed. He stands before us as a picture of Christ. Because of what He was in His own Person, Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit long before the work of the cross was done. The sons of Aaron, on the other hand, were not anointed until after the blood was shed.
Aaron is not with his sons here; he stands alone. One writer takes that lone anointing as a witness to who Christ was as man:
Jesus alone could be and was anointed — and as man, note — without any blood being shed. The Holy One of God, He needed no offering to receive the Holy Spirit in this way. But if He would have us share the fellowship of that anointing from on high, there had to be blood — and there was… What a testimony! First to His holy manhood, and next to the value of His blood for us!
Later in the chapter the sons get the opposite order: blood first, then oil. That is the order for every believer:
In verse 7 we have been told that Aaron alone was first anointed with oil before the sacrifice was offered. This pictures the Spirit of God anointing the Lord Jesus at the river Jordan, after John the Baptist baptized Him (Matt. 3:16)… Believers had to wait until after the cross and His resurrection to be anointed by the Spirit of God at Pentecost (Acts 2). The blood of Christ had to cleanse away the guilt of our sins first. Only then could we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This was no ordinary olive oil. God gave the recipe, and each spice in it carries meaning:
The oil of holy ointment is given first. God directed how it was made: myrrh, cinnamon, sweet calamus, and cassia, each in its own amount, mixed with a set measure of olive oil… The spices, then, speak of the graces of Christ. His very garments smell of these sweet perfumes. But they were mingled with oil, and oil, as has often been said, is a figure of the Holy Spirit. Put the two together, and we learn this: the graces of Christ — the moral fragrance of all that is excellent in Him — were expressed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The manner matters as much as the substance. Pouring on the head is not how the rest of the family received the oil:
Some have thought the anointing distinctive of Aaron or the high priest, but in view of Ex. 29:7, Lev. 8:12, and 21:10, as contrasted with Ex. 29:21, Lev. 8:30, it would seem that anointing by pouring oil upon the head was distinctive of the high priest, while all priests were anointed by sprinkling.
The act was public and official. One writer sets it beside the anointing of David as king and Elisha as prophet. Anointing is God's way of putting a man into an office and marking him out for it in front of everyone (W. H. Westcott).
Poured on the head, oil does not stay there. Psalm 133 picks up this very scene:
It is like the precious oil poured on Aaron's head when he was set apart as priest, which flowed down to the hem of his robe. The whole man came under the sanctifying effect of the oil (Ex. 29:7; Lev. 8:12). In the same way, when brothers live together in unity, nothing holds back the full expression of the fruits of the Spirit, whom the oil pictures, in all their preciousness and fragrance.
Further down the chapter Aaron is anointed again, and this time his sons stand with him. One writer sees Christ in resurrection here, calling His own to share His anointing and His new place before God (George Davison).
The anointing also tells us where Christ stands in relation to those He brings near:
The order of the anointing in this chapter teaches us more than the truth about the work of the Spirit. It also sets before us the personal pre-eminence of the Son… God's infinite grace is shown in the amazing fact that guilty sinners, who deserve judgment, should ever be called the "fellows" of the Son of God. But let us never, for a moment, forget the word "above." However close the union may be, in all things Christ must have the first place.
- Oil first. Aaron is anointed alone, before any sacrifice. He is the one man here who needs no blood to stand before God.
- Person, then work. The Spirit came on Christ at the Jordan because of who He already was — a testimony to His holy manhood before the cross.
- Blood, then oil. For the sons the order flips, and so it does for us: cleansing by the blood comes first, the gift of the Spirit follows.
- Fragrance carried. The oil was mixed with spices. They speak of the graces of Christ, expressed in the power of the Spirit — a perfume, not a plain substance.
- Flowing down. Poured on the head, the oil reaches the hem. What belongs to the Head is shared with the whole family, and shows in their life together — though Christ keeps the first place.
And thou shalt bring his sons near, and clothe them with the vests.
Moses has already washed, robed and anointed Aaron alone. Now the sons come forward and receive coats of their own. How does a whole family, and not just one man, come to stand before God? Their clothing gives the answer.
The order matters. Aaron alone gets the oil poured on his head. Only then do the sons come in.
This set him apart from his sons in a special way. In their case, Moses sprinkled the anointing oil on them together with blood from the altar. Psalm 133 notes this pouring of the oil upon Aaron's head, from which it ran down to his garments. When the Spirit of God came down like a dove on Jesus, no one else was anointed. He went up on high, and there He received the Spirit as Head, to give to us. He has this place of Head from whom everything flows. That place is His own. His companions are anointed too, but in all things He has the first place. He takes this place of headship first, as a picture, in the power of the Spirit. Only then are Aaron's sons clothed and given their sashes.
The sons bring nothing of their own. What they wear is given, not earned.
Now we are to see the sons of Aaron clothed as their father had been, according to Jehovah's command. Not only was man not left in his nakedness, but grace clothes him, as it pleased Jehovah, for His presence in the sanctuary.
What the sons wear explains where their priesthood comes from.
The fine linen embroidered shows the purity of the nature of Christ adorned with every grace. When Aaron's sons are robed, they are really putting on Christ. That is what brings them into association with Him, for the Church has nothing apart from Christ. If believers, for example, are brought into the place of priests and its privileges, it is because of their connection with Him. He is the Priest, and He is the One who makes them priests… So when Aaron is put with his sons, the point is not so much that he merges into the priestly family. The point is that all the blessings and privileges of that family come from Christ.
The same picture touches daily life. What we wear before God is not fighting gear but Christ Himself.
As the night is far gone and the day is at hand, we are urged to throw off the works of darkness and to put on the armour of light. But in drawing near to God, it is not armour we want, as in conflict with the enemy. Still it is Christ we have to put on; and Christ we put on, as many as were baptised to Him.
The coats say something about how priests live and serve. A sacrifice follows at once.
Moses clothed the sons of Aaron in their priestly vests. He gave them the sashes of service and the caps that gave them special dignity. But right after that he brings the bullock of the sin offering. Only through the death of Christ for our sins could we be joined with our great High Priest in the service of God. Linen vests tell us that as God's priests we are to be marked by personal and practical righteousness. The sash of the same linen shows that we are to serve in the same character.
Dressing the sons pointed to a service. The word for their consecration holds a picture of it.
The word consecrate here means to fill their hands. Aaron and his sons were a company whose hands were filled with the excellencies of Christ, and who entered into the delight of God in Him. The sweet savour of Christ to God filled their hands.
If the sons picture all who belong to Christ, who counts as a priest now?
It is of course sound that there is no priest on earth between God and the saints. But the effect of Christ's work announced in the gospel goes much further. It makes every Christian a priest, urged day by day to draw near through the torn curtain… A little priest here on earth is a delusion, a barrier, and an outrage on Christ's official glory. It is an outrage too on the nearness that God has already made ours through the blood of Jesus.
- Brought — the sons come forward only after the head is robed and anointed. Everything they have flows down from him.
- Clothed — they arrive with nothing, and another dresses them. Grace, not achievement, fits them for God's presence.
- Christ — the linen coats picture putting on Christ. Every priestly privilege comes from that link with Him.
- Character — the same linen calls for practical righteousness. The sash calls for service in the same character.
- Company — filled hands and a torn curtain mean every believer, not a select class, stands near and worships.
And thou shalt gird them with the girdle -- Aaron and his sons, and bind the high caps on them; and the priesthood shall be theirs for an everlasting statute; and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.
This verse ends the robing of Aaron's family: Moses belts the sons beside their father, the priesthood becomes theirs for good, and he ordains them — the word older translations render "consecrate." Two questions lie behind the plain instructions: why dress the sons at all, and what does that word mean?
The verse names Aaron and his sons in one breath. One commentator walks through the ceremony in order, and reads each stage as it applies to Christ and to us:
First, they were all washed in the water, Aaron and his sons. "He who sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one." Christ is by nature apart from sin and sinners; we by grace are set apart. … Then Aaron is clothed; in that priestly character Christ appears before God for us. Then the high priest alone was anointed… Aaron's sons were then clothed and belted for priestly work.
The sons are dressed differently from the high priest. One writer reads Aaron's robes and the sons' clothing as two pictures:
Here we have Aaron and his sons, typifying Christ and the Church, standing in the power of one divine and everlasting righteousness. Aaron's priestly robes express the qualities that belong to Christ Himself — inborn, essential, personal, and eternal. The "coats" and "caps" of Aaron's sons stand for the graces God gives the Church, because it is joined to the great head of the priestly family.
Another writer takes the pieces one at a time — the linen, the belt, the cap:
The linen vests tell us that as God's priests we are to be marked by personal and practical righteousness. The belt of the same material shows that we are to serve in that same character. The caps were also for "glory and beauty," since the priests had a place of favour with God.
The Hebrew behind "ordain" has a picture in it, and the ceremony later in this chapter acts it out:
So the word "consecration" means "to fill the hand." … Someone laid the inner parts and the right shoulder of that ram on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons, to be waved as a wave offering before the LORD. … The priests who had been set apart offered the better portions of the offering to God, and fed on the rest. … The point to stress is this: all of it was laid on their hands before they offered it. Another person put these parts on their hands; they did not do it themselves. They had the privilege of offering what was placed there, but it was given to them first so that they could offer it.
Most people mean something different by "consecration." One writer puts the common idea beside this one:
People generally think consecration means giving something of ours to God. So the soul is thrown back on itself, looking for strength to devote itself and all its energy to God's service. With that idea, it is often urged to reach consecration by a solemn act of self-surrender. Scripture shows a better way. As this chapter shows, consecration lies in being filled with Christ. It is Christ possessing, absorbing, and controlling our souls.
Aaron's sons do not dress themselves; the work is done to them. The same writer draws a firm line about who can make a priest:
No man can make priests, and to claim to do so completely ignores the plainest and most basic teaching of the Scriptures. Only God makes priests. Everyone who is born again, cleansed by the precious blood of Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit is a priest.
The priesthood is granted "by a statute forever." One writer explains why Aaron's line still lost it:
The priesthood was promised to the house of Aaron forever (Ex. 29:9): "the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever." But the promise carried a condition — that they "walk before" the LORD. They stopped doing that, and so were "excluded from the priesthood as unclean." … The Aaronic priesthood was set aside by that Priest "after the order of Melchizedek," who continues forever.
- Washed — it starts with something done to the priests, not by them: Aaron and his sons were washed with water.
- Clothed — the linen speaks of practical righteousness, the belt of service, the cap of a place of favour with God.
- Filled — "ordain" here means "to fill the hand." Someone else laid the offering in their hands before they could offer anything.
- Freed — consecration is not straining to surrender yourself. It is Christ filling and controlling you.
- Lasting — Aaron's line held the office by a statute forever, yet they lost it, and the priesthood that lasts is Christ's.