And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them.
The instructions for installing Aaron and his sons end with a look ahead. The holy clothing is not Aaron's own property. It passes to his sons, and the next priest wears it while he is anointed and installed. So this verse answers two questions: what makes a man a priest, and what happens to the priesthood when that priest dies.
No one in Israel could decide to become high priest. God set up the office and chose the family. This verse is part of that record.
The Jews could point to God's revelation as the authority for Aaron and his successors, once properly consecrated, to carry out the duties of their office. (Ex. 28:1; Ex. 29:29-30; Num. 18:7.) They did not seek the office. God chose Aaron and limited the priesthood to him and his family. So they entered it not only with God's approval, but by God's appointment. Christians in their turn could speak of the High Priest of their confession (Heb. 3:1). Like Aaron, He was appointed by God to His office. Unlike Aaron, He was marked out for it beforehand in the word, and God made Him High Priest with an oath.
The verse ties the anointing to the clothes: the sons are anointed and ordained in them. Every high priest after Aaron entered office this way.
But that same chapter of Exodus (Ex. 29:29-30) tells us about Aaron's successor, each time there was one. He was to be anointed and consecrated for seven days. Through those days he wore the garments of glory and beauty every day, serving in the holy place.
The word translated "ordained" here is also translated "consecrate." It carries a picture that changes how we think about giving ourselves to God.
The word translated "consecrate" in this chapter means "to fill the hand," as the margin shows. That gives us what consecration means in Scripture. The usual idea is that it lies in our giving something to God. So the soul is thrown back on itself, looking for strength to devote itself and all its energy to God's service... 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.
Clothing that passes to "his sons after him" assumes a funeral. But the garments move and the service goes on. Aaron's own death shows it, and that scene is often misread.
The point of Aaron's death is not the end of priesthood, because priesthood does not end. Aaron's son, Eleazar, carries it on. Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar before Aaron died. His death is not a picture of the end of priesthood.
Read beside the New Testament, this verse stands out more for its difference from Christ than for its likeness. A priesthood handed from father to son is a temporary one.
Aaron and his sons have now been consecrated, and they have waved their offering before the Lord. Verses 29 and 30 remind them how temporary their appointment is. Theirs was no priesthood for ever. It passed from father to son, unlike what we read of our Lord in Hebrews 7:24... The Lord Jesus is crowned in His glory and honour for ever. So here again, when we look at the picture in the light of the One it pictures, it is the contrast, not the likeness, that strikes us.
Still, these verses leave one lasting lesson. The consecration happened at the door of the tent, and it pointed inward.
The one point we can gather from these verses is this: the consecration at the entrance of the tent of meeting was aimed at going in to God... It is to go in and serve God in the place where He lives, called here the tent of meeting. For us today it means joining Christ by the Spirit and moving with Him, knowing what we do, into the presence of God. Today that is in the new sanctuary, in heaven, where we can draw near and give God the worship of our souls.
- Appointed. No one volunteered for this. God chose Aaron, kept the priesthood in his family, and set the terms. It begins with His call, not human ambition.
- Clothed. The successor is anointed and ordained in the garments, over seven days. He wears the garments of glory and beauty to serve.
- Filled. "Consecrate" means "to fill the hand." Devotion to God is not squeezed out of ourselves but comes from hands God has filled with Christ.
- Inherited. Garments passing to "his sons after him" point to a funeral. Yet the office outlives the man: Eleazar carried on what Aaron laid down.
- Surpassed. Every handover marks a priest who could not continue. Christ's priesthood is never passed on, and through Him we draw near to God ourselves.
The son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tent of meeting to serve in the sanctuary.
This verse looks past Aaron to the men who would follow him. A son takes his father's place. He wears the same holy clothing for seven days, then serves inside the tent. Two questions follow. Why must someone else dress the priest? And why does a priesthood need heirs at all?
The garments were never the priest's own achievement. Someone else put them on him. One writer says the same of the high priest and of his sons:
Whether with Aaron or with his sons, the glory and the beauty were placed on them. They were not something the men had in themselves. And that is just as true for us today.
The number seven matters here. The ceremony ran for a full week, and it covered the altar as well as the priest:
These ceremonies were to be repeated for seven days, and the altar was to be sanctified for seven days. The priests had to have a perfect consecration, and the altar where they served had to be perfectly sanctified. Both the consecration and the sanctification had to match the perfect requirements of a holy God.
Commentators differ here. Others read the seven days as every day, and apply that to ordinary working life:
It was not only for one day of the week but every day. We must remember that we are always consecrated priests, whether at the meetings on the Lord's Day, or at business, or in the home on the other days. It is not the thought of God that we should take up priesthood on Sunday and lay it down on Monday… Whether we take these seven days to mean every day of the week, or the whole span of our life in this world, the fact still remains that we are always priests.
The verse ends with the reason for the robes and the week — he comes into the tent to serve. One writer calls that phrase the summary of the whole chapter:
The one point we can gather from these verses is this. The consecration at the entrance of the tent of meeting was aimed at going in to God… This statement sums up the great object of all the detail in this chapter. It is to go in and serve God in the place where He dwells, called here the tent of meeting. For us today it means to join Christ by the Spirit and to move with Him, with full awareness, into the presence of God.
This verse takes for granted that Aaron would die. Commentators see the limit of the whole arrangement here:
Aaron and his sons have been consecrated, and they have waved their offering before the Lord. Now verses 29 and 30 remind them how temporary their appointment was. No priesthood forever was theirs: it passed from father to son, unlike what we read of our Lord in Hebrews 7:24… So here again, when we hold the picture up against the One it pictures, what strikes us is the contrast and not the likeness.
Later this actually happened. Aaron's garments came off him and went onto his son Eleazar:
That looks back to the time when Aaron left the scene and his garments were put on Eleazar. In time they would be taken off Eleazar and put on his son. God had commanded this because those priests died and others had to take their place. There is no such command about the order of Melchizedek, for that priesthood cannot be handed on.
One writer links these seven days of consecration to the letter to the Hebrews:
That same chapter of Exodus tells us about Aaron's successor, each time there was one. He was to be anointed and consecrated for seven days. Through those days he wore the garments of glory and beauty each day as he ministered in the holy place. We believe, then, that this is what the Apostle refers to. He writes about high priests, and he does not mention Aaron. He is pointing to what all Aaron's successors had in common… Sacrifice came before their full consecration. Sacrifice came before His. But in His case there was only one sacrifice, offered once for all, and that sacrifice was Himself.
- Clothed. The glory and beauty of the priest were placed on him from outside; nothing in the man supplied them.
- Consecrated. The ceremony ran a full week and sanctified the altar too. God's requirements set the measure, not the priest's readiness.
- Continuous. Others read the seven days as every day, even as a whole life: a priest at the meeting, at work, and at home.
- Commissioned. The robes and the week aimed at one thing — entering the tent to serve God where He dwells.
- Superseded. Priests died, so a son always had to follow. Aaron's garments passed to Eleazar. Christ's priesthood never passes on.