And thou shalt anoint the tent of meeting with it, and the ark of the testimony,
God has just told Moses how to make the holy oil. Now He says where it goes first. Not on a person, but on the tent where God met His people, and on the chest that held the tablets of the covenant. Why anoint furniture at all, and why before the priests?
The oil was not plain olive oil. Measured spices went into it, and commentators read the two parts together.
The spices, then, speak of the graces of Christ. His very garments smell of these sweet perfumes. But they were mixed with oil, and oil, as has often been said, is a figure of the Holy Spirit. Put the two together, then. We learn that the graces of Christ — the moral fragrance of His excellencies — were expressed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Moses anoints the building and its contents first, and Aaron and his sons only afterwards. One writer draws a lesson from that order.
The tabernacle is the house of God, the place where He shows Himself, and the place of priestly service and worship. Everything in it was anointed with the holy oil. This teaches that everything connected with the house of God — its order, its service, all the priestly work carried on in it — must be ordered in the power of the Holy Spirit... So suppose everything connected with the house of God were arranged exactly according to His own word, and yet the holy anointing oil — the power of the Holy Spirit — were missing. It could not be acceptable to Him.
The ark named here is a picture of Christ. One writer turns that against any group that claims the name for itself.
The Ark of the Testimony typifies Christ, and no body of believers can appropriate Him as their exclusive possession, any more than any country can claim the sun as their exclusive possession, as it marches across the sky.
One writer notes the order when Moses later carried this out.
Notice that this anointing was without blood: a most striking fact... The oil went on the tabernacle and all that was in it, on the altar and all its vessels, and on the laver and its base, before any sprinkling of blood. The force of this is plain and weighty. It bears on the power of the Spirit in which Christ claims the heavenly things, and indeed the universe.
Another writer sees in the anointed tent a picture of something far larger. Blood comes in later, where the creature has spoiled things.
When Aaron alone is anointed without blood, the tabernacle is also. The fulness of the divine power, spiritual grace and glory that is in Christ fills the whole created scene that bears witness to the glory of God. That is, the energy of the Holy Spirit fills it with the claim and witnesses of the excellency of Christ. Once the creature has had to do with it, then, as on the great day of atonement, it must all be purified and reconciled with blood. But this does not undo the direct title in grace and divine excellency in Jesus.
Commentators differ on how far that reading can be pressed. One writer objects that the order of the anointing does not fit it, and offers another sense.
Some have taken the anointing of the tabernacle together with Aaron as showing Christ's personal claim to the universe. But for that the order would have to be reversed, and it leaves the anointing of the altar and laver unexplained... The tabernacle expresses God's delights with the sons of men, fallen though they are, as the altar and laver show. May this anointing not rather show that these delights find their justification in this wonderful Person who has become Man, and upon whom for the first time the Spirit of God can rest?
The same oil that touched the tent later touched the priests.
So everything connected with the things of God was consecrated and set apart for the one purpose of glorifying the God of glory. Today too, the Church, together with all it bears witness to, is consecrated to God. Also, the priests were anointed, as is every believer today — anointed by the Spirit of God, to be God's sole possession.
- Fragrance — spices crushed into olive oil: the graces of Christ carried in the power of the Spirit.
- Fragrance on the house — the tent and the ark get the oil first. Even an arrangement made by God's word is not acceptable without the Spirit.
- Fragrance without blood — the oil comes before any sacrifice. Christ's title rests on His own excellence.
- Fragrance outward — the anointed tent is a small model of a wider claim, though writers differ on how far to push it.
- Fragrance on you — the oil that set apart the furniture later fell on the priests. Every believer is anointed by the Spirit as God's own possession.
and the table and all its utensils, and the lamp-stand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,
Exodus 30:27 sits inside God's recipe for the holy anointing oil, and it names the furniture of the room where the priests served each day. Why did objects already made of pure gold need to be anointed at all, and what does that oil stand for?
The verse names three items that stood in one room. One writer sets them side by side to show what Christ shares with His people:
A short comparison of the three items placed in the outer room may help to make this clear. In them we learn how He joins His people to Himself in keeping up what is fitting for God: (1) worship, (2) true witness, and (3) administration — seen in the golden altar, the lampstand, and the table.
The oil was not plain olive oil. Sweet spices went into the mixture, and both parts carry meaning:
The Psalmist, speaking of the Messiah, says, "your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia." In the verse before, he says, "God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." (Ps. 45:7-8.) This helps us understand what the holy anointing oil pictures. The spices 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. Putting these two things together, we learn that the graces of Christ — the moral fragrance of His excellencies — were expressed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The table, lampstand and altar were already built exactly as God commanded. Yet the pattern alone was not enough:
The tabernacle is the house of God. It is where He shows Himself, and where the priests serve and worship. Everything in it was anointed with the holy oil. That anointing teaches us this: everything connected with the house of God — its order, its service, all the priestly work carried on in it (see 1 Peter 2:5) — must be ordered in the power of the Holy Spirit. When it is, it will express the sweet fragrance of Christ to God. God reveals Himself in the power of the Spirit, and worship and service can be offered in the power of the Holy Spirit alone. So if everything connected with the house of God were arranged even according to His own word, and yet the holy anointing oil — the power of the Holy Spirit — were lacking, it could not be acceptable to Him.
The oil left more than a scent. It changed the standing of what it touched, and then of whatever touched that:
Notice also the effect — everything is sanctified. Through the anointing it becomes "most holy," so that whatever touches something the oil has been put on is also counted holy. This is the effect of the action of the Spirit of God. Whatever His power rests upon is set apart for God, and everything that comes under His action, even by contact, is also claimed as holy. The whole sphere of His action is sanctified.
The oil touched the tent and its contents before it touched Aaron. That order points beyond the tent itself:
Before the holy anointing oil was poured on Aaron's head, it was first put on the tabernacle, and all that was in it, to sanctify them. The tabernacle was God's dwelling place, and it stood for the whole universe. That universe will come under the fragrance of the Spirit of Christ, which this holy ointment pictures. This is what God had in mind, in His purposes of love: to have a whole universe filled with the sweet scent of what Christ is to Him.
The same oil went on the vessels and on the priests. What was true of the gold furniture became true of people:
The materials spoke of Him; even their structure spoke of Him; the golden lamps lit Him up; and now the anointing oil again points to Him. The high priest too was a picture of our High Priest. The sons of Aaron pictured the true people of God, and the holy anointing oil was sprinkled on them — Christ's fragrance is upon them.
- Fragrance — spices blended into oil picture the graces of Christ expressed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Furniture — the altar, lampstand and table stood for worship, true witness and administration. Christ joins His people to Himself in each.
- Fitness — a house built by God's own word is still not acceptable without the oil. Worship and service need the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Contact — what the oil touched became most holy, and that holiness passed on to whatever touched it.
- Reach — the same oil went from the vessels to Aaron's sons. Christ's fragrance rests on His people, and God aims to fill a universe with it.
and the altar of burnt-offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand.
Here the holy anointing oil moves outdoors, from the golden furniture inside the tent to the open courtyard. Why pour it on the altar of sacrifice and the priests' washing basin, and what made these working vessels holy?
The oil was made of two things: sweet spices and olive oil. Commentators read each ingredient as a picture of its own.
The spices speak of the graces of Christ. His very garments smell of these sweet perfumes. But they were mixed with oil, and oil, as has often been stated, is a figure of the Holy Spirit. Putting these two things together, we learn that the graces of Christ — the moral fragrance of His excellencies — were expressed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Older translations call the basin the laver. It and the altar stood in the open court, and each met God's demands in its own way.
The laver was to stand between the bronze altar and the door of the tabernacle. It too was to be made of bronze — a picture of the demands that flow from the holiness and righteousness of God. The blood on the altar met those demands first. Then, for the priests who would enter the sanctuary, the water that filled the laver met them. There they had to wash both hands and feet every time they entered. They were never to carry anything of the dust or defilement that was outside into the presence of God.
The basin is never mentioned without its stand, and this verse is one of the places that proves it.
From verses 17-21 we are shown "the bronze laver and its foot" — the vessel of washing and the base it stood on. These two are always presented together. (See Ex. 30:28; Ex. 38:8; Ex. 40:11.) In this laver the priests washed their hands and feet. That kept them pure, as their priestly duties required. It was not at all a question of a fresh presentation of blood, but simply the action that kept them fit for priestly service and worship.
One writer ties this verse to God's wider purpose.
The tabernacle was God's dwelling place, and it stood for the whole universe, which will come under the fragrance of the Spirit of Christ. The altar of burnt offering, where the sacrifices were offered to God, was anointed too. So were the laver and its foot, where the priests washed their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle to serve the Lord. This is because everything relating to the service of God in His universe must carry the sweet fragrance of Christ to God.
Dennett draws out what happened to everything the oil touched.
Notice also the effect — everything is sanctified. Through the anointing it becomes "most holy," so that whatever touches anything the oil has been put on should likewise be counted holy. (v. 29.) This is the effect of the action of the Spirit of God. Whatever His power rests upon is set apart for God, and everything that comes under His action, even by contact, is also claimed as holy. The whole sphere of His action is sanctified.
The order in which the oil and the blood were used also carries weight.
It is worth noticing that the tabernacle was anointed and everything in it, the altar and all its vessels, with the laver and its base, before the sprinkling with blood. The force of this is plain and important. It applies to the power of the Spirit in which Christ claims the heavenly things and indeed the universe. This stands out even more when we notice that the altar is purified by blood but no anointing follows.
The same oil was put on the priests themselves.
Everything connected with the things of God was consecrated and set apart for the one purpose of glorifying the God of glory... the priests were anointed, as is every believer today — anointed by the Spirit of God, to be God's sole possession. This anointing first took place at Pentecost (Acts 2), but it remains true for every child of God today.
- Oil. The spices stand for the graces of Christ; the olive oil stands for the Holy Spirit. The anointing spreads the fragrance of Christ in the Spirit's power.
- Reach. The fragrance does not stay inside the tent. It reaches the altar and the washing basin, the working tools of the courtyard.
- Meaning. The altar met God's righteous demands by blood; the basin met them by water, so nothing defiled was carried in.
- Effect. Whatever the oil touched became most holy. Holiness then passed on by contact, so the whole sphere of the Spirit's action is set apart.
- Scope. The oil came before the blood. Commentators read this as Christ's claim, in the Spirit's power, on heavenly things and the whole universe. The same anointing now marks every believer as God's own.