Key Verses: Exodus 29:20, 29:42, 29:45
This chapter prescribes the seven-day consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests. Moses is to wash them with water, clothe Aaron in the sacred garments, and anoint him with oil. Three sacrifices follow: a bull as a sin offering, whose blood is put on the horns of the altar to purify it; a ram as a burnt offering, wholly consumed as a pleasing aroma; and a second ram of ordination, whose blood is applied to the right ear, right thumb, and right big toe of Aaron and his sons, consecrating their hearing, work, and walk. Portions are waved before the LORD as a wave offering, and the priests eat the ram and the bread of ordination at the tent’s entrance. For seven days the atonement is repeated, and the altar itself is consecrated so that it becomes most holy, and whatever touches it becomes holy. God then commands the continual daily offering: two lambs each day, one in the morning and one at twilight, with grain and drink offerings, a regular burnt offering throughout the generations. The chapter ends with God’s great promise: “I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them.”
The elaborate consecration teaches that no one may serve God or approach Him apart from cleansing, atonement, and blood, and even the priests must first be made holy. The blood applied to ear, thumb, and toe signifies that the whole person, all that we hear, do, and where we go, is claimed for God’s service, a devotion perfected in Christ. Where Aaron needed daily sacrifices and repeated cleansing, Jesus, our sinless High Priest, offered Himself once for all and needs no atonement of His own (Hebrews 7:26-27). The continual morning and evening lamb foreshadows the Lamb of God whose one sacrifice avails perpetually, so that we may draw near at all times. Above all shines the goal of it all: God dwelling in the midst of His people, the promise that runs from the tabernacle to the incarnation to the eternal city where God will dwell with man forever.
Key Terms & Words:
- מִלֻּאִים (millu’im) - Exodus 29:22 - “Ordination/filling”; the consecration that “fills the hands” of the priests for holy service
- מָשַׁח (mashach) - Exodus 29:7 - “To anoint”; the pouring of oil that sets apart the priest, the root of “Messiah,” the Anointed One
- תָּמִיד (tamid) - Exodus 29:42 - “Continual/regular”; the perpetual daily offering, foreshadowing Christ’s once-for-all yet ever-availing sacrifice
Cross-References:
- Hebrews 7:26-27 - Christ, unlike the priests, offered Himself once for all
- Hebrews 10:11-14 - By a single offering Christ perfected those being sanctified
- John 1:29 - Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
- Leviticus 8 - The actual carrying out of the priests’ ordination
- Revelation 21:3 - God will dwell with His people forever
Discussion Questions:
- Why must even the priests be washed, atoned for, and consecrated before they can serve God?
- Blood was placed on the ear, thumb, and toe. In what practical ways can your hearing, your work, and your walk be consecrated to God?
- How does Christ fulfill both the once-for-all consecration and the continual daily offering of the tabernacle?