Exodus 29

The consecration of the High Priest (vs. 1-28)—Everything/everyone that comes before God must be pure and holy, and that certainly means people above all. Before he could assume his duties as High Priest, Aaron had to be consecrated (made holy) before the Lord. It was an elaborate ceremony, but the functions of his office would be ineffectual without this purification. There were four steps in the process:

Washing and anointing of Aaron and his sons (vs. 1-9)—The whole process would involve one young bull and two rams “without blemish” (v. 1), plus unleavened bread, cakes, and wafers made of wheat flour, with some oil in the process. The first step was to wash Aaron and his sons with water at the door of the tabernacle (before they could enter, v. 4). Then the priestly garments were to be put on Aaron (vs. 5-6) and he was to be anointed with oil (v. 7). Moses was to put tunics on Aaron’s sons, and sashes and hats on all (vs. 8-9). The priesthood is given to Aaron’s family “for a perpetual statute” (v. 9).

The sin offering (vs. 10-14)—The bull was to be brought forth, and Aaron and his sons were to lay their hands on it (signalizing the transference of sin from themselves to the animal, v. 10). The bull was to killed (v. 11), and the blood distributed in various ways around the altar (v. 12). Some of the bull was to be burnt on the altar and some outside the camp (vs. 13-14). “It is a sin offering” (v. 14).

The burnt offering (vs. 15-18)—One of the rams was to be offered as “a burnt offering to the LORD; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD” (v. 18). The process and details were largely the same as for the bull (vs. 15-17).

The “ram of consecration” (vs. 19-28)—There is a different process involved for this offering, which I won’t detail; the reader can study them as he/she wishes. The key here is the “consecration.” The offering (which in this case included the bread, cake, and wafer, v. 23) was to be put into the hands of Aaron and his sons and given back, thus denoting that the person now has a right to offer a sacrifice before God. The “wave offering” (v. 24) was apparently a back and forth motion, while the “heave offering” (v. 28) was up and down. The purpose of this is not explained. The ram, of course, was to be offered as a burnt offering (v. 25).

By these four steps, Aaron and his sons were purified for service to the Lord

Consecration of the successor (vs. 29-30)—A medley of matters concludes the chapter. Aaron’s High Priest’s garments were to be passed on to his son-successor, who was to be anointed and consecrated in them, and wear them for seven days.

The priest’s part of the sacrifice (vs. 31-34)—Since the Levites weren’t given any land for agricultural production—they were to devote themselves totally to religious service—they were to be supported by the rest of Israel. Part of that was a portion of the sacrificial offering. Anything not eaten was to be burned, “because it is holy” (v. 34). No one else could eat it.

The initial consecration (vs. 35-37)—During the period of Aaron and his son’s consecration (seven days, v. 35), a bull was to be offered every day “as a sin offering for atonement” (v. 36). The altar was to be cleansed and anointed for seven days “to sanctify it” (v. 36). “The altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy” (v. 37). Holiness before the Lord. If such were true under the older, inferior law, how much truer must it be in the newer, perfect law?

The perpetual sacrifices (vs. 38-46)—Once the sacrificial system was instituted, two lambs were to be offered every day, one in the morning, one at night (vs. 38-39). Also, “one-tenth of an ephah of flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of pressed oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering” (v. 40). This was to be “a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD” (v. 42). The Lord would accept and sanctify these offerings and “dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God” (v. 45). And they would know Him, too (v. 46). Such was contingent, of course, upon their obedience, which was not continually forthcoming.