[Exodus 29] Standing at the Door Who is Jesus. In chapter 29, Moses is instructed to stand with Aaron and his sons at the door of the Tabernacle and to prepare them to enter and serve before God and the people. They will be washed, sprinkled, anointed, and clothed, all of which represent what Jesus did for us on the Cross to prepare us and to make it possible for us to walk with God in purity of heart.
[Exo 29:1-46 KJV] 1 And this [is] the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest’s office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish, 2 And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: [of] wheaten flour shalt thou make them. 3 And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. 4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water. 5 And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod: 6 And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre. 7 Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour [it] upon his head, and anoint him. 8 And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them. 9 And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest’s office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons. 10 And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the Tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock. 11 And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, [by] the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. 12 And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put [it] upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar. 13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul [that is] above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that [is] upon them, and burn [them] upon the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it [is] a sin offering. 15 Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 16 And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle [it] round about upon the altar. 17 And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put [them] unto his pieces, and unto his head. 18 And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it [is] a burnt offering unto the LORD: it [is] a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 19 And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 20 Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put [it] upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. 21 And thou shalt take of the blood that [is] upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle [it] upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. 22 Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul [above] the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that [is] upon them, and the right shoulder; for it [is] a ram of consecration: 23 And one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that [is] before the LORD: 24 And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them [for] a wave offering before the LORD. 25 And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn [them] upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the LORD: it [is] an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 26 And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration, and wave it [for] a wave offering before the LORD: and it shall be thy part. 27 And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, [even] of [that] which [is] for Aaron, and of [that] which is for his sons: 28 And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it [is] an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, [even] their heave offering unto the LORD. 29 And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. 30 [And] that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the Tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy [place]. 31 And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that [is] in the basket, [by] the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. 33 And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate [and] to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat [thereof], because they [are] holy. 34 And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it [is] holy. 35 And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all [things] which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them. 36 And thou shalt offer every day a bullock [for] a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it. 37 Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy. 38 Now this [is that] which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. 39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: 40 And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine [for] a drink offering. 41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 42 [This shall be] a continual burnt offering throughout your generations [at] the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. 43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and [the Tabernacle] shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 And I will sanctify the Tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I [am] the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I [am] the LORD their God.
After outfitting Aaron and his sons with garments of their priesthood, Moses is instructed to prepare them to serve in the priesthood by offering sacrifices for them before God and the people. In v. 1, God tells Moses to “hallow” or consecrate Aaron and his sons by sacrificing a bullock and two rams without blemish. What does it mean to “hallow” something? It means to dedicate them and set them apart. Are you dedicated? Are you set apart for God’s service? Notice in this case that Moses was doing the dedicating and not Aaron. We usually think that only we can dedicate ourselves. Would you like Aaron, be willing for someone other than yourself to dedicate you? Usually, things we don’t care for or that make us uncomfortable in Scripture we conclude do not apply to us but remember Timothy. Paul took Timothy in Acts 16:1-5 and circumcised him as a grown man in preparing him to work with him in ministry in Jerusalem. This level of commitment is evidenced, then in both the Old and New Testaments yet, predictably, doesn’t exist in church culture today.
In order to dedicate Aaron and his sons, Moses was to take one bullock and two rams without blemish. The bullock is one of the four faces of the living creature in Ez. 10:14 and represents Jesus as one who serves and carries our burdens. The sacrifice was also to include two rams. The ram points to Abraham finding the ram caught in the thicket (Gen. 22:13) and sacrificing it rather than Isaac. This is where the name “Jehovah-Jireh” came from, which means the Lord provides. Why only one bullock but two rams? Possibly because Aaron was represented by the bullock and his two sons were represented by the rams to show and emphasize Aaron’s leadership.
Notice as well that consecration here was not something Aaron and his sons brought about by anything that they did or did not do. Moses, as a type of Jesus, consecrated them. We tend to think of consecration as a religious lifestyle, but the writer of Hebrews indicates something deeper:
[Heb 10:20 KJV] 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
This verse in Hebrews 10 tells us that our rights and entitlements to enter the Holy of Holies of God’s presence are made possible by Jesus’ consecration and not our own. It is HIS consecration for us that produces His consecration IN us that makes us fit to walk with God and commune with Him.
In v. 2, we see that they were to include with the sacrificial animals unleavened bread accompanied by oil. The unleavened bread speaks of Jesus as the bread of life. In the gospel of John Jesus said:
[Jhn 6:51 KJV] 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Leaven causes the dough to rise when the bacteria in it dies. To be unleavened is not to be contaminated with death or sin. Unleavened bread is a picture of eternal life in Christ that death cannot conquer.
In v. 3-4, we see Aaron and his sons were to stand at the door of the Tabernacle and be washed with water. Remember, this door is made up of two parts with six layers, each that speaks of the dual nature of Christ as both GOD and MAN. Jesus is the doorway of access to God:
[Jhn 10:9 KJV] 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Aaron and his sons stood in the door, and Moses was to wash them with water. The water speaks to us of the Scripture. In Ephesians 5:26, we see Jesus sanctifying the believer by washing us with the water of the word. There is a connection then with your relationship to the word and your purity before God. In John 15:3, Jesus told his disciples they were clean through the word that He spoke to them. If there is the neglect of the word of God in your life, you cannot lay claim to being pure before Him in this sense.
In v. 5-7, while Aaron and his sons stand fully washed in the door of the Tabernacle, Moses dresses them in the priestly garments. In Eph. 6:14 Paul describes the believer as being clothed while standing strong in their faith. How do we stand? In stubbornness? In religious determination? No – we stand in Christ and in our faith in Christ. When you stand at the door – you are clothed with the priestly authority and all that it represents. Your standing is in Christ and not religious performance or any other thing.
Once clothed, the anointing oil was poured upon their heads. The anointing oil represents the Holy Spirit. Notice it is poured out upon the head. God wants us to put on the MIND of Christ and think with His thoughts. God lives in our hearts as our savior. He desires to rule in our heads as Lord and King.
In v. 10-11 Moses, after the initial sacrifice is given and Aaron is cleansed, clothed, and anointed, the bullock was brought out. This bullock wasn’t killed on the brazen altar but by the door of the Tabernacle that represents Jesus as the door to salvation. When the sacrifice was brought – the person involved would put hands on it as a means of identification. The priesthood is all about the laying on of hands regarding God’s accepted sacrifice. This speaks of our identification. We choose to identify with Christ, but God also identifies us with Christ (the sacrifice as well). He is saying I will deal with you as I dealt with My son.
In v. 12-20, after the animals were sacrificed, then the blood was applied to the ear, the thumb, and the big toe. The first anointing was of oil on their heads, and the second was the blood applied to their ear, thumb, and big toe. This speaks to us about God being concerned with consecrating our hearing, the works of our hands, and our walk. He wants what the shed blood affords us to be reflected in every aspect of our life.
The first blood applied was that of the bullock. Then the rams were killed after Aaron, and his sons put their hands upon them. In doing this, Aaron was identifying with the animal in effect, saying that the death of this animal was necessary to qualify him for service and not any other thing. We also are priests unto God and are consecrated ourselves by the blood and the oil. The blood deals with our past – the oil empowers us for the future. Why all this blood? If you read Gen. 4:10 and Heb. 12:24, you will find that blood has a voice. Blood speaks. Abel’s blood called for vengeance after his murder, but the blood of Jesus the writer of Hebrews tells us has a better testimony – it doesn’t call for vengeance but forgiveness.
After killing these animals and sprinkling their blood on Aaron and his sons, the priests were to wave pieces of the sacrifice before the Lord. This constitutes the first wave offering. What does this mean to us? After the sacrifice is made, the recipient was to wave the sacrifice before the Lord. This was done to acknowledge before God the efficacy of the sacrifice. It was a reminder and an act of praise and worship, as well.
In v. 27, we see that the wave offering was also called the heave-offering. They didn’t heave the bullock for that was the Lord’s in its entirely, but rather they waved or heaved the ram offering, and it is stipulated to be that part of the offering that belongs to Aaron and his sons. This was part of how God provided for their food and their needs. In v. 31, we see that they were to boil (seethe) the offering in the Tabernacle and eat it there. This was very important because Jesus fulfilled this act in John 6:53:
[Jhn 6:53 KJV] 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
In all of this ritual and ceremony, we see repeated over and over the acknowledgment of God’s chosen sacrifice. Jesus is the lamb, the ram, and the bullock offered up for our sins to consecrate us for service before God. The promise from in v. 42 is that God will meet with them when they enacted these sacrifices. When we understand and yield to the truth of who He is to us, then His GLORY is visited upon our lives, and He MEETS WITH US in the TABERNACLE, and in the New Covenant, we are that very Tabernacle not in a building but in our persons.
