Exodus 29 explained: Making Priests and a Daily Meeting

Washed, dressed, anointed (vv. 1-9)

At the tent's doorway, the space between the people and God's dwelling, Moses washes Aaron and his sons, dresses them in priestly clothes and pours oil on Aaron's head. Each step publicly marked them as clean and set apart, and the Hebrew phrase for ordaining them is literally 'filling the hand.'

A bull and a ram (vv. 10-18)

By laying hands on the bull, the priests tied themselves to it, and its death dealt with their own wrongs first; unusually, its meat was burned outside the camp rather than eaten. The first ram was burned whole, a sign of giving themselves completely to God.

Blood on ear, thumb, toe (vv. 19-21)

Blood from the second ram was dabbed on each priest's right ear, thumb and big toe, then sprinkled with oil on them and their clothes. Interpreters usually read this as claiming the whole person for God, from what they hear to what they do and where they go.

A shared sacred meal (vv. 22-34)

Some of the ram and bread was lifted before God and burned, the breast and thigh became the priests' lasting share, and Aaron's clothes would pass to each new high priest. The priests ate the rest at the doorway, a meal shared as it were with God, and leftovers were burned because the food was holy.

Seven days, a holy altar (vv. 35-37)

The ceremony was repeated for a week, with a bull offered each day to purify and anoint the altar as well as the priests. After that the altar was 'most holy,' and whatever touched it became holy too, though what that meant in practice is debated.

Morning and evening, God among them (vv. 38-46)

Each day a young lamb was offered at dawn and another at dusk, and the purpose of it all comes at the end: the God who brought Israel out of Egypt promises to meet them here and live among them. Christians later read this priesthood in light of Jesus, seen as a priest who needed no offering for himself.

Key verse: Exodus 29:45

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on how far to read this chapter's details as pointing ahead to Jesus: some see symbols of him in nearly every step, while others read it mainly as Israel's own worship in its own time.

Something to think about

Why might a community want the people who stand between it and what it holds sacred to go through such a long, costly and public ceremony first?