Once the tabernacle and priestly garments have been designed it’s time to ordain the priests themselves. Chapter 29 follows the same pattern of the other instructions we’ve seen: precise details, woven tightly together with warnings about God’s power and holiness, and the significance of priestly duties.

There’s an important sequence here: Moses, the prophet of the LORD, is in charge of ordaining Aaron, the priest before the LORD. This charge includes placing the priestly garments on Aaron, followed by a series of sacrifices and rituals that will confirm Aaron and his sons as set apart for the priesthood.

Within this ceremony, pay attention to the significance of blood, of aroma, of fat and of leaven. Listen to how Aaron and his sons are to identify with the animal being sacrificed. Notice how the parts of each animal are to be treated, and to the duties the priests are commissioned to perform each day. Following this are instructions for the construction and function of the altar of incense, basin for foot washing, and utensils.

Mixed in here are instructions for what the LORD calls a “ransom” payment due from each adult. This collection would be used to fund the tabernacle in perpetuity, but is radically different from the freewill offering asked for to build it. It’s a sobering reminder of what is required to be the sacred people of a Holy God.

And don’t fail to miss the persistent affirmation of the covenant: “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. I am the LORD their God.”

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 11:24-25: By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

Exodus chapters 29 and 30. Now let’s read it!