Leviticus 8:1-121And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread; 3And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 4And Moses did as the Lord commanded him; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 5And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done. 6And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. 7And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith. 8And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim. 9And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the Lord commanded Moses. 10And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them. 11And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them. 12And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him. (Leviticus 8:1‑12)
THE CONSECRATION of Aaron and his sons was a most solemn and important event. All Israel were called to witness the great sight, for it deeply concerned both the Lord and His people—everyone.
Aaron’s sons, as priests, were chosen to maintain the Israelite, in his position before the Lord, the tabernacle, while the high Priest’s most solemn part was in the holiest of all.
The Lord then told Moses to “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread,” and all were to assemble at the entrance of the tabernacle.
The first thing done was to bathe Aaron and his sons with water. Sinful man needs cleansing, dying man needs life, and this we get in type here. The Lord Jesus could say to His disciples, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” (John 15:33Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (John 15:3)). They were begotten by the word of truth. It was the gift of eternal life.
In Christ we have both cleansing and life. We receive it in receiving Him; and here we see Aaron and his sons alike bathed in water. But the Lord Jesus Himself needed no cleansing; He came to cleanse others.
He was perfect man and could feel for others, but what distinguished Him as Priest above all was that He was the Son of God, far above man. Aaron, washed, was but a feeble type of Christ in His purity and holiness.
Upon Aaron were put those beautiful garments “for glory and beauty.” They tell what Christ is and does for us as our great High priest before God. Thus does He represent His own. There was the coat, the girdle, the robe, and the ephod; there too were the shoulder pieces and the two onyx, stones, on which were engraven the names of the children of Israel. The breastplate of judgment was on his heart for a memorial continually, with those precious stones, upon each a name of Israel’s sons. Last came the mitre, set on Aaron’s head, with the holy crown. All is a striking testimony to Christ who ever appears in the presence of God for us—those for whom He died.
Next Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and its vessels, and then he poured the oil upon Aaron’s head. The oil ever speaks of the Holy Spirit, and from Hebrews 9 we learn that in the tabernacle we have a picture of the whole scene — heaven and earth. Thus we have here Christ, God’s anointed One, and the Spirit of God as the witness of His title to earth and heaven — the whole universe. Men boast of “our world” and of “our universe,” but it all belongs to Christ, and the day is not far off when He will come to make good His claims. He is coming in power and will fill the whole scene with His glory. How precious to know too that He is going to share it all with His own redeemed ones, who love His appealing.
ML-10/17/1971