Instructions to the priests and Levites. “Levite” comes from “Levi” one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Levi had three sons, Gershon, Kohath and Merari. The priests came from Kohath’s family, but the three families were known as Levites. While the children of Israel walked through the wilderness for forty years, the Levites were the ones who carried the tabernacle and its furniture (Num. 4). But now they all have arrived in the promised land and the Levites don’t have that work anymore, so here David appoints them new work in connection with the temple. Another evidence of the change under King David.
Remember that these two buildings (A) tabernacle and (B) temple are pictures to us of (A) our wilderness journey through this world, and (B) the Lord reigning as King over the world during the 1,000 years of the millennium. (A) was temporary and carried from place to place, (B) was permanent. (A) was in the wilderness, (B) was in the land of Canaan (Palestine, Israel), the “promised land.”