The sacrifice and ceremonies of consecrating the priests and the altar, 1-37. The continual burnt offering, 38-44. God's promise to dwell among the children of Israel, 45, 46.
1 "And this is the thing that you shall do to them to hallow them, to minister to me in the priest's office. Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2 And also unleavened bread, unleavened cakes tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. Of wheat flour you shall make them. 3 And you shall put them into one basket and bring them in the basket with the bull and the two rams. 4 And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation and shall wash them with water. 5 And you shall take the garments and put upon Aaron the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, the breast-plate, and gird him with the skillfully woven girdle of the ephod. 6 And you shall put the miter upon his head and put the holy crown upon the miter. 7 Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head and anoint him. 8 And you shall bring his sons and put coats upon them. 9 And you shall gird them with girdles (Aaron and his sons) and put the caps on them. And the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. And you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.
10 "And you shall cause a bull to be brought before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bull. 11 And you shall kill the bull before the LORD by the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 12 And you shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it upon the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar. 13 And you shall take all the fat that covers the inwards, the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull, his skin, and his dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin-offering.
15 "You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 16 And you shall slay the ram and take his blood and sprinkle it around upon the altar. 17 And you shall cut the ram in pieces and wash his inwards and his legs and put them with his pieces and with his head. 18 And you shall burn the whole ram upon the altar. It is a burnt-offering to the LORD. It is a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to the LORD.
19 "And you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall kill the ram and take some of his blood and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood around upon the altar. 21 And you shall take some of the blood that is upon the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it upon Aaron, upon his garments, upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him. And he shall be hallowed, and his garments, his sons, and his sons' garments with him.
22 "Also you shall take from the ram the fat and the rump, the fat that covers the inwards, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them, the right shoulder (for it is a ram of consecration), 23 One loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread, that is before the LORD. 24 And you shall put all in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them for a wave-offering before the LORD. 25 And you shall receive them from their hands and burn them upon the altar for a burnt-offering for a sweet savor before the LORD. It is an offering made by fire to the LORD.
26 "And you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration and wave it for a wave-offering before the LORD, and it shall be your part. 27 And you shall 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 forever from the children of Israel, for it is a heave-offering. And it shall be a heave-offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace-offerings, even their heave-offering to 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, who is priest in his stead, shall put them on seven days when he comes into the Tabernacle of the Congregation to minister in the holy place.
31 "And you shall take the ram of the consecration and boil 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 with which the atonement was made to consecrate and to sanctify them, but a stranger shall not eat of them because they are holy. 34 And if anything of the flesh of the consecration, or of the bread, remains until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten because it is holy.
35 "And thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons according to all things which I have commanded you. Seven days you shall consecrate them. 36 And you shall offer every day a bull for a sin-offering for atonement. And you shall cleanse the altar when you have made an atonement for it and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. 37 Seven days you shall make an atonement for the altar and sanctify it, and it shall be an altar most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
38 "Now this is that which you shall offer upon the altar: two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. 39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at evening. 40 And with one lamb a tenth-portion of flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink-offering. 41 And the other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the food-offering of the morning and according to the drink-offering thereof for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to 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 to you. 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 also sanctify 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 who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt so that I may dwell among them. I am the LORD their God."
Matthew Henry Commentary - Exodus, Chapter 29[➚]
[v.1-3] - Reference, Leviticus 8:2.
[v.4] - "wash" - Reference, Isaiah 52:11, Titus 3:5.
[v.5-6] - Reference, Psalm 132:9; Isaiah 59:17; Revelation 1:6.
[v.7] - From John Gill's Exposition: "This unction denotes the investiture of Christ with his office in eternity, who is said to be anointed so early (Proverbs 8:22), and the donation of the Spirit to him in time, without measure; with which he is said to be anointed, both at his incarnation and at his baptism, and also at his ascension to heaven, and hence comes the name of the Messiah, which signifies anointed; and so his people, his priests, are anointed of God, with an unction from him, with the oil of grace, with the graces of the Spirit, which is necessary for their instruction, for the presentation of themselves to as a holy sacrifice, and to make them suitable for the heavenly glory." Reference, Psalm 133:2.
[v.8-9] - Reference, Leviticus 8:12-13.
[v.12] - Reference, Psalm 118:27.
[v.18] - "sweet savor" - Paul relates this phrase to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in Ephesians 5:2.
[v.25] - "sweet savor" - See the note for verse 18.
[v.26-27] - Reference, Leviticus 7:4.
[v.32a] - "the flesh of the ram" - From John Gill's Exposition: "Typical of the flesh of Christ, whose flesh is meat indeed, and to be eaten by faith, whereby it becomes spiritual food, savory and nourishing, as it is to all the Lord’s priests, or who are made so to God."
[v.32b] - "the bread" - From John Gill's Exposition: "The unleavened bread, cakes, and wafers (Exodus 29:2-3), what was left of them, one loaf, one cake, and one wafer, having been put into the hands of Aaron and his sons, and received from them and burnt (Exodus 29:23-25), this may figure Christ the bread of life, held forth in the ministry of the word, for believers in him to feed upon."
[v.32c] - "by the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation" - From John Gill's Exposition: "Where the people in common assembled, and the Lord met with them; and so may point at the public ordinances, where Christ is set forth as food for souls."
[v.33a] - "they shall eat those things" - From John Gill's Exposition: "For the sins of Aaron and his sons, for they were men of infirmity, and needed sacrifice for sin themselves; and herein Christ their antitype excelled them, that he had no sin of his own, and needed not to offer first for them, and then for the sins of others, as Aaron and his sons, the types of him, did; and their eating of the sacrifice for atonement points at the receiving of the atonement of Christ’s sacrifice by faith, and the enjoyment of it and the blessings following on it."
[v.33b] - "stranger" - Reference, Exodus 12:43; Ephesians 2:12-13.
[v.35-36] - Reference, Hebrews 10:1-4.
[v.36a] - "offer every day" - From John Gill's Exposition: "That is, every day of the seven days of consecration; denoting the full and complete atonement for sin by the sacrifice of Christ, which these sacrifices could not really obtain, and were therefore frequently repeated, in this case seven times; figuratively by that number pointing to the full expiation of sin by the atoning Savior, who was made not only an offering for sin, but sin itself by imputation, for his people."
[v.36b] - "cleanse the altar" - From John Gill's Exposition: "Which though not capable of sin, or of any moral guilt, yet, inasmuch as it was to be of sacred use, and to have sin offerings laid upon it, expiation and cleansing, in a ceremonial way, were to be made for it, to purge it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel (Leviticus 16:18-19). This altar was typical of Christ, who is that altar believers in him have a right to partake of; and though he had no sin of his own, no guilt of that kind to expiate, nor pollution to be cleansed from, yet as he had the guilt of his people transferred to him, and was clothed with their filthy garments, and had their uncleannesses on him; by the sacrifice of himself he purged away sin from himself and them, and was justified and cleared of all, and they in him."
[v.36c] - "anoint it" - From John Gill's Exposition: "Anoint it, as it afterward was, with the holy anointing oil, whereby it was sanctified, or set apart for holy uses; in which it was a figure of Christ anointed with the oil of gladness, the Holy Spirit, above his fellows; and was sanctified and set apart for his priestly office, in which he was both altar, sacrifice, and priest."
[v.37a] - "an altar most holy" - From John Gill's Exposition: "As Christ is, and is called the Most Holy, and said to be anointed (Daniel 9:24). He is holy in his person, nature, and offices, more holy than angels or men; as holy as the Lord God, the God of Israel, his Father, who is glorious in holiness, and none compared to him for it."
[v.37b] - "Whatever touches the altar shall be holy" - From John Gill's Exposition: "That is, whatever gift or sacrifice, according to law, was offered on it, whatever appertained to it, or were suitable for it; for as for other things, they were not made holy by a touch of it (Haggai 2:11-12)... Our Lord applies it to gifts and offerings of the altar, for to this case he seems to have respect (Matthew 23:19), for he is the altar that sanctifies not only the persons, but the services of his people, and their sacrifices of prayer and praise come up with acceptance to God from off this altar; though even the best duties and services of theirs need atonement and purification by the sacrifice and blood of Christ."
[v.38] - "lambs" - From John Gill's Exposition: "Typical of Christ the Lamb of God, who continually, through the efficacy of his blood, and the virtue of his sacrifice, which are ever the same, takes away day by day the sins of his people. A lamb is a proper emblem of him for innocence and harmlessness, for meekness and humility, for patience, for usefulness for food and clothing, and especially for sacrifice; and these being of the first year, may denote the tenderness of Christ, who as he grew up as a tender plant, so as a tender lamb, encompassed with infirmities, being in all things similar to his people, excepting sin; and as these were to be without spot (Numbers 28:3), and so here, in the Septuagint version, it may point at the purity of Christ, who is the Lamb of God, without spot and blemish, and who offered himself without spot to God, and was a fit sacrifice to be offered up for the taking away of the sins of men."
[v.41] - "sweet savor" - See the note for verse 18.
[v.45] - Reference, Leviticus 26:11-12; Deuteronomy 7:21; 1st Kings 6:13; Psalm 33:12, 144:12; Ezekiel 37:27; Zechariah 2:10; John 14:17, 21, 23; 2nd Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:22; Revelation 21:3.