Exodus 29:29-46 is actually the conclusion of chapters twenty-eight and twenty-nine. Chapter twenty-eight is on the priestly garments, and chapter twenty-nine is mainly on the priests’ food. The priests are qualified by having the proper clothing and food. Not only does 29:29-46 give us a conclusion of these chapters; it also presents a brief sketch concerning the priests’ garments and their food and also God’s food. Verses 29 through 42a contain statutes concerning the holy garments of the high priest (vv. 29-30), the holy food for the priests (vv. 31-34), and the daily offerings of the filling of hands of the priests (vv. 35-42a). Thus, after the revelation regarding the garments of the priests, the food of the priests, and God’s food, Moses gives us a brief sketch of the statutes concerning the priestly garments and the food for the priests and God. We need to be impressed that these statutes are related to three matters—to the priests’ garments, to the priests’ food, and to God’s food.
In verses 42b through 46 we have the result, the issue, of all these things. The result is that God comes to meet with the priests, to speak with them, and even to dwell among them and among all the sons of Israel. Verse 42 speaks of the door of the tent of meeting where the Lord will meet with us to speak with us. The following verses say, “And I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by My glory. And I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar, and Aaron and his sons I will sanctify to serve as priests to Me. And I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will be their God. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, Who brought them out from the land of Egypt that I might dwell in their midst; I am Jehovah their God.” According to these verses, the result of having the priestly garments, the priestly food, and the food offered to God by the priests is that God comes to meet with us, speak with us, and dwell among us.
If we do not pay adequate attention to this brief sketch, we shall not be able to understand these verses. In fact, the more we read this portion of the Word, the less we shall understand it. This was my experience in reading these verses years ago. If we try to read and study this portion without a brief sketch and a knowledge of its conclusion, we shall have difficulty with these verses. It is not easy to see the real significance of these verses.
Suppose you receive a lengthy letter from your parents, a letter several pages long. You may find it difficult to grasp the emphasis or the central point of this letter. You may read it through carefully a number of times and still not see the main point. This is an illustration of our difficulty in understanding Exodus 28 and 29. We may read these chapters even twenty times and still may not be able to point out in a brief way what is revealed in these chapters. Of course, many can talk about these chapters according to letters in black and white. They may say, correctly, that chapter twenty-eight speaks of the clothing of the priests and that chapter twenty-nine tells us that Aaron and his sons need to be sanctified in order to serve as priests. However, how were Aaron and his sons sanctified to serve God as priests? Can you explain clearly and definitely the way they were sanctified?
The sanctification of Aaron and his sons to be priests involves a number of steps: the washing away of uncleanness, the covering of nakedness by the priestly garments, the dealing with the sinful nature through the sin offering, and the filling of their emptiness. First Aaron and his sons had to be washed and clothed. Then they needed to realize that they were born in sin, that they had a sinful nature, and that they needed a sin offering to solve this problem. But even after they had been cleansed and clothed and had offered the sin offering, they were still empty. They had nothing to satisfy God or themselves. Therefore, they needed not only the outward filling of their hands, but also the inward filling of their stomachs. To be sanctified they needed the four steps of washing, clothing, dealing with the sinful nature, and filling without and within.
Before these messages on Exodus 28 and 29 were given, did you see these four steps of the sanctification of the priests? I doubt that any of us were clear about these matters. Furthermore, even after reading these messages, some still may not be able to recall these four points. Therefore, I urge you to remember the four steps necessary to sanctify Aaron and his sons to be priests of God: the washing away of uncleanness, the covering of their nakedness, the dealing with their sinful nature, and the filling of their emptiness.