Reading: Exodus 28-29, Psalm 26
When I was a child, I loved outer space. Ok, let’s be serious- I still love outer space. I grew up certain that by the time I was in my thirties, taking a vacation to the moon, or at least a space station, would be in easy reach of most people. I watched city-in-space cartoons like Robotech. I built rockets and space ships out of Lego (if only these had existed when I was a kid! So jealous.) When I was a teenager, my family (along with most the world) watched the epic Tom Hanks film Apollo 13. Space, it turns out, is dangerous. Something, anything, goes wrong, and death is right on top of you. The story of space exploration, when you come to know it, is the story of great daring and adventure, but also great danger. Entering another world is not safe. It requires all kinds of preparation. So my dreams of a space vacation are on the back burner. But part of me still hopes we get there, maybe in another thirty years or so.
Like the instructions for the tabernacle, the instructions for the priests who will serve there are meticulously detailed. God gives Moses a pattern to follow, and once again that patterns is still something people today can follow (and have.) The instructions here for the priests come in two parts. The first, and probably more familiar, are the instructions for the high priest’s robes. Aaron is to wear a very specific set of clothes when serving in the tabernacle, and there is enormous significance to them. The second part is the process of consecration and purification that will be necessary for Aaron and his descendants to serve in this place.
First, the garments. Like the tabernacle itself, these were designed to be eye catching. There were layers of brightly colored material, gemstones, bells, fruit, and gold. God tells Moses the robes will be for glory and beauty. But they have a purpose beyond looking amazing. On two stones sitting on the high priest’s shoulders are engraved the names of the sons of Israel. Over his heart he wears a plate with twelve stones with the names again. Underneath this he carried the urim and thummim, objects the priests were to use in judging the people of Israel. There has been much speculation as to what exactly these objects were, but it is all shot in the dark guessing, as there is exactly zero evidence. As a committed nerd, I’m kind of hoping they were ancient dice, but we don’t really have any idea, and that isn’t the point of the story. On his head there is to be a turban with a gold plate which is engraved “Holy to the Lord”
Pay attention to what God says here: the high priest will bear the tribes of Israel on his shoulders and on his heart. He will carry their judgment on his heart. He will bear the guilt of Israel on himself when he enters the tabernacle. All the sacrifices and gifts the people bring to the tabernacle are part of the fallen world, but the high priest will bear the guilt of these gifts and sacrifices. He, and only he, will intercede for all his people. He literally wears a sign on his forehead declaring that he is holy. Aaron, and later the high priests of Israel, are to stand in the place of their people before God. They have a duty and responsibility to holiness, and as we will see as the story goes on, they are not up to the task. God will come up with a better priest. But that’s jumping ahead.
After all the robes and their accoutrements are made, there is a great deal of death. The consecration of the priests and their garments is extensive. First, Aaron and his sons all come to the tabernacle with some animals. They lay their hands on the animals, an ancient symbol of identification- saying “this animal is standing in my place”- then they kill the animal, and it’s blood purifies them, their garments, and the alter on which all the other sacrifices will be offered. They do this every day for a week. Once again, it is worth reiterating what God is saying here: the high priest, who will bear the guilt of all the people, is able to do his role through dying. In this case, he identifies himself with an animal which is killed. But it requires he do this several times. And each generation has to do it again. It doesn’t stick.
Finally, God declares there will be a daily sacrifice of a lamb, morning and evening. Every. Single. Day. The tabernacle, the little beginning place of the new creation, is surrounded by death. It is in a constant state of being purified. In order for the people of Israel to have God among them, the consequences of the human problem have to be suffered. God has told Israel that animals with which the people are identified will suffer it for them. For now. And for a very, very long time. But not forever.