Exodus 29:10, commentary and pictures

The bullock was brought before the tabernacle for Aaron and his sons at the beginning of their seven-day consecration as priests to minister in the sanctuary before the ark. Their laying of hands upon its head identified them with the victim in confession and the transfer of sin and guilt to the animal accepted as a substitute, acknowledging their guilt and need of atonement. The victim was then slain and its blood, bearing the sin and guilt, was brought into the sanctuary, yet such animal offerings did not themselves take away sin but directed penitent sinners forward to the great Sacrifice. The earthly sanctuary, its priesthood and services were copies and shadows of the true sanctuary in heaven which the Lord pitched and not man, where Jesus now ministers in a more excellent ministry as the Lamb of God who takes away sin. That sacrificial ministry passed away entirely and forever when Christ suffered and died once for all at Calvary, when the veil was rent.

Tabernacle Setting and History

Exodus 29:10 belongs to the instructions for the sanctuary and its priestly ministry given to Moses in the mount during his forty days there. Those instructions were given after Israel's covenant with God had been ratified and after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. In order they come after Exodus 19-32 and before the building and setting up of the sanctuary in Exodus 33-40, as the instruction concerning the sanctuary in Exodus 25-31. Because hundreds of years of slavery had unfitted Israel to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required, a great multiple object-lesson was given by various forms and rites comprehending the great plan of salvation. Moses was instructed to ask free-will offerings of the children of Israel for the building, with the command to make a sanctuary that God might dwell among them, and God specially endowed His workmen to build the marvelously beautiful structure described in Exodus 25-40 according to the divine pattern given in the mount.

The tabernacle of the congregation before which the bullock was to be brought was composed of two apartments separated by a veil. The first, called the holy place, was twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide and ten cubits high, and the second, called the most holy place, was ten cubits in each dimension and thus half as large as the holy place, so that the outer apartment was twice as large as the inner. Its sides and west end, or sides and one end, were formed of upright acacia boards closely joined and overlaid with gold, secured below by tenons fitting into silver sockets set in the ground weighing a talent each, and held in position above by outer crossing bars through rings attached to the boards at uniform distances. It was roofed with curtains reaching to the ground on both sides and closed at the east end by hangings of fine-twined linen for passage, with division by another curtain into the two apartments.

It was made exactly according to the pattern shown in the mount for the worldly sanctuary built in the days of Moses and minutely described in Exodus 25-40. It was God's dwelling place among His people, made as the sanctuary where God's worship on earth centered. Solomon's temple later took the place of the portable tabernacle as that same center.

All the earthly worship and service connected with those buildings revolved around the holy of holies where the law of God rested with the mercy-seat over it. The inner walls overlaid with fine gold shining with greatest brilliancy represent the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem. The finest purest linen ceiling wrought with many angels in beautiful needlework represents the angels of heaven in waiting upon the bidding of Jehovah.

The verse belongs to the law of Moses, which included laws about sacrifices and offerings as well as moral, civil, health, and ceremonial laws, with such sacrificial laws revealing types that served as shadows of the substance of the new dispensation. It belongs to what was added after the book of the covenant containing the ten words and the judgments of Exodus 21-23, and it enlarges or diminishes that book by not one moral principle but simply develops the principles already in it which an ignorant and sin-blinded people could not see. It belongs to the set of laws God gave to regulate the worship of Israel, distinct from the set of laws He gave in Exodus 21 to 23 for their civil government.

Consecration and Hand-Laying

Exodus 29:10 stands at the beginning of the consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests, when a bullock is brought before the tabernacle of the congregation for an imposing ceremony in which several sacrifices are slain. The wider consecration extends through seven days and uses sacrifices with anointing oil and blood to set the priests apart for God's service. In this setting sanctification means consecration to sacred religious use, not cleansing from sin.

The verse establishes the Levitical order of priesthood, with Aaron and his sons ministering in the sanctuary before the ark containing the law. That priestly work was assigned to them, so others were not to perform its rites unless the Lord specifically directed it. Aaron served as the appointed earthly mediator between God and the people, and God publicly accepted the newly consecrated priesthood when fire consumed Aaron's first offering for the people. This earthly ministration was the example and shadow of Christ's more excellent ministry in the true tabernacle in heaven.

The laying of hands on the bullock's head was an indispensable ritual act of consecration that identified the offerers with the victim. It represented confession and the transfer of sin and guilt in figure to the sacrificial animal, which was accepted as a substitute. By it the sinner acknowledged guilt and need of atonement.

The victim was then slain, and its blood, bearing the sin and guilt, was brought into the sanctuary. Yet such animal offerings did not themselves take away sin. Their purpose was fulfilled in Christ's sacrifice, and while that typical priesthood continued it could only direct penitent sinners forward to the great Sacrifice to be offered for the sins of men.

The high priest and his sons were consecrated to God with the same offerings and consecration required of a cleansed leper. This teaches that even the humblest child of God must be as devoted and consecrated as Christ.

Type of Christ's Ministry

Exodus 29:10 belongs to the instructions for establishing the sanctuary service as an earthly object lesson of God's plan for dealing with sin and saving sinners. After Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage, hundreds of years of slavery had left them unfitted to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required, so He gave a great multiple object lesson in various forms and rites comprehending that plan. He instructed Moses to ask free-will offerings of the children of Israel for the building, commanding them to make Him a sanctuary that He might dwell among them, with the pattern divinely given to Moses in the mount for the marvelously beautiful structure described in Exodus 25-40, for which He specially endowed His workmen. That sanctuary service presents Christ as priest and king and shows divine and human cooperation in God's work through Christ.

The earthly sanctuary with its priesthood and services, including the Levitical ministration of Aaron and his sons, were copies and shadows of the true sanctuary in heaven which the Lord pitched and not man. That ancient tabernacle and its priestly ministry in sacrifices and offerings typified the heavenly sanctuary where Jesus now ministers in a more excellent ministry. The rite of Aaron and his sons putting their hands on the head of the bullock belongs to the rites and ceremonies pointing to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, typical of the coming Messiah and His power to forgive sin, transform character, and deliver from burdens.

That sacrificial ministry passed away when Christ suffered and died once for all, with the earthly sanctuary and its priests having served unto the shadow of heavenly things and centered true worship until Christ's sacrifice and offering at Calvary. At His death it passed away entirely and forever, when the veil of the temple was rent in twain, superseded by the true tabernacle. Such laws about sacrifices and offerings belong to the law of Moses and to burdensome ceremonial ordinances imposed until the time of reformation, revealing types that served as shadows of the substance of the new dispensation. Those animal offerings did not themselves take away sin, but their purpose was fulfilled in Christ's sacrifice.

The verse belongs to the set of laws God gave to regulate the worship of Israel, distinct from the set He gave in Exodus 21 to 23 for their civil government. Civil government and religion have essentially different purposes and must operate on entirely separate lines. Civil government is ordained only to control men and regulate their relations toward each other in this life, while true Gospel religion is designed to bring men back to God.