And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place.
The command requires the flesh of the ram of consecration to be boiled in the holy place as part of the seven-day consecration of the priests described in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8. The holy place is the first of the two apartments separated by the veil, twice as large as the most holy place where the law rested beneath the mercy-seat. It belongs to the consecration of Aaron and his sons and the setting apart of the Levitical order to minister in the earthly sanctuary built exactly according to the pattern shown in the mount. Those sanctuary rites concerning sacrifices and offerings are types and shadows pointing to the substance of the new dispensation, an earthly object lesson of salvation from sin through Christ. The command to eat sacrificial flesh in the holy place could not itself take away sin but pointed forward to Christ, the Lamb of God who bore sin in his own body on the tree, and such sacrifices passed away and were abolished when He suffered and died once for all.
Sanctuary Context and Terms
Exodus 29:31 belongs to the second, chiefly legislative division of Exodus, chapters 19-40, in which the ransomed people are bound to Jehovah by solemn covenant and provided with legal ordinances for guidance. It is part of the detailed instructions for the tabernacle, its furniture and its service that Moses received from God during his forty days stay in the mountain, along with the tables of stone, after the covenant was ratified. Those instructions are given in minute account in Exodus 25-31, extending through Exodus 31, and belong to the instructions about building the sanctuary and its services.
Those directions give the minute description of the worldly sanctuary built in the days of Moses in Exodus 25-40, made exactly according to the pattern shown in the mount. It was built by specially endowed workmen from the free-will offerings of Israel in gold, silver, brass, acacia wood, linen, goat's hair and other materials so that God might dwell among them. God gave those directions to Moses after redeeming Israel with a mighty hand from Egyptian bondage, because centuries of slavery had unfitted them to comprehend His great salvation and the character He required. The sanctuary was a great, multiple object-lesson which by various forms and rites comprehended the great plan of salvation, covering its structure, furniture and vessels.
The holy place where the flesh is to be boiled is the first of the two apartments separated by a veil, the second veil. It was twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide and ten cubits high, twice as large as the most holy place which was ten cubits in each dimension. Its sides and west end were of acacia boards overlaid with gold standing by tenons in silver sockets weighing a talent each and held at the top by bars through rings. It had a linen door on the east, and a covering of linen, goat's hair, rams' skins and badgers' skins.
That wilderness, inner tabernacle erected by Israel at God's command is what is generally meant by sanctuary. When Solomon built the temple it took the place of the portable tabernacle. In both buildings the worship of God upon the earth centered, and all the earthly worship and service revolved around the holy of holies where the law of God rested with the mercy-seat over it.
The verse belongs to the set of laws God gave for the regulation of Israel's worship, distinct and separate from the set of laws He gave for their civil government in Exodus 21 to 23. It concerns the consecration ram and directs that its flesh be boiled in the holy place. It is part of the instructions for the priests' consecration, which lasted seven days and is described in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8.
Priestly Type and Fulfillment
The verse belongs to the instructions for consecrating the priests, setting apart the Levitical order to perform the ministration in the earthly sanctuary. That consecration committed priestly rites to Aaron and his sons, so that others were not to perform priestly services unless specially directed by God. The Levitical priesthood thus set apart was to minister before the ark containing the tables of stone in the most holy place of the typical sanctuary, carrying forward through the entire Old Testament period the ministration begun when the law was brought down from God. In this the verse illustrates sanctification as the setting apart of someone or something for sacred use.
The sanctuary and its services so prepared are an earthly object lesson of God's plan of government and salvation from sin, the provision through which God as king and priest deals with sinners. The directions for the earthly sanctuary and its services, concerning sacrifices and offerings, belong among the types and shadows given through Moses that point to the substance of the new dispensation. Those sanctuary rites were object lessons pointing to Christ and showing His power to forgive sin, transform character, and deliver people from their burdens, for the earthly service was a shadow of the heavenly sanctuary and its service.
The verse belongs to the ceremonial requirements recorded chiefly in Exodus 25-30, given through Moses after God spoke the Ten Commandments from Sinai directly to the people. It is part of the ceremonial instruction having reference to flesh, commanding the eating of sacrificial flesh in the holy place, and is grouped among the ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. That flesh-offering could not really take away sin, and the priesthood ministering before the ark of the testament while the typical sanctuary continued offered no sacrifice that could take away sin. It pointed to Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away sin by the sacrifice of Himself and bore sins in His own body on the tree, to whom penitent sinners were directed forward to the great Sacrifice to be offered for the sins of men, and eternal life requires eating the flesh of the Son of man and drinking His blood.
The ancient tabernacle with its priests, in which the consecration ram was prepared for sacrificial ministration, pointed to the heavenly temple where Jesus now ministers, its Levitical service being a pattern of Christ's ministry in heaven. That sanctuary service passed away when Christ suffered and died once for all. After Christ suffered, such sacrifices were not to be continued, but were abolished in His flesh because they found their fulfillment in the body of Christ.
The consecration God required of the high priest, of which boiling the flesh in the holy place is part, shows the consecration required of the cleansed leper. The same offerings and consecration required of the high priest are required of the cleansed leper, so that the humblest child of God must be as devoted and consecrated as Christ was.
The command requires the flesh of the ram of consecration to be boiled in the holy place as part of the seven-day consecration of the priests described in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8. The holy place is the first of the two apartments separated by the veil, twice as large as the most holy place where the law rested beneath the mercy-seat. It belongs to the consecration of Aaron and his sons and the setting apart of the Levitical order to minister in the earthly sanctuary built exactly according to the pattern shown in the mount. Those sanctuary rites concerning sacrifices and offerings are types and shadows pointing to the substance of the new dispensation, an earthly object lesson of salvation from sin through Christ. The command to eat sacrificial flesh in the holy place could not itself take away sin but pointed forward to Christ, the Lamb of God who bore sin in his own body on the tree, and such sacrifices passed away and were abolished when He suffered and died once for all.
Sanctuary Context and Terms
Exodus 29:31 belongs to the second, chiefly legislative division of Exodus, chapters 19-40, in which the ransomed people are bound to Jehovah by solemn covenant and provided with legal ordinances for guidance. It is part of the detailed instructions for the tabernacle, its furniture and its service that Moses received from God during his forty days stay in the mountain, along with the tables of stone, after the covenant was ratified. Those instructions are given in minute account in Exodus 25-31, extending through Exodus 31, and belong to the instructions about building the sanctuary and its services.
Those directions give the minute description of the worldly sanctuary built in the days of Moses in Exodus 25-40, made exactly according to the pattern shown in the mount. It was built by specially endowed workmen from the free-will offerings of Israel in gold, silver, brass, acacia wood, linen, goat's hair and other materials so that God might dwell among them. God gave those directions to Moses after redeeming Israel with a mighty hand from Egyptian bondage, because centuries of slavery had unfitted them to comprehend His great salvation and the character He required. The sanctuary was a great, multiple object-lesson which by various forms and rites comprehended the great plan of salvation, covering its structure, furniture and vessels.
The holy place where the flesh is to be boiled is the first of the two apartments separated by a veil, the second veil. It was twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide and ten cubits high, twice as large as the most holy place which was ten cubits in each dimension. Its sides and west end were of acacia boards overlaid with gold standing by tenons in silver sockets weighing a talent each and held at the top by bars through rings. It had a linen door on the east, and a covering of linen, goat's hair, rams' skins and badgers' skins.
That wilderness, inner tabernacle erected by Israel at God's command is what is generally meant by sanctuary. When Solomon built the temple it took the place of the portable tabernacle. In both buildings the worship of God upon the earth centered, and all the earthly worship and service revolved around the holy of holies where the law of God rested with the mercy-seat over it.
The verse belongs to the set of laws God gave for the regulation of Israel's worship, distinct and separate from the set of laws He gave for their civil government in Exodus 21 to 23. It concerns the consecration ram and directs that its flesh be boiled in the holy place. It is part of the instructions for the priests' consecration, which lasted seven days and is described in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8.
Priestly Type and Fulfillment
The verse belongs to the instructions for consecrating the priests, setting apart the Levitical order to perform the ministration in the earthly sanctuary. That consecration committed priestly rites to Aaron and his sons, so that others were not to perform priestly services unless specially directed by God. The Levitical priesthood thus set apart was to minister before the ark containing the tables of stone in the most holy place of the typical sanctuary, carrying forward through the entire Old Testament period the ministration begun when the law was brought down from God. In this the verse illustrates sanctification as the setting apart of someone or something for sacred use.
The sanctuary and its services so prepared are an earthly object lesson of God's plan of government and salvation from sin, the provision through which God as king and priest deals with sinners. The directions for the earthly sanctuary and its services, concerning sacrifices and offerings, belong among the types and shadows given through Moses that point to the substance of the new dispensation. Those sanctuary rites were object lessons pointing to Christ and showing His power to forgive sin, transform character, and deliver people from their burdens, for the earthly service was a shadow of the heavenly sanctuary and its service.
The verse belongs to the ceremonial requirements recorded chiefly in Exodus 25-30, given through Moses after God spoke the Ten Commandments from Sinai directly to the people. It is part of the ceremonial instruction having reference to flesh, commanding the eating of sacrificial flesh in the holy place, and is grouped among the ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. That flesh-offering could not really take away sin, and the priesthood ministering before the ark of the testament while the typical sanctuary continued offered no sacrifice that could take away sin. It pointed to Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away sin by the sacrifice of Himself and bore sins in His own body on the tree, to whom penitent sinners were directed forward to the great Sacrifice to be offered for the sins of men, and eternal life requires eating the flesh of the Son of man and drinking His blood.
The ancient tabernacle with its priests, in which the consecration ram was prepared for sacrificial ministration, pointed to the heavenly temple where Jesus now ministers, its Levitical service being a pattern of Christ's ministry in heaven. That sanctuary service passed away when Christ suffered and died once for all. After Christ suffered, such sacrifices were not to be continued, but were abolished in His flesh because they found their fulfillment in the body of Christ.
The consecration God required of the high priest, of which boiling the flesh in the holy place is part, shows the consecration required of the cleansed leper. The same offerings and consecration required of the high priest are required of the cleansed leper, so that the humblest child of God must be as devoted and consecrated as Christ was.