And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them.
The verse commands that Aaron's sons be brought forward and clothed with coats as part of their consecration and preparation for priestly service in the sanctuary. The coat was the appointed dress of the common priest, a robe of pure white linen in one piece reaching nearly to the feet, worn with a girdle and linen turban to signify purity of character and work and that all defilement must be put away by those who come into God's presence. The priesthood was committed to Aaron and his sons to minister before the ark, with his sons serving as common priests under Aaron the high priest, and their consecration by sacrifice, blood, and anointing oil shows that service to God requires consecration and that no others were to perform priestly rites unless the Lord specially directed. These instructions for the wilderness sanctuary were given that God might dwell among Israel as an earthly object lesson of His plan of salvation from sin and His way of dealing with sinners, with its rites pointing to Christ and His power to forgive sin, transform character, and deliver from burdens. That tabernacle ministration has passed away with the death of Christ once for all, for it could offer no sacrifice that could take away sin but only pointed penitent sinners forward to the great Sacrifice, and it typified the great temple on high where Jesus now ministers.
Setting and Priestly Clothing
The command is to bring Aaron's sons forward and put coats upon them as part of their consecration and preparation for priestly service in the sanctuary, setting them apart for sacred service and establishing Israel's worship through the preparation of the Levitical priesthood for service in the earthly sanctuary. The sons were to be dressed in coats as the priesthood was consecrated, showing that their clothing belonged to their qualification and appointment to minister.
The instruction falls within the legislative portion of Exodus, among the detailed instructions for the tabernacle and its worship and service given to Moses during his forty days and nights on the mount. It belongs to the full description of the sanctuary and its service, which is God's dwelling place among His people, beginning in Exodus 25 and continuing to the end of Exodus. That description gives the exact form of the service carried on because of the errors of the people, concerning a structure whose sides and one end were upright boards closely joined and set in silver sockets in the ground and held by outside bars through rings, roofed with curtains reaching to the ground on both sides, closed at the east end by hangings of fine-twined linen for passage, and divided by another curtain into two apartments with the outer apartment twice as large as the inner. Its inner walls overlaid with fine gold shine with reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem, and its ceiling of finest pure linen worked with many angels shows the angels of heaven waiting on the bidding of Jehovah.
The coat commanded to be put upon them is the appointed special dress of the common priest according to his office, a robe of pure white linen woven in one piece and extending nearly to the feet. It was confined about the waist by a white linen girdle embroidered in blue, purple, and red, with a linen turban completing the outward costume. Its pure white linen signified the purity of priestly character and work. Together with entering the sanctuary without shoes and washing hands and feet before ministering in the tabernacle or at the altar of burnt offering, the appointed dress teaches that all defilement must be put away from those who would approach into the presence of God.
The instruction belongs to the law of Moses, which includes ceremonial laws as well as moral, civil, and other laws, revealing offerings, sacrifices, and types that help trace the substance of the new dispensation from the shadows of the old. It was given by the hand of Moses and not among the Ten Commandments that God spoke directly to the people from heaven and wrote on the two tables of stone, to which He added no more. After the people drew back in fear and asked Moses to hear God for them, Moses drew near to the thick darkness and remained forty days in the mount receiving instruction for the people, recorded chiefly in Exodus 25-30 and Leviticus. That added body of precepts, statutes, and laws included ordinances concerning offerings and flesh, with many burdensome ceremonies, diverse washings, and carnal ordinances imposed only until the time of reformation, a yoke which neither the fathers nor their children were able to bear. As part of God's set of laws for regulating the worship of Israel, it is distinct from the set of laws for civil government in Exodus 21 to 23, and it helps plainly designate the positions of those who are to execute religious duties, showing that religion and civil government have essentially different purposes and must operate on entirely separate lines without commingling.
The verse is part of the narrative of Exodus 19, 20, and 24-34 that records God's personal descent upon Mount Sinai with His angels.
Typical Service and Lessons
The command to bring Aaron's sons and put coats upon them belongs to God's explicit instructions to Moses for preparing the sanctuary service, given in the mount in Exodus 25 to 31 and described through Exodus 25 to 40. It provided for making the wilderness sanctuary that God might dwell among Israel, whose dimensions, material, furnishings, and all were constructed exactly according to the divine pattern shown to Moses, with free-will offerings from the people and with workmen specially endowed by God for the building. That sanctuary was given as an earthly and multiple object-lesson by various forms and rites, because Israel after hundreds of years of slavery was unfitted to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required. Its rites and service comprehended the teaching of the great plan of salvation and God's way of dealing with sinners, being typical of the true heavenly tabernacle and pointing to Christ and His power to forgive sin, transform character, and deliver from burdens.
The verse stands within the description of the ancient tabernacle, sanctuary, and priests in Exodus 25-31, providing coats upon Aaron's sons for their ministration in sacrifices and offerings. That whole tabernacle was constructed for ministration in sacrifices and offerings, and it has no likeness to modern churches, though Jewish synagogues retain some of its features and Roman Catholics partially imitate them. That ministration passed away when Christ came and suffered and died once for all, and the sanctuary typified the great temple on high where Jesus now ministers.
The directions for consecrating Aaron and his sons committed the priesthood to Aaron and his sons to minister in the sanctuary before the ark. Aaron's sons were clothed as priests during their consecration and served as common priests under Aaron the high priest, whom the eldest son was to succeed in that office. Their consecration included sacrifices and the application of blood and anointing oil, signifying that service to God required consecration and qualification. Others were not to perform priestly rites unless the Lord specially directed them.
That setting apart of Aaron's sons belonged to the Levitical priesthood appointed to minister before the ark of the testament in the Most Holy Place of the typical sanctuary through the whole Old Testament period, carrying forward the work begun when Moses brought down the law. That ministration could only exhibit guilt, condemnation, and death, showing sinful men exposed to the law's just penalty with no promise of pardon in itself. The priesthood thus appointed offered no sacrifice that could take away sin but only pointed penitent sinners forward to the great Sacrifice to be offered for the sins of men.
The instructions for consecrating the high priest's sons required the same offerings and consecration of the cleansed leper as of the high priest. Even the humblest child of God must therefore be as devoted and consecrated as Christ.
The verse commands that Aaron's sons be brought forward and clothed with coats as part of their consecration and preparation for priestly service in the sanctuary. The coat was the appointed dress of the common priest, a robe of pure white linen in one piece reaching nearly to the feet, worn with a girdle and linen turban to signify purity of character and work and that all defilement must be put away by those who come into God's presence. The priesthood was committed to Aaron and his sons to minister before the ark, with his sons serving as common priests under Aaron the high priest, and their consecration by sacrifice, blood, and anointing oil shows that service to God requires consecration and that no others were to perform priestly rites unless the Lord specially directed. These instructions for the wilderness sanctuary were given that God might dwell among Israel as an earthly object lesson of His plan of salvation from sin and His way of dealing with sinners, with its rites pointing to Christ and His power to forgive sin, transform character, and deliver from burdens. That tabernacle ministration has passed away with the death of Christ once for all, for it could offer no sacrifice that could take away sin but only pointed penitent sinners forward to the great Sacrifice, and it typified the great temple on high where Jesus now ministers.
Setting and Priestly Clothing
The command is to bring Aaron's sons forward and put coats upon them as part of their consecration and preparation for priestly service in the sanctuary, setting them apart for sacred service and establishing Israel's worship through the preparation of the Levitical priesthood for service in the earthly sanctuary. The sons were to be dressed in coats as the priesthood was consecrated, showing that their clothing belonged to their qualification and appointment to minister.
The instruction falls within the legislative portion of Exodus, among the detailed instructions for the tabernacle and its worship and service given to Moses during his forty days and nights on the mount. It belongs to the full description of the sanctuary and its service, which is God's dwelling place among His people, beginning in Exodus 25 and continuing to the end of Exodus. That description gives the exact form of the service carried on because of the errors of the people, concerning a structure whose sides and one end were upright boards closely joined and set in silver sockets in the ground and held by outside bars through rings, roofed with curtains reaching to the ground on both sides, closed at the east end by hangings of fine-twined linen for passage, and divided by another curtain into two apartments with the outer apartment twice as large as the inner. Its inner walls overlaid with fine gold shine with reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem, and its ceiling of finest pure linen worked with many angels shows the angels of heaven waiting on the bidding of Jehovah.
The coat commanded to be put upon them is the appointed special dress of the common priest according to his office, a robe of pure white linen woven in one piece and extending nearly to the feet. It was confined about the waist by a white linen girdle embroidered in blue, purple, and red, with a linen turban completing the outward costume. Its pure white linen signified the purity of priestly character and work. Together with entering the sanctuary without shoes and washing hands and feet before ministering in the tabernacle or at the altar of burnt offering, the appointed dress teaches that all defilement must be put away from those who would approach into the presence of God.
The instruction belongs to the law of Moses, which includes ceremonial laws as well as moral, civil, and other laws, revealing offerings, sacrifices, and types that help trace the substance of the new dispensation from the shadows of the old. It was given by the hand of Moses and not among the Ten Commandments that God spoke directly to the people from heaven and wrote on the two tables of stone, to which He added no more. After the people drew back in fear and asked Moses to hear God for them, Moses drew near to the thick darkness and remained forty days in the mount receiving instruction for the people, recorded chiefly in Exodus 25-30 and Leviticus. That added body of precepts, statutes, and laws included ordinances concerning offerings and flesh, with many burdensome ceremonies, diverse washings, and carnal ordinances imposed only until the time of reformation, a yoke which neither the fathers nor their children were able to bear. As part of God's set of laws for regulating the worship of Israel, it is distinct from the set of laws for civil government in Exodus 21 to 23, and it helps plainly designate the positions of those who are to execute religious duties, showing that religion and civil government have essentially different purposes and must operate on entirely separate lines without commingling.
The verse is part of the narrative of Exodus 19, 20, and 24-34 that records God's personal descent upon Mount Sinai with His angels.
Typical Service and Lessons
The command to bring Aaron's sons and put coats upon them belongs to God's explicit instructions to Moses for preparing the sanctuary service, given in the mount in Exodus 25 to 31 and described through Exodus 25 to 40. It provided for making the wilderness sanctuary that God might dwell among Israel, whose dimensions, material, furnishings, and all were constructed exactly according to the divine pattern shown to Moses, with free-will offerings from the people and with workmen specially endowed by God for the building. That sanctuary was given as an earthly and multiple object-lesson by various forms and rites, because Israel after hundreds of years of slavery was unfitted to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required. Its rites and service comprehended the teaching of the great plan of salvation and God's way of dealing with sinners, being typical of the true heavenly tabernacle and pointing to Christ and His power to forgive sin, transform character, and deliver from burdens.
The verse stands within the description of the ancient tabernacle, sanctuary, and priests in Exodus 25-31, providing coats upon Aaron's sons for their ministration in sacrifices and offerings. That whole tabernacle was constructed for ministration in sacrifices and offerings, and it has no likeness to modern churches, though Jewish synagogues retain some of its features and Roman Catholics partially imitate them. That ministration passed away when Christ came and suffered and died once for all, and the sanctuary typified the great temple on high where Jesus now ministers.
The directions for consecrating Aaron and his sons committed the priesthood to Aaron and his sons to minister in the sanctuary before the ark. Aaron's sons were clothed as priests during their consecration and served as common priests under Aaron the high priest, whom the eldest son was to succeed in that office. Their consecration included sacrifices and the application of blood and anointing oil, signifying that service to God required consecration and qualification. Others were not to perform priestly rites unless the Lord specially directed them.
That setting apart of Aaron's sons belonged to the Levitical priesthood appointed to minister before the ark of the testament in the Most Holy Place of the typical sanctuary through the whole Old Testament period, carrying forward the work begun when Moses brought down the law. That ministration could only exhibit guilt, condemnation, and death, showing sinful men exposed to the law's just penalty with no promise of pardon in itself. The priesthood thus appointed offered no sacrifice that could take away sin but only pointed penitent sinners forward to the great Sacrifice to be offered for the sins of men.
The instructions for consecrating the high priest's sons required the same offerings and consecration of the cleansed leper as of the high priest. Even the humblest child of God must therefore be as devoted and consecrated as Christ.