The Ordination Begins
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread; 3 and assemble all the congregation at the door of the Tent of Meeting.” 4 Moses did as Yahweh commanded him; and the congregation was assembled at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 5 Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded to be done.” 6 Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. 7 He put the tunic on him, tied the sash on him, clothed him with the robe, put the ephod on him, and he tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod on him and fastened it to him with it. 8 He placed the breastplate on him. He put the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate. 9 He set the turban on his head. He set the golden plate, the holy crown, on the front of the turban, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 10 Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and sanctified them. 11 He sprinkled it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its base, to sanctify them. 12 He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him. 13 Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and clothed them with tunics, and tied sashes on them, and put headbands on them, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 14 He brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 He killed it; and Moses took the blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it. 16 He took all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moses burned it on the altar. 17 But the bull, and its skin, and its meat, and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 18 He presented the ram of the burnt offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 He killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 20 He cut the ram into its pieces; and Moses burned the head, and the pieces, and the fat. 21 He washed the innards and the legs with water; and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
The priests are installed in public, washed before they are dressed, and the first animal killed is a sin offering for them.
After seven chapters of instruction, something finally happens — and the first requirement is an audience. Assemble all the congregation at the door of the Tent of Meeting Leviticus 8:3.
The whole nation watches its priests being made. Nothing about the installation is private, and the men who will handle the holiest things in Israel are inspected by everyone before they touch anything.
Moses states what is happening in one sentence and takes no credit for it: this is the thing which Yahweh has commanded to be done Leviticus 8:5.
The first act is washing. Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water Leviticus 8:6 — before the garments, before the oil, before any blood. Men are cleaned before they are clothed, and the order is never reversed anywhere in this book.
Then the dressing, described garment by garment: tunic, sash, robe, ephod, its woven band, the breastplate with the Urim and Thummim, the turban, and the golden plate, the holy crown Leviticus 8:7–9.
The detail is not decorative. A man is being put into an office, and the office is visible — anyone in the camp could tell at a glance who was serving. And the Urim and Thummim placed in the breastplate are the means by which the priest would later be asked for decisions, so the equipment of inquiry is built into the vestment.
The anointing oil goes first to the building and its furniture, then to the altar seven times, then to the man Leviticus 8:10–12. The place is sanctified before the person who will work in it.
And then the offerings, in an order that says something about the priesthood.
The first animal is the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons lay their hands on its head Leviticus 8:14. Before they can act for anyone else, atonement is made for them. The men about to become the nation's mediators begin by needing one, and the New Testament turns on that observation — a high priest who must offer for his own sins as well as the people's Hebrews 5:3.
Only after the sin offering does the burnt offering follow Leviticus 8:18, and only then the ram of consecration.
settled What this mark means