Blood on the Ear, the Thumb, the Toe
22 He presented the other ram, the ram of consecration. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23 He killed it; and Moses took some of its blood, and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot. 24 He brought Aaron’s sons; and Moses put some of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and Moses sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 25 He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat that was on the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh; 26 and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before Yahweh, he took one unleavened cake, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat and on the right thigh. 27 He put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before Yahweh. 28 Moses took them from their hands, and burned them on the altar on the burnt offering. They were a consecration offering for a pleasant aroma. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 29 Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before Yahweh. It was Moses’ portion of the ram of consecration, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 30 Moses took some of the anointing oil, and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, and on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him, and sanctified Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. 31 Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the meat at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ 32 What remains of the meat and of the bread you shall burn with fire. 33 You shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration are fulfilled: for he shall consecrate you seven days. 34 What has been done today, so Yahweh has commanded to do, to make atonement for you. 35 You shall stay at the door of the Tent of Meeting day and night seven days, and keep Yahweh’s command, that you don’t die: for so I am commanded.” 36 Aaron and his sons did all the things which Yahweh commanded by Moses.
Three parts of the body are marked with blood, and the new priests then stay at the door for seven days and nights.
The consecration ram is killed, and what Moses does with its blood is the most memorable act in the chapter.
He puts it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot Leviticus 8:23. Then he does the same to each of the sons Leviticus 8:24.
Three points, and they are not chosen at random. The ear is where instruction enters; the hand is what does the work; the foot is where a man goes. The extremities of hearing, action and movement are marked, which covers a working life between them.
And blood is what marks them. The same substance that atones at the altar is applied to the body of the man who will handle it, so that the priest is himself under what he administers.
The next act is stranger and it is easy to read past. Portions of fat, the right thigh, and three kinds of bread are placed in Aaron's hands and in his sons' hands, and waved before Yahweh Leviticus 8:27.
Their hands are filled. The Hebrew idiom for ordination is literally the filling of the hands, and here it is performed: men who arrive empty-handed are given something to hold and then give it away, and Moses takes it from their hands and burns it Leviticus 8:28.
Oil and blood together are then sprinkled on the men and on their clothes Leviticus 8:30. The garments are consecrated with the wearers, which is why the office and the vestment are spoken of interchangeably afterward.
The last instruction is the one that costs. You shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting for seven days Leviticus 8:33, staying day and night Leviticus 8:35.
A week at the threshold, sleeping there. Whatever else the seven days accomplish, they establish that this office is not entered by a ceremony and then resumed on ordinary terms; the men who will stand between God and Israel begin by not leaving.
And the reason attached to the command is stark: that you don't die. The chapter that installs the priesthood ends with a warning, and the next chapter but one is about two men who did not keep it.
settled What this mark means