Exodus 29:6

29:1-37 Aaron and his sons were to be set apart for the priest's office, with ceremony and solemnity. Our Lord Jesus is the great High Priest of our profession, called of God to be so; anointed with the Spirit, whence he is called Messiah, the Christ; clothed with glory and beauty; sanctified by his own blood; made perfect, or consecrated through sufferings, Heb 2:10. All believers are spiritual priests, to offer spiritual sacrifices,

And thou shall put the mitre upon his head,.... Which was made of linen, and was a wrap of linen about his head in the form of a turban: and put the holy crown upon the mitre; the holy crown was a plate of gold which had these words, "holiness to the Lord", engraven on it; and so says the Targum of Jonathan,"on which the holy name was engraven;''the mitre was upon the top of his head, this in the forefront of that; it was upon Aaron's forehead, and reached from ear to ear, and was fastened behind with a blue lace; this was like a crown or a diadem, and denotes the honour and dignity of the priestly office: Christ is a priest on his throne, and his saints are a royal priesthood, even kings as well as priests unto God.

(6) The holy crown. —The golden plate, inscribed with “Holiness to the Lord,” and attached to the mitre by a lace or riband, resembled the “diadems” worn in the East by monarchs, and regarded as the main emblem of their sovereignty. In Egypt, such a diadem is found first in the reign of Amenôphis IV. (Khuenaten), the ninth king of the eighteenth dynasty. The assignment of a crown to the high priest gave him that quasi-royal dignity which marked him as a type of our Lord in His threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King.

Verse 6. - The holy crown . The plate of gold with its blue ribbon, or lace, formed a species of diadem, such as in the East seems to have been always regarded as the special emblem of royalty. An ornament of the kind seems to have been introduced into Egypt by Khuenaten or Amenophis IV. It marked the royal character of the high priest, who, as the main type of Christ in the Mosaic law, was bound to be "Prophet, Priest, and King." (Compare Leviticus 8:9 .) Exodus 29:6

6 . the mitre ] the turban: Exodus 28:37 . the holy crown ] so Exodus 39:30 , Leviticus 8:9 . Better, the holy diadem. The term does not occur in ch. 28; but it doubtless denotes the blue lace, with the gold plate in front, which was tied, in the manner of a ‘diadem,’ round the white turban of the high priest (see on Exodus 28:37 ). The word is also used of a royal diadem ( 2 Samuel 1:10 al. ); and perhaps means properly a (mark of) separation (to Jehovah).

4-9. Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle—as occupying the intermediate space between the court where the people stood, and the dwelling-place of Israel's king, and therefore the fittest spot for the priests being duly prepared for entrance, and the people witnessing the ceremony of inauguration. wash them with water. And … take the garments—The manner in which these parts of the ceremonial were performed is minutely described, and in discovering their symbolical import, which indeed, is sufficiently plain and obvious, we have inspired authority to guide us. It signified the necessity and importance of moral purity or holiness (Isa 52:11; Joh 13:10; 2Co 7:1; 1Pe 3:21). In like manner, the investiture with the holy garments signified their being clothed with righteousness (Re 19:8) and equipped as men active and well-prepared for the service of God; the anointing the high priest with oil denoted that he was to be filled with the influences of the Spirit, for the edification and delight of the church (Le 10:7; Ps 45:7; Isa 61:1; 1Jo 2:27), and as he was officially a type of Christ (Heb 7:26; Joh 3:34; also Mt 3:16; 11:29).

Consecration of Aaron and his Sons through the anointing of their persons and the offering of sacrifices, the directions for which form the subject of vv. 1-35. This can only be fully understood in connection with the sacrificial law contained in Leviticus 1-7 . It will be more advisable therefore to defer the examination of this ceremony till we come to Leviticus 8 , where the consecration itself is described. The same may also be said of the expiation and anointing of the altar, which are commanded in Exodus 29:36 and Exodus 29:37 , and carried out in Leviticus 8:11 .