Charles Ellicott Commentary Numbers 19

And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood ... — The appointed rites were to be discharged by Eleazar, not by Aaron, who would otherwise have been temporarily disqualified by legal impurity from the discharge of his high-priestly functions.

Before the tabernacle of the congregation ... — that is, opposite to the entrance of the Tabernacle, but, as stated in the preceding verse, outside the camp, because the act had reference to the uncleanness of death.

And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet.— According to the Targum of Jonathan, another priest was to do this, but the reference seems to be to Eleazar.

Cedarwood may be regarded as the emblem of fragrance and incorruption; hyssop as the emblem of purification; and scarlet (or crimson) wool or cloth may be regarded as emblematical both of sin, which is compared to it in Isaiah 1:18, and also of the blood, which is the life, the shedding of which was necessary for the remission of sin.

All of these items were used in the purification of the leper (Leviticus 14:4). In both cases, there appears to be a typical reference to the sprinkling of the blood of Christ .

Then the priest ... — The Targum of Jonathan refers these words to the priest who killed the heifer, and Ibn Ezra to the priest who burnt it; but the reference is more probably, as in the preceding verse, to Eleazar.

And it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger ... — So the promise of the remission of sins through Christ Jesus was not only to the Jews and to their children, but also to all that were afar off. (See Acts 2:39.)

He that toucheth the dead body ... — The defilement caused by touching the dead body of a beast lasted only until the evening (Leviticus 11:24). The death of man was the wages of sin; and hence contact with the dead body of a man was attended by ceremonial defilement of longer duration.