John Calvin Commentary Leviticus 8:4

"And Moses did as Jehovah commanded him; and the congregation was assembled at the door of the tent of meeting." — Leviticus 8:4 (ASV)

And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. Although these things relate to the priesthood, whose authority and nature I explained under the Second Commandment, yet, since they are historical, I have, not without reason, considered it appropriate to postpone discussing them until this point. This is because if I had referred to them in connection with the Commandment, inexperienced readers would not have easily understood their timing.

This distinction, however, will greatly assist them. After the doctrine properly contained in the Decalogue has been explained, they will now see how faithfully Moses fulfilled whatever he was commanded. They will also be able to compare his obedience with the command, just as they have done with the entire process of making and dedicating the tabernacle.

Besides, there is no doubt that the narrative must be connected in this way, for it can be easily inferred from many passages that the priests were anointed on the same day the tabernacle was consecrated.

I will now briefly review the words.

Moses says that he brought Aaron and his sons near, that is, to set them before God and the people. He then states that he washed them with water. This action was to make it clear that they did not bring from their homes the purity suited to the sanctity of their office. Furthermore, since they were men, it demonstrated that they could not be clean before God unless their impurity was washed away.

A description of their garments follows afterwards, which I will pass over to avoid tiring my readers by repeating the same thing twice.