John Gill Commentary Exodus 29

And this is the thing that you shall do to them: To Aaron and his sons: to "hallow" them; to sanctify them, set them apart, and consecrate them.

to minister unto me in the priest's office; for which the Lord had appointed them, to which he had chosen, called, and separated them.

take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish; a young bullock was an heifer of three years old, according to Kimchi^F20, and such an one was used in sacrifice in former times, see (Genesis 15:9). Though Maimonides^F21 says it was one of two years, and so Abendana^F23, whose words are, ``a bullock is a son of two years, and a ram is after he has entered into the second year thirty one days;'' and so Ben Gersom.

The bullock was an emblem of the strength, laboriousness, and patience of Christ, and both of them being without blemish, were typical of his purity and perfection in his nature and life, and especially in his sacrifice.

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: Comment. in Psal. lxix. 32.
• F21: Hilchot Zebachim, c. 1. sect. 14.
• F23: Not. in Miclol Yophi in loc.

And unleavened bread
Such as used to be eaten at the time of the passover, and this being distinguished from cakes and wafers, after mentioned, shows that this was bread of a larger size, a loaf or loaves of bread, see (Exodus 29:3)

and cakes unleavened, tempered with oil ;
these were made of flour mixed with oil, but without leaven, and were a lesser and thinner sort of bread than the former:

and wafers unleavened, anointed with oil ;
with oil olive, the best of oil, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Aben Ezra; these were a thinner sort of bread still, somewhat like our pancakes; and they were anointed with oil after the baking of them, and in the form of the Greek (c) , "chi", as Jarchi says, or of a St. Andrew's or Burgundian cross:

of wheaten flour shall you make them ; of the finest of the wheat, for these were to be the food of Aaron and his sons, who were now to be invested with an high and honourable office, and were to live according to the dignity of it;

and these being all unleavened, may denote that sincerity, simplicity, and integrity that ought to be found in them, in the discharge of their office, and which were in Christ in full perfection; as well as soundness in doctrine, life, and manners, being free from all leaven of false doctrine, hypocrisy, and malice; and likewise what is expected of the same kind in all the saints, who, under the Gospel dispensation, are all of them priests unto God, and whose food is the finest of the wheat, Christ the bread of life.

And thou shalt put them into one basket
The unleavened bread, cakes and wafers; this basket may be an emblem of the Gospel and the ministration of it, in which Christ the bread of life is carried, and ministered to his people:

and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams ;
not that the bullock and the rams were to be brought in the basket along with the bread, cakes, and wafers; but at the same time that they were brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, these were to be brought, led, or drove to the altar, in order to be slain and sacrificed.

And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation
That is, order and direct them to come thither; for it cannot be thought he was to carry them in his arms or on his shoulders, or have them thither by force, whether they would or not; but he was to declare to them that it was the will of the Lord they should appear there:

and shalt wash them with water ;
out of the laver after mentioned, which stood between the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar: the Targum of Jonathan says, this washing was performed in forty seahs of living or spring water, which was sufficient for the immersion of the whole body, which it is highly probable was the case; and so Jarchi interprets it of the dipping of the whole body, and which seems to have been necessary, upon their entrance on their office, to denote their complete purity and holiness, though afterwards, when they entered on service, they only washed their hands and feet, see (Exodus 30:18–21) to which our Lord seems to allude, (John 13:10) this washing shows what purity and holiness were necessary to the priests of the Lord, and that they ought to be clean that bear the vessels of his house, or minister in his sanctuary, and which were in Christ in their full perfection; and such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, and undefiled, and so could offer himself without spot, and was a fit person to take away sin by sacrifice, and to be an advocate for his people:

This may also point at his baptism, which he submitted to before he entered on his office in a public manner, and which was performed by immersion; and in this way ought all his priests, his saints, to be washed, as well as with the washing of regeneration, and with the blood of Christ; and which is necessary to their officiating as priests, or drawing nigh to God, and requisite to their communion with God and Christ.

And thou shall take the garments
The priestly garments before ordered to be made, and when made:

and put upon Aaron the coat :
the broidered coat, the coat of fine linen, which was put on first and was next to his flesh, for all these garments were put on in the order in which they are here placed:

and the robe of the ephod :
which was all of blue, and had pomegranates and golden bells at the hem of it; this was put over the broidered coat:

and the ephod ;
which was made of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen: this was a short garment put over the robe of the ephod:

and the breastplate ;
with the Urim and Thummim in it, or the twelve precious stones on which were engraven the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, which hung down over the breast by wreathen chains of gold, from the shoulder pieces of the ephod:

and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod ;
which was made of the same material and after the same manner as the ephod itself, and which girt all his garments tight and close to him; the significance of these has been observed already.

And unless thus clothed he could not minister in his office, and these he had only on while ministering in it: no mention is made of the breeches, because these were doubtless to be put on by the high priest himself in a private manner before he came there; whereas all these garments were put on him publicly at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, where it would not have been so seemly and decent to put on the other.