תצוה

In the desert camp, Moses listened as God gave careful instructions for the Mishkan. First, the Israelites were to bring clear oil from beaten olives so the lamps could be kept softly burning every night. Aaron and his sons would set the lamps in the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain near the Ark of the Pact, and keep them burning from evening until morning.

Then God told Moses to bring Aaron forward with his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve as priests. Skilled workers, gifted with special ability, would make sacred clothing for dignity and adornment: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a fringed tunic, a headdress, and a sash. They would use gold, blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine linen, so Aaron and his sons could serve in a way that honored the holy place.

God described the ephod in detail. It would have two shoulder-pieces, each holding a lazuli stone engraved with the names of the twelve tribes, six names on one stone and six on the other, so Aaron would carry the people’s names as a remembrance before God. The breastpiece would be square and doubled, set with twelve stones in four rows, each stone engraved like a seal for one tribe. Inside the breastpiece would be the Urim and Thummim, a special tool the high priest used when the people needed an answer from God.

Aaron’s robe would be pure blue, strengthened at the neck opening so it would not tear. Around its hem would be pomegranates of colored yarn with golden bells between them, so the sound would be heard when he entered and left the sanctuary. A gold frontlet on his headdress would read, “Holy to God.”

God then explained how Aaron and his sons would be consecrated. Moses would bring a young bull and two rams, plus a basket of unleavened bread, cakes mixed with oil, and wafers spread with oil, all made from choice wheat flour. At the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, Aaron and his sons would be washed with water and dressed in the vestments. Moses would pour anointing oil on Aaron’s head.

Aaron and his sons would lay their hands on the animals. The bull would be offered as a purgation offering. One ram would be a burnt offering.

Each day, two yearling lambs would be offered, morning and twilight, with flour, beaten oil, and wine. God also commanded a small incense altar of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set before the curtain, where Aaron would burn sweet-smelling incense morning and twilight.