Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Exodus
Chapter 29: The Consecration of the Priests
Now God sets His priests apart. Aaron and his sons are washed with water, clothed in the holy garments, and anointed with oil. Then come the offerings: a bullock for a sin offering, a ram wholly burned as a burnt offering, and a ram of consecration whose blood is put upon the right ear, the right thumb, and the great toe of each priest, claiming what they hear, what they do, and where they walk. Blood and anointing oil are sprinkled upon them, and they eat the flesh of the sacrifice by which atonement was made, for seven days, until the consecration is complete. Then God commands a lamb offered every morning and every evening, "day by day continually," and gives the promise that crowns the whole tabernacle: "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God." Exodus 29 is a chapter about being washed, clothed, and anointed for God, the whole life consecrated by blood, and the God who longs to dwell among His people.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Exodus chapter 29. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 29 gives the consecration of the priests and the daily continual offering. It teaches the pattern of being washed, clothed, and anointed, the whole life set apart to God by blood, and God's great goal of dwelling among His people. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Washed, Clothed, Anointed
The priests are washed with water, robed in holy garments, and anointed with oil, the pattern of consecration to God.
Ear, Hand, and Foot
Blood is put on the ear, thumb, and toe, claiming all the priest hears, does, and where he walks for God.
Fully Consecrated
For seven days the offerings continue and the priests eat the sacrifice, until the consecration is complete.
That I May Dwell
A lamb offered morning and evening continually, and the promise crowning it all: God will dwell among His people.
Washed, Clothed, and Anointed (Exodus 29:1-9)
The priests are prepared for service by three acts: washed with water, clothed in the holy garments, and anointed with oil poured upon the head.
The Pattern of Consecration
"And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest's office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish, And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them. And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water. And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod: And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre. Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him. And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them. And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons. And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock. And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar. And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar. But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering. Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar. And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head. And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram."
Explanation
To make the priests holy, God commands three acts in order. First they are brought "unto the door of the tabernacle" and washed "with water," a full cleansing before anything else. Then they are clothed in the holy garments, the coat, robe, ephod, breastplate, and mitre with its golden crown, robed in the glory and beauty God had appointed. Finally the anointing oil is poured "upon his head," setting him apart for God's service. Washed, clothed, anointed, this was the pattern of consecration. The order matters: cleansing first, then the garments of office, then the oil of anointing. A man was not fit to minister until he had been washed, robed, and anointed by God's own appointment. Only then were his hands "filled" and the priest's office made his.
Hebrew Study
"Consecrate" translates a Hebrew idiom, male yad, literally "to fill the hand." To consecrate a priest was to fill his hands, both with the duties of his office and, in the ceremony, with the very offerings he would present. The empty hands of the man were filled by God for service. It is a beautiful picture: God does not send His servants out empty-handed but fills their hands with what they need to minister before Him.
Gospel Focus
The threefold pattern of consecration, washed, clothed, and anointed, is the pattern of every believer brought into God's service. First we are washed, cleansed by the blood and the water, born again and made clean. Then we are clothed, not in our own righteousness but in Christ, who "hath clothed me with the garments of salvation ... with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10), for all who are baptized into Christ "have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27). And then we are anointed, for "ye have an unction from the Holy One" (1 John 2:20), and "he which ... hath anointed us, is God" (2 Corinthians 1:21). Washed by His blood, robed in His righteousness, filled with His Spirit, we are made a "royal priesthood" to serve Him. No one enters God's service on his own terms; we come the way God appoints, cleansed, clothed in Christ, and anointed with the Spirit. And He fills our empty hands for the work.
Blood on Ear, Hand, and Foot (Exodus 29:10-21)
Through the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the ram of consecration, blood is applied to the priest's ear, thumb, and toe, consecrating his whole life to God.
The Right Ear, Thumb, and Toe
"Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him. Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration: And one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the LORD: And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the LORD: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD: and it shall be thy part. And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: And it shall be Aaron's and his sons' by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the LORD. And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. And that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place. And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place. And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy. And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy."
Hebrew Study
At the priest's consecration the ram's blood is put "upon the tip of the right ear... the thumb of the right hand... the great toe of the right foot." Ear, hand, and foot — the faculties to hear God, to do His work, and to walk His ways — are each claimed and cleansed by blood. It is the ram of "consecration" (millu'im, "fillings," from the idiom "to fill the hand"), teaching that no part of a servant is fit for God's service until blood has touched it.
Explanation
Three sacrifices marked the consecration. First a bullock was offered as "a sin offering," its blood put on the horns of the altar, its body burned "without the camp," for sin must be dealt with before service. Then a ram was wholly burned as "a burnt offering ... a sweet savour," a picture of total dedication going up to God. Then came the ram of consecration, and with its blood the priests were marked in three places: "upon the tip of the right ear," "upon the thumb of their right hand," and "upon the great toe of their right foot." The ear, the hand, and the foot, what they would hear, what they would do, and where they would walk, were all touched by the blood. Then blood and anointing oil together were sprinkled on the priests and their garments, so that "he shall be hallowed." The whole man, inside and out, was claimed for God.
Gospel Focus
The blood on the ear, the thumb, and the toe teaches that consecration reaches the whole life. The ear was touched, so the priest would hear God's word and no other; the hand, so his work would be holy; the foot, so his walk would be pure. Nothing was left unclaimed by the blood. This is a searching picture for every believer: the blood of Christ is meant to consecrate all we hear, all we do, and everywhere we go. Our ears belong to God, to hear His voice and refuse the world's; our hands belong to God, for His service; our feet belong to God, to walk in His ways. And notice that blood and oil went together, the blood of atonement and the oil of the Spirit, sprinkled as one, for the Spirit's anointing rests on the ground of the blood. The sin offering burned "without the camp" points to Christ, who "suffered without the gate" (Hebrews 13:12), and the burnt offering wholly consumed points to Him who gave Himself "for a sweetsmelling savour" (Ephesians 5:2). By His blood our whole life is set apart to God.
Seven Days of Consecration (Exodus 29:22-37)
The priests eat the flesh of the sacrifice by which atonement was made, and the consecration continues seven days until the altar itself is made most holy.
Seven Days to Consecrate
"And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them. And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it. Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy. Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office."
Hebrew Study
Seven days sanctify the priests and the altar, until the altar becomes "most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy." Then comes the goal of the entire tabernacle: "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them." Redemption from Egypt was never the end; it was the road to this — God dwelling in the midst of His people.
Explanation
Part of the ram of consecration was waved before the LORD as a wave offering and burned, and part was given to the priests to eat. They "shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them," feeding on the very sacrifice that set them apart. This was holy food; a stranger could not share it, and nothing was to remain till morning. The whole consecration was not done in a day but repeated for "seven days," the number of completeness, with a sin offering made every day and the altar itself cleansed and anointed until it became "an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy." The setting apart of the priests and their altar was thorough and complete, a full week of atonement and sanctifying before the ministry could begin.
Gospel Focus
The priests were consecrated by feeding on the sacrifice, and so are we. They "did eat those things wherewith the atonement was made," taking into themselves the very offering that set them apart. This points to our feeding on Christ, the true sacrifice, by whom we are consecrated to God. We are not merely spectators of His atonement; we partake of it, we feed on Him. And the seven days teach that consecration is thorough and complete, not a hasty, half-done thing. God takes time to set His people fully apart. The altar made "most holy," so that "whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy," shows that holiness flows from the place of sacrifice; what touches the altar of Christ is made holy. There is a call here to a complete, unhurried consecration, a whole setting apart of the life to God, nourished by feeding on the sacrifice of Christ until His holiness marks everything we touch. Do not be content with a partial dedication; let the consecration be complete.
That I May Dwell Among Them (Exodus 29:38-46)
A lamb is offered morning and evening continually, and God gives the promise that crowns the whole tabernacle: He will dwell among His people and be their God.
I Will Dwell Among Them
"And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God."
Explanation
After the consecration, God commands the daily worship: "two lambs of the first year day by day continually," one offered "in the morning" and one "at even," each with flour, oil, and wine. This "continual burnt offering" was to go up every single day, morning and evening, without fail, throughout their generations, "at the door of the tabernacle ... where I will meet you." And then comes the promise that is the goal of the whole tabernacle: "I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory ... And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God." Everything, the sanctuary, the priests, the offerings, was for this: that the LORD might dwell in the midst of His people and they might know Him as their God. The chapter ends where the whole book has been heading, with God coming to live among the people He redeemed.
Hebrew Study
The offering was "continual," Hebrew tamid, meaning perpetual, constant, without interruption. The tamid offering, morning and evening, became the heartbeat of Israel's worship, a lamb going up to God at the start and close of every day. It taught that devotion to God is not occasional but constant, framing every day, from its first light to its last, with sacrifice and worship before the LORD.
Gospel Focus
The continual lamb, offered morning and evening, points to Christ, the Lamb of God, whose one sacrifice avails forever, and to the life of continual devotion He calls us to. As the lamb went up at the start and end of every day, so we are to "present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1) and to "offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually" (Hebrews 13:15), beginning and ending each day before the Lord. But the crown of the chapter is the promise: "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God." This is the goal of all redemption, and the reason for the whole tabernacle. God brought them out of Egypt "that I may dwell among them." He has always wanted to live with His people, and He does, by His Spirit now, and forever in the day when "the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them" (Revelation 21:3). All the washing, robing, anointing, and sacrifice were for this one end: God with us. That end is reached in Christ, who is God dwelling among us, and who by His Spirit dwells in us. The purpose of it all is fellowship: "I will dwell among them ... I am the LORD their God."
Chapter 29 in Review
Exodus 29 consecrates the priests and establishes the daily worship. Aaron and his sons are washed, clothed in the holy garments, and anointed with oil. A sin offering, a burnt offering, and a ram of consecration are made, and the blood is put on the priests' right ear, thumb, and toe, consecrating all they hear, do, and where they walk. Blood and oil are sprinkled on them, and they eat the sacrifice by which atonement was made, for seven days, until the altar itself is most holy. Then God commands a lamb offered morning and evening continually, and gives the promise that crowns the whole tabernacle: "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God."
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter is rich with the gospel. The pattern of washed, clothed, and anointed is the making of every believer: cleansed by the blood, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and filled with the Spirit. The blood on ear, hand, and foot teaches that consecration claims the whole life, all we hear, do, and where we walk, set apart by the blood of Jesus. The seven days call us to a complete, unhurried consecration, feeding on the sacrifice of Christ. And the continual lamb calls us to daily, unbroken devotion. Above all, the chapter ends where the whole story has been going: God dwelling among His people. That is the purpose of it all, fulfilled in Christ, God with us, and by His Spirit, God in us. Be washed, clothed, anointed, and wholly consecrated, that the Lord may dwell with you and be your God.
- Consecration follows a pattern: washed, clothed, and anointed, as every believer is cleansed, clothed in Christ, and filled with the Spirit (29:4-7; Galatians 3:27; 1 John 2:20).
- Blood on the ear, hand, and foot claims the whole life, all we hear, do, and where we walk (29:20).
- The sin offering burned outside the camp points to Christ, who suffered without the gate (29:14; Hebrews 13:12).
- The priests were consecrated by feeding on the sacrifice, as we are consecrated by feeding on Christ (29:33).
- The continual lamb calls us to daily devotion, and the goal of it all is God dwelling among His people (29:38, 45; Hebrews 13:15; Revelation 21:3).
Questions for Reflection
- The priests were washed, clothed, and anointed. Have you been cleansed by Christ, clothed in His righteousness, and filled with His Spirit?
- Blood touched the ear, hand, and foot. Are all you hear, do, and where you walk consecrated to God?
- The lamb was offered morning and evening. Is your devotion to God daily and continual, or only occasional?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). "Consecrate" renders the Hebrew idiom male yad, "to fill the hand," and "continual" (Hebrew tamid) means perpetual or constant, the daily morning-and-evening offering, as any Bible reference confirms. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Washed, clothed, and anointed: Exodus 29:1-9; Isaiah 61:10; Galatians 3:27; 1 John 2:20; 2 Corinthians 1:21.
- Blood on ear, hand, and foot: Exodus 29:10-21; Hebrews 13:12; Ephesians 5:2.
- Seven days of consecration: Exodus 29:22-37.
- The continual lamb and God dwelling among them: Exodus 29:38-46; Romans 12:1; Hebrews 13:15; Revelation 21:3.