Read Exodus 30.

In Exodus 30, the LORD instructed Moses to construct an altar of shittim wood specifically for burning incense. The altar was to be square in shape, measuring one cubit by one cubit and two cubits tall, with horns projecting from its four corners. It was to be overlaid with pure gold on its top, sides, and horns, with a golden crown around it and two golden rings on opposite sides to hold the staves used for carrying it. The LORD specified that this altar was to be placed before the veil that concealed the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat. Aaron was commanded to burn sweet incense upon it every morning and every evening when he tended the lamps, so that incense would rise continually before the LORD throughout all generations. The LORD strictly forbade the offering of any strange incense, burnt offerings, or meat offerings upon it, and no drink offering was to be poured upon it. The only exception was the annual atonement made on its horns with the blood of the sin offering, performed once a year to cleanse and consecrate the altar.

The LORD then gave Moses instructions regarding a ransom offering to be collected whenever a census was taken of the Israelites. Every man counted was to pay half a shekel as an offering to the LORD — a ransom for his soul so that no plague would fall upon the people on account of the numbering. This half shekel was to be the same for rich and poor alike, with no distinction between them. The money collected was to be used for the service of the tabernacle and would serve as a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.

The LORD next directed Moses to make a laver of brass (along with a brass base) and to place it between the tabernacle and the altar. This basin was to be filled with water so that Aaron and his sons could wash their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle or approaching the altar to minister or offer burnt offerings. The LORD made clear that this washing was not optional; any priest who failed to wash would die. This ordinance was declared a perpetual statute for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.

The LORD then provided Moses with the precise formula for the holy anointing oil, a carefully blended mixture of myrrh, sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, cassia, and olive oil. This oil was to be used to anoint the tabernacle and all of its furnishings (including the ark, the table, the candlestick, the altars, and the laver) consecrating them as most holy. Aaron and his sons were also to be anointed with it, setting them apart for the priesthood. The LORD commanded that this specific formula was not to be replicated for ordinary use, and anyone who made a similar compound for common purposes, or who put any of it on a stranger, was to be cut off from among the people.

Finally, the LORD gave Moses the recipe for a sacred perfume made from sweet spices — stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense — blended together in equal parts, tempered with salt, to be pure and holy. This compound was to be burned as incense before the LORD and was declared most holy. Like the anointing oil, it was strictly forbidden to reproduce this incense for personal enjoyment, and anyone who did so was likewise to be cut off from the people.

Read Exodus 29.

The LORD instructed Moses on how to consecrate Aaron and his sons for the priesthood. The ceremony required specific animals and bread offerings to be prepared in advance: a young bullock, two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, cakes mixed with oil, and wafers anointed with oil, all made from wheat flour. These were to be placed in a basket and presented at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Moses was then directed to bring Aaron and his sons to the tabernacle door and wash them with water. He was to dress Aaron in the priestly garments — the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself, the breastplate, and the curious girdle of the ephod — and place the mitre on his head with the holy crown attached. Aaron's sons were also to be clothed with coats, girdles, and bonnets. This act of dressing them in their garments constituted an anointing and consecration to the priesthood.

The first animal sacrifice was the bullock, offered as a sin offering. Aaron and his sons were to lay their hands on its head at the tabernacle door, after which Moses would slay it. Moses was to take some of the bullock's blood and put it on the horns of the altar with his finger, pouring the rest at the base of the altar. The fat, the caul over the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat were to be burned on the altar, while the flesh, skin, and dung of the bullock were to be burned outside the camp, as it was a sin offering.

The first ram was then to be offered as a burnt offering. Aaron and his sons would lay their hands on its head before it was slain, and its blood was to be sprinkled around the altar. The ram was to be cut into pieces, with its head, pieces, and fat washed and then burned entirely on the altar. This was described as a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

The second ram served as the ram of consecration. After Aaron and his sons laid their hands on it and it was slain, Moses was to take some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, and likewise for each of Aaron's sons. The remaining blood was to be sprinkled on the altar. Moses was then to take of the blood from the altar and the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his sons and their garments, consecrating them and their garments together.

Following this, Moses was to take the fat portions of the ram, the rump, the fat covering the inwards, the caul of the liver, the two kidneys with their fat, and the right shoulder. From the basket of unleavened bread, he was to add one loaf, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and place all of these into the hands of Aaron and his sons to be waved before the Lord as a wave offering. Moses would then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, a sweet savor before the Lord. The breast of the ram was also to be waved before the Lord and was Moses' portion as the officiating priest, while the heave shoulder belonged to Aaron and his sons as their due from the children of Israel in all future offerings.

The LORD then established the sacred garments of Aaron as a lasting inheritance. After Aaron's death, his garments were to be passed to his sons, who would wear them during their own seven-day anointing and consecration in the tabernacle. Each day of the consecration period, a bullock was to be offered as a sin offering to make atonement, and the altar itself was to be purified and anointed to make it most holy.

Following the seven days of consecration, the regular daily offerings were prescribed. Each morning and evening, a year-old lamb was to be offered on the altar as a continual burnt offering, accompanied by a tenth deal of flour mingled with beaten oil and a fourth part of a hin of wine as a drink offering. These daily offerings were to be maintained throughout all generations at the door of the tabernacle, where the LORD promised to meet with Moses and with the children of Israel. The LORD declared that He would sanctify the tabernacle and the altar, and He would dwell among the Israelites as their God.

Read Exodus 28.

The LORD instructed Moses to bring forward his brother Aaron and Aaron's sons — Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar — to serve as priests before Him. To mark them for this sacred office, the LORD commanded that holy garments be made for Aaron, both "for glory and for beauty." He directed Moses to call upon all who were wise-hearted and filled with the spirit of wisdom to craft these garments, which would consecrate Aaron to the priesthood.

The first and most prominent garment described was the ephod, a ceremonial vestment to be made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet threads woven with fine linen. It was to have two shoulder pieces joined at its two edges. A skillfully woven belt of the same materials was to be attached to it. Two onyx stones were to be engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel — six names on each stone — and set in gold filigree settings on the shoulders of the ephod. These stones were to serve as memorial stones before the LORD, so that Aaron would bear the names of the children of Israel upon his shoulders as a continual remembrance.

Next came the breastplate of judgment, crafted with the same fine workmanship and materials as the ephod. It was to be square and folded double, forming a kind of pouch. Set into it were twelve precious stones arranged in four rows of three, each stone engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The stones specified were sardius, topaz, and carbuncle in the first row; emerald, sapphire, and diamond in the second; ligure, agate, and amethyst in the third; and beryl, onyx, and jasper in the fourth — all set in gold settings. The breastplate was to be attached to the ephod by gold rings and chains of pure gold, bound at the top and secured with blue lace at the bottom so that it would not come loose. In this way, Aaron was to bear the names of the twelve tribes over his heart whenever he entered the holy place, as a continual memorial before God.

Within the breastplate, Aaron was to carry the Urim and the Thummim, sacred objects used for discerning God's judgment. These were to rest over Aaron's heart whenever he came before the LORD, so that he would perpetually bear the judgment of the children of Israel before Him.

God then described the robe of the ephod, which was to be made entirely of blue. It was to have a woven opening at the top for the head, reinforced like the collar of a coat of armor so that it would not tear. Along the hem, alternating pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet — made of linen — and golden bells were to be attached all around. Aaron was to wear this robe when he ministered, so that the sound of the bells would be heard as he entered and exited the holy place before the LORD. This detail was given with a solemn warning: The bells were to ensure Aaron did not die in the LORD's presence.

Following the robe, God commanded that a plate of pure gold be made and engraved with the words "HOLINESS TO THE LORD." This golden plate was to be fastened with a blue lace to the front of Aaron's mitre and worn upon his forehead. Its purpose was to bear any iniquity attached to the holy offerings of Israel, so that the people's gifts might be accepted before the LORD.

The remaining garments — a coat, a mitre, and a girdle — were to be made for Aaron with fine linen. God also specified that linen coats, girdles, and bonnets were to be made for Aaron's sons. In addition, linen breeches were to be fashioned for both Aaron and his sons, reaching from the waist to the thighs, to cover their nakedness as they served at the altar, so that they would not bear iniquity and die.

Exodus 28 concludes by stating that these garments were to be put upon Aaron and his sons when they were anointed and consecrated to serve in the priest's office. This was declared to be a statute forever, to be observed by Aaron and his descendants.