This isn't just about sprinkling blood and oil; it's about making sure the priests and their very clothes are set apart as holy. The text emphasizes that the garments themselves become holy along with the people, signifying that every part of their service, down to the fabric they wear, is consecrated to God.
Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This passage is part of a lengthy, detailed instruction from God to Moses for the consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests. Following specific sacrificial rites involving a bullock and rams, this step involves a symbolic cleansing and dedication of the priests and their official garments. The process emphasizes their separation from the common people and their set-apartness for God's service.
Why did the priests and their garments need to be touched by both blood and oil? This wasn't just a ritual bath; it spoke to the very core of their calling.
This verse describes a crucial step in the consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests. They, along with their sacred garments, are sprinkled with both the blood from the altar and the anointing oil.
Atonement and Justification:
Sanctification and the Holy Spirit:
This combination meant the priests were both forgiven and empowered to approach God and serve His people.
Ask a follow-up
It's easy to think of holiness as an internal state. But here, it's not just the priests, but their clothes too, that are declared holy. What does this tell us about God's view of service?
The text is very specific: Aaron, his sons, and their garments are all sprinkled and declared holy.
The Priest's Whole Being:
The Symbolic Power of Garments:
A Reflection of Christ's Work:
Understand the original words
dam · Hebrew Noun
The life principle of a creature, representing the blood of atonement used to cleanse, sanctify, and dedicate persons or objects to God's service. In the Mosaic system, it is the primary means of making propitiation for sin.
shemen mishchah · Hebrew Noun Phrase
A consecrated substance, typically olive oil, representing the setting apart, empowerment, and consecration of persons or objects by the Holy Spirit for God's special use.
qadosh · Hebrew Adjective
To be set apart, consecrated, or devoted exclusively to the service and presence of God, separated from common or profane use.
This passage describes the same ceremony of consecration for Aaron and his sons, detailing the sprinkling of the anointing oil and blood upon them and their garments, reinforcing the idea of being set apart as holy.
Hebrews 9:22The author of Hebrews connects the Old Testament law of sprinkling with blood to the purification of nearly everything, highlighting the essential role of blood in atonement and consecration, as seen in Exodus 29.
1 Peter 1:2Peter speaks of believers as 'elect... through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood,' echoing the dual action of anointing oil and blood for holiness mentioned in Exodus 29.
John 17:19Jesus prays, 'And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.' This shows the ultimate fulfillment of consecration, where Christ sets himself apart for his people's holiness, mirroring the priests being consecrated for service.
calvinExodus 29:1-35: "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 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.
Cingesque illos baltheo: Aharon et flios ejus, et aptabis eis pileos, et erit eis sacerdotium in statutum perp…
ellicottExodus 29:21: "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."
(21) Take of the blood . . . and of the anointing oil. —The twofold sprinkling, with blood and with oil, denoted the necessity of a twofold holiness—that of justification by the atoning blood of…
This isn't just about sprinkling blood and oil; it's about making sure the priests and their very clothes are set apart as holy. The text emphasizes that the garments themselves become holy along with the people, signifying that every part of their service, down to the fabric they wear, is consecrated to God.
This passage is part of a lengthy, detailed instruction from God to Moses for the consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests. Following specific sacrificial rites involving a bullock and rams, this step involves a symbolic cleansing and dedication of the priests and their official garments. The process emphasizes their separation from the common people and their set-apartness for God's service.
This passage is part of a lengthy, detailed instruction from God to Moses for the consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests. Following specific sacrificial rites involving a bullock and rams, this step involves a symbolic cleansing and dedication of the priests and their official garments. The process emphasizes their separation from the common people and their set-apartness for God's service.
"Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’…" — This isn't just about sprinkling blood and oil; it's about making sure the priests and their very clothes are set apart as holy. The text emphasizes that the garments themselves become holy along wit…
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Last reviewed October 2026
