Exodus 29;10 says, 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.  Then verse eleven adds, And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  Aaron and his sons were to put their hands on the head of the bullock, and it was to be killed before the LORD by the door of the tabernacle.  I believe this was to symbolize Aaron and his sons dying, or being sacrificed to God.  The bullock would take their place in sacrifice before God, just as Christ takes our place in sacrifice before God.  Verse twelve states, 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.  Some of the blood was to be put on the horns of the altar, and the rest was to be poured at the bottom of the altar.  Basically, the altar was to be covered by the blood of the bullock from the top to the bottom, just as we today as followers of Christ are completely covered by His blood.  Verse thirteen says, 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,  Some of the organs of the bullock were to be burned on the altar.  Verse fourteen adds, 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.   The rest of the bullock was to be burned outside the camp as a sin offering.  We cannot come to God without our sins being atoned for, and by having faith in Christ is the only way this can happen.  Verse fifteen states, Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.  Then verse sixteen adds, And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.   As with the bullock, Aaron and his sons were to put their hands on the head of one of the rams and it was to be slain.  Then the blood was to be sprinkled around the altar.  Verse seventeen says,  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.  Then verse eighteen adds,  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.  The whole ram after it was cleansed to be burned on the altar as a sacrifice to the LORD.  I believe that we can say that like the ram, Christ sacrificed Himself fully on the cross to atone for our sins.  Verse nineteen states,
And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.  Verse twenty adds, 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.  Aaron and his sons were to place their hands on the head of the other ram, and it was to be killed.  Some of the blood of the ram was to be put on the right ear of Aaron and his sons and some on their thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot.  I believe this was to symbolize being completely covered by the blood.  The rest of the blood was to be sprinkled on the altar.  We can say that as followers of Christ, we are completely covered by His blood shed for us on the cross.  Verse twenty-one concludes, 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.  The blood and oil from the altar were to be sprinkled on Aaron and his sons to hallow, or consecrate, them before God.

Exodus 29:1 says, 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,   Aaron and his sons didn't just decide that they would be priests.  God chose them to be priests, and then they were hallowed, or consecrated as priests.  We today, when we become followers of Christ, become a part of the priesthood of believers, not because we choose to be, but because God calls us to be.  Then, whatever function we have in the church, it is because God calls us to that function.  Verse two states, And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them.  In addition to the young bullock and two rams without blemish mentioned above, they were to take unleavened bread and cakes tempered with oil, and wafers anointed with oil.  Verse three adds, And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.  All the bread was to be put in one basket, and brought with the bullocks and two rams to consecrate and sanctify Aaron and his sons so that they might minister as priests.   When we come to God today to join the priesthood of believers, we must come by being sanctified by our faith in Christ, Who was our sacrifice for our sins.  Verse four says, And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water.  Aaron and his sons were to be brought into the tabernacle and washed with water.  Verse five adds, 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:  Aaron was to be dressed in the priestly garments of the High priest.  We today as followers of Christ are dressed in the righteous of Christ.  Though we do not have physical garments to set us aside, we are nonetheless washed by the blood of Christ and covered by His righteousness.  Verse six states, And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre.  The mitre was to be placed on Aaron's head.  Verse seven adds, Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.  Aaron was to be anointed with oil, signifying that he was consecrated to God.  Verse eight states, And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them. Then verse nine adds, 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.  Aaron's sons were then to be dressed in the coats of the priesthood, and all were to have on girdles and bonnets.  They were basically to be covered from head to toe in priestly garments, just as we are to be completely covered by the righteousness of Christ today.   The priesthood was to be theirs for a perceptual state, just as our priesthood as believers today is perpetual, if we are consecrated by the blood of Christ.

Exodus 28:30 says, And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.   The Urim and Thummin, which were used to determine God's will were to be in the breast plate.  Verse thirty-nine states, And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.  Verse thirty-two adds, And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent.  These are instructions for the robe for Aaron.  Verse thirty-three states, And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:  Verse thirty-four adds, A golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.   Verse thirty-five continues, And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not.  The bell was to used so that the people knew when Aaron went into the holy place.  Verse thirty-six declares, And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.  They were to make a golden plate engraved with HOLINESS TO THE LORD.  God will never allow His holiness to be forgotten, especially when we come before Him to worship.  Verse thirty-seven says, And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be. Verse thirty-eight adds, And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.  Aaron was to wear this when he went before God on behalf of the people of Israel.  Verse thirty-nine states, And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework   Then verse forty states, And for Aaron’s sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.  Different garments were to be made for Aaron's sons.  Though they were to be priests, there was to be only one high priest.  Today, we as followers of Christ are a part of the priesthood of believers, but there is but One High Priest, and that is Jesus Christ.  Verse forty-nine declares, And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.  Aaron and his sons were to be anointed and sanctified as priests so they could minister to God.  We today as Christians are consecrated by the blood of Christ so that we can do the work of God in the world.  Verse forty-two says, And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:  Then, verse forty-three concludes, And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.  Aaron and his sons were not to come into the tabernacle or near the altar with sin in their lives.  I believe that this would be known, unconfessed sins, and the same applies to us today.

Exodus 28:23  says, And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.  This is further details about the breast plate.  Verse twenty-four adds, And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.  This was the golden chain described in verse twenty-two.  Verse twenty-five continues, And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod before it.   The golden chains were to be attached to the breast plate at one end and to ephod at the other.  Verse twenty-six says, And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward.  There were to be two golden rings on the ends of the breast plate.  Then verse twenty-seven adds, And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.  There were to be two more golden rings on the two sides of the ephod, underneath to serve as a coupling for the curious girdle.  Verse twenty-eight states, And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.  The breast plate and the ephod were to be bound together with piece of blue lace running between the golden rings.  God gave Moses specific details for the wardrobe of Aaron.  The only specific requirement we have in order to come before God today is that we come by the way of the cross.  We don't have to be dressed a specific way and are not limited in our access to God.  Verse twenty-nine declares, And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.  The names of the children of Israel would be close to Aaron's heart when he went into the holy place.  As followers of Christ, wherever we go, the Holy Spirit goes with us to keep us close to the heart of God.

Exodus 28:9 says, And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:  There were to be two oryx stones engraved with the names of the children, or tribes, of Israel.  Verse ten adds, Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.  Six were to be named on one stone and six on the other, according to birth order.  Verse eleven says, With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.  These were to be precious stones, which would represent all the people of Israel appearing before God when the High Priest went in to the holy of holies.  Christ represents each believer by name before God today, and we should realize what a precious thing this is.  Verse twelve states, And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial.  Aaron was to bear the two stones, representing all God's people, on his shoulders, just as Christ bears all of those who believe in and follow Him upon His shoulders today.  Verse thirteen says, And thou shalt make ouches of gold;  Verse fourteen adds, And two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches. This was to be a very precious and ornate garment, much more so than the ordinary priestly garments.  Verse fifteen says, And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.  There was to be a breast plate of judgment made, in the same manner as the ephod.  Verse sixteen states,  Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.  The breast plate was to be of double thickness, or two ply.  These next few verse give details of the breast plate.  Verse seventeen says,  And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. Verse eighteen states, And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.  Verse nineteen adds, And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. Verse twenty continues, And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.   Verse twenty-one concludes, And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.  There were to be a total of twelve different stones, each with the name of one of the tribes of Israel on it.  Though we are all different, like these stones representing the people, we are all equally precious to God, and today Jesus is the One and only One Who can represent us before God.  He is our High Priest.  Verse twenty-two says, And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold.  This is simply more of the way the breast plate was to be made ornate.

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving Day.  This is a day set aside to remember and give thanks for all the blessings that we have in life.  Even when we don't have much, if we are still alive then we have reason to celebrate.  As followers of Christ, we have reason to celebrate each day, and setting aside one day in which to celebrate and give thanks to God for all that He has blessed us with is the least we can do.  Thanksgiving Day has been reduced to Turkey day or the day to plan where we are doing to spend Black Friday too often in the world today.  This was not what the Pilgrims had in mind that first Thanksgiving Day.  They were simply thanking God for keeping them safe, and we should return to that same attitude.  So, happy Thanksgiving, and remember to give thanks to God today.

Exodus 28:1 says, And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.  After the specifications for the tabernacle were complete, God told Moses to take Aaron and his sons to minister to God as priests.  Aaron had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.  Though God does not call families as preachers all at the same time today, if a person is to be a preacher, it must be because God called him.  The priests were to be God's representatives to the people and were not called simply to lord it over others.  As a priesthood of believers, our task today is to present God and His word to people and not to simply feel morally superior to them.  Verse two states, And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.  Aaron was to have holy garments made for him, for both glory and beauty.  The glory was to be shown to God, not Aaron.  We today have no special garments as Christmas, but whatever we wear should show honor to God.  Verse three says,  And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.  God told Moses that he was to speak to those that were wise hearted so they could make and consecrate the garments for Aaron.  The wise hearted would be those who truly believed in God, and just as Moses called Aaron and his sons to be priests, He called these people to make garments for them.  We do not all serve the same purpose in God's kingdom, but we are all called for a purpose in that kingdom.  Verse four states, And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.  Moses was told what garments in particular were to be made for Aaron and his sons so that they could minister as priests of God.  These garments were to identify Aaron and his sons as priests, so that they might serve God and bring honor to Him.  The call from God, and not the garments, was what made them priests, just as our acceptance of the call to salvation through Christ makes us priests of God today.  Verse five says, And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.  These next few verses are simply details for the garments, beginning with what they were to be made of.  Verse six adds, And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work.  This was the specifications for the ephod.  Verse seven adds, It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. Then verse eight concludes, And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.