Day 25 -- Exodus 28-30

The Tabernacle, rightly considered, was for the people of Israel a machine for atonement. Every part had a distinct function in bringing Israel and the LORD together, right down to the vestments of the priests, which are so lavishly described in today’s readings.
Take for instance the pattern of tassels on the blue ephod the high priest wore. The tassels, shaped like pomegranates, alternated with tiny golden bells “all around the hem of the robe” (Exodus 28:33-35). Besides decoration, they had a very distinct function in the atonement ritual. “Aaron shall wear [the ephod] when he ministers,” says the text, “and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he may not die.”
Only the high priest was allowed to go into the holy place to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat on top of Ark to make atonement for the sins of the people. The sound of the bells indicated that he was alive and well as he went about his sacred duties. If, however, the bells were no longer heard, those who were listening for their sound outside would know that the priest had died in the holy place. We know from other sources that a rope was tied to his ankle so that in that event his corpse could be pulled out without profaning the holy place.
It all makes a perfect sense in this ritual universe.
Every detail of the priestly vestments was minutely prescribed—even down to their underwear—see 28:48. Everything had its symbolic function. The priests in their elaborate costumes were simply another part of the furnishing of the tabernacle, another cog in the machine. Their sole reason for being was to facilitate the bringing together of God and the covenant people in the Tent of Meeting. Even in consuming the flesh of the sacrificed animals they functioned to “eat” the sins of the people (29:33).
It is not easy for us to appreciate all these ritual instructions for what they are. But it is important to remember what we have said before--every word of Scripture was once good news to someone. At the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, where sacrifices were offered for their sin, the people of Israel met their God—29:42—and were reconciled with him. Keeping the minute instructions in these chapters of Exodus made it possible for them to experience God dwelling with them—29:45-46—in a community of grace and peace. Sacrifice made it possible for them to experience that oneness with God and with the other members of covenant community we have through the sacraments of the Church, and it is as sacrament and liturgy that these regulations in Exodus are best understood.