This truth of the distinctness and yet oneness of the Head and members leads us naturally to our third and last point, namely, the power of the Spirit. We may remark how much takes place between the anointing of Aaron and the anointing of his sons with him. The blood is shed, the fat consumed on the altar, and the breast waved before the Lord. In other words, the Sacrifice is perfected, the sweet odor thereof ascends to God, and the One who offered it ascends in the power of resurrection, and takes His place on high. All this comes in between the anointing of the Head and the anointing of the members. Let us quote and compare the passages. First, as to Aaron alone, we read, "And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith. And he put the breastplate upon him; also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim. And he put the mitre upon his head; and upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the Lord commanded Moses. And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them. And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him." (Chap. viii. 7-12.)
Here we have Aaron presented alone. The anointing oil is poured upon his head, and that, too, in immediate connection with the anointing of all the vessels of the tabernacle. The whole assembly was permitted to behold the high-priest clothed in his official robes, mitred and anointed; and not only so, but as each garment was put on--as each act was performed--as each ceremony was enacted, it was seen to be immediately founded upon the authority of the Word. There was nothing vague, nothing arbitrary, nothing imaginative: all was divinely stable. The need of the congregation was fully met, and met in such a way as that it could be said, "This is the thing which Jehovah commanded to be done."
Now, in Aaron anointed alone, previous to the shedding of the blood, we have a type of Christ, who, until He offered Himself upon the cross, stood entirely alone. There could be no union between Him and His people save on the ground of death and resurrection. This all-important truth has already been referred to, and, in some measure, developed in connection with the subject of sacrifice; but it adds force and interest to it to see it so distinctly presented in connection with the question of priesthood. Without shedding of blood there was no remission--the sacrifice was not completed. So, also, without shedding of blood Aaron and his sons could not be anointed together. Let the reader note this fact; let him be assured of it, it is worthy of his deepest attention. We must ever beware of passing lightly over any circumstance in the Levitical economy. Every thing has its own specific voice and meaning; and the One who designed and developed the order can expound to the heart and understanding what that order means.
"And Moses took of the anointing _oil_, and of the _blood_ which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons' garments _with him_; and sanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments _with him_." (Chap. viii. 30.) Why were not Aaron's sons anointed with him at verse 12? Simply because the blood had not been shed. When "the blood" and "the oil" could be connected together, then Aaron and his sons could be "anointed" and "sanctified" together, but not until then. "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." (John xvii. 19.) The reader who could lightly pass over so marked a circumstance, or say it meant nothing, has yet to learn to value aright the types of the Old Testament scriptures--"the shadows of good things to come;" and, on the other hand, the one who admits that it does mean something, but yet refuses to inquire and understand what that something is, is doing serious damage to his own soul, and manifesting but little interest in the precious oracles of God.