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Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.
Exodus 40:12 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall wash them with water.
  • KJV And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water.
  • NKJV “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of meeting and wash them with water.
  • NASB Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.
  • NLT “Present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and wash them with water.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Moses was to bring Aaron and his sons to the tent's entrance and wash them with water. The consecration of the priests began with cleansing.

Overview

Before being clothed and anointed, the priests were washed, signifying the purity required to serve a holy God. Washing marked the start of their ordination, teaching that those who draw near to minister must first be cleansed. It foreshadows the cleansing every believer needs and receives in Christ to serve God acceptably.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Lev 8:1–13Then the LORD said to Moses,
  • Lev 9:1–24On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.
  • Exod 29:1–35“Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish,
  • Luke 1:35The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
  • Gal 4:4But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
  • Matt 3:16As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him.
  • John 3:34For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
  • Rom 8:3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,
  • Isa 61:1–3The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
  • Isa 11:1–5Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 40:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.

How Exodus 40:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.