The Tabernacle at Sunset - by Pat Marvenko Smith (click for larger view)

Note: I taught our Elders Quorum class today, and was assigned the topic of the Mosaic Tabernacle as a Temple.  Below are the notes and illustrations I used for my lesson.

Review of prior lesson on the exodus:

• Children of Israel escape Egyptian bondage (Ex. 14)
• Moses leads them out
• Parting of the Red Sea, Pharoah’s armies are drowned
• Lord begins to organize his people
• Manna rains down from heaven, sends Quail for meat (Ex. 16)
• Moses strikes the rock, and water comes out
• Lord covenants to Israel a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, an holy nation (Ex. 19:5-6)
• 10 commandments and Mount Sinai (Ex. 20)
• The people start to refuse to become what the Lord had offered them – “Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Ex. 20:19).  Foreshadowing…
• Many instructions, laws, covenants, etc. are delivered to Moses, which he delivers to the people, who all answer with one voice, “Yes, we will be obedient (Ex. 24:3, 7)

Moses goes up Mount Sinai again to receive instructions for 40 days and nights (Ex. 24:18).  Matthew Brown – “As part of his ascension experience, Moses is said to have been washed, anointed, clothed in heavenly garments, called with names of honor, enthroned, and initiated into heavenly secrets”.  Joseph Smith noted that Moses received the “keys of the Kingdom,” and “certain signs and words”. 

Next 7 chapters are instructions to Moses of how to build the Tabernacle while he is at Sinai.  Meanwhile the children of Israel are at base camp without their prophet, and things start to go bad.

Preliminary considerations – The Tabernacle functioned under the Aaronic priesthood, and as such things are different than we would expect from a temple functioning under the Melchizedek priesthood.  But much of the symbolism and typology remains the same.

Also, because of the translation, editing, and copying of the Bible through many generations, particularly during Josiah’s reforms, the Old Testament has some interpolations and insertions of Aaronic priesthood as the dominant authority throughout much of its history, even before the golden calf.  Some things seem out of place, anachronistic, counterintuitive, or unlogical (see for example Ex. 33 verses 11 and 20).  Some biblical scholars have noted that these are likely the result of later editing and rewriting.

Schematic drawing comparing Garden of Eden to Mosaic Tabernacle. From Temples of the Ancient World, Donald W. Parry, ed. (click for larger view)

Exodus 25 – Tabernacle, Tabernacle of the Congregation, Tabernacle of Witness or Tent of Witness, literally “Tent of Meeting” – Read Ex. 25:8-9 (first mention of Tabernacle).  Translated from two Hebrew words:

Garden of Eden as a prototype for the Tabernacle – temple functioned as a reversal of the effects of the Fall, and include many of the symbols in reverse order, going from the profane to the sacred:

The schematic drawing attempts to depict the sacred landscape of Genesis in simplified form.  The first land to arise from the waters became the Mountain of the Lord, where the Lord created Adam.  It is from this divine center that creation begins and extends out in all directions.  The Hebrew for east means “faceward or frontward”; thus, driving Adam from before his face is part of the continuing eastward movement.  Once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Adam’s eastward expulsion from the Garden is reversed when the high priest travels west past the consuming fire of the sacrifice and the purifying water of the laver, through the veil woven with images of cherubim.  Thus, he returns to the original point of creation, where he pours out the atoning blood of the sacrifice, reestablishing the covenant relationship with God.

Mosaic Tabernacle. From templebuilders.com (click for larger view)

Construction of the Tabernacle – Exodus 25-27 -

• Holy of Holies = Celestial
• Holy Place = Terrestrial (Garden?)
• Courtyard = Telestial
• Altar & Laver = sacrifice, obedience, baptism, washing
• Menorah = tree of life, the cross, the light of the world (Christ).. Fall
• Table of shewbread and wine = fruit of the tree of life, sacrament, flesh and blood of Christ.. Atonement
• Altar of incense = prayer, sacred ritual prayer, before the veil
• Veil = separation from God… we can rend through the rending of Christ’s flesh (Hebrews 10:19-20)
• Ark of the covenant = throne of God, immortality and eternal life

Aaron's holy garments (high priest). Diagram Illustrated by Janshen. (click for larger view)

Aaron’s holy garments (or all of Israel before their great sin) – Exodus 28 -

• Aaron’s garments consecrate him and allow him to minister as a priest. (Ex. 28:3).  Consecrate being translated from the Hebrew words meaning to “fill the hand” – sacrificial emblems, olive oil, incense.  The “filled hand” is a widespread sign of offering sacrifice.
• Breastplate (Ex. 28:4; includes many of the following items)
• Ephod = apron
  • Holman Bible Dictionary – “Priestly garment connected with seeking a word from God . . . In early OT history there are references to the ephod as a rather simple, linen garment, possibly a short skirt, apron, or loincloth.  It is identified as a priestly garment… From its earliest forms and uses, it appears that the ephod was associated with the presence of God or those who had a special relationship with God… There are references to a special ephod associated with the high priest.  It appears to have been an apron-like garment worn over the priest’s robe and under his breastplate… Woven of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet materials, it was very elaborate and ornate… The ephod was fastened around the waist by a beautiful and intricately woven girdle”.
• Robe
• Broidered (embroidered) coat = garment worn next to the skin
• Linen breeches (Ex. 28:42) = to cover nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach
• Mitre = a turban or round cap.  Something wrapped around with white linen.  Holman Bible Dictionary – “a type of headdress, probably a turban… In Zech. 3:5 the high priest Joshua received a clean mitre as a sign of the restoration of the priesthood”
• Girdle = sash – Holman Bible Dictionary – “An ornate sash worn by the officiating priests… to gird up one’s loins means literally to tuck the loose ends of one’s outer garment into one’s belt.  Loins were girded in preparation for running, battle, or for service for a master.  The call to ‘gird your minds’ means to be spiritually alert and prepared”.
• Bells on the hem (Ex. 28:35) = sound heard when he goes into the holy place, as an announcement
• Golden crown (Ex. 28:36) = HOLINESS TO THE LORD.  Taking upon him the name of the Lord, literally.
• Blue lace (Ex. 28:37) = a thread, a line, or cord; string to attach the crown, and secure it to the mitre.

Sons of Aaron (priests). (click for larger view)

Aaron’s sons garments – Ex. 28:40 -

• Coat
• Girdle
• Bonnet (hat or headdress)

Aaron and his sons were to be anointed, consecrated, and sanctified, and clothed in these holy garments so that they could minister in the priest’s office and come to the altar in the holy place. (Ex. 28:41-43; Ex. 29:29)

Exodus 29:4– “And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water.”

Clothing in the garments of the priesthood – Exodus 29:5-6

Exodus 29:7– “Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.”

These things were done before the priests entered the holy place.  They were preparatory or initiatory ordinances to become ritually clean to serve in the Tabernacle.

Other offerings of animal sacrifices were offered on the altar.

The Tabernacle was to be a place of meeting the Lord and speaking with Him – Exodus 29:42-46 “This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door [veil?] of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord:  where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.  And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory… And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.  And they shall know that I am the Lord their God… that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God.”

All this was given to Moses while he was on Mount Sinai.  The children of Israel, meanwhile, were beginning to build idols, “which shall go before us” (Ex. 32).  Were desiring some intermediary to go before the Lord, now that Moses was gone, and they didn’t know if he was coming back (Ex. 32:1).

The Adoration of the Golden Calf, Nicolas Poussin, April 1633 (click for larger view)

Golden Calf!  Here is the turning point.  Moses comes down and breaks the tablets in his anger (Ex. 32:19, symbolic of the covenant being broken, literally).  The Lord chastises Israel for their great sin.  They will no longer be able to become a kingdom of priests – “Ye are a stiffnecked people: if I came up into the midst of thee in a moment, I would consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee” (JST Ex. 33:5; see also Ezek. 24:17, 23).  The children of Israel can no longer come into the presence of the Lord because of their wickedness, and breaking their covenants.  The Lord commanded the Israelites to remove their “ornaments” (Ex. 33:4-6).  Matthew Brown suggests that this might have been connected with the “robes of . . . glory” that the Israelites were required to remove.  “These robes may be related to the ‘garments . . . for glory’ (i.e. temple robes) worn by the Israelite priests”.  Here we see that all the people were preparing to wear the sacred robes, not just Aaron and his sons.  But they were now unworthy of them.

Brigham Young once took note:

If they had been sanctified and holy, the children of Israel would not have traveled one year with Moses before they would have received their endowments and the Melchisedec Priesthood.”

Moses, and later on Aaron, become the intermediary for the people (Ex. 33:7-11).  They would go before the face of God, not the people.  We get more insight into what happened here in the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C 84:17-27).

17 Which priesthood continueth in the church of God in all generations, and is without beginning of days or end of years.
18 And the Lord confirmed a priesthood also upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations, which priesthood also continueth and abideth forever with the priesthood which is after the holiest order of God.
19 And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
20 Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
22 For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.
23 Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God;
24 But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence; therefore, the Lord in his wrath, for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory.
25 Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also;
26 And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel;
27 Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until John, whom God raised up, being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb.

Moses goes back up the mountain to get the stone tablets again, but this time the covenant did not include the “everlasting covenant of the holy priesthood” that the people were not prepared to receive anymore (JST Deut 10:2).

1 And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two other tables of stone, like unto the first, and I will write upon them also, the words of the law, according as they were written at the first on the tables which thou brakest; but it shall not be according to the first, for I will take away the priesthood out of their midst; therefore my holy order, and the ordinances thereof, shall not go before them; for my presence shall not go up in their midst, lest I destroy them. 2 But I will give unto them the law as at the first, but it shall be after the law of a carnal commandment; for I have sworn in my wrath, that they shall not enter into my presence, into my rest, in the days of their pilgrimage. (JST Ex. 34:1-2)

For the rest of Israelite history until the coming of Jesus Christ, the temple performed its functions primarily through the Aaronic priesthood, the authority to perform outward and carnal ordinances, but not the authority to bring mankind into the presence of the Father.  Christ restored what was lost through Israel’s iniquity, brought back the higher priesthood, reacquainted man with his Father, and restored the ordinances through which mankind may come once again into the presence of God.  These ordinances have been restored again today.

Here is another schematic drawing of the Tabernacle.

(To see more Tabernacle illustrations see TempleBuilders.com.)

Mosaic Tabernacle as an Aaronic Temple

Last Friday I was able to attend the symposium entitled “Temples and Ritual in Antiquity,” sponsored by The Students of the Ancient Near East (SANE) and the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University.  It was an excellent symposium about the temple, with a wide range of topics related to the temple presented by students and scholars.  I was also fortunate to help organize videotaping the symposium so that it will be preserved and available online for many others to see and study.  In addition to the great things that were shared, I was also able to meet several of the people I have become acquainted with online, such as David Larsen, “Particle Man,” Kathy Larsen, Donna Nielsen, and several others.  It was a great experience.  I hope SANE will continue to sponsor such symposiums in the future.

I am grateful for the SANE organizers for allowing us to videotape the symposium and make it available online, particularly Dan McLellan for his support.  I’d also like to thank Steve Smoot and Tyler Livingston for their help with the video cameras, digitizing and uploading.

Below are all the videos that we were able to record at the symposium (that have been uploaded to date).  You can see short bios of each presenter here or here.  David Larsen also took some great notes in the Ancient Israel sessions.  Note:  I will update this post with links to more of the videos as soon as they become available.  Enjoy!

Ancient Israel #1

Donald W. Parry: “Eve, Eden, and the Temple” – not permitted to record
Dan Belnap: “The Role of Scent in the Rituals of Ancient Israel” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
David Larsen: “Two High Priesthoods? Evidence for Changes in the Priesthood from First to Second Temple Judaism” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
William Hamblin: “What is the ‘Chariot’ in Ezekiel 1?” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 or KeyNote presentation (see also his presentation the same day on the iconography of the “Hand of God” – part 1, part 2)

Ancient Israel #2

James Carroll: “An Expanded View of the Israelite Scapegoat” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
David Seely: “The Tabernacle as Cosmos in Josephus’s Antiquities” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Brian M. Hauglid: “Ancient Temple Architecture: Beliefs and Practices in Light of the Restored Temple Idea” – not permitted to record
Matthew Brown: “Kingship Initiation Motifs in Ancient Israel” – not permitted to record

Early Christianity

Andrew Miller: “The Ante-Nicene Mysteries and their New Testament Sources” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2
Aaron Snyder: “The Prayer Circle in Early Christianity” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Daniel Becerra: “The Chrism in Early Christianity” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2
Rachel A. Grover: “The Paradise Garden and Messianic Age Imagery in the 5th to 7th Century Church Floor Mosaics of Jordan” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2

The Classical World

Chris Dawe: “The Deification of Romulus” – did not present
Bryan Benson: “The Treatment of Temples in Plato’s Republic and Laws” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Dustin Simmons: “Emperor as God: Roman Imperial Cult Worship & Implications for Early Christians” – did not present
Daniel O. McClellan: “Initiation Ideology in Apuleius’ Golden Ass” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Keith Fairbank: “The Eleusinian Mysteries: Greatest Conquest of Demetrios Poliorketes” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2

Egypt

Doug Marsh: “The Microcosmic Egyptian Temple” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2
Kerry Muhlestein and Alyssa Lewis: “The Role of Violent Rituals in the Egyptian Temple” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Elliott Wise: “An Odor of Sanctity: The Iconography, Magic, and Liturgy of Egyptian Incense” – Entire Lecture or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
John Gee: “Rituals of the Egyptian Temple: An Orientation” – not permitted to record

Open Session

Jacob Moody: “Philistine Ritual Artifacts” – did not present
Mark Wright: “The Cultural Context of Nephite Apostasy” – not permitted to record
Scott Preston Sukhan Nibley: “Ancient Southeast Asian Temples” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2
Joseph Petramalo: “The Samaritan Temple and Priesthood” – Entire lecture or Part 1, Part 2

Videos of SANE Symposium Lectures on “Temples and Ritual in Antiquity”

Title Page

I was doing some research this morning when I stumbled upon a very interesting passage from a book published in 1916 by Levi Rightmyer entitled, The Light of Truth as Revealed in the Holy Scriptures.  The entire text of the book is available for perusal on Google Books here.  The author is not LDS, although he appears to have known something of the Church (see page 482 for his reference to “Joseph Smith and the Mormons of Utah”).

What I found was a passage which discusses Christ, a priest after the order of Melchizedek, and that “all who are called to God’s kingdom and glory are called to fill the positions of Melchisedec kings and priests in the ages to come under the Lord Jesus Christ…” and if this truth is not so today it is because of apostasy:

…mankind have been deceived by false and ignorant teachers who in the early days of the church corrupted the way of the Lord as the antediluvian sons of God did before the flood, who walked after the vain imaginations of their own evil hearts even as it is now.  The world is full of religion, but nearly empty of the true knowledge of God. There are many great revivals in which are developed a high degree of religious feeling, but unfortunately they are attended with a very low degree of scriptural knowledge and true religious intelligence. (p. 740)

I did a search for the author, Levi Rightmyer, but came up short.  Does anyone know anything more about this author?  In addition to the above, part of the preface to the book describes the author’s purpose, which sounds quite similar to Joseph Smith’s early feelings – “Familiar with many of the conflicting religious beliefs of these and former days, Mr. Rightmyer was early filled with an earnest determination to search the Scriptures for himself, and if possible to find out the truth contained therein.”

While Rightmyer gets a few things wrong, such as his belief that a Melchizedek priesthood is only available to saints after the resurrection (not sure why he believes this since the person Melchizedek was clearly a mortal priest – see Gen. 14:18-20), he gets an amazing amount right about this order of the priesthood and its associations.  I’ll be interested to read more of this book to see his take on the rest of the scriptural record.

Here is the entire passage about the Melchizedek priesthood from his book, including temple imagery and symbolism:

CHRIST A PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHISEDEC

Now before any one can understand aright and correctly interpret these sayings, he must have knowledge of the Melchisedec order of priesthood, and of the patterns of things in the law. Christ is a priest of the order of Melchisedec. He entered upon that priesthood when he was born again from the dead, as it is written of him, ” Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee ” ; and again, ” Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” (an immortal priest) (Ps. 110:4). This priesthood was ordained and established before the days of Abraham, and its numbers were increased by one when Christ was raised from the dead, and will be further augmented when the body of Christ, the righteous of all ages past, are born from the dead as Christ was, which appears and is clearly taught in the song that the four beasts and four and twenty elders sung when they fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors which are the prayers of saints. Therefore it is said they sing a new song, saying, ” Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth ” (Rev. 5: 9-10).

Here the calling and hope and work of those in the resurrection who are redeemed out of every kindred and people and nation, is plainly stated. They are to be employed as kings and priests over mortal men in the earth, -- kings and priests of the order of Melchisedec. Kings are appointed to rule over others beneath them. Priests are ordained for the purpose of ministering on behalf of sinners and those who repent and seek pardon from God, through a divinely appointed order of priesthood. Christ is the high priest of the order of Melchisedec. All his brethren will be kings and priests under him, and all the prayers and supplications of those under their supervision they present to the Father through Jesus Christ. He is himself the antitypical golden altar of incense before the throne, the altar upon which the Melchisedec priests offer up the prayers of all saints as a sweet incense before God.

The angel which came and stood at the altar having a golden censer (8: 3), is one of Adam’s posterity raised to angelic equality, and is therefore an angel and so called. He is a priest of the order of Melchisedec, but he offers much incense which is given to him, with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne. That altar is Christ. All prayers reach the Father through him only.

The angels that are engaged in the work of judgment, as they are brought to view in the Book of the Revelation, are angels from among men of our species, and as the angels in former ages were ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation, even so in the ages to come will the angels of Adam’s race be employed, as Paul in his letter to the Hebrews testifies saying, ” For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak.” The world to come is to be placed under the Melchisedec order of priests, consisting of Christ and his brethren. Therefore all persons in times past from the beginning of the world, and during the times of Christ and his apostles, and since, -- all who are called to God’s kingdom and glory are called to fill the positions of Melchisedec kings and priests in the ages to come under the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, and to minister in those ages and generations on behalf of mortal men such as we are at the present time ; but before the righteous of past and present times can enter upon that employment, they must be first made perfect by resurrection from the dead as Christ has already been.

Moreover, if these hopes and expectations are not according to the faith and hopes of these times of the various sects and denominations, it is simply because mankind have been deceived by false and ignorant teachers who in the early days of the church corrupted the way of the Lord as the antediluvian sons of God did before the flood, who walked after the vain imaginations of their own evil hearts even as it is now. The world is full of religion, but nearly empty of the true knowledge of God. There are many great revivals in which are developed a high degree of religious feeling, but unfortunately they are attended with a very low degree of scriptural knowledge and true religious intelligence. (p. 739-40, link)

Levi Rightmyer on “Kings and Priests of the order of Melchisedec”

One of our readers, Dr. Kathy Larsen, pointed out a scripture yesterday that intrigued me. It is Leviticus 21:10:

And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;

There is a footnote on the second instance of the word “that” in our LDS King James Version. The footnote reads “HEB (literally) whose hand is filled; i.e. who is equipped, or authorized.” This means that the original Hebrew would have read something like, “and whose hand is filled to put on the garments.” Apparently the word translated as “consecrated” came from a Hebrew phrase for “a filled hand” or “a full hand.”

I did a little bit of digging into this, and found some more interesting things related to this. Now, first understand that I am not a Hebrew scholar; I’m not even an amateur. I have just barely begun learning some basic Hebrew. So if I am way off, I’m sure there are those who will correct me. It takes a few stumbles to learn how to walk.

The Hebrew words that have been translated as “consecrated” are male’ (מלא – Strong’s 04390) and yad (י�" – Strong’s 03027). The transliterated word male’ most commonly means “to fill,” “be full,” or “to be filled.” It was translated 107 times in the KJV as “fill,” and 48 times as “full.” It was only translated as “consecrate(d)” about 17 times (see below). Each time it is translated as “consecrate(d),” the word yad accompanies it. Yad almost always means a “hand” (1359 times in the KJV OT). It can also be a symbol of strength or power, or even as a “sign.”

Many of the male’ yad (phonetically “maw-lay’ yawd”) combinations are found in the account of Moses and Aaron, but there are other instances that follow through Ezekiel, but always in connection with the temple. In each of these cases where the King James translators used the word “consecrate(d)” the original Hebrew read “a filled hand,” “a full hand,” “hand is filled,” “fill the hand,” or something similar:

1. Ex. 28:41– 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.
2. Ex. 29:9– 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.
3. Ex. 29:29– And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them.
4. Ex. 29:33– And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate [and] to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat [thereof], because they [are] holy.
5. Ex. 29:35– And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all [things] which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them.
6. Ex. 32:29– For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
7. Lev. 8:33– And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation [in] seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you.
8. Lev. 16:32– And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, [even] the holy garments:
9. Lev. 21:10– And [he that is] the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
10. Num. 3:3– These [are] the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.
11. Judg. 17:5– And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
12. Judg. 17:12– And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
13. 1 Kgs. 13:33– After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became [one] of the priests of the high places.
14. 1 Chr. 29:5– The gold for [things] of gold, and the silver for [things] of silver, and for all manner of work [to be made] by the hands of artificers. And who [then] is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?
15. 2 Chr. 13:9– Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of [other] lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, [the same] may be a priest of [them that are] no gods.
16. 2 Chr. 29:31– Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.
17. Ezek. 43:26– Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.

There are other instances in which the word “consecrate(d)” was translated from a different Hebrew word, but the male’ yad combination is the most common.

The yod (י) Hebrew character itself is of interest here as well (probably where we get our English letter I). The original pictograph from which this character developed was of a squared arm and hand:

It is thought that this character may have descended from the Egyptian hieroglyphic of an arm and hand:

This hieroglyphic could have been a representation of a common Egyptian censer, or incense vessel, that was used.

As can be seen in the painting at the beginning of this post, the incense was moved from place to place in the holy place with the use of an incense shovel or spoon. The Temple Institute has reproduced what they think this may have looked like:

Even more ancient, however, the Egyptians had a similar tool for offering incense to the gods. I believe this is an authentic Egyptian censer:

The unique thing about this instrument is the sculpted cupped hand at the end of the tool. A drawing of it can be seen here. This tool being used by an Egyptian can be seen here, or offering incense straight from the hand here. A modern studio recreation of this instrument can be seen here, which they call “An Heru.” Notice that sometimes it appears that the incense was offered directly from the hand, whereas in other instances it was in a bowl held in a cupped hand. Other Egyptian examples can be seen here, or here, or here, or here, and here.

Why the symbolic use of a cupped hand to offer incense? Dr. Hugh Nibley taught:

Incense was often burned in special holders made in the form of a cupped hand, the “golden spoons” of Exodus 25:29 . . . the “filled hand” (the Hebrew letter kaph כ means “palm”) is the widespread sign of offering sacrifice.

Nibley brings up another interesting Hebrew letter, the kaph כ (probably where we get our English letter K). The original pictograph for this letter looks like this:

The Egyptian representation of this pictograph was:

Kaph literally means “palm” in Hebrew, and represents:

. . . the open palm of a hand. The meanings of this letter are bend and curve from the shape of the palm as well as to tame or subdue as one who has been bent to another’s will.

Hebrew4Christians.com has some interesting commentary about this letter also:

The literal meaning of Kaf is "palm" which is considered the location where potential of the Yod (hand) is actualized (interestingly, the gematria for the word Yod is the same for the letter Kaf). For this reason we bless children with palms facing them and we envision God as having His palms over us, for this image suggests the calling forth of the latent power of the spirit within for manifestation in the physical world. . . .

The word Kaf means "palm" of a hand and also what might be contained within the palm of the hand. The word "spoon" in Hebrew is the word Kaf, which is a natural extension of the palm as a container.

So bringing all of this together, when we read of God commanding Moses and Aaron to be “consecrated,” or to “consecrate,” the Hebrew words behind this term connote filling a cupped hand with incense in order to make sacrificial offerings to God in His holy place of the temple.

Consecrate = “A Filled Hand” in Hebrew