We have another piece of bronze temple furniture. Like the altar, it’s a shadow of a better way. It’s a bowl for washing for the priests to clean themselves before they enter. They wash their hands and feet. God’s true washing will come another way, the golden way, we could say.

Exodus 30 ends with a description of anointing oil and incense. There is a specific recipe for the anointing oil. Directions are given for the incense as well. They are both accompanied by warnings to not try to make it for yourself or use it outside God’s tabernacle. It’s for Him and His priests.

Believers, saints, are called in the New Testament priests unto God (Revelation 1:6, 1 Peter 2:9). We are the anointed ones. We are the ones burning the incense, so to speak, offering the prayers in His presence that are a sweet aroma.

Jesus was the Anointed One. He was chosen and sent by God for a purpose.

Kings were anointed in the Old Testament. They were chosen and set apart for God’s purposes. In the same verses that call believers priests, they are called kings or at least a royal priesthood.

We are brothers of Christ who will reign as King, children of the Father who is the King. So, we are of royal blood now. We are anointed, chosen, and set apart for His royal priestly purposes.

What was the job of the kings and priests?

The kings were to know God’s law and follow it, always giving glory to God. The priests were to know God’s law and follow it. They were to confess sin and seek God’s mercy and compassion for God’s people. They were to fear God and recognize His Holiness. They were never to attempt to reach God in any way other than through the blood and the washing.

Those are our jobs since we’ve been anointed and chosen a royal priesthood. We are washed by the blood; we confess our own sins and our corporate sins; we seek God and listen to Him; we know His word and obey it.