Tetzaveh (Command)
(Sefer Shemot) Exodus 27:20-31:10

27:20- “And thou shall command the children of Yisrael, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for
the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.
21- In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aharon and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before YHVH: it shall be a statute forever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Yisrael.
28:2- And thou shall make holy garments for Aharon thy brother for glory and for beauty.
3- And thou shall speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aharon's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto Me in the kohain's office.
12- And thou shall put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Yisrael: and Aharon shall bear their names before YHVH.
29- And Aharon shall bear the names of the children of Yisrael in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goes in unto the holy place, for a memorial before YHVH continually.
30- And thou shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Tumim; and they shall be upon Aharon's heart, when he goes in before YHVH: and Aharon shall bear the judgment of the children of Yisrael upon his heart before YHVH continually.
37- And thou shall put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.
38- And it shall be upon Aharon's forehead, that Aharon may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Yisrael shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before YHVH.
40- And for Aharon's sons thou shall make coats, and thou shall make for them girdles, and bonnets shall thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.
41- And thou shall put them on Aharon thy brother and his sons with him; and shall anoint them and consecrate them and sanctify them, that they may minister unto Me in the kohain's office.
29:5- And thou shall take the garments, and put upon Aharon the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod:
6- And thou shall put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre.
7- Then shall thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.
21- And thou shall take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aharon and upon his garments and on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed and his garments, and his sons and his sons' garments with him.
29- And the holy garments of Aharon shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them.
44- And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aharon and his sons, to minister to Me in the kohain's office.
45- And I will dwell among the children of Yisrael, and will be their Elohim.

“They envied Moshe also in the camp, and Aharon the Holy One of YHVH.”
(Psalms 106:16)

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou has rejected knowledge, I will
also reject thee, that thou shall be no Kohain to me: seeing thou has forgotten the Torah
of thy Elohim, I will also forget thy children.”
(Hosea 4:6)

“And I will raise me up a faithful kohain, who shall do all that is in mine heart and in my Soul
and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed all the days."
(1 Samuel 2:35)

“And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood;
because he was zealous for his Elohim, and made an atonement for the children of Yisrael.”
(Numbers 25:13)

“For the Kohain's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the Torah at his mouth:
for he is the messenger of YHVH Tzivaot.”

 (Malachi 2:7)

Tetzaveh Summary:
1. The Anointed Kohain HaGadol, the Altar Mashiyach:
Even as Moshe’s role as Leader and Liberator to the people came in a physical manifestation, so does Aharon’s in the office of the High Priest, one of a ritually resolved Atoner, bearing the guilt of the people before the Altar. Like Moshe and the perfected Messianic Deliverance of Deuteronomy 18:15:
“YHVH thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto
me; unto him ye shall hearken,”
is Aharon’s Redemptive fulfillment also seen converging in this Branch as Zechariah 6:12-13 declares:
“…Thus speaks YHVH Tzivaot, saying, Behold the man, whose name is The Branch; and he shall
grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of YHVH: Even he shall build the temple
of YHVH; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a
kohain upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”
Regarding his priestly role at the altar, Isaiah 53:11 relates of this same servant, The Branch, as kohain:
“He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge, shall My righteous
servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Parasha Tetzaveh opens with the command to bring the oil. Embodying Creation’s order, with Let there be Light, the focus will shift to Aharon, the Kohain HaGadol. Before bearing of the guilt of the people, at the place beyond Yisrael’s firmament, i.e. that earthly veil that set apart the transcendent Elohim of heaven in the Holy of Holies, Sanctification must be established; with each specific accoutrement of his grab, Aharon would define the Divine terms for approaching the Holy One. The preparation culminating in the shemen ha mishchah, the anointing oil, would illustrate the separation of the light from the darkness. First separated, then anointed, the details surrounding Aharon’s sizeable distancing from the people in sanctification, illustrate the Mashiyach’s glory as Psalms 45:6-7 avers:
“Thy throne, O Elohim, is for ever and ever: the scepter of Thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thou
loves righteousness, and hates wickedness: therefore, Elohim, thy Elohim, has anointed thee
with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

2. Handed Down to Those Who Will Keep the Charge:
Just as Aharon was called to epitomize holiness among the children of Yisrael, the sanctity of the Kohain HaGadol in subsequent generations would ever be required. The commitment to holiness became the influencing factor for Pinchas to receive the position as Numbers 25:11 recalls:
“Pinchas, the son of Eliezar, the son of Aharon the kohain, has turned My wrath away from the
children of Yisrael, while he was zealous for My sake among them, that I consumed not the
children of Israel in My jealousy.”
And, just as for impropriety would the office would be ripped from the house of Eli in years to come, it would be again be awarded for proper conduct. In Ezekiel 44:15-16, the righteous Tzadok is blessed:
“But the kohanim the Levites, the sons of Tzadok, that kept the charge of My sanctuary when the
children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister unto Me, and
they shall stand before Me to offer unto Me the fat and the blood, saith Adonai YHVH: They
shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table, to minister unto Me, and
they shall keep My charge.”
Thus will the priesthood be led by the sanctified and anointed son of David, as Psalms 110:4 tells:
“YHVH has sworn and will not repent, Thou art a kohain forever after the order of Melchitzedek.”