From Water Cleansings to the Veil: Ancient Ordinances and the Atonement Each of the modern ordinances-including baptism, the sacrament, administering to the sick, and others (see chapter 1)-has symbolic elements that focus on Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice. Correspondingly, ancient ordinances and rituals also consist of types and symbols that center on Jesus’ atonement. Amulek taught that every whit, or even the smallest parts, of the Mosaic law focused on Christ’s atonement: “And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal” (Alma 34:14). Elder Bruce R. McConkie similarly wrote: “Every divine ordinance or performance ordained of God, every sacrifice, symbolism, and similitude; all that God ever gave to his people-all was ordained and established in such a way as to testify of his Son and center the faith of believing people in him and in the redemption he was foreordained to make.”1 Elder Russell M. Nelson’s words regarding our modern temples also apply to ancient Israelite temples: “The basis for every temple ordinance and covenant-the heart of the plan of salvation-is the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”2 We can better understand ordinances and rituals as testimonies of Christ when we understand the words ordinance and ritual. The word ordinance comes from the Latin ordinare, “to put in order or sequence.” It follows, then, that the ancient and modern temple, which is a house of ordinances, is also a “house of order” (D&C 109:8). Religious rituals (or rites) are sacred actions or “ceremonial movements.”3 Some scholars refer to these rites of transition as “gestures of approach”4 because they are religious gestures (or acts or movements) that worshippers make as they approach God during sacred worship. The ancient temple, especially, included sacred gestures that enabled and empowered worshippers to move from the outer gate inward to the most holy place of all, the holy of holies. The gestures of approach are vital to a temple society because they symbolically cleanse and prepare worshippers for entry into and movement through sacred space as they transition from the profane world into the sacred temple. This chapter will review several ancient ordinances and rituals (gestures of approach): ritual ablutions (washings with water), anointings with olive oil, the laying on of hands on the heads of the Levites, putting on sacred vestments, filling the hands, the law of sacrifice, the laying on of hands on sacrificial animals, eating the shewbread, praying with uplifted hands, and entering the veil. These rituals are not necessarily listed in order or sequence, nor do they represent all of the rituals associated with the ancient temples. Our discussion will focus on the specific elements that symbolize Jesus Christ and the atonement. Ritual Ablutions or Washings with Water Ritual ablutions, or washings with water, are directly connected to the atonement, for they symbolically cleanse us from sin and iniquity, just as the atonement literally cleanses us from sin and iniquity. Connecting washings with salvation from sin, the Psalmist wrote: “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. … Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:2, 7; see also Ps. 26:6). Similarly, Titus 3:5 links salvation and washings: “He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (emphasis added). Revelation 1:5 also makes a connection to ritual washings with the doctrine that Jesus Christ “washed us from our sins in his own blood.” The washing with water points to Jesus’ atoning blood, which serves as a cleansing agent from sin. The law of Moses required various ritual washings in connection with the temple and its services, all of which are associated with the atonement. 1. The priests were washed in preparation for serving in the temple. The Lord commanded Moses, “And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water” (Ex. 40:12; 29:4; see also D&C 124:39). This ablution took place before the anointing and the putting on of sacred clothing. It was incumbent upon a priest to ritually wash his hands and feet; failure to do so put him at risk of a divinely decreed death penalty: “For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not” (Ex. 30:19-20). 2. The high priest washed with water in preparation for making atonement on the Day of Atonement. “And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering” (Lev. 16:24). Later in Israelite history, the high priest prepared himself for entry into the inner sanctum on the Day of Atonement by immersing himself five times. 3. The person who let the scapegoat go in the wilderness on the Day of Atonement was required to “wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water” (Lev. 16:26). 4. On the Day of Atonement, the skins, flesh, and dung of the sacrificial bullock and goat were taken outside of the temple area and camp of Israel and burned. The man who burned these animal parts was required to “wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water” (Lev. 16:27-28). Anointings with Olive Oil In ancient times, both objects and certain persons were anointed with holy oil in order to sanctify them. The Lord commanded Moses to anoint all the vessels, appurtenances, and items that belonged to the tabernacle (Lev. 8:10-11; Num. 7:1), including the ark of the covenant, the work table with its vessels, the sevenbranched lampstand, the altars of incense and burnt offering, the wash basin, and other temple instruments (Ex. 30:26-33; 40:9-10; see also Gen. 28:11-18; 31:13). On a regular basis, unleavened wafers were also anointed with oil (Ex. 29:2; Lev. 2:4; 7:12; Num. 6:15). Priests, kings (1 Sam. 10:1, 24; 15:1; 2 Sam. 2:4; 16:16; 19:11, and so forth), and certain prophets (1 Kgs. 19:16; 1 Chr. 16:22; see also Ps. 105:15; D&C 124:57) were also ceremonially anointed with olive oil for sanctification. Priests were anointed with olive oil in an elaborate ceremony that took place at the “door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Ex. 40:12-15; 29:4-7). The following scriptures indicate the purpose of anointing objects or priests for divine service unto the Lord (emphasis added): “Thou shalt anoint it [the altar], to sanctify it” (Ex. 29:36; 40:10). “Anoint them [Aaron’s sons], and consecrate them, and sanctify them” (Ex. 28:40-41). Hence, the object of anointing with olive oil was to sanctify objects or people, meaning to declare them to be in a state of holiness. That is to say that the recipient of the anointing became worthy to stand before God in sacred places and to interact with the other sacred persons and objects in a temple setting. The recipient, like the temple itself, was “set apart” and “wholly other”5 from the profaneness of the world. Naturally, if the consecrated oil possesses (symbolical) powers to create a uniquely holy (sanctified and set apart) individual, it too must be holy. Repeatedly the oil is called holy. It shall be a “holy anointing oil. … It is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. … It shall be unto you most holy. … It shall be unto thee holy for the Lord” (Ex. 30:31-32, 36-37). So uniquely powerful was the anointing with the consecrated oil that even the objects or people who received the smearing of oil were able to communicate holiness to others. This concept, recorded in Exodus 30:29, states that whosoever or whatsoever thing touched an anointed thing would also become holy. Those who received the anointing were sanctified and set apart from the profane world and were thus required to adhere to certain responsibilities (Lev. 21:10-12), but they were also offered special privileges (Lev. 4:3-12; 6:20-22; 16:32-34; Num. 4:16; 18:8). For instance, those who received the anointing were protected by God (1 Chr. 6:22; Ps. 105:15; 89:20-23; D&C 121:16), taught from on high (1 John 2:27), gained salvation (Ps. 20:6; 28:8; D&C 109:80), and received mercy from the Lord (2 Sam. 22:51; Ps. 18:50). Additionally, it was forbidden to speak out against the anointed of the Lord (2 Sam. 19:21; see also 1 Sam. 24:6, 10; 26:9, 11, 23). The anointing rite is Christcentered because Jesus Christ himself received the sacred anointing. In Psalm 45:7 (a royal wedding hymn written by an anonymous poet) God anoints the Lord with oil: “Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” Paul, speaking about the Father and the Son, quoted the same scripture in his epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 1:9). Two citations in the Acts of the Apostles further indicate God’s divine anointing of Christ: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 10:38; 4:27; see also Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18, 21). According to William W. Phelps, “Christ … was anointed with holy oil in heaven, and crowned in the midst of brothers and sisters.”6 Even specific titles of Jesus point to his being anointed with oil: Messiah is a transliteration of the Hebrew meshiach, a term meaning “anointed one,” and Christ is a transliteration of the Greek christos, which also denotes “anointed one.” The names clearly attest to the fact that Jesus was the Anointed One who was set apart to perform the service of the Father in the temple. Jesus was a “high priest … a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle” (Heb. 8:1-2; 9:24). Laying of Hands upon the Levites The consecration and setting apart ceremony for the Levites comprised several steps, including the laying on of hands (Num. 8:6-10). Concerning this ritual, Numbers 8:10 states, “And thou [Moses] shalt bring the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites” (Num. 8:10; cf. Num. 27:22-23). Just as Church members are often set apart by the laying on of hands to perform certain responsibilities and callings, the Levites were set apart by the laying on of hands to carry on the work of the atonement (or the work of offering atonementrelated sacrifices) in the ancient Israelite temples.7 Putting on Sacred Vestments When high priests and priests served in the temple, they wore sacred clothing, which was an integral part of the temple setting. A priest’s vestments consisted of four parts-headpiece, sash, tunic, and “undergarments of plain linen.”8 The high priest’s vestments consisted of eight pieces-the four belonging to the priest plus an ephod, a robe of the ephod, a breastplate, and a golden plate of the headpiece (Ex. 29:5-6). On the Day of Atonement, which occurred once a year, the high priest dressed in white and wore the girdle, tunic, mitre, and breeches. Inasmuch as the clothing was holy (Ex. 28:2-3), priests and high priests were vested with the sacred clothing in a sacred ceremony. In fact, if the priests failed to wear the linen breeches (and possibly other sacred vestments) while administering in the temple, they were subject to death (Ex. 28:42-43). Sacred vestments served a number of purposes: 1. Putting on sacred vestments is related to putting on Christ and his holiness. The verbal expression “put on” (getting dressed in clothing) is sometimes related to Jesus Christ and his atonement. The apostle Paul, especially, used “put on” to express sacred doctrines about the Lord: “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:14; emphasis added); “for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27; emphasis added); “ye have put off the old man. … and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col. 3:10; emphasis added); “let us put on the armour of light” (Rom. 13:12; emphasis added); “put on the whole armour of God” (Eph. 6:11; emphasis added). When we put on Jesus Christ we accept him and his atonement, and we become like him. 2. Sacred vestments carry with them symbolisms that point to the blessings of the atonement, as the following examples illustrate: Enoch said, “I was clothed upon with glory; and I saw the Lord … , face to face” (Moses 7:3-4). In these passages the words glory, salvation, righteousness, and holy, all associated with blessings of the atonement, are positioned with the words clothed, linen, and garments. 3. Sacred vestments represent the person who wears them. The expression “keep your garments spotless” (Alma 7:25) means to keep yourself spotless, and the person who is “clothed with purity” and who wears “the robe of righteousness” (2 Ne. 9:14) is the one who is pure and righteous. Garments in the following passage symbolically refers to the person who wears them: “For there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins” (Alma 5:21). In other words, the redeemed person has to be washed, purified, and cleansed from all stain by the blood of Jesus Christ. God’s angels also wear sacred clothing, which has been made white through the atonement; the seven angels who will come out of the temple in heaven will be “clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles” (Rev. 15:6). The two angels that attended the sepulcher where Jesus was buried were dressed “in shining garments” (Luke 24:4), and Joseph Smith was ministered to “by an holy angel, whose countenance was as lightning, and whose garments were pure and white above all other whiteness” (D&C 20:6; see also JS-H 1:31). Through the atonement, we also can wear celestial sacred vestments. The saints who go to heaven are “arrayed in white robes,” for they “have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:13-14); also, “he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment” (Rev. 3:5). In addition to being “clothed with white robes,” they have “palms in their hands” (Rev. 7:9; 6:11). At the resurrection, “we shall be caught up in the cloud to meet [the Lord], that we may ever be with the Lord; that our garments may be pure, that we may be clothed upon with robes of righteousness, with palms in our hands, and crowns of glory upon our heads” (D&C 109:75-76; see also Rev. 19:14). 5. Sacred vestments anticipate the resurrection, when we will be clothed with an immortal body.9 To make this connection, the apostle Paul used language that suggests that at the resurrection we will put on immortality as if we are putting on clothing: “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54; emphasis added). Elsewhere Paul compared the resurrection to being “clothed upon with our house which is from heaven,” referring to our resurrected tabernacles: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is in heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked” (2 Cor. 5:1-3). The atonement provides the power of the resurrection so that we can put on incorruption and immortality. The Book of Mormon also explicitly links the atonement and the resurrection with putting on incorruption: “Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement-save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption” (2 Ne. 9:7; emphasis added; see also Enos 1:27). And a passage in the Doctrine and Covenants refers to human “bones, which were to be clothed upon with flesh, to come forth again in the resurrection of the dead” (D&C 138:43; emphasis added). The Hebrew root kpr not only means “to atone” but it also denotes “to cover.”10 This denotation can pertain to covering temple worshippers of ancient Israel with sacred vestments; kpr can also pertain to covering or clothing our spirits with perfect, immortal bodies at the resurrection. That is to say, the atonement takes a broken, torn, or disintegrated body and repairs it into a perfect, resurrected body. Filling the Hands The Bible Dictionary in the Latterday Saint edition of the Bible refers to an ancient ritual relating to consecrating the priests who administered in the temple; this ritual included filling of the hands of the priest with a portion of the offerings. “The priest’s hands were filled … with the fat, the kidneys, the right thigh or shoulder, and part of the meal offering.”11 In addition to these animal parts and the meal offering, the priest’s left hand was sometimes filled with olive oil. Leviticus says: “And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. … And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord” (Lev. 14:15, 18). Each of the items that fill the priest’s hands-the meal offering, sacrificial victim’s parts, and olive oil-relate to Jesus Christ’s sacred sacrifice (this relation is explained elsewhere in this chapter). Scriptural passages refer to the “filling of the hands” ceremony a number of times, but the King James translators translated “filling the hands” as “consecrated.” For example, where the King James Version reads “for seven days shall he consecrate you” (Lev. 8:33), the Hebrew has “for seven days he shall fill your hands.” And where the King James Version reads “For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord” (Ex. 32:29), the Hebrew reads “For Moses had said, Fill your hand today to the Lord.” (Other passages that refer to the “filling the hands” ceremony include Ex. 29:29, 33; 32:29; Lev. 16:32; 21:10; Num. 3:3; Judg. 17:5, 12; and 1 Kgs. 13:33.) The Law of Sacrifice Various animal sacrifices incorporated gestures of approach. Each person who wished to enter God’s presence in the temple was required to obey God’s law of sacrifice. Adam, Noah, Abraham, and others offered up sacrifices. During the Mosaic period, sacrifices included burnt offerings (Lev. 1:3-17; 6:8-13), grain offerings (Lev. 2:1-16), peace offerings (Lev. 3:1-17), sin offerings (Lev. 4:1-5:13), and trespass or guilt offerings (Lev. 5:14-6:7). All sacrifices focused on Jesus Christ and his atonement (this is explained in chapter 4). Laying of Hands on Sacrificial Animals The laying of hands on the head of certain sacrificial animals was a significant part of the ancient sacrificial system. Various people participated in the laying on of hands, including individual Israelites: “If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, … he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him” (Lev. 1:2, 4; see also Lev. 3:2, 8, 13); Levites: “And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks … to make an atonement for the Levites” (Num. 8:12); elders: “And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord” (Lev. 4:15); rulers: and the ruler “shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat” (Lev. 4:24); community members: “one of the common people … shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering” (Lev. 4:27, 29); and the high priest (Lev. 16:21). The Lord commanded the laying on of hands for various sacrificial offerings, including burnt offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, and others (Lev. 1:4; 3:1-2; 4:3-4; see also Lev. 24:10-16). Eating the Shewbread Shewbread literally means “bread of the face” or “bread of the presence,” referring to God’s face or presence. Perhaps the bread was called such because the priests ate it in the temple, which was God’s house, or the place of his presence. This bread was set in two rows, six loaves to a row, upon a table (called the “pure table”; Lev. 24:6) located in the holy place of the temple, north of the altar of incense. The table was made of shittim wood, overlaid with pure gold, and covered with a blue cloth (Lev. 24:5-9; Ex. 25:23-30; Num. 4:7). The priests ate the bread, which was called “most holy,” in the holy place (Lev. 24:9). The shewbread possessed sacramental qualities, and eating of it anticipated the emblems of the Lord’s sacrament; the table suggested the sacramental table. Prayer with Uplifted Hands In the setting of the ancient tabernacle and temple, the sacred gesture of lifting up the hands often accompanied the act of prayer. When Solomon dedicated the Jerusalem temple, he “stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven and he said, Lord God of Israel” (1 Kgs. 8:22-23; see also D&C 109:8). He then uttered the dedicatory prayer. Other passages also refer to prayer with uplifted hands. The Psalmist wrote, “Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle” (Ps. 28:2). Also, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141:2). Lifting up the hands is a sacred gesture associated with the atonement-those who are truly righteous may at times lift their hands to heaven and show God that their hands are pure (Ps. 24:4), that is, made pure through the atonement, and they expect an answer to their prayers. Entering the Veil, No Comments | Post or read comments FEATURES |
May 5, 2026
May 5, 2026
