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.

42 And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:

43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

In addition the articles of clothing already mentioned, there is also a pair of linen breeches to be worn underneath it all. In an earlier chapter I mentioned how the Lord had previously mandated that there be no stairs ascending to an altar, so that the priest’s nakedness would not be exposed. This suggested that the priests previously wore no layers underneath their robes, which is now amended in these verses.

After being dressed, Aaron and his sons were to be anointed, consecrated, and sanctified. All three of these words describe a person being set apart for the work of the Lord, but let us consider their unique features, and how they apply to the work of a priest.

1. Anointed. To be anointed was to receive a blessing via the application of oil. Anointing oil was representative of the spirit of God, thus a physical symbol of how the spirit of God would rest on the individual and enable him to do his holy work. Anointing is therefore a practice of empowering the priest to do his duties in an acceptable manner.
2. Consecrated. To consecrate is to take something from the world and dedicate it to the Lord. Whereas a sacrifice consumes the offering to the Lord, consecration leaves it intact. For example, a singer does not have to destroy her beautiful voice in order to consecrate it in songs of praise. For the priests, they would be living offerings to the Lord, replacing the typical labors of life for doing His work.
3. Sanctified. To sanctify something means to clean and purify it. The priests were mortals, and therefore imperfect, and those flaws would have to be expunged by the grace of God.

Thus, the priests were to be blessed with a portion of the Spirit to guide them, cleaned of their sins, and then set apart to solely do the work of the Lord. Dressed and hallowed, they would be ready for the last stage of their preparation, which we will hear about in the next chapter.