Segregation of holiness
A problem with Biblical chronology is that as the texts were formed, the authors tended to push the context back to more ancient times, say to the time of Moses, as a way of emphasising the features of dignity and divine approval. This is particularly true in the book of Exodus. When Moses ascends Mount Sinai, God calls all the people of Israel “a priestly kingdom” [Exodus 19:6] – an image which was taken up by the Second Vatican Council: the priesthood of all the baptised – and all the people “holy” in contrast to the other nations [Leviticus 20:26].
But already a kind of ‘segregation of holiness’ is being written into the text, in the form of a separate priesthood. Prior to Mount Sinai, sacrifices were offered by the people in general. Now, a priesthood begins to emerge, beginning with Aaron, Moses’ brother, who previously had been called not a priest but a spokesman. And the term “a priestly kingdom” is never used again of the whole people.
After elaborate instructions for the making of the Tabernacle [Exodus 25, 26] as a place where God would meet his people, we are told [Exodus 27:21] that there was to be a lamp perpetually burning there. This needed people to tend it, and the choice fell on Aaron and his sons. And so, before we know where are, we fall into a developed priesthood, with full details of their garments [Exodus 28] and ceremony of ordination [Exodus 29]. Once sacrifice was connected to a specific place and intervals of time, a priesthood was needed to perform the ceremonies. This reached its height in the Jerusalem Temple, where worship absorbed and adapted features of the ancient people of Canaan. Some authors even longed for the Passover, the great domestic celebration, to be held only in the Temple, conducted by priests [Deuteronomy 16:6].
The great era of ritual had begun.