“And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:”
He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so that he will not die. The purpose of the incense: to conceal the atonement cover with smoke so that Aaron will not die. The incense smoke that fills the Most Holy Place is the protection that allows the high priest to survive in the presence of the God who appears in the cloud over the mercy seat. The incense — the fragrant prayer of the covenant community — is simultaneously the offering of prayer and the means of the high priest's survival in the divine presence. What is offered to God also protects the one who offers.
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