(26) Thou shalt take the breast.—It was the general law that in “wave offerings” the breast should be the officiating priest’s (Leviticus 7:29-31); hence, on this occasion, it was assigned to Moses.

29:1-37 Aaron and his sons were to be set apart for the priest's office, with ceremony and solemnity. Our Lord Jesus is the great High Priest of our profession, called of God to be so; anointed with the Spirit, whence he is called Messiah, the Christ; clothed with glory and beauty; sanctified by his own blood; made perfect, or consecrated through sufferings, Heb 2:10. All believers are spiritual priests, to offer spiritual sacrifices,Door of the tabernacle - Entrance of the tent. See Leviticus 8:3.10-22. And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle—This part of the ceremonial consisted of three sacrifices: (1) The sacrifice of a bullock, as a sin offering; and in rendering it, the priest was directed to put his hand upon the head of his sacrifice, expressing by that act a consciousness of personal guilt, and a wish that it might be accepted as a vicarious satisfaction. (2) The sacrifice of a ram as a burnt offering (Ex 29:15-18). The ram was to be wholly burnt, in token of the priest's dedication of himself to God and His service. The sin offering was first to be presented, and then the burnt offering; for until guilt be removed, no acceptable service can be performed. (3) There was to be a peace offering, called "the ram of consecration" (Ex 29:19-22). And there was a marked peculiarity in the manner in which this other ram was to be disposed of. The former was for the glory of God—this was for the comfort of the priest himself; and as a sign of a mutual covenant being ratified, the blood of the sacrifice was divided—part sprinkled on the altar round about, and part upon the persons and garments of the priests. Nay, the blood was, by a singular act, directed to be put upon the extremities of the body, thereby signifying that the benefits of the atonement would be applied to the whole nature of man. Moreover, the flesh of this sacrifice was to be divided, as it were, between God and the priest—part of it to be put into his hand to be waved up and down, in token of its being offered to God, and then it was to be burnt upon the altar; the other part was to be eaten by the priests at the door of the tabernacle—that feast being a symbol of communion or fellowship with God. These ceremonies, performed in the order described, showed the qualifications necessary for the priests. (See Heb 7:26, 27; 10:14). To wit, the breast alone, whereas both shoulder and breast were given to Aaron afterwards; the reason whereof might be, either because Moses was not a proper and complete priest, as Aaron afterward was, but only appointed by God for this time to do that work; or because now there were in a manner two priests, the one consecrating, to wit, Moses; the other consecrated, to wit, Aaron; therefore these parts were divided, the breast went to the former to be eaten, the shoulder offered unto God for the latter, Exodus 29:22; he being not yet a perfect priest, and therefore not in a capacity of eating it.

And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecrations,.... The ram being slain and cut to pieces, this part is particularly disposed of:

and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; in the manner before described:

and it shall be thy part: the part of Moses, he officiating now as a priest; and we find accordingly in later times that this part of the sacrifice belonged to the priest, Leviticus 7:31.

And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration, and wave it {h} for a wave offering before the LORD: and it shall be thy part.

(h) This sacrifice the priest did move toward the East, West, North, and South.