Nu. 4: The Levites: God’s Roadies

Numbers chapter 4 goes a little deeper into what the responsibilities actually were for these sons of Levi.

Of course, not every single Levite was responsible for the various workings of the tabernacle. It would be a case of two many cooks in the kitchen, so God narrows it down a bit. Each clan (from the Kohathites, the Gershonites and the Merarites) was to have a census taken to find out how many men from 30 to 50 years of age there were. This was the range set by God Himself.

So what were the Kohathites responsibilities exactly when the camp was to move?

First off, the most holy things. Aaron and his sons had to take down the shielding curtain of the ark of the testimony, cover the ark with the sea cow hides and put the poles in place…presumably the carrying poles.

Same thing with the table of the Presence, the lampstand, the gold altar, and the sanctuary ministering articles. Everything got wrapped up in a blue cloth and a scarlet cloth, and then Aaron and his sons put the poles in place.

The bronze altar received a purple cloth, and then was covered by the sea cow hide.

After Aaron got done wrapping everything up, the 2,750 Kohathites were to carry all this stuff as the camp moved on. Eleazar, son of Aaron, had to take care of all the oils and incense and all that. Aaron was given charge to make sure that the Kohathites did not actually touch the holy things, or they’d die, these things were so holy. That is the reason for the carrying poles. As for the sea cow hides, I imagine those were thick and heavy, like big moving blankets to protect the articles from getting all beat up in the trip.

Ithamar, another son of Aaron was to direct the 2,630 Gershonites and 3,200 Merarites in their responsibilities, which were basically to carry all the curtains and coverings for the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, the courtyard, the entrance, and all the ropes and equipment that went along with that.

The Merarites, who presumably would have been under the direction of Nadab or Abihu had there not been that…unpleasantness, were responsible for all the hardware that kept the tabernacle together. The frames, crossbars, tent pegs, posts and bases.

Each person was specifically assigned what it was he was to carry, across all the clans. This was a system, it was orderly. It would have been fascinating to see how quickly, deliberately and systematically the tabernacle was deconstructed and moved. Charlie Chaplin like, is my estimation.