Service in the earthly sanctuary was extremely important. The Eternal’s presence is not only a wonderful glory but also a consuming fire. It is important to know how to approach the Eternal correctly because there can’t be any form of sin in His presence. Sin does not exist in Him nor can it dwell in His presence. That’s why the priests that served in the shadow of heaven underwent the risk of dying if they didn’t follow the rules of correct behaviour for the House of the Eternal. The one who doesn’t follow the rules risks his very life. The presence of the Eternal’s consuming fire is extremely dangerous for the sinner. To sin is not to follow the rules.

The Eternal instructed Moshe on how to have His presence among the sons of Israel, and serve Him safely, to avoid dying.

One of the things the high priest had to do was to wear a robe with fabric pomegranates and golden bells all around the hem. The golden bells had to be heard when he was moving. This was necessary so he wouldn’t die in the Eternal’s presence when coming in and out.

This teaches us that we can’t come before the Eternal just any way. There are strict rules to come close to Him. The closer to Him we are, the more discipline and rules are required.

Now, the Hebrew text doesn’t say “so that he won’t die”, even though that’s the correct interpretation from the simple sense – in Hebrew pshat, פשט – of the text. The Hebrew text literally says: “and he won’t die” – ve-lo yamut, ולא ימות. As long as Aharon was serving in the sacred place and the bells of his garment were tinkling, he couldn’t die.