Leviticus 8:15

15 And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar round about with his finger; and he purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement upon it.

Leviticus 8:15 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 8:15

And he slew it
Not Aaron, nor any of his sons, who as yet were not fully consecrated and installed into their office, but Moses, as follows:

and Moses took the blood;
which was received into a basin when the bullock was slain:

and put [it] upon the horns of the altar round about with his
finger;
upon the four horns of the altar, which were at the four corners of it, and dipping his finger into the blood, he besmeared the horns with it, and drew it about with his finger here and there; and so is said to be done round about the altar, as these horns were:

and purified the altar;
or cleansed it; not from moral guilt and pollution, which it was incapable of, but from all ceremonial pollution it might be supposed to have:

and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar;
the rest of the blood he did not use about the horns:

and sanctified it;
separated it from common to sacred use:

to make reconciliation upon it;
that it might be fit to have sacrifices offered on it to make atonement and reconciliation for sins; for which reason it was necessary it should itself be pure and holy, in such sense it was capable of being so.

Leviticus 8:15 In-Context

13 And Moses brought the sons of Aaron near, and put on them coast and girded them with girdles, and put on them bonnets, as the Lord commanded Moses.

14 And Moses brought near the calf for the sin-offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the calf of the sin-offering.

15 And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar round about with his finger; and he purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement upon it.

16 And Moses took all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the lobe on the liver, and both the kidneys, and the fat that was upon them, and Moses offered them on the altar.

17 But the calf, and his hide, and his flesh, and his dung, he burnt with fire without the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.