And all the vessels of the sanctuary. — No mention is here made of the laver (Exodus 30:18). The LXX. and the Samaritan text supply a statement respecting the covering and conveyance of the brazen laver. The clause in the LXX. is as follows : — “And they shall take a purple cloth, and cover the laver and its foot (or base), and they shall put it into a blue cover of skin, and put it on bars.” There is no sufficient ground. however, for supposing that the present Hebrew text is deficient in this place; and it seems more probable to suppose that the laver was not to be covered during its transport.
After that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it. — Better, to bear, or carry — viz., the whole of the vessels of ministry which had been previously enumerated. The distinction between the service of the priests and that of the Levites in regard to the removal of the Tabernacle and its furniture is here clearly marked.
But they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. — The word which is rendered “any holy thing” may here, as elsewhere, denote the sanctuary. This injunction is repeated in Numbers 18:3. We find in 2 Samuel 6:6-7 an instance of the fatal result of the violation of this command by Uzzah, who being, as is most probable, a Levite, and of the family of Kohath, ought to have been acquainted with the law respecting the removal of the Ark. It is obvious that the Kohathites, as the immediate assistants of the priests, in regard to the vessels of the Sanctuary, were specially exposed to the risk of violating the law by touching the most holy things.