The People Recognise that None But Aaron's House May Enter the Tabernacle. They Alone Can Enter the Sanctuary and Live (Numbers 17:12-13)
‘And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, all of us are undone. Every one who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of Yahweh, dies. Shall we perish all of us?” '
The people examined the dead rods that represented the tribes, in contrast with the living rod of Aaron, and their consciences smote them as they remembered their recent past. They must have asked themselves, what did this signify? Terror took hold of them, and spread. Their rod had come back dead. They panicked. Was this an omen, an indication of their coming fate, that Yahweh was handing them over to death? They understood the message that was given, that they could not enter the near presence of Yahweh lest they die, that to come too near to the Sanctuary was death, as Moses had already warned (Numbers 1:51; Numbers 1:53). But they feared that death was upon them, as they recognised that they had been approaching His Dwellingplace so lightly. Were they then doomed? Was this the harbinger of a ghastly fate? Moses no doubt reassured them of what the true significance of the rods was, but for the reader, held in suspense, the answer is given in Numbers 18:2. The iniquity of the Sanctuary and the priesthood would be borne by Aaron and his sons.
So once the initial panic had subsided the people learned in a never to be forgotten way that the Sanctuary was holy and the inner Sanctuary was for the priests alone. God had made quite plain through the rods that only Aaron and his sons could flourish there. For all others to enter would be to perish. Note the threefold stress, ‘perish -- undone -- all undone' indicating how distressed they were. The repetition of ‘comes near' indicates coming very close. To come too close to the Dwellingplace of Yahweh would result in death, just as the rods were dead. They had to face up to the fact that in the future all who did so would perish.
This example of the rods also pictorially made clear to them what had happened to Korah and his band of Levites. They had thought to come too close to Yahweh in direct disobedience to His instruction and they had died. None must ever again make the same mistake. The same would happen to any who made the attempt. Only Aaron and his sons had the privilege of entry into His inner Sanctuary.
For us the message is that if we would enter the presence of God we too must receive life, and bud and produce fruit. We must receive eternal life, through Jesus Christ (John 5:24; John 10:28; 1 John 5:12-13; 2 Corinthians 5:17), and only then we can live before Him. For us our right of access is through the sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:19-20) and results from our being made a royal priesthood through Him (1 Peter 2:9).