And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins. At a later period. after the ritual under the law had been long established, and was in full operation, the chief ruler, the civil head of the nation, committed a heinous offence by assuming the sacred office (1 Samuel 13:9). But at the time referred to in this passage the sacerdotal order was not instituted in Israel, and Moses, as mediator in this extraordinary transaction, discharged the interim functions of the priest.
Since there were many victims immolated, there would be a copious effusion of blood, which he divided into two equal portions received in basins; the one was reserved for a special use, the other portion was sprinkled upon the altar, as symbolcally representing the presence of God. Previous to the same ceremony being performed toward the people, it was important to elicit from them a formal expression of their voluntary consent to the conditions and stipulations embodied in the covenant; and accordingly there was a public rehearsal of the law.