When preparing to attend a special occasion such as a graduation or a wedding day, most people plan their clothes well in advance. They wash and iron items. They might go shopping for new articles, including shoes, a dress, or a new suit and tie. A special day requires a special outfit.

In the same way, the people of Israel were commanded to consecrate themselves, including preparing their clothing, to be ready to meet God at Sinai. He’d delivered them from slavery, carrying them “on eagles’ wings” to this mountain (v. 4), just as He’d promised Moses (Ex. 3:12). Here they would receive the Law and become a real nation. God called them His “treasured possession” (v. 5) and “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (v. 6).

The Israelites needed to consecrate or purify themselves in order to be ready to meet with God. They’d already committed themselves to obey the Lord and keep the covenant (vv. 5, 7–8). This meeting would be a formal ratification of these promises and responsibilities. To prepare, one of the requirements was that the people must  wash their clothes (vv. 10, 14). In addition, they were to abstain from sex (v. 15) and to approach the designated meeting area with respect (vv. 12–13).

To “consecrate” means to “set apart as holy.” In those days, laundry was not a daily thing. There were no washing machines. It took a lot of work and water to wash clothing. On this occasion, clean clothes would be an outward sign of an appropriate inward, spiritual attitude. They would indicate purified hearts and souls ready to pledge faithfulness and obedience to the One who rules over all the earth and who had chosen them to be His special people (v. 5).

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