Numbers 18:23

23. Do the service of the tabernacle The Levites were the bearers and custodians of the tabernacle. They assisted the priests, but never sprinkled blood nor burned incense.

They shall bear their iniquity Here is the idea of a vicarious atonement plainly expressed. The people had attempted to bear their own sins into the presence of God, and to make atonement, and the yawning earth, the fire, and the plague had swept away thousands. This was to teach them that holy persons were needful to purify the unholy by expiation. The people must be taught, at whatever cost, the difference between holy and unholy. Hence the presumptuous are consumed in the act of holding up their sins before Jehovah, a work for which Aaron and his sons had been specially consecrated. They could draw near the tabernacle as the representatives of Israel, taking upon themselves and bearing the iniquity of the congregation. Thus the need of a holy Mediator is prefigured, even Jesus Christ, “who appears in heaven for us.”