1 YHVH said to Moses and Aaron,
2 "Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families and their fathers' houses,
3 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can enter the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.
Kohath means assembly or convocation in ancient Hebrew. It indicates the attracting, unifying aspect of love. Levi represents Love and so his children represent different aspects of love. Allegorically, we are being told that it is a unifying love which enables us to build and rebuild the temple.
4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things.
5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it;
6 then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin, and spread over that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.
7 And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put upon it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; the continual bread also shall be on it;
8 then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.
9 And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its snuffers, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied:
10 and they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it upon the carrying frame.
11 And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles;
12 and they shall take all the vessels of the service which are used in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of goatskin, and put them on the carrying frame.
13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it;
14 and they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the firepans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.
15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.
And it is this love which will be the protection of the holy things. They are not to touch the holy things, because in truth these things are not of the material world and so cannot be experienced by the physical senses.
16 "And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual cereal offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels."
17 YHVH said to Moses and Aaron,
18 "Let not the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites;
19 but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden,
20 but they shall not go in to look upon the holy things even for a moment, lest they die."
This dictum that the Kohathites cannot look at the holy things without dying means that the holy things are entirely spiritual, and not material things at all.
22 "Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their families and their fathers' houses;
23 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall number them, all who can enter for service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.
The number 30 denotes sorrow, while the number 50 denotes celebration. The numbering of the Gershonites from the ages of 30 to 50 symbolizes the describing of the full spectrum of this form of Love, from the lowest (most physical) to the highest (most spiritual).
24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens:
25 they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting with its covering, and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting,
26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords, and all the equipment for their service; and they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them.
The Gershonites symbolizing the feeling of isolation that occurs at the first awakening of the heart to spiritual things, and are part of the Outer Court. They are the energies that conceal the inner temple of the soul. All those things they are charged to carry have the property of concealing and binding. In the beginning, the soul must be isolated in order to become spiritualized.
27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry, and in all that they have to do; and you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry.
Love is the energy that governs this process.
28 This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their work is to be under the oversight of Ithamar the son of Aaron, the priest.
The feeling of isolation is created and governed by the transmutation of the lower energies of the soul into the higher. This process is symbolized by Ithamar. The process itself begins with Love, which Aaron symbolizes.
29 "As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families and their fathers' houses;
30 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall number them, every one that can enter the service, to do the work of the tent of meeting.
The number 30 denotes sorrow, while the number 50 denotes celebration. The numbering of the Merariites from the ages of 30 to 50 symbolizes the describing of the full spectrum of this form of Love, from the lowest (most physical) to the highest (most spiritual).
31 And this is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases,
32 and the pillars of the court round about with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories; and you shall assign by name the objects which they are required to carry.
The Merariites symbolize the energies of the most selfish form of Love. This is the love of the physical. It is this love for the physical that lays the foundation for the spiritual love and the work of the Inner Court. This task of setting the foundation for the spiritual work is symbolized by the objects the Merariites are instructed to carry.
33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron, the priest."
Setting the foundation for the spiritual work to be performed is the job of the lowest form of love which the Merariites symbolize. This is governed by the process of transmuting the lower energies of the soul into the higher ones, which ultimately comes from Love.
34 And Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites, by their families and their fathers' houses,
35 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service, for work in the tent of meeting;
The number 30 denotes sorrow, while the number 50 denotes celebration. The numbering of the Kohathites from the ages of 30 to 50 symbolizes the describing of the full spectrum of this form of Love, from the lowest (most physical) to the highest (most spiritual).
36 and their number by families was two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
Through the process of Theosophical Reduction, the number of Kohathites reduces to 5. This means that it is the energies of unifying love that enable the ego to rise above the material or manifest world.
37 This was the number of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of YHVH by Moses.
This is an accurate description of the energies of unifying love.
38 The number of the sons of Gershon, by their families and their fathers' houses,
39 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting—
The number 30 denotes sorrow, while the number 50 denotes celebration. The numbering of the Gershonites from the ages of 30 to 50 symbolizes the describing of the full spectrum of this form of Love, from the lowest (most physical) to the highest (most spiritual).
40 their number by their families and their fathers' houses was two thousand six hundred and thirty.
Through the process of Theosophical Reduction, the number of the Gershonites reduces to 11. The number eleven indicates an emotional level which, though powerful, is somewhat unstable. This is consistent and gives some additional insight into the level of consciousness being indicated. This level of consciousness is involved with the curtains, the coverings and the door. It is the level which is beginning to uncover the realities of the spiritual world which had previously been veiled.
41 This was the number of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of YHVH.
This is the full explanation of the energies that uncover the world of Spirit, the innermost part of the soul. It is accounted for by YHVH and Love, according to spiritual laws.
42 The number of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families and their fathers' houses,
43 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service, for work in the tent of meeting—
The number 30 denotes Sorrow, while the number 50 denotes Celebration. The numbering of the Merariites from the ages of 30 to 50 symbolizes the describing of the full spectrum of this form of Love, from the lowest (most physical) to the highest (most spiritual).
44 their number by families was three thousand two hundred.
The love of the physical is a first step toward raising the consciousness above the material into the world of Spirit. This is symbolized by the number 5, which is the number the Merariites reduce to through the process of Theosophical Reduction.
45 These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of YHVH by Moses.
This is the full description of the energies of physical love, which are understood by the consciousness of Love and Spirit.
46 All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and their fathers' houses,
47 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting,
48 those who were numbered of them were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
Through the process of Theosophical Reduction, the number of Levites reduces to 3, denoting marriage of the uplifted intellect and heart, creating the birth of the Spiritual Consciousness within, or Enlightenment.
49 According to the commandment of YHVH, through Moses, they were appointed, each to his task of serving or carrying; thus they were numbered by him, as YHVH commanded Moses.
Through understanding the meaning behind the items and services each of the Levites were to carry or perform, the energies that each of the Levites symbolize can be understood.