High Priest-Aaron

The Hebrew people made camp on Mt. Sinai for a whole year. At this time Moses, at God’s command, constructed a tabernacle, or a transportable sanctuary, in the form of a tent. The tabernacle was constructed from expensive fabric and hung from poles. It had three sections: the courtyard, the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies.
The people came into the courtyard to pray. Here were placed the altar, on which sacrifices were made, and a copper water basin.
The priests came into the sanctuary, which had a table on which were twenty loaves of bread, a golden seven-branch candlestick, or lampstand, with seven lamps, and the altar of incense, that is, an altar on which the priests burned incense.
Into the Holy of Holies, which was separated from the sanctuary by a curtain, only the high priest could enter, and then only once a year. The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies. The Ark of the Covenant was the name of a chest, made of wood and covered inside and out with gold, with a gold lid and with two golden images of the cherubim on it. The tablets with the Ten Commandments were kept in the Ark of the Covenant, as well as a chalice with manna, Aaron’s rod, and later, the holy books. Along the two sides of the ark were two pairs of golden rings, into which gilded poles were inserted for carrying it.
When the tabernacle was ready, Moses consecrated it, together with all its fittings, with holy myrrh. While this was taking place, the glory of the Lord covered the tabernacle in the form of the cloud which accompanied the Hebrews on their journey. From this time on, the cloud was always over it.
For serving in the tabernacle, Moses, at God’s command, appointed the tribe of Levi and ordained a high priest, priests, and Levites, assistants for the tabernacle.
Aaron, the brother of Moses, was made high priest. The priests were the four sons of Aaron; the other descendants of Levi were Levites. The high priest corresponded to our bishop, the priests to our priests and the Levites to our deacons and servers. God ordained that in the future the eldest of the line of Aaron would be high priest and the others of his descendants, priests.
The tabernacle represented the Church of Christ and also the Mother of God, Who, having contained God within Herself, was like the House of God.You may have heard this story before. It has been said that that because the high priest could be killed by God in Holy of Holies if not properly prepared according to Divine instructions, a rope was routinely tied around his ankle. Then, if he dropped dead, his body could be dragged out. Various versions of this claim have been repeated in Christian and Jewish circles.

As yet, we have not located the original source, but apparently it originated long after the last Jewish Temple was gone. The biblical and historical evidence indicates that there was no rope, at least not in any common use.

Family: Aaron's parents were Amram and Jochebed.  He had a brother, Moses, and a sister, Miriam.  When he was grown he had a family of his own.  His wife's name was Elisheba and his sons were: Eleazar, Ithamar, Nadab and Abihu.  Nadab and Abihu were struck dead by God when they offered strange fire in the role of priests.  Eleazar and Ithamar took their place as priests and did a good job.
Job/Occupation: Aaron is known for his role as the first high priest.  In Old Testament times, the high priest was the one that represented people before God. We also know that before he was high priest.  Aaron was the spokesman for his brother, Moses.  God knew that Aaron could 'speak well' and Moses was 'slow of speech'.  So Aaron spoke for Moses when they represented God before Pharaoh.  Aaron also performed many miracles with Moses that we read about in the book of Exodus.
Significant Events: Aaron was 83 years old when he and Moses spoke for God to Pharaoh.  They told him that God wanted his people, the Israelites, to be freed from Egypt so that they could worship God in the desert.  Pharaoh would not listen and many plagues, showing God's power, came upon his land until he finally let God's people go.  These are referred to as the 10 plagues and can be read about in Exodus 7-12.

Once the Israelites were free from Egypt, they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Aaron was their high priest during this time.  Although Aaron was a good man, he made some bad choices that made God angry such as making a golden calf, an idol, for the people to worship while Moses was on Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:5).  He also shared in Moses' sin at Merbah when Moses struck a rock to get water for the people instead of speaking to the rock as he had been commanded by God.
Death of Aaron: Aaron died on Mount Hor.  His robes, which the high priest wore, were taken and given to his son, Eleazar, who became the next high priest.  Moses, his brother, and Eleazar, his son, were present at his death and buried him.  The entire Israelite community mourned his death for 30 days.  (Numbers 20: 22-29)