8 Then aall the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you ain the thick cloud, bthat the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and aconsecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.
11 And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
12 You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. aWhoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
13 Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot withanarrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.”
14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.
15 And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; ado not come near your wives.”
16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were athunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp btrembled.
Here, the word sanctify does not mean "set apart" but "consecrate" or "dedicate" or "make pure." The word holy has two meanings: "to set aside" and "to set apart" or "to cut out." However, it always carries a sense of "purity."
Notice what Moses is told to do: ". . . and let them wash their clothes." In the New Testament, clean, washed clothes symbolize the righteous acts of the saints. In this instance, they physically had to wash their clothes—to purify them. What were the people about to do? In a short time, they were going to draw near to God. And in order to draw near to God, they had to be clothed—encompassed—by righteous acts.
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