Priestly Bells

There is a tradition that the high priest of Israel would enter the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle / Temple with a rope tied to his foot and/or with bells around his waist. It is said that when the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies at Yom Kippur during the last couple of centuries of the Temple, a scarlet rope was tied to his foot. A priest in the Holy Place tended the other end of this rope. The rope had a purpose. If the High Priest's sins were not atoned for properly, he would die in the presence of the shekinah, the glory of God, that filled the Holy of Holies. Since nobody else could enter that part of the Temple without also dying, the priests felt they needed a way to retrieve the body of the High Priest, if necessary. That was the purpose of the rope - to pull the body out. The bells jingling would be the sign that the priest had fallen to the ground dead. If true, this is a powerful reminder of God's holiness - and how we should praise Jesus for the direct access to God's throne he provides!