And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense and made an atonement for the people. – Numbers 16:46-47

As the old Westminster Annotations say upon this passage, “The plague was moving among the people as the fire moves along a field of corn.” There it came, it began in the extremity, the faces of men grew pale, and swiftly on, on it came, and in vast heaps they fell till some fourteen thousand had been destroyed. Aaron wisely puts himself just in the pathway of the plague. It came on, cutting down all before it, and there stood Aaron the interposer with arms outstretched and censer swinging towards heaven, interposing himself between the darts of death and the people. “If there be darts that must fly,” he seemed to say, “let them pierce me, or let the incense shield both me and the people. Death,” saith he, “are you coming on your pale horse? I arrest you, I throw back your steed upon his haunches. Are you coming, you skeleton king? With my censer in my hand I stand before you, you must march over my body, you must empty my censer, you must destroy God’s high priest, ere you can destroy this people.”

Just so was it with Christ. Wrath had gone out against us. The law was about to smite us, the whole human race must be destroyed. Christ stands in the forefront of the battle. “The stripes must fall on Me,” He cries, “the arrows shall find a target in My breast. On Me, JEHOVAH, let Your vengeance fall.” And He receives that vengeance, and afterwards up-springing from the grave He waves the censer full of the merit of His blood, and bids this wrath and fury stand back. On which side are you today, sinner? Is God angry with you, sinner? Are your sins unforgiven? Say, are you unpardoned? Are you abiding still an heir of wrath and an inheritor of death? Ah! then would that you were on the other side of Christ. Ah, brothers and sisters, if you have put between you and God, baptisms and communions, fastings, prayers, tears and vows, JEHOVAH shall break through your refuges as the fire devours the stubble. But if, my soul, Christ stands between you and JEHOVAH, JEHOVAH cannot smite you, His thunderbolt must first pierce through the Divine Redeemer ere it can reach you, and that can never be. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

The High Priest Standing Between the Dead and the Living