Numbers 4, 5

Once again, the Lord bogs down the action--we have a people trying to get to the Promised Land over here! Let's get moving!--with a tabernacle chore list. The Levites in general are in charge of the set up and tear down, but a small subset--males between thirty and fifty years of age--must keep track of "the most holy things." But before anyone can get moving through the desert already, the shit's gotta be packed up. And because only the priests can even gaze upon the items within the tabernacle, that task falls to Aaron his remaining sons.

Because no one can see the holy item Aaron and his sons must cover it all like algebra textbooks. They start with the ark, which they cover with the veil, a blue cloth, and badgers skins. The staves are then placed so the ark can be carried. 

Next they set the table with a blue cloth and the dishes, spoons, and bowls, cover their hard work with red cloth and badger skins, and then install the staves. Same deal with the candlestick, the oil vessels, the altar, the "service equipment" used in the sanctuary, the ashes from the altar, the censers, the meat fork, the shovels--basically everything in the damn place must be covered in a cloth, fitted with badger skins, and have staves stuck in it so that it can be carted from camp to camp. My suggestion would be to make camp for 39 1/2 years and then strike out for the Promised Land in one six month sprint. That would save a lot of time packing and unpacking items no one can even see.

Union rules stipulate that while only Aaron and his boys are allowed to pack everything, only the Levites are allowed to actually carry it around. No word on who is allowed to change the light bulbs, but I'm sure it's those layabouts from Local 151.

I know what you're thinking: how many Levites are between thirty and fifty years of age and therefore must help carry the items of the tabernacle? Go ahead and guess. From the description of the items in the tabernacle, you might guess about twenty, maybe twenty-five. You'd be wrong. There are eight thousand five hundred and sixty men between thirty and fifty years of age. There must be an awful lot of tchotchkes that went unmentioned to warrant that many men.

As mentioned before, keeping the tabernacle pure is of paramount importance. What hasn't been mentioned is that that need for purity extends to the entire camp. As such, all of those considered impure, whether through accident or volition, must be made pure. That means anyone with leprosy, the clap, or who came into contact with a corpse must be put out of camp, presumably to go through the whole rigmarole of becoming clean again.

And speaking of the clap, one way to defile the camp's purity is to commit adultery. Actually, it's really only a woman cheating on her husband. In fact, a woman can be considered impure if her man is simply jealous and only thinks his wife has cheated on him, even if she didn't. Here's some trenchant commentary: that's fucked up, right? 

A woman can deny charges of infidelity all she wants to, but she still must appear before a priest who, after some mumbo jumbo with flour and oil, will make her drink bitter water. If she's guilty of adultery the water will cause her to have her period and forever miscarry; if she's innocent, nothing will happen and she'll be able to conceive normally. 

Or they can just believe her when her husband jealously accuses her of adultery. But we all know that ain’t gonna happen, so the bitter water it is.