Judaism before the exile was very different from the Judaism that we know today. It goes way back to when Moses and Aaron were alive. Specifically Aaron, he was the high priest of his day and his lineage of people were appointed by God to be the priestly line. They had so much power because they were empowered by God to be his voice to the people of Israel. They continued to do this all the way until the exile. So they were the people who were in constant communication, constant prayer and the only ones aloud to speak to him and be in his presence for they were the only ones who were “qualified” to be in it. They were the representation of God on earth, this is seen in Numbers when Joshua is the successor to moses. “take joshua son of Nun,
