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את ידיהם ואת רגליהם THEIR HANDS AND THEIR FEET The priest washed his hands and his feet simultaneously. Thus we learn in Zevachim 19b: How was the procedure in washing hands and feet? He placed his right hand upon his right foot (knee) and his left hand upon his left foot (knee) and thus washed both simultaneously.

AND AARON AND HIS SONS SHALL WASH THEIR HANDS AND THEIR FEET THEREAT. This washing was out of reverence for Him Who is on high, for whoever approaches the King’s table to serve, or to touch the portion of the king’s food, and of the wine which he drinks,⁸⁸Daniel 1:5. washes his hands, because “hands are busy”⁸⁹Succah 26b. [touching unclean things automatically]. In addition He prescribed here the washing of feet because the priests performed the Service barefooted, and there are some people who have impurities and dirt on their feet.
By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], these parts of the body had to be washed because the extremities of the person’s body are his hands and feet, for when the hands are upraised they are higher than the rest of the body, and the feet are the lowest point. They allude in the human form to the Ten Emanations, with the whole body between them, just as the Rabbis have said in Sefer Yetzirah:⁹⁰Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation), 6:4. “He made a covenant with him [i.e., Abraham] between the ten fingers of his hands and the ten fingers of his feet, with the protrusive part of the tongue and with the protrusive part of the nakedness.” Therefore the ministers of the One on High were commanded to wash their hands and feet, this washing being for the sake of holiness, as Onkelos translated here, l’rochtzah (to wash): l’kidush (to sanctify).⁹¹But in all other places (such as Genesis 18:4) Onkelos renders the term rochtzah (washing) literally. It is on the basis of the idea of this commandment that our Rabbis have instituted the washing of hands before prayer,⁹²Berachoth 60b. in order that one should direct one’s thoughts to this matter, just as in the uplifting of hands by the priests when blessing the people.⁹³When reciting the Benediction for the washing of hands one must lift up the hands. This is comparable to the raising of the hands of the priests in order to bring down the blessings from on High; so also the washer raises his hands for that purpose.
It is the washing which is the essence of the commandment, but He commanded [the making of] the laver only in order that the water should be ready in it. Thus the absence of the laver does not invalidate the washing, neither is there any duty [to do the washing specifically from the laver]; thus on the Day of Atonement the High Priest washed his hands and feet from a golden jug⁹⁴Yoma 43b. which they made in his honor. However, what we do learn from the laver [that the Torah mentions], is that the washing [of the hands and feet by the priests] must be performed from a vessel.

את ידיהם ואת רגליהם. "their hands and their feet." The two words את were not really necessary. The reason the Torah wrote the word את each time is to tell us that washing of the hands without washing of the feet at the same time, or washing of the feet without washing of the hands at the same time did not accomplish its purpose. In other words the word את really means עם. The source for our explanation can be found in Zevachim 19 where we are told that the priest had to sanctify hands and feet simultaneously.

ורחצו אהרן ובניו ממנו את ידיהם ואת רגליהם, “Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and their feet with the water from this basin.” This was a standard procedure, observed by people who ventured into the presence of their king’s table in order to perform valet services there. They would wash their hands and feet immediately before commencing their duties. The procedure was not a ritual, but was purely hygienic in nature. Hands and feet are by definition more likely than any other part of the body to touch matters which contaminate them. This is why the Rabbis insisted on our washing our hands before prayer. [nowadays, when the feet are encased in shoes, the feet are less likely to become contaminated so that this part of the regulation has been relaxed. Ed.]

He simultaneously washed his hands and feet. . . I.e., when they wash their hands, they must wash their feet with them. [Rashi knows this] because [the extra words] את come to add something. When it says את ידיהם ואת רגליהם , it conveys: “‘With’ their hands shall be their feet, and ‘with’ their feet shall be their hands,” i.e., both simultaneously.

ורחצו ממנו, they are to wash themselves from its waters, outside, not within the Tabernacle.

That is that He commanded the priests to wash their hands and their feet any time they needed to enter the [Temple] chamber and do the service. And this is the sanctification of the hands and the feet. And this is His, may He be exalted, saying, "And let Aharon and his sons wash their hands and feet [from it]. When they enter the Tent of Meeting" (Exodus 30:19-20) And one who transgresses this positive commandment is liable for death at the hands of the Heavens - meaning to say that a priest that serves in the Temple without sanctification of the hands and feet is liable for death at the hands of the Heavens. And that is His, may His name be blessed, saying, "they shall wash with water, that they may not die" (Exodus 30:20). And the regulations of this commandment have already been completely explained in the second chapter of Zevachim. (See Parashat Ki Tissa; Mishneh Torah, The Chosen Temple 8.)