Aaron was the brother of Moses and high priest of the Israelites, often called on to offer intercessory sacrifices on their behalf. In the latter function, he was taken in Christian typology to be a type of Christ.
In the image at left, for example, Aaron holds a censer, used in his role as high priest and especially as intercessor for the people. (For example, see Numbers 16:46: " Moses said to Aaron: Take the censer, and putting fire in it from the altar, put incense upon it, and go quickly to the people to pray for them: for already wrath is gone out from the Lord, and the plague rageth.") Typologically, this intercessory role relates to Christ's reconciliation of mankind with the Father, which is memorialized in the Mass for which this altar is intended.
At left, from an 11th century portable altar
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