It's been a tradition of my family and friends to anoint a home with oil when a family moves in. I understand the significance of praying and dedicating the space as God's, used for His purposes and will - and my interpretation of anointing has mostly been along the lines of prayer in this manor.
However is there a biblical reason or basis for the practice of anointing a physical object? Were does this originate and what Christian traditions practice it?
Anointing an object certainly appears in the Bible, and is part of ancient Jewish practice:
Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus, 500 shekels of cassia – all according to the sanctuary shekel – and a hin of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. Then use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law, the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.
It's also part of the Catholic liturgy for consecrating an altar Reference. The oil of chrism which is used is a fragrant oil rather like that described in Exodus.
However this use of oil is part of the consecration, the setting-apart, of the object to God's use. The objects would not be put to any other use whatsoever. Whether a house is set apart in quite the same way may be open to question, and most house-blessings (such as the one I was involved with recently) would involve sprinkling1 holy water.
1 Sprinkling is a technical term, which refers to splashing water around with a brush or some sort of shaker. It's not usually a delicate operation!
I'm surprised only one perspective was shared. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints only use oil for anointing individuals, though we also perform dedications of buildings for worship (such as chapels, tabernacles, and temples) as well as other locations (such as homes and graves).
@Andrew Leach gave a great reference for dedicating the tabernacle in his previous answer.
In terms of anointing in general, the very act points to Jesus the Anointed.
