Exodus 28--The Priests' Garments

The Priests' Garments
28 “Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. 5 They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

6 “And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. 7 It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together. 8 And the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. 9 You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. 11 As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. 12 And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance. 13 You shall make settings of gold filigree, 14 and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.

15 “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. 16 It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. 17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; 18 and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. 21 There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. 22 You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. 23 And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. 24 And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. 25 The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 26 You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. 27 And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 28 And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. 29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord. 30 And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron's heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly.

31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, so that it may not tear. 33 On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35 And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ 37 And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.

39 “You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework.

​40 “For Aaron's sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. 41 And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 42 You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; 43 and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.

---

I know some of you must be asking R.C. Sproul's favorite question at this point, "So what?"  As in, "Why does this matter to me?," especially when we come to a passage like this.  Let me reiterate that everything in the Tabernacle had a meaning in the present time to the people, a fulfillment in Christ, a fulfillment in the Church, and a fulfillment that is in heaven awaiting for the New Creation of the New Heavens and the New Earth that we see in Ezekiel 40 and following and Revelation 21 and following.

Without going into all the details here, let's notice that the coverings for the priests as they attended to their daily duties were very similar to the coverings of the Tabernacle itself (maybe a way to show that one day God intended to tabernacle in us?).  The same materials and colors were used, and the wardrobe of the priest resembles the clothing worn by Jesus Himself in heaven when He appears to John in the beginning of the book of Revelation, as Jesus is serving as our Great High Priest in heaven.  I think it is no accident that we were supposed to look at these priests and see the ministry of Christ when we saw them.

Everything else is very symbolic and we see the fulfillment of it later in prophecy.  I'll take just a moment to talk about the white and black stones in the ephod for a second though.  Did you know that you're going to receive a white stone with your name written on it--a name that only God has known until now--when you get to heaven?  Jesus has been bearing this name for you as your High Priest as He ministers before God day and night and it will be given to you.  I think that has a close connection here with the white stone that we see here which will represent God's "Yes and Amen" when Israel could not decide which way to go and they would cast lots using these two stones to determine the will of the Lord.  No longer will there be a black stone to represent God saying "No," because everyone will want to do perfectly what is within the will of God when they are made into that new creation and God's answer will always be "Yes" from that point forward.

We see these priests dressed in colors usually reserved for royalty--purples and blues and scarlets, but I think, as I mentioned before with the coverings of the Tabernacle, that these colors also show us the beaten, bruised body of Jesus on the cross where He was beaten and bruised for our transgressions.  It was the job of the priest to bear the burden of the weight of the sin and guilt of the people in their everyday lives as they mediated between God and man.  Hebrews tells us that there is now only one Mediator between God and Man, the God-Man, Christ Jesus.

We see a breastpiece that I think reminds us of the breastplate of righteousness that Paul will talk about later.  On that breastplate are the precious stones that we will see that make up the New Jerusalem--a city and a kingdom made up of God's elect and all the true sons (and daughters) of Israel.  The names of the twelve tribes of the people of God which eternally belong to Him and are as precious as fine jewels are kept close to the heart of the priest, and the breastpiece is made of the same kinds of materials that covered and guarded the Most Holy Place because now the Most Holy Place where God dwells is in the heart of His people--within those who are His royal priesthood.

The turban was the piece that would guard the minds of the priest and it contained their identity--"Holy to the LORD."  This was to define everything that they were and it was the first thing that God was to see when God looked down on them from heaven.  We are commanded as God's royal priesthood to also be "Holy to the LORD" and to "Be holy, because I am holy."  (See 1 Peter 1)

​Did you notice also that everything is interconnected to each other so that nothing comes lose?  This is how our faith is in Christ.  It's all connected!  Our identity, our salvation, our being part of the elect, our role as a royal priesthood, and so much more.  It all works together as one unit and it doesn't work right if it's not all working together.  It's also like putting on the full armor of God in that all the pieces of the armor (with the exception of the helmet, just like with the exception of the turban here) were all held together by the Belt of Truth.  Sometime if you want an interesting study, compare the priests garments here to the armor of God and see which items are similar and which are different?  While Paul was probably looking at a Roman soldier and his armor when talking about the armor of God, I suspect that he had some of these garments of the priests in mind as well.

The priests who were always supposed to be about the work of the LORD were to wear these special garments to be a visible symbol to everyone that they were unique and different and that they had a different identity and purpose than everyone else.  They belonged to God.  In much the same way, it should be just as obvious for everyone to look at us as Christians and draw the same conclusion.  It is not necessarily because of the outer garments we wear (though sometimes that can be part of it) but because people should see us clothed in the garments of new and royal priesthood fit for heaven and the armor of God and the new white linen wedding garments that prepare us to enter the banquet hall of heaven because anyone dressed in the wrong garments will not be allowed to enter.  In who are what do you find your identity today?  If it's not in the finished work of Christ, then you are finding your identity in the wrong thing and you don't have the Belt of Truth holding your garments up and you will stand one day in a terribly embarrassing position before the Great White Throne where you will have covered yourself with fig leaves like Adam and Eve did and God will not find that kind of attire acceptable for entering into His kingdom--He's the One who sets the dress code for heaven, and we must be covered in the clothing given to us by Him by way of a blood sacrifice, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  Only when we put on those garments provided to us by God can we be pleasing and acceptable in His sight.