Exodus 28

¹ “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.

It is hard not to fall under the spell of the great preacher of yesteryear, Charles Spurgeon. That great British Baptist pastor was truly a pulpit giant and an amazing mind and wit to boot. For instance, consider what he says about the way ministers should dress in his John Ploughman’s Talk; or, Plain Advice for Plain People.

What is a good appearance? Well, it’s not being pompous and starchy, and making one’s self high and mighty among the people, for proud looks lose hearts, and gentle words win them. It’s not wearing fine clothes either, for foppish dress usually means a foul house within and the doorstep without fresh white wash. Such dressing tells the world that the outside is the best part of the puppet. When a man is proud as a peacock, all strut and show, he needs converting himself before he sets up to preach to others. The preacher who measures himself by his mirror may please a few silly girls, but neither God nor man will long put up with him. The man who owes his greatness to his tailor will find that needle and thread cannot long hold a fool in a pulpit. A gentleman should have more in his pocket than on his back, and a minister should have more in his inner man than on his outer man. I would say, if I might, to young ministers, do not preach in gloves, for cats in mittens catch no mice; don’t curl and oil your hair like dandies, for nobody cares to hear a peacock’s voice; don’t have your own pretty self in your mind at all, or nobody else will mind you. Away with gold rings, and chains, and jewelry; why should the pulpit become a goldsmith’s shop? Forever away with surplices and gowns and all those nursery doll dresses men should put away childish things…

Among us dissenters the preacher claims no priestly powers and therefore should never wear a peculiar dress. Let fools wear fools’ caps and fools’ dresses, but men who make no claim to be fools should not put on fools’ clothes. None but a very silly sheep would wear wolfs clothing. It is a singular taste which makes honest men covet the rags of thieves. Besides, where’s the good of such finery? Except a duck in patterns, no creature looks more stupid than a dissenting preacher in a gown which is of no manner of use to him. I could laugh till I held my sides when I see our doctors in gowns and bands, puffed out with their silks, and touched up with their little bibs, for they put me so much in mind of our old turkey when his temper is up, and he swells to his biggest. They must be weak folks indeed who want a man to dress like a woman before they can enjoy his sermon, and he who cannot preach without such milliner’s tawdry finery may be a man among geese, but he is a goose among men. At the same time, the preacher should endeavor, according to his means, to dress himself respectably; and, as to neatness, he should be without spot, for kings should not have dirty footmen to wait at their table, and they who teach godliness should practice cleanliness. I should like white neckties better if they were always white, but dirty brown is neither here nor there. From a slovenly, smoking, snuff-taking, beer-drinking parson may they be delivered. Some that I meet with may, perhaps, have very good manners, but they did not happen to have them about them at the time. Like the Dutch captain with his anchors, they had left them at home; this should never be the case, for, if there be a well-behaved man in the parish, it should he the minister. A worn coat is no discredit, but the poorest may be neat, and men should be scholars rather than teachers till they are so. you cannot judge a horse by its harness; but a modest, gentle-manly appearance, in which the dress is just such as nobody could make a remark upon, seems to me to be the right sort of thing.[1]

This is a little taste of the genius of Spurgeon as well as of his boldness. And I agree with his words! It is not the job of the pastor to be fashionable. It is the job of the pastor to be faithful.

But we are speaking on this side of the cross. In the Old Testament, God spoke powerfully through a whole pageantry of symbols and colors and objects. On this side of the cross, we only want to see the character of Christ manifested outwardly in us. But before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the Lord revealed His character by giving reflections of His own majesty through objects and types.

Thus, when we come to Exodus 28 and its detailed descriptions of the high priest’s dress, we need to remember that distinction. The high priest held an extremely unique position. His office, his actions, and his appearance were all to communicate the presence, the holiness, and the greatness of God. When we look at the first two verses of Exodus 28 we see specifically three aspects of his dress.

¹ “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.

Specifically, we see a reference to holiness, to glory, and to beauty. We will take these in reverse order.

Beauty: The Artistry of God

One of the most obvious aspects of the dress of the priest is its beauty. Beauty is specifically mentioned twice in the chapter.

² And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.

⁴⁰ “For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty.

Thus, both Aaron the high priest and his sons were to wear clothes made for beauty. When one reads the description of the priestly garments, one does indeed see beauty! Consider, for instance, the description of the ephod, the outer garment worn over the tunic and coat of the priest.

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.

First we see the beautiful array of colors: gold, blue, purple, and scarlet. Then we see the beauty of the materials: colored yarns, fine twined linen, the skillfully woven band. Then there were the beautiful stones and hard materials: onyx stone, gold filigree, and two chains of pure gold.

How indescribably beautiful, and this is only one small part of this amazing garment. Again, this was not to highlight the beauty of the priest but rather to highlight the beauty of God himself. We may not think much of the “beauty” of God, but not to do so is a deficiency in our theology. Consider, for instance, how David, in Psalm 27, said that the beauty of God was the one thing he sought after.

⁴ One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

When is the last time you prayed to see the beauty of God? We find the idea again in Psalm 96.

⁶ Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

It is an idea that permeates scripture, even when the specific word “beauty” is not used, as the InterVarsity Press Dictionary of Biblical Imagery explains.

This beauty of the Lord represents one of the many paradoxes of Christianity, for it is clear from the Scriptures that the beauty of God refers at one and the same time to literal appearance and to that invisible quality that makes God the definition of beauty…The explicit references to beauty in relation to God seem to be an attempt to express the inexpressible…Although the word beauty is not [always] used, it is overwhelmingly implied by those few persons in the Bible who look upon God. It is as though beauty does not define God, but God defines beauty.[2]

That final statement, “beauty does not define God, but God defines beauty,” is powerful and perceptive. God is indeed the great standard of beauty! Would you know what is beautiful? Look to God!

Glory: The Splendor of God

The priest’s garments also spoke of the glory of God.

² And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.

⁴⁰ “For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty.

Glory and beauty are obviously connected, though there does appear to be a nuance. Again, the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery is helpful here in its observation that “with reference in English Bibles ranging from 274 (NIV) to 350 (RSV), glory is one of the master images that helps to tell the story of the Bible.” It helpfully defines glory as “an image of [God’s] greatness and transcendence” and “an image of divine transcendence as it makes itself visible to people. It combines awe and terror, and it simultaneously invites approach and distance.”[3]

When we turn to the New Testament and its use of glory we find that glory does communicate God’s beauty but it also seems to communicate his power and strength as well.   Consider how these passages carry with them an idea of authority or power when speaking of glory.

Matthew 24 speaks of the second coming of Jesus.

³⁰ Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

There, glory is coupled with power. In Matthew 25, the ideas are coupled again by speaking of Christ’s glorious return and His sovereign throne.

³¹ When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

The idea of the throne of God and the glory of God is communicated likewise in Mark 10 when James and John impertinently ask for places of honor.

³⁷ And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

We may conclude, then, that glory is beauty mixed with power that inspires awe and reverent fear. When the worshipers in the tabernacle came before their God and saw the priest, they were not therefore only struck by the prettiness of the clothes but the awe-inspiring, majestic, awesome, glory that they communicated and pointed to. The overall sensation was one of stupefied amazement!

God is beautiful but God is also glorious!

Holiness: The Utter Purity of God

Even so, the recurring theme of Exodus 28 is holiness. The term is used repeatedly throughout the chapter.

² And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.

^4b They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests.

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.

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.’

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.

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.

The clothes of the priest were to communicate beauty, it is true. They were to communicate also that God was clothed in glory. But above all they communicated that God was holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy!

Let us consider how holiness was communicated through the priest’s breastpiece, robe, crown (“a plate of pure gold” that was fastened to the turban [vv.36-37]), and coat.

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;

Amazing! On the breastpiece, Aaron bore “the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly” (v.30). The bells on the hem of his garment were to sound as he entered and exited the holy of holies so that he would not die (v.35)! The gold crown had the words “Holy to the Lord” engraved upon it and somehow it communicated both that Aaron bore any guilt that might come from the people’s gifts to God as well as the people’s acceptance before God through Aaron’s mediatorial work as high priest (v.38). The chapter ends with yet another reminder that the clothing of the priests prepared them in some way to stand before God on behalf of the people and that disobedience in this area could mean death.

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.

In short, these clothes were anything but functional! They spoke of divine beauty. They reflected God’s glory. But they were also bound up inextricably with the awesome holiness of God. The clothes themselves had no magical properties, we may be sure, but the God-ordained and proper adornment communicated that the holy God upon whose name Israel called was not to be approached flippantly or casually but rather with the utmost care and concern. It is almost as if in some way the appearance of the priest needed to model the unblemished perfection of the sacrifice that was placed on the altar to God.

The priest’s appearance communicated holiness in what he wore, but, interestingly, it also communicated holiness in what he did not wear. Tony Merida explains:

No footwear gets mentioned. In Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush, God told him to remove his shoes because the ground was “holy.” Likewise, we understand that the ground of the tabernacle was holy; thus, no shoes were to be worn.[4]

Israel’s worship was holy business conducted before a holy God in which a holy priest offered a holy sacrifice. It was worship untainted by human wickedness, yet it was worship that was structured as it was precisely because human beings are wicked. The appearance of the priest acknowledged the grandeur of God and also the grandeur of what we can become through the redemptive work of God.

Even so, dress as he might, Aaron was not perfect. Neither were his sons. Neither are we. He was just a man. We may be sure he was a man who strived after the heart of God. We may be sure that he sought to bring his inner countenance into line with the outward beauty of his clothing. Even so, his inner being could never perfectly match his outward clothing, for he too was in need of redemption.

It is here that we marvel at the New Testament’s description of Jesus as “a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God” (Hebrews 4:14). We marvel for Jesus did not dress per the instructions of Exodus 28. He was not dripping in precious stones and fine linens and gold work and bells and engravings.

He was simple.

He was humble.

He was meek.

Yet there is more.

How can Jesus be called the high priest when He not only did not dress like the high priest but rather was broken and crushed on the cross of Calvary and bears the scars of that ordeal? Of Christ Jesus Isaiah prophetically wrote this in Isaiah 52:

¹⁴ As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind

What an unbelievable contrast! How on earth can we compare the beauty of the high priest of Exodus 28 with the scarred and broken image of Jesus in Isaiah 52? Does not Christ crucified epitomize the very opposite of the beauty of the high priest?

But here is where we begin to see the scandal and the paradox of the gospel: Jesus, the great high priest, redefined beauty itself by showing that the most beautiful thing the world has ever seen, the most majestic thing the world has ever seen, and the most glorious thing the world has ever seen is a high priest who will set aside his beauty and his glory and take up a cruel cross to save lost humanity. Paradoxically, the broken body of Christ is now more beautiful than the jeweled image of the high priest of Exodus 28.

And the high priest of Exodus 28 must have subconsciously hoped that this would be the case. Aaron must have known that no matter how beautiful he made the outside, he was still a sinner on the inside. He must have known and hoped deep down that somewhere and at some time a greater high priest might come, a high priest who could go deeper than outward adornment and who could dress Himself not with symbols of holiness but with the actual holiness of God!

Jesus is that high priest.

He was bruised. He was battered. He was broken. He was crucified. He was pierced. He was nailed to the tree. And as He bled and suffered and died, the world beheld a beauty it could neither understand nor imagine, for in Christ crucified we see the beauty of God’s obedience to God, the divine cooperation with the divine within itself to save and to heal.

The cross is more beautiful than Aaron’s ephod and turban and crown and tunic and pomegranates and bells and linens and engraved stones. The cross is the most beautiful expression of God that the world has ever seen for the cross is God’s “I love you!” written in the blood of the only begotten Son!

The priest’s garments spoke of the holiness of God.

Jesus’ cross means that the holiness of God has now stepped into time and space and that the door has been opened for us.

The priest’s garments promised.

The cross of Christ fulfilled.

See our great high priest, Jesus the Christ! See His scars, bathed now in resurrection light and power, and behold the beauty and glory and holiness of God!

 

[1] https://www.spurgeon.org/misc/plowman.php

[2] Lelan Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III. Gen. Eds., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p.83-84.

[3] Lelan Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III. Gen. Eds., p.330.

[4] Merida, Tony (2014-06-01). Exalting Jesus in Exodus (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) (p. 180). Kindle Edition.