Exodus 28:31-43 - HOLINESS TO THE LORD

Exodus 28:31-43

Other Priestly Garments (Exodus 39:22–31)

31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 There shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear. 33 And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. 35 And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the LORD and when he comes out, that he may not die.

36 “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet:

HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

37 And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. 38 So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

39 “You shall skillfully weave the tunic of fine linen thread, you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash of woven work.

40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. 41 So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests. 42 And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him.

This robe for the ephod which the high priest wore and the tunics for his sons were all to honor the LORD when ministering before Him for the people.  Aaron’s robe was elaborately crafted and lined with alternating golden bells and pomegranates along the hem of the robe in order to make noise when Aaron entered the Most Holy Place where he met God.  Without the clanging bells to warn him by reminder where he was entering into or leaving from, he could go in or out unprepared and face death in the presence of the Holy One.  Jewish tradition also hints that the bells would alert those outside the holy of holies if something went wrong and the priest stopped moving because he was de and needed to be pulled out with a rope attached to him.  This is scripturally unproven, but possible as a further need for the bells.  Either way, the high priest was required to wear a gold sign on his head saying, HOLINESS TO THE LORD as the need for holiness of God’s priest was shown to be for bearing the sin of the people by the priest as the atoning mediator between God and man.  This role was incomplete because even the best efforts toward holiness of any man fall short (Romans 3:23) and pointed towards Christ as the only true spotless and absolutely holy High Priest able to sacrifice and minister to all by taking on the sin of the world (John 1:29, Hebrews 9:26) as priest and sacrifice in one to save us to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25) by being the sum of all holiness and a perfect sacrifice like no other.  Such a one makes us always acceptable to the LORD and sanctifies our gifts to holiness as well like we see foreshadowed here.  Likewise the sons of Aaron as priests were given clothing for glory and beauty as they were anointed, consecrated, and sanctified to serve at the altar in holiness to avoid sin and not suffer death as a consequence.  We see the parallel in we who serve the Lord Jesus Christ who is our Great High Priest in that we are also to be holy as He is (1 Peter 1:16) to please God in our service of worship (Romans 12:1-2) to Him.  We are to find our holiness in the righteousness of Christ and also in our responsive walk of righteous and holy living, set apart from the world to love according to His word as good and faithful servants with “Holiness to the Lord” written on our hearts and minds.