Exodus 39:1-31
Making the Garments of the Priesthood (Exodus 28:1–43)
1 Of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread they made garments of ministry, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Making the Ephod
2 He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen. 3 And they beat the gold into thin sheets and cut it into threads, to work it in with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, into artistic designs. 4 They made shoulder straps for it to couple it together; it was coupled together at its two edges. 5 And the intricately woven band of his ephod that was on it was of the same workmanship, woven of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
6 And they set onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold; they were engraved, as signets are engraved, with the names of the sons of Israel. 7 He put them on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Making the Breastplate
8 And he made the breastplate, artistically woven like the workmanship of the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen. 9 They made the breastplate square by doubling it; a span was its length and a span its width when doubled. 10 And they set in it four rows of stones: a row with a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald was the first row; 11 the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; 12 the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13 the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold in their mountings. 14 There were twelve stones according to the names of the sons of Israel: according to their names, engraved like a signet, each one with its own name according to the twelve tribes. 15 And they made chains for the breastplate at the ends, like braided cords of pure gold. 16 They also made two settings of gold and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 17 And they put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate. 18 The two ends of the two braided chains they fastened in the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the front. 19 And they made two rings of gold and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which was on the inward side of the ephod. 20 They made two other gold rings and put them on the two shoulder straps, underneath the ephod toward its front, right at the seam above the intricately woven band of the ephod. 21 And they bound the breastplate by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it would be above the intricately woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate would not come loose from the ephod, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Making the Other Priestly Garments
22 He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. 23 And there was an opening in the middle of the robe, like the opening in a coat of mail, with a woven binding all around the opening, so that it would not tear. 24 They made on the hem of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, and of fine woven linen. 25 And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates on the hem of the robe all around between the pomegranates: 26 a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe to minister in, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
27 They made tunics, artistically woven of fine linen, for Aaron and his sons, 28 a turban of fine linen, exquisite hats of fine linen, short trousers of fine woven linen, 29 and a sash of fine woven linen with blue, purple, and scarlet thread, made by a weaver, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
30 Then they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription like the engraving of a signet:
HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
31 And they tied to it a blue cord, to fasten it above on the turban, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
The description of the priest’s clothes included the ephod and breastplate, which were to both symbolize and memorialize the tribes of Israel and provide a reminder when calling on the name of the LORD for direction and guidance of His wisdom. The breastplate held the Urim and Thummim, which rabbis have interpreted to mean “those whose words give light” for Urim and Thummim as “those whose words are fulfilled,” or more literally as “lights” for the Urim and “perfections” for the Thummim. These lights guided the inquiring priest to seek the perfect will of God in every situation brought before Him, a shadow of a more certain seeking of His will we now have by His indwelling Holy Spirit to illuminate His perfect word found in the scriptures for each Christian to use to find the direction we should walk and the decisions we should make in accordance with His will. It is important to also note that the golden sign on the head of the priest read “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” as the need for each of us to be holy (1 Peter 1:16) and pursue holiness (Hebrews 12:14) to serve and honor the Lord in acceptable worship as we see Him as He is. All these elaborate garments of the Aaronic priesthood given by God’s pattern through Moses are indica of greater things to worship from the heart and soul which Moses had not yet understood clearly but have been re in Christ by His word and Spirit to us now. May we then faithfully serve Him in righteous living to worship as intended, clothed in the righteousness of Christ (Isaiah 61:10, Ephesians 4:24, 6:14) and our own responsive works prepared (Ephesians 2:10) for us as a kingdom of priests (Revelation 1:6, 5:10) to our God. It may help to visualize having that pure gold plate on our heads inscribed with the words, “Holiness to the Lord” as a constant reminder that we have been saved from sin to not keep living in it again (Romans 6:1-2, 15-16, 12-14, 18) if we are to truly worship and serve our Lord God in spirit and truth. We are to remind ourselves that we are clothed in His righteousness alone and the pursue holiness to please Him in response for such grace to be called to minister as priests of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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