The Priests' Garments (Exodus 28)

1 “Then bring near to you Aaron your [Levite] brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, [for investiture] to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. [The priesthood is not an office that can be bought or obtained by power, but one that is chosen by God and passed down through the generations. It was not a human decision because only God could make someone a priest. The priests served as God’s servants, serving the guests (the people) and the host (God) in God’s house.] 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. [Vestments signified authority in the ancient world. Israel was a theocracy rather at this point without a monarch. The high priest, however, dressed as a king to present himself as God’s representative to the people.] 3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill [through the Holy Spirit], 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. [There is no specificity given here for how they were to be worn as though the people hearing these words have seen the items on their high priest before. An ephod was a torso garment, covering the body from thigh to shoulder. We might call it an undergarment, one which Michal thought too immodest for King David to wear while dancing before the Lord. This ephod, however, was a very elaborate ceremonial vestment worn over other garments and used to clothe its wearer symbolically so as to represent God among his people.] 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 [like the interior curtains of the holy of holies].

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 [either in the front or the back if of one piece of material or at the shoulders if made of two pieces]. 8 And the skillfully woven band [like the waistband of a contemporary robe] 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. [The first (right) stone’s names: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, and Naphtali. The second (left) stone’s names: Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. However, if one looks at these scripture references (Genesis 29-35, 46:8-27, and 49; and Exodus 1:2-6, Numbers 1:5-15 and 1:20-42) you will not find the names listed the same way twice!] 12 And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. [Aaron did not represent himself only but all the people of God.] 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. [These stones would be very visible to Aaron and others and would swing as he walked.]

15 “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment [divination, “for making decisions”], 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 [like a large pocket], a span its length and a span its breadth. [The average Israelite man at the time was about 5’-2” and weighted 130 libs. This garment was 18” square and covered his entire chest and belly area. It was a frontal vestment, prominent, central, expansive, and a symbolic display of the covenant relation of God and his people.] 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. [These 12 stones, arranged in three to a row in a total of four rows, engraved and mounted comparably to the ephod shoulder stone, represent the 12 tribes of Israel individually. There is no indication that a particular type of gemstone represents a particular tribe. Neither do we know the exact translation of the Hebrew names for the gems with the NIV, NRSV, and ESV giving them different names!] 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. [It functioned as a real garment and not just as a swinging appendage.] 29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel [he symbolized all the people as if all of them were doing the same thing as he] 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 [lights] and the Thummim [darks], 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. [The Urim and Thummim were theologically last resort appeals to God for national guidance. The Urim and Thummim would be drawn from the pouch after prayer to divine God’s judgment, his answer to their prayer. In themselves, they were colored stones that possessed no intrinsic powers.]

31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. [Unlike the multi-colored ephod, it was a rectangle of one color and worn under the ephod.] 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 [around the ankles] 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. [The bells prevented the high priest’s death. He led the other priests into and out of the Holy Place. God’s house could not be entered into without prior warning—the sound of the bells.]

36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ [It symbolized Aaron’s role as representative of the people in the process of atonement.] 37 And you shall fasten it on the [yet to be described] 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. [How does this gold plate make the Israelites acceptable to God? According to Stuart, “Faith is central to religious ritual. The person who takes communion thinking that it is a snack during a worship service does not renew in covenant obedience Christ’s ‘death until he comes again’ but rather just eats some food . . . . The person who participates in a ceremony of baptism regarding it as a refreshing dip in a body of water has not signified conversion to Christ or the reception of the Spirit but has merely had an extremely truncated bath. The person who attends church merely to look pious has not truly worshiped but has simply been present when other people did. In other words, a person’s belief about what he or she is doing in a religious act is essential to the validity of that act.” Aaron’s actions were done in faith for a purpose: to receive God’s gracious forgiveness of sins that they might be holy. The gold piece and its inscription symbolized the meaning behind Aaron’s actions.]

39 “You shall weave the coat [tunic worn under the robe] 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. [They did not wear robes like the high priest, which makes sense considering the work they had to do: butchering, lifting hunks of meat on and off the altar, separating innards from cookable flesh, carrying coals, cleaning up the ashes, etc.] 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.