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| 1 'And thou, bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from the midst of the sons of Israel, for his being priest to Me, [even] Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, sons of Aaron; |
His sons with him – There were 8,580 Levites, but only five priests sacrificing, which may illustrate the proportion of justified believers to self-sacrificing consecrated ones. T118, R443:1
After the establishment of the Kingdom the distinction between the Church and the larger company ot Levites will be perpetual. R5418:5
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| 2 and thou hast made holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for honour and for beauty; |
Make holy garments – Symbolizing the heavenly grandeur, honors and glories of the Messiah during his reign. OV127:5
Clad in his robes of glory, the High Priest represented Messiah blessing mankind. PD36/47
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| 3 and thou thou dost speak unto all the wise of heart, whom I have filled [with] a spirit of wisdom, and they have made the garments of Aaron to sanctify him for his being priest to Me. |
Spirit of wisdom – Fecundating their minds, energizing natural faculties without affecting them in any moral sense. E175[E175]
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| 4 'And these [are] the garments which they make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and an upper robe, and an embroidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle; yea, they have made holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and for his sons, for his being priest to Me. |
A breastplate – Type of the Law. T34
And an ephod – Type of the Abrahamic covenant (front part) and the New covenant (back part). T30
And a robe – Of blue, representing Christ's faithfulness. T30
A broidered coat – Of white linen, representing the High Priest's purity. It's embroidery showed works of grace. T29
A mitre – Of white linen (righteousness), to which the golden plate, or crown, (royalty) was fastened. T29
And a girdle – Indicating a righteous servant. T30
Make holy garments – Symbolizing the heavenly grandeur, honors and glories of Messiah during his reign. OV127:5
Clad in his robes of glory, the High Priest represented Messiah blessing mankind. PD36/47
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| 5 'And they take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the linen, |
Shall take gold – Representing the divine nature. T18, T20
And blue – Symbol of faithfulness. T30
And purple – Symbol of royalty. T34
And scarlet – Symbol of the blood of the ransom. T34, T109
And fine linen – Symbol of righteousness. T29, T30, T36
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| 6 and have made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of a designer; |
Make the ephod – Type of the Abrahamic covenant (front part) and the New covenant (back part). T30
Of gold – Representing divine power. T34
Of blue – Representing the ability faithfully to maintain his righteous character. T34
And of purple – Proclaims the royal power of the Kingdom cooperating. T34
Of scarlet – Representing redemption from the Adamic curse through the blood of the ransom. T34
Fine twined linen – Indicating the restoration of man to his original purity. T34
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| 7 it hath two shoulders joining at its two ends, and it is joined. |
Two shoulder pieces – Golden clasps, representing divine power to enable Christ to carry out the terms of both covenants. T30
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| 8 'And the girdle of his ephod which [is] on him, according to its work, is of the same, of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen. |
The curious girdle – Representing a servant. "The messenger (servant) of the covenant whom ye delight in." (Mal. 3:1) T33
A servant of a "curious" or peculiar kind. R72:3
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| 9 'And thou hast taken the two shoham stones, and hast opened on them the names of the sons of Israel; |
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| 10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the second stone, according to their births; |
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| 11 the work of an engraver in stone, openings of a signet, thou dost open the two stones by the names of the sons of Israel; turned round, embroidered [with] gold, thou dost make them. |
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| 12 'And thou hast set the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod stones of memorial to the sons of Israel and Aaron hath borne their names before Jehovah, on his two shoulders, for a memorial. |
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| 13 'And thou hast made embroidered things of gold, |
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| 14 and two chains of pure gold, wreathed work thou dost make them, work of thick bands, and thou hast put the thick chains on the embroidered things. |
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| 15 'And thou hast made a breastplate of judgment, work of a designer; according to the work of the ephod thou dost make it; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen thou dost make it; |
The breastplate – Type of the Law. T34
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| 16 it is square, doubled, a span its length, and a span its breadth. |
Being doubled – Representing the spirit and the letter of the Law. The front part, which bore the jewels, representing the spirit of the Law, fulfilled in us "who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." (Rom. 8:4) The back part representing T35; R72:4
Representing the Jewish and Gospel ages. R72:5
A span – Indicating that the Law of God is the full measure of a perfect man's ability. T35; R72:5
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| 17 'And thou hast set in it settings of stone, four rows of stone; a row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle [is] the first row; |
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| 18 and the second row [is] emerald, sapphire, and diamond; |
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| 19 and the third row [is] opal, agate, and amethyst; |
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| 20 and the fourth row [is] beryl, and onyx, and jasper; embroidered with gold are they in their settings, |
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| 21 and the stones are according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to their names, openings of a signet, each by his name are they for the twelve tribes. |
And the stones – Representing the true Israel, the "Little Flock." "They shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." (Mal. 3:17) T36
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| 22 'And thou hast made on the breastplate wreathed chains, work of thick bands, of pure gold; |
Work of pure gold – Indicating that the Law is divine and that we are upheld by the golden chain of divine promises. T36
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| 23 and thou hast made on the breastplate two rings of gold, and hast put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate; |
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| 24 and thou hast put the two thick bands of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastplate; |
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| 25 and the two ends of the two thick bands thou dost put on the two embroidered things, and thou hast put [them] on the shoulders of the ephod over-against its face. |
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| 26 'And thou hast made two rings of gold, and hast set them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its border, which [is] over-against the ephod within; |
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| 27 and thou hast made two rings of gold, and hast put them on the two shoulders of the ephod, beneath, over-against its front, over-against its joining, above the girdle of the ephod, |
The ephod underneath – As the Israelite regarded them, not seeing the hidden connection, the Abrahamic covenant and the Law were all one. T34
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| 28 and they bind the breastplate by its rings unto the rings of the ephod with a ribbon of blue, to be above the girdle of the ephod, and the breastplate is not loosed from the ephod. |
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| 29 'And Aaron hath borne the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment, on his heart, in his going in unto the sanctuary, for a memorial before Jehovah continually. |
Upon his heart – Showing the Law as a covering for his innermost affections. R72:4
"The Law of his God is in his heart." (Psa. 37:31) R72:4
Continually – That is, all through the year, except on the Atonement Day. R160:6*
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| 30 'And thou hast put unto the breastplate of judgment the Lights and the Perfections, and they have been on the heart of Aaron, in his going in before Jehovah, and Aaron hath borne the judgment of the sons of Israel on his heart before Jehovah continually. |
Urim and the Thummim – Hard cases of judgment were, after Moses' death, brought directly to the Lord through the High Priest, the answer being Yes or No by the Urim and Thummim. A49
Working in some unknown way with the stones of the breastplate. R5042:4; Q697:2
Perhaps by particular stones on the breastplate shining with special brilliancy; perhaps light being Yes, and dark No; nothing definite. Q728:2
Upon Aaron's heart – Indicating that it was precious to him. That which condemned all imperfection was Christ's pleasure--" I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." (Psa. 40:8) T35
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| 31 'And thou hast made the upper robe of the ephod completely of blue, |
Of blue – Symbol of Christ's faithfulness. T30
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| 32 and the opening for its head hath been in its midst, a border is to its opening round about, work of a weaver, as the opening of a habergeon there is to it; it is not rent. |
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| 33 'And thou hast made on its hem pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, on its hem round about, and bells of gold in their midst round about; |
Shalt make pomegranates – Representing that the faithful performance of the Redeemer's work of sacrifice has borne rich fruits. T30
And bells of gold – Signifying that when our High Priest appears in glory the fruit of his sacrificial work will be proclaimed to all. T30
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| 34 a bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate [are] on the hems of the upper robe round about. |
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| 35 'And it hath been on Aaron to minister in, and its sound hath been heard in his coming in unto the sanctuary before Jehovah, and in his going out, and he doth not die. |
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| 36 'And thou hast made a flower of pure gold, and hast opened on it openings of a signet 'Holy to Jehovah;' |
Plate of pure gold – A crown proclaiming his royalty. Christ is to be "a priest upon his throne." (Zech. 6:13) T29
HOLINESS TO THE LORD – Thus proclaiming Christ's entire devotion to the accomplishment of Jehovah's purposes. T30
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| 37 and thou hast put it on a blue ribbon, and it hath been on the mitre over-against the front of the mitre it is; |
On a blue lace – Showing that the crown was rightfully his. T29
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| 38 and it hath been on the forehead of Aaron, and Aaron hath borne the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel do hallow, even all their holy gifts; and it hath been on his forehead continually for a pleasing thing for them before Jehovah. |
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| 39 'And thou hast embroidered the coat of linen, and hast made a mitre of linen, and a girdle thou dost make work of an embroiderer. |
Thou shalt embroider – The white linen coat represented Christ's purity, while its embroidery showed works of grace. T29
Make the mitre – White linen (righteousness), to which the golden plate or crown of royalty was fastened. T29
Make the girdle – Indicating a righteous servant. T30
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| 40 'And for the sons of Aaron thou dost make coats, and thou hast made for them girdles, yea, bonnets thou dost make for them, for honour and for beauty; |
And for Aaron's sons – Representing the members of Christ's Body. T36
Make coats – Linen garments, representing the righteousness of Jesus imputed to his Body members. T36
For them girdles – Representing us as servants of righteousness. T36
And bonnets – To indicate that they were not the head of the priesthood, but merely members of the body. God gave Jesus "to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body." (Eph. 1:22, 23) T36; R72:6
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| 41 and thou hast clothed Aaron thy brother with them, and his sons with him, and hast anointed them, and hast consecrated their hand, and hast sanctified them, and they have been priests to Me. |
Aaron ... and his sons – The anointing came upon Aaron only at first, but then upon each of his sons as they succeeded to the office of chief priest. F131; Q689:3
The High Priest was anointed with oil, which constituted the divine evidence of his call to the priestly office. SM598:2
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| 42 'And make thou for them linen trousers to cover the naked flesh: they are from the loins even unto the thighs; |
Linen – Symbol of righteousness. T29, T30, T36
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| 43 and they have been on Aaron and on his sons, in their going in unto the tent of meeting, or in their drawing nigh unto the altar to minister in the sanctuary, and they do not bear iniquity nor have they died; a statute age-during to him, and to his seed after him. |
Unto the altar – The Golden Altar in the Holy represents the Church in the sacrificing condition. T120
Representing the privilege of worship and prayer. R5418:5
And die – Every feature had to be exactly performed because typical of important future events. To insure this the penalty for any violation was death. T12
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