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| 1 And of the blue and purple and scarlet they made garments of service, for service in the sanctuary, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. |
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| 2 And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus. |
Made the ephod – Type of the Abrahamic covenant (front part) and the New covenant (back part). T30
Of gold – Representing divine power. T34
Blue – Representing the ability faithfully to maintain his righteous character. T34
And purple – Proclaims the royal power of the Kingdom cooperating. T34
And 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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| 3 And they beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it artistically into the blue, and into the purple, and into the scarlet, and into the byssus. |
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| 4 They made shoulder-pieces for it, joining it: at its two ends was it joined together. |
Shoulderpieces – Golden clasps representing divine power to enable Christ to carry out the terms of both covenants. T30
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| 5 And the girdle of his ephod, which was on it, was of the same, according to its work, of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. |
The curious girdle – Representing a servant. "The messenger (servant) of the covenant whom ye delight in." (Mal. 3:1) T33
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| 6 And they wrought the onyx stones mounted in enclosures of gold, engraved with the engravings of a seal, according to the names of the sons of Israel. |
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| 7 And he put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the children of Israel; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. |
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| 8 And he made the breastplate of artistic work, like the work of the ephod, of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus. |
The breastplate – Type of the Law. T34
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| 9 It was square; double did they make the breastplate, a span the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, doubled. |
A span – Indicating that the Law of God is the full measure of a perfect man's ability. T35
Being doubled – Representing the spirit and 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 representin T35
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| 10 And they set in it four rows of stones: one row, a sardoin, a topaz, and an emerald--the first row; |
Four rows of 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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| 11 and the second row, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a diamond; |
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| 12 and the third row, an opal, an agate, and an amethyst; |
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| 13 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper; mounted in enclosures of gold in their settings. |
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| 14 And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, engraved as a seal, every one according to his name, for the twelve tribes. |
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| 15 And they made on the breastplate chains of laced work of wreathen work, 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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| 16 And they made two settings of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. |
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| 17 And they put the two wreathen cords of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate; |
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| 18 and the two ends of the two wreathen cords they fastened to the two settings, and put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, on the front thereof. |
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| 19 And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the border thereof, which faceth the ephod inwards. |
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| 20 And they made two rings of gold, and put them upon the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod underneath, to the front thereof, just by the coupling thereof, above the girdle of the ephod. |
The ephod underneath – As the Israelites regarded them, not seeing the hidden connection, the Abrahamic covenant and the Law were all one. T34
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| 21 And they bound the breastplate with its rings to the rings of the ephod with lace of blue, that it might be above the girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. |
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| 22 And he made the cloak of the ephod of woven work, all of blue; |
The robe . . . of blue – Symbol of Christ's faithfulness. T30
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| 23 and the opening of the cloak in its middle, as the opening of a coat of mail; a binding was round about the opening, that it should not rend. |
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| 24 And they made on the skirts of the cloak pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet, twined. |
Pomegranates – Representing that the faithful performance of the Redeemer's work of sacrifice has borne rich fruit. T30
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| 25 And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates, in the skirts of the cloak, round about, between the pomegranates: |
Bells of pure gold – The golden bells 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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| 26 a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, in the skirts of the cloak round about, for service; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. |
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| 27 And they made the vests of byssus of woven work, for Aaron, and for his sons; |
Coats of fine linen – Representing the righteousness of Jesus imputed to his Body members. T36
For Aaron – Representing our High Priest, Christ. T36, T116; E449
And for his sons – Representing the members of Christ's Body. T36
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| 28 and the turban of byssus; and the ornamental caps, of byssus; and the linen trousers, of twined byssus; |
A mitre of fine linen – A strip of fine white linen, typical of righteousness, worn around the forehead, to which the golden plate, or crown, was fastened. T29
And goodly 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[T36]
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| 29 and the girdle, of twined byssus, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of embroidery; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. |
And a girdle – Indicating a righteous servant. T30
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| 30 And they made the thin plate, the holy diadem, of pure gold, and wrote on it with the writing of the engravings of a seal, Holiness to Jehovah! |
HOLINESS TO THE LORD – Thus proclaiming Christ's entire devotion to the accomplishment of Jehovah's purposes. T30
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| 31 And they fastened to it a lace of blue, to fasten it on the turban above; as Jehovah had commanded Moses. |
A lace of blue – Showing that the crown was righteously his. T29
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| 32 And all the labour of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was ended; and the children of Israel had done it according to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses--so had they done it2. |
Thus was all the work – God's minute instructions respecting the Tabernacle were only for the lessons it would convey to us. Its Court, Holy and Most Holy, its furniture, priests and sacrifices illustrated the most important features of the divine plan. PD36/47
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| 33 And they brought the tabernacle to Moses--the tent, and all its utensils, its clasps, its boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its bases; |
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| 34 and the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers' skins, and the veil of separation; |
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| 35 the ark of the testimony, and its staves, and the mercy-seat; |
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| 36 the table, all its utensils, and the shewbread; |
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| 37 the pure candlestick, its lamps, the lamps set in order, and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; |
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| 38 and the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the incense of fragrant drugs; and the curtain for the entrance of the tent; |
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| 39 the copper altar, and the copper grating that was for it, its staves and all its utensils; the laver and its stand; |
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| 40 the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases; and the curtain for the gate of the court, its cords, and its pegs; and all the vessel's of service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; |
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| 41 the garments of service, for service in the sanctuary; the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons' garments, to serve as priests. |
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| 42 According to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses, so had the children of Israel done all the labour. |
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| 43 And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as Jehovah had commanded--so had they done it; and Moses blessed them. |
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