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| 1 And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made finely wrought garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Jehovah commanded Moses. |
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| 2 and he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. |
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 did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skilful workman. |
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| 4 They made shoulder-pieces for it, joined together; at the 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 skilfully woven band, that was upon it, wherewith to gird it on, was of the same piece and like the work thereof; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as Jehovah 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, inclosed in settings of gold, graven with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel. |
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| 7 And he put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel; as Jehovah commanded Moses. |
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| 8 And he made the breastplate, the work of the skilful workman, like the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. |
The breastplate – Type of the Law. T34
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| 9 It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being double. |
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. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was 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, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; |
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| 12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; |
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| 13 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in inclosings 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; like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name, for the twelve tribes. |
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| 15 And they made upon the breastplate chains like cords, 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 chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. |
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| 18 And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, in the forepart thereof. |
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| 19 And they made two rings of gold, and put them upon the two ends of the breastplate, upon the edge thereof, which was toward the side of the ephod inward. |
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| 20 And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod underneath, in the forepart thereof, close by the coupling thereof, above the skilfully woven band 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 did bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be upon the skilfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as Jehovah commanded Moses. |
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| 22 And he made the robe 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 hole of the robe in the midst thereof, as the hole of a coat of mail, with a binding round about the hole of it, that it should not be rent. |
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| 24 And they made upon the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, |
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 upon the skirts of the robe 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, upon the skirts of the robe round about, to minister in; as Jehovah commanded Moses. |
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| 27 And they made the coats of fine linen 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 mitre of fine linen, and the goodly head-tires of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twined linen, |
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 fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer; as Jehovah commanded Moses. |
And a girdle – Indicating a righteous servant. T30
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| 30 And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like the engravings of a signet, HOLY 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 tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it upon the mitre above; as Jehovah commanded Moses. |
A lace of blue – Showing that the crown was righteously his. T29
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| 32 Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting: and the children of Israel did according to all that Jehovah commanded Moses; so did they. |
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 unto Moses, the Tent, and all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets; |
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| 34 and the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of sealskins, and the veil of the screen; |
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| 35 the ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy-seat; |
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| 36 the table, all the vessels thereof, and the showbread; |
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| 37 the pure lampstand, the lamps thereof, even the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for the light; |
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| 38 and the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the screen for the door of the Tent; |
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| 39 the copper altar, and its grating of copper, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base; |
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| 40 the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court, the cords thereof, and the pins thereof, and all the instruments of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; |
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| 41 the finely wrought garments for ministering in the holy place and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office. |
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| 42 According to all that Jehovah commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. |
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| 43 And Moses saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it; as Jehovah had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them. |
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