Exodus 28:1-43 And take you to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel… From instructions about inanimate things, we come now to persons. Aaron and his four sons were to be set apart for the office of the priesthood, and garments were to be made for them, "for glory and for beauty." Aaron was to be high priest (" the priest who is higher than his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured," Leviticus 21:16); his sons were to be ordinary priests. The high priest was a very especial type of Christ. I. THE INSTITUTION OF THE PRIESTHOOD (ver. 1). Hitherto there had been no distinct class invested with the office of the priesthood. The need for a separate priesthood arose with the giving of the law, with the entrance of Israel into covenant relationship with God, and with the founding of a sanctuary. 1. With the giving of the law. A distinct revelation had been made of God's holiness. But God's holiness had as its correlative the unholiness of the people. By the law came the knowledge of sin. A priesthood, specially sanctified to God's service, became necessary to mediate between an unholy people and a holy God. 2. With the establishment of a covenant relationship between Israel and Jehovah. In virtue of the covenant, Israel became to God "a kingdom of priests and an holy nation" (Exodus 19:5). It was this priestly calling of the nation which found official expression in the priesthood of the house of Aaron. The priests were "vicars," in the sense of the following passage - "A truly vicarious act does not supersede the principal's duty of performance, but rather implies and acknowledges it ..... In the old monastic times, when the revenues of a cathedral or cure fell to the lot of a monastery, it became the duty of that monastery to perform the religious services of the cure. But inasmuch as the monastery was a corporate body, they appointed one of their number, whom they denominated their vicar, to discharge those duties for them. His service did not supersede theirs, but was a perpetual and standing acknowledgment that they, as a whole and individually, were under the obligation to perform it" (Robertson of Brighton, Sermons, vol. 2. p. 92). That is to say, the priests stood in a representative relation to the body of the people. They acted in the name of the community. 3. With the founding of a sanctuary. "The groundwork of this new form of religion stood in the erection of the tabernacle, which God chose for his peculiar dwelling-place, and through which he meant to keep up a close and lively intercourse with his people. But this intercourse would inevitably have grown on their part into too great familiarity, and would thus have failed to produce proper and salutary impressions upon the minds of the worshippers, unless something of a counteracting tendency had been introduced, fitted to beget feelings of profound and reverential awe toward the God who condescended to come so near to them. This could no otherwise be effectually done than by the institution of a separate priesthood, whose prerogative alone it should be to enter within the sacred precincts of God's house, and perform the ministrations of his worship" (Fairbairn). The Aaronic priesthood had thus a twofold function to discharge in relation to the people. 1. Representative. It represented the nation in its priestly standing and vocation. It performed sacerdotal acts in the name of the tribes. The representative character culminated in the person of the high priest. 2. Mediatory. The priesthood mediated between the people and Jehovah. It was the link of communion between the holy and the unholy. Gifts and. offerings, which otherwise, on account of the unholiness of the people, would not have been accepted, were accepted at the hands of the priests. The high priest transacted with God on behalf of his constituents as well as in their name. It pertained to him, and to the other priests, "to make reconciliation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17). The priesthood, and especially the high priest, thus typifies Christ - (1) in his Divine appointment to his office (Hebrews 5:5, 6); (2) in his personal and official holiness (Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 7:26); (3) in his representative relations to his people (Hebrews 6:20); (4) in his work of mediation and intercession (Hebrews 9:11, 12, 24); (5) in his heavenly glory (Hebrews 2:9). Note, however, the following point of difference (one among many) between the high priest and Christ. The Jewish high priest embodied priestly rights already existing in the nation. Believers, on the contrary, derive their priestly rights from Christ. They are admitted to a share in his priestly standing. Their priesthood, unlike that of the old covenant, is purely spiritual. It includes privileges formerly possessed only by the official classes, e.g., the right of direct access to God (Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 10:19). II. THE PRIESTLY GARMENTS (vers. 2-43). Having chosen his priests, God next proceeds to clothe them. As the office was of his appointment, so must the garments be which are to be the insignia of it. Nothing is left to individual taste. The articles of attire; their shape, material, co]our, workmanship; the manner of their ornamentation; everything is fixed after a Divine pattern. The garments are to be "for glory and for beauty" (vers. 2, 40), indicative of the official dignity, of the sacred character, and of the honourable prerogatives of the wearers of them. Men are even to be inspired with "the spirit of wisdom" (ver. 3), for the purpose of making them, so entirely are they to be garments of Divine origin. Look (1) at what these garments were, and (2) at the functions and privileges of the priesthood as shadowed forth in them. 1. The parts of the priestly dress. The dress of the ordinary priests, with the exception of the girdle of needlework (cf. Exodus 39:29), was to be of fine white linen. It consisted of an embroidered coat, a cap, and plain white linen drawers. The high priest's garments were of a much richer order. They embraced (1) the ephod, with its curious girdle (vers. 6-15). (2) The breast-plate, in which were to be placed "the Urim and Thummim" (vers. 15-31). (3) The robe of the ephod, "all of blue," and embroidered along the hem with pomegranates. Alternating with the pomegranates were to be little golden bells, which should give a sound when the priest went into the holy place, and when he came out (vers. 31-36). (4) The mitre, on which was to be a plate of gold, fastened with blue lace, and engraved with the words - "Holiness to the Lord" (vers. 36-39). (5) A broidered coat, girdle, and drawers, similar to those of the ordinary priests (ver. 39). 2. The symbolism of the dress. The blue of the robe of the ephod denoted the heavenly origin of the priest's office; the shining whiteness of the ordinary garments, the purity required in those who served before Jehovah; the gold, the diversified colours, the rich embroidery and gems, in the other articles of attire, the exalted honour of those whom Jehovah had chosen, and caused to approach to him, that they might dwell in his courts (Psalm 65:4). More specifically, the garments bore testimony (1) to the fundamental requirement of holiness in the priesthood. This requirement found its most distinct expression in the engraved plate on the high priest's mitre. Holiness was to be the characteristic of the people as a whole. Most of all was it required in those who stood in so peculiarly near a relation to Jehovah, and on whom it devolved to make atonement for the others. The requirement is perfectly fulfilled in Christ, whose people, in turn, are called to holy living. (2) To the representative character of the priesthood. This was beautifully imaged by the fact that, both on his shoulders and on his breast, the high priest bore precious stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (vers. 9-13; 17-23). Another indication of this representative character is found in the order to place bells upon the hem of the robe of the ephod, that the people might hear the sound of his movements as he went in and out of the holy place (ver. 35). Conscious that he was transacting in God's presence in their name, they were to follow him with their thoughts and prayers in the different parts of his sacerdotal task. It was, however, the wearing of "the breast-plate of judgment" (ver. 29), which most specially declared that the high priest appeared before God as the people's representative. His function, as clothed with the breast-plate, was to sustain the "right" of the children of Israel before Jehovah (ver. 30). The "right" included whatever claims were given them on the justice and mercy of Jehovah by the stipulations of the covenant, it was a "right" derived, not from unfailing obedience to the law, but from Jehovah's goodness. It was connected with atonement. Our "right," in like manner, is embodied in Christ, who bears us on his heart continually in presence of his Father. (3) To the priestly function of mediation. The onyx stones on the shoulders of the high priest, each having engraved on it six of the names of the tribes of Israel (ver. 12), indicated that on him rested the burden or responsibility of the entire congregation. A more distinct expression of this idea is given in ver. 38, in connection with the gold plate of the mitre, engraved with HOLINESS TO THE LORD - "It shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron. may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord." A shadow of the higher mediation. Our persons, gifts, and works find acceptance only in Christ. (4) To the need of sympathy in the priest, as a qualification for his office. The high priest was to bear the names of the children of Israel upon his heart, graven on the stones of the breast-plate (ver. 23). Christ has perfect sympathy (Hebrews 2:14-18; Hebrews 4:14 16). The people also, as is hinted in ver. 35, were to have sympathy with their priest. (5) To the function of the priest, as revealer of God's will (ver. 30). Urim and Thummim - whatever these were - are now superseded by the external word, and the inward illumination of Christ's Spirit. Christ gives forth unerring revelations of the will of the Father. "Lights and perfections" is not too high a name to bestow upon the Scriptures (Psalm 19:7-12; 2 Timothy 3:15, 16). - J.O. Parallel Verses KJV: And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. |
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