Exodus 28:2

PRIESTLY ROBES

‘And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.’

Exodus 28:2

I. The garments peculiar to the high-priest were four: the ephod, with its ‘curious girdle,’ the breastplate, the robe of the ephod, and the mitre.

I. The garments were made of linen, typical of the human nature which Christ wears still in His glorified state.

II. They were carefully fastened together, signifying the complete unity which there is in all Christ’s work for His people.

III. They were robes, not of war, but of peace, indicating that our Saviour’s warfare is accomplished, and that He is now set down in the calm and quiet of His holy, peaceful functions.

IV. The robe of the ephod represents the perfect robe of the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ.

V. Aaron bearing the names of the people before the Lord on his ephod is a picture of Christ bearing the names of His people in holy remembrance before God.

VI. The breastplate teaches that Christ not only bears His people on His shoulders for strength, but lays them separately on His heart for love.

VII. The high-priest wore a mitre with this inscription graven upon it, ‘Holiness to the Lord.’ Jesus Christ, in His very character and being, as our Representative, is standing before God, and emblazoned upon His front is His own proper title: ‘Holiness to the Lord.’ Not for Himself—He needs it not—but for us! He bears the iniquity of our holy things. For us the golden letters run ‘for glory and for beauty’ upon the mitre of Jesus.

Illustrations

(1) ‘The shoulders are the place of strength, so that as our great High Priest goes in, He bears our names, representing us, one by one, on the place of strength; and there they are borne up and carried, there we typically dwell between His shoulders, there we are carried all day long, and there is the assurance of perfect supply in our most utter weakness. So that, like Paul, when we see our names there we may glory in our weakness, because it will only show forth the perfection of His strength.’

(2) ‘The holiness of the raiment implies that separation to office can be expressed by official robes in the Church as well as in the State: and their glory and beauty show that God, who has clothed His creation with splendour and with loveliness, does not dissever religious feeling from artistic expression.’