Exodus 39:22 And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
23 And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend.
24 And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.
25 And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates;
26 A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the LORD commanded Moses.
27 And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons,
28 And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen,
29 And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of needlework; as the LORD commanded Moses.
30 And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
31 And they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it on high upon the mitre; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Much detail was given for the priest’s garments. The tabernacle and all its vessels were inanimate objects. They all had a part in depicting the Lord Jesus Christ. However they could never change on their own. They had no life in them.
The priest was a living being. The priest was always a man. God designed a patriarchal world. The world has rejected that design and it is suffering the consequences of a feminist agenda. Since the priest was a man, he was subject to change. There could be good changes taking place as he was learning to walk more faithfully with the LORD. There could also be bad changes taking place, if he chose to compromise the Word of the LORD. His garments were to be a reminder to him and the people of who he should be.
In the Old Testament times, the common people did not have access to a written copy of God’s Word. They were dependent upon the teaching of the priests and the prophets. The king was to write his own copy of the law. He was to read it daily and meditate upon it. He needed to know how to make wise decisions and why.
The priest was to be the mediator between the people and the LORD. He was to bring the offerings of the people before the LORD. His duties would include getting stained with the blood of the sacrifices. He had different items to wear for different duties. This robe was part of the ephod that had already been described above. It was to be all of blue, not a multicoloured robe.
This hole in this robe was compared to the habergeon. The habergeon was a vest type that was made to protect the breast area of the soldier in war. It did not button up or tie together. It was slipped over the head and covered the front and back of the upper body.
This robe had a hole like that of the habergeon. God knew that the material around that hole could tear and thus He designed it with a band around the hole to keep it from tearing. Man has learned many things from God. He may assume he is so smart, but without God he would be just as dumb as the animals. We see some pagan cultures and how dumb they are. They have lost the wisdom that God gave to man.
This robe had bells on it for the purpose of keeping track of the movements of the priest that was wearing it.
God also designed a coat for the priest. This coat was to be woven of fine linen. It was something that all the priests would wear. The priest would also have a mitre of fine linen as well as the bonnets of fine linen. The Catholics try to copy some of what God designed for the priests. To them it is just fancy stuff to impress with. They do not understand the Biblical purpose of these items. They do not understand the Biblical purpose of the priesthood. Sadly, most people accept the corruption of the Catholic religion as legitimate. All of their stuff and all of their rituals are serving the devil. Those who follow that are lost and will remain lost unless they repent toward God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they will reject all of that. Jesus Christ has fulfilled all of the Old Testament typology.
In verse 30 we see that the priest also has a golden crown with a special writing on it. The writing was “HOLINESS TO THE LORD”. This was to remind the priest and the people that the priest was to be Holy to the LORD. He was to be pure in his life and actions. His work was to be true to the command of God.
The priest was just a man, but his heart was to be right with God and his work was to be according to the instructions given by God. The people were not to worship the priest. He was to point them to God. He was subject to God’s authority. He could be removed if he did not serve God properly. We know that God removed Eli’s sons from the priesthood and then He also removed Eli from the priesthood. He replaced them with Samuel, who was not of the family of Eli. He was still of the family of Levi, but a different line that that of Eli. God judged that line and replaced it.
God is in charge. He commanded Moses regarding the garments of the priesthood. He also chose the priests. They were to represent God before the people. If they failed to do so, He could remove them and replace them with someone else. The people needed to understand that the priesthood had a specific calling. They needed to be reminded, through the priesthood, that they needed to be a holy people, separated unto the LORD.
The significance of the priesthood has long been lost by the nation of Israel. At present they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Great High Priest. There are individual Jews that are saved, but the nation is in darkness. Sadly, most Gentiles do not accept Jesus Christ as their Great High Priest either. Most professing Christians treat their Jesus as someone they can fashion according to their liking.
We do not have earthly priests today, but we need to study the commands given regarding the priesthood to help us to understand the importance of knowing the true Jesus and how we can know His peace and blessing today.
Pastor Bartel