Exodus 28:1-14 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Exodus 28:1-14. Let’s go!
Exodus 28:1-2 (NIV)
1 “Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests.
2 Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron, to give him dignity and honor.
On verses 1-2: The LORD wanted Aaron, who was going to be Israel’s high priest, to wear sacred garments that would “give him dignity and honour” (v2). What can we learn from this? Whether we want to admit or not, the clothes we wear consciously or subconsciously make us feel a certain way and can also give others a certain feeling about us as well. If you want to change the way you feel, consider changing the clothes you wear. For example, I know some very effective business people who, during COVID 19 season, still change into work clothes every morning even though they are working from home. I have friends who still wear their “Sunday best” just to watch online church at home. That’s because how we dress does affect how we feel. That’s also why God, because He loves us, gives us robes of righteousness to wear, so that we would not feel ashamed (Isaiah 61:10), but that we, like Aaron, would feel dignity and honour.
Exodus 28:3 (NIV)
3 Tell all the skilled men to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest.
On verse 3: The LORD tells Moses to identify and mobilize the people in his community who had God-given skill and wisdom in the area of designing and manufacturing clothes. What’s the lesson here? God gives people specific skills to serve His purposes. God gives you your unique skills and talents not by random chance, but because He has uniquely designed you and called you to make a God-glorifying difference by putting those talents to use.
Exodus 28:4-5 (NIV)
4 These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests.
5 Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.
On verses 4-5: The LORD now begins to describe in detail some of the clothes He wants the priests to wear. Notice that the priests’ clothes are made of expensive and fine material – gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen. The LORD does not give His priests what is leftover, substandard or undesirable. The clothes He wants His priests to wear speak of the great value that the priests have. I believe the same is true today. I don’t believe it pleases God for His priests to walk around in poverty, barely surviving. Like a loving Father, I believe God wants His priests to be well taken care of and to have clothes that speak of honour and dignity.
Exodus 28:6 (NIV)
6 “Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen–the work of a skilled craftsman.
What is an ephod? The ephod was a decorative vest that a priest would wear over his other clothes. The ephod was a symbol that this person was a priest representing God before his people and representing his people before God.
Notice that the ephod was to be made of the same fabric as the tabernacle itself: with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen (see Exodus 26:1). The fact that the priest’s garments were of the same material as the tabernacle shows the interdependence between the priests and the tabernacle: the priests needed the tabernacle and the tabernacle needed the priests.
Likewise, if you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are a priest in God’s kingdom (1 Peter 2:4-5), commissioned to represent God in this world. Just like the priests in Moses’ time needed the tabernacle and the tabernacle needed the priests, so you and I need the church and the church needs us. You and the church are cut from the same cloth, so don’t ever downplay or underestimate the important role that your church plays in your life or the important role that you play in your church.
Exodus 28:7-14 (NIV)
7 It is to have two shoulder pieces attached to two of its corners, so it can be fastened.
8 Its skillfully woven waistband is to be like it–of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen.
9 “Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel
10 in the order of their birth–six names on one stone and the remaining six on the other.
11 Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings
12 and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the LORD.
13 Make gold filigree settings
14 and two braided chains of pure gold, like a rope, and attach the chains to the settings.
On verses 7-14: The ephod had some interesting features: two shoulder pieces and a waistband. The two shoulder pieces had attached to them two onyx stones, one per shoulder. On these two onyx stones would be engraved the names of the 12 sons (and tribes) of Israel, six on one and six on the other. The high priest Aaron would wear these stones on his shoulders “as a memorial before the LORD” (v12), that is, as a reminder to the Israelite people that the LORD remembers them personally and by name.
Likewise, Jesus our high priest goes before the Father and remembers each of us personally and by name. In Revelation 2:17, Jesus says that He will give to every person who trusts in Him a unique stone which that person’s new name written on it. As He stands before the Father, Jesus our great high priest remembers you by name.
Heavenly Father, thank You that You give Your priests not what is left over or substandard, but You give Your priests what is excellent and expensive, that they would have honour and dignity. Thank You Lord Jesus our great high priest for remembering us by name before the Father. Holy Spirit, thank You for showing us through this passage that as God’s children we are cut from the same cloth as the church itself (since we are the church), and so may we never undervalue the church’s role in our lives or our role in the church. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
