Today’s Passage: Exodus 28
We have watched God give the pattern for the tabernacle where He would dwell among His people, and now He turns to the man who would stand inside it on their behalf, and He does a thing full of tenderness: He dresses him. This whole chapter is a wardrobe, the holy garments of Aaron the high priest, and if you read it only as a tailor’s list of yarn and thread and gemstones you will walk right past its heart. So let me tell you before you begin where the glory of it lies. God did not want Aaron to stand before Him as a bare and forgotten man; He wanted him robed in garments made for glory and for splendor, and He wanted those garments to carry something. On the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, God set two onyx stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes, so that when the priest walked into the sanctuary he bore all Israel on his shoulders, the place of a man’s strength. And over his chest, upon a breastpiece studded with twelve jewels each cut with a tribe’s name, he carried those same people over his heart, the place of a man’s love. He came before God bearing the names of the people, all of them, every tribe, none left outside. There was a plate of pure gold on his forehead engraved with the words Holy to the LORD, so that he might bear the guilt of the holy things and the people be accepted. And there were the Urim and the Thummim tucked into the breastpiece, by which the will of God was sought. Read it slowly, and do not get lost among the threads. The one truth shining through every stitch is that the priest carried his people’s names into the presence of God, and that is the very thing our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus, does for us this very hour.
As you read, hold this: God clothed the high priest to carry the names of all his people on his shoulders and over his heart into the holy presence, a picture of Christ our great High Priest who bears us before the Father still.
Context The world of Exodus 28
To understand these garments you have to understand what a priest was for. A priest was a man who stood in the gap between a holy God and a sinful people, going in where they could not go, bearing them before God and bringing God’s word back to them. Israel could not crowd into the Holy Place; the whole nation could not climb up to where the glory dwelt. So God appointed one man, Aaron, and after him his sons, to go in on behalf of all. And because so much hung upon that one man’s standing before God, God would not let him go in dressed as an ordinary man. He commanded garments to be made for him, and He said plainly why: to give him glory and splendor. The clothes preached before the priest ever spoke.
Look then at what those garments carried. On the shoulders of the ephod sat two onyx stones, and on each was engraved six of the tribal names, twelve in all, so that Aaron bore the whole people on his shoulders, the shoulders being the place of strength, where a man carries a burden he means to hold up. And on his chest hung the breastpiece, a square of woven cloth set with twelve precious stones in four rows, and each stone bore the name of one tribe, so that the priest carried those same twelve names over his heart, the heart being the place of love and remembrance. Shoulders of strength and heart of love, and upon both of them, the names of the people. He did not enter the presence of God for himself alone. He went in carrying them.
Two more things God set upon him. Into the breastpiece went the Urim and the Thummim, by which the high priest sought the guidance of God for the people in matters too heavy to decide alone. And upon the turban, over his forehead, God fixed a plate of pure gold engraved as a seal with the words Holy to the LORD, so that Aaron might bear the guilt of the holy things the people brought, and their gifts be made acceptable before God. Even the worship of a redeemed people needs cleansing, and God provided a priest to carry away its guilt so that it could be received.
And all of it, every stone and every name and that shining word of holiness on his brow, was a picture drawn ahead of time of One who was still to come. For the letter to the Hebrews tells us that Aaron and his garments were a shadow, and that the substance is Jesus Christ, the great High Priest who has passed through the heavens and entered the true sanctuary, and who bears the names of His own people, not on stones, but graven upon His very heart, before the face of God forever.
Exodus 28:1-5 (BSB)
¹ “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests. ² Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, to give him glory and splendor. ³ You are to instruct all the skilled craftsmen, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make garments for Aaron’s consecration, so that he may serve Me as priest. ⁴ These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that they may serve Me as priests. ⁵ They shall use gold, along with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.
The chapter opens with a calling and a clothing, and both come from God’s own mouth. First He names the men: Aaron and his four sons, drawn out from among their brothers to serve Him as priests. It was not a place a man seized for himself; it was a place God gave, and Aaron stood in it not because he was worthier than the rest of Israel but because God chose to set him there. Then, having called him, God says the thing I want you to hear above all in these opening verses: make holy garments for your brother Aaron, to give him glory and splendor. God did not mean to send His priest in shabby and unadorned. He meant to robe him in beauty, because the man who stands before the glory of God should himself be clothed in something of glory.
Notice too who was to make these garments. God says He had filled certain craftsmen with a spirit of wisdom for the work, so that even the sewing of a robe and the setting of a stone was a Spirit-given labor done unto the LORD. And then the whole wardrobe is laid out in a single breath, six garments in all, worked in gold and in blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen, the very colors and materials of the sanctuary itself. The kōhēn, pronounced koh-HANE. Strong's H3548, priest. This is the word that governs the whole chapter, for every garment God commands is made so that Aaron may serve Him as a kohen, a priest. A kohen in Israel was a man who stood between, a mediator who drew near to God on behalf of those who could not draw near themselves. He carried the people’s needs up to God and carried God’s word and blessing back down to them, and he could not do it in his own name or by his own worth but only in the office God gave him and clothed him for. That is why the garments matter so much. They were the uniform of a man appointed to stand in the gap, marked out from head to foot as the one who bears the people before the Holy One. And here the shadow reaches forward to its fulfillment, for the New Testament takes this very word and lays it upon the Lord Jesus. He is called our great High Priest, the true and final kohen, who did not need onyx stones on His shoulders or jewels on His breast because He carries His people’s names upon His own heart, and who did not enter a tent made with hands but passed through the heavens into the very presence of God. Aaron went in year by year and came out again; Christ has entered once and remains there, always living to bear us up before the Father. Every time this chapter says priest, it is teaching Israel to look for the One who would be priest forever, and it is teaching us to rest in Him. , you see, was to be dressed to match the tent he served in, a walking piece of the holy place, so that when Israel looked at him they saw the beauty of the dwelling of God carried on a man.
Exodus 28:6-8 (BSB)
⁶ They are to make the ephod of finely spun linen embroidered with gold, and with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. ⁷ It shall have two shoulder pieces attached at two of its corners, so it can be fastened. ⁸ And the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod must be of one piece, of the same workmanship—with gold, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely spun linen.
Now God describes the central garment, the ephod, a kind of richly woven apron or vestment worn over the priest’s other clothes, made of the same gold and blue and purple and scarlet as the sanctuary curtains, and fastened at the shoulders by two shoulder pieces. Do not let the unfamiliar word trouble you. What matters is where the ephod puts its weight, and it puts it on the shoulders. God is building, piece by piece, a garment designed to carry something, and He begins by preparing the shoulders to bear it. The whole vestment is bound together into one, waistband and shoulder pieces of a single workmanship, a seamless and glorious thing, ready now to receive the names of the people it was made to carry.
Exodus 28:9-14 (BSB)
⁹ Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: ¹⁰ six of their names on one stone and the remaining six on the other, in the order of their birth. 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 Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the LORD. ¹³ Fashion gold filigree settings ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold, made of braided cord work; and attach these chains to the settings.
Here is the first great picture of the chapter, and I would have you dwell on it. God commands two onyx stones, and on them the names of the twelve tribes are cut deep, the way a jeweler cuts a seal, six names on the one stone and six on the other, and these are set in gold upon the two shoulder pieces of the ephod. Then God says the words that unlock everything: Aaron is to bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the LORD. When the high priest walked into the sanctuary, he did not go in alone and forgetful. He went in with the whole nation graven upon his shoulders, all twelve tribes carried on the place where a man bears his heaviest loads.
Think of what that says of the office and of the God who designed it. The shoulders are where a father hoists a weary child, where a laborer carries what must be carried a long way, the very seat of a man’s strength. And God appointed that His priest should carry His people there, so that the strength of the priest was spent holding them up before God. Not one tribe was left off the stones. The great and the small, the faithful and the faltering, all twelve names went in together, borne on the shoulders of the one who stood for them. And every believer who reads it should hear the deeper note sounding underneath, for we have a High Priest who bears us up by a strength that never tires, carrying His whole people upon shoulders that will not let us slip.
Exodus 28:15-21 (BSB)
¹⁵ You are also to make a breastpiece of judgment with the same workmanship as the ephod. Construct it with gold, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely spun linen. ¹⁶ It must be square when folded over double, a span long and a span wide. ¹⁷ And mount on it a setting of gemstones, four rows of stones: In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald; ¹⁸ in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹⁹ in the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰ and in the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. Mount these stones in gold filigree settings. ²¹ The twelve stones are to correspond to the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.
Now comes the most beautiful piece of all, the breastpiece, worn over the heart, and I want you to see how deliberately God repeats Himself. He has already put the names of the tribes on the shoulders of the priest; now He puts them again over his heart. The breastpiece is a square of the same rich workmanship as the ephod, folded double for strength, and upon it are mounted twelve precious stones in four neat rows, a whole small heaven of color, ruby and topaz and emerald, turquoise and sapphire and diamond, and on down the rows to beryl and onyx and jasper. And lest anyone mistake what the jewels are for, God says it plainly: the twelve stones correspond to the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one tribe.
So there they are a second time, the same twelve names, now glowing as jewels over the priest’s heart. Set the two pictures side by side and let them preach. On the shoulders, the names in plain onyx, borne by strength; on the breast, the names as radiant gemstones, held over the heart, borne by love. That is how the priest came before God, carrying his people both on the shoulder of his strength and on the heart of his affection, and God counted every tribe precious, each one a distinct and costly jewel with its own name and its own place in the rows. No tribe was a blur in the crowd. Each was known, named, and treasured, held near the beating heart of the man who stood before the LORD for them. And so are we known by name and held dear over the heart of Christ.
Exodus 28:22-30 (BSB)
²² For the breastpiece, make braided chains like cords of pure gold. ²³ You are also to make two gold rings and fasten them to the two corners of the breastpiece. ²⁴ Then fasten the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece, ²⁵ and fasten the other ends of the two chains to the two filigree settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. ²⁶ Make two more gold rings and attach them to the other two corners of the breastpiece, on the inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁷ Make two additional gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on its front, near its seam just above its woven waistband. ²⁸ The rings of the breastpiece shall be tied to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece is above the waistband of the ephod and does not swing out from the ephod. ²⁹ Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he shall bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of judgment, as a continual reminder before the LORD. ³⁰ And place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the LORD. Aaron will continually carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD.
There is a stretch of careful detail here, rings and cords and chains of gold, and its whole purpose is one thing: to bind the breastpiece firmly to the ephod so that it would never swing loose or fall away from the priest’s chest. Read past the joinery to what it secures. God ordered the names of His people fastened over the heart of the priest so tightly that they could not come off. The breastpiece was tied to the shoulder pieces and anchored at the waist, held fast by gold and by a cord of blue, because the people God has given to His priest are not carried loosely or by chance. They are bound to him, and they stay.
Then twice over, in verses 29 and 30, God says the thing again, as though He could not say it enough: whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place he shall bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart as a continual reminder before the LORD. Continually, before the LORD, the names are carried in. And into this same breastpiece over the heart God places the Urim and the Thummim, by which the high priest sought God’s guidance for the people when a matter was too weighty for man to decide. We are not told exactly what they were or how they worked, and we need not guess. What we are told is where they lay, over the priest’s heart, so that the man who carried the people’s names before God also carried the means of seeking God’s own will for them. He did not lead them by his own wisdom. He came to God for the answer and carried it back to them. And here again the shadow points ahead, for our great High Priest not only bears our names before the Father but is Himself the wisdom of God, in whom all our guidance and all our judgment safely rest.
Exodus 28:31-35 (BSB)
³¹ You are to make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth, ³² with an opening at its top in the center. Around the opening shall be a woven collar with an opening like that of a garment, so that it will not tear. ³³ Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn all the way around the lower hem, with gold bells between them, ³⁴ alternating the gold bells and pomegranates around the lower hem of the robe. ³⁵ Aaron must wear the robe whenever he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he enters or exits the sanctuary before the LORD, so that he will not die.
Under the ephod went a long robe of pure blue, woven strong at the collar so it would not tear, and around its lower hem God set a lovely alternating border, pomegranates worked in blue and purple and scarlet, and between them small bells of gold. Picture it as the priest moved, the fruit and the golden bells swinging together around his feet, and with every step a soft ringing going out from him. God gives the reason plainly: the sound would be heard when Aaron entered and left the sanctuary before the LORD, so that he would not die. The bells were mercy. They marked the priest as the appointed and living one who was permitted to go in, and their sound testified that he still ministered and had not been struck down in the presence of the Holy One.
Do not rush past that small phrase, so that he will not die. It is a reminder threaded right into the hem of the robe that the presence of God is holy, that no one wanders in casually, and that even the priest went in only in the way God appointed and lived only by God’s provision. The bells sang that a man was standing before God and living, and every ring of them was a mercy that a sinner had been brought near and not consumed. What was signaled by golden bells around Aaron’s feet is made sure for us in Christ, who went into the true sanctuary and lives, and who has opened the way for us to draw near and live also.
Exodus 28:36-38 (BSB)
³⁶ You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. ³⁷ Fasten to it a blue cord to mount it on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. ³⁸ And it will be worn on Aaron’s forehead, so that he may bear the iniquity of the holy things that the sons of Israel consecrate with regard to all their holy gifts. It shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be acceptable before the LORD.
Now God crowns the priest. Upon the turban, over the forehead, He fixes a plate of pure gold engraved as a seal with three words that gather up the whole meaning of the office: Holy to the LORD. The priest went in with that shining word upon his brow, so that the first thing declared over the people’s worship was holiness, the holiness that belongs to God and that God requires of all who come near. And then God gives a reason so tender it should stop us. The plate was worn so that Aaron might bear the iniquity of the holy things that the people consecrate, so that their gifts might be acceptable before the LORD.
Sit with that, for it searches us. God is saying that even the holy things of His people, their offerings, their worship, their consecrated gifts, are stained with iniquity and need a bearer to carry the guilt away. Our very best is not clean enough to stand on its own before God. And so the priest bore that guilt on his forehead under the word Holy to the LORD, and by his bearing it the imperfect worship of Israel was made acceptable. Here is grace running deep beneath the gold, for it tells us that we cannot even worship rightly without a priest to make our worship fit for God. And it points, as everything in this chapter points, to the One whose own holiness is not borrowed from a golden plate but is His very self, and who bears not only our sins but the iniquity that clings to our holiest hours, so that we, and all we bring, are made acceptable before the LORD.
Word study "Holy to the LORD": qodesh la-YHWH
Hebrew: קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה (qodesh la-YHWH), pronounced KO-desh la-yah-WEH. The first word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh), “holiness” or “holy,” Strong’s H6944, joined to the covenant name of God, יהוה (YHWH), the LORD, Strong’s H3068.
Qodesh means that which is set apart, cut off from the common and given wholly to God, belonging to Him and stamped with His own purity. To engrave qodesh la-YHWH, Holy to the LORD, upon a plate of pure gold and bind it to the forehead of the priest was to declare over the whole work of worship that it must be holy, because the God being approached is holy. The plate blazed that truth above the priest’s eyes every time he stepped into the sanctuary: the LORD is holy, and what comes near Him must be holy too.
But the wonder of it is where God set that word. He did not hang Holy to the LORD over the door as a warning to keep sinners out. He fixed it upon the brow of a priest whose very task was to bear the iniquity of the people’s holy things, so that the word of holiness became the ground of their acceptance rather than their rejection. The holiness the people could not produce, the priest carried for them, and God received them in him. This is the gospel cast in gold long before Calvary, for our great High Priest is Himself Holy to the LORD, holy without a flaw, and He bears our guilt not upon a golden plate but in His own body, so that we who could never be clean enough are welcomed and accounted holy in Him. The plate on Aaron’s forehead was a promise, and Jesus Christ is its keeping.
Exodus 28:39-43 (BSB)
³⁹ You are to weave the tunic with fine linen, make the turban of fine linen, and fashion an embroidered sash. ⁴⁰ Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons, to give them glory and splendor. ⁴¹ After you put these garments on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint them, ordain them, and consecrate them so that they may serve Me as priests. ⁴² Make linen undergarments to cover their bare flesh, extending from waist to thigh. ⁴³ Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and his descendants.
The chapter closes by finishing the wardrobe and widening it. Aaron is given his woven tunic of fine linen, his turban, and an embroidered sash, and then the same care is extended to his sons, who receive tunics and sashes and headbands, and once more God names the purpose in the very words He used at the start, to give them glory and splendor. The garments made, God tells Moses what to do with them: put them on Aaron and his sons, then anoint them, ordain them, consecrate them, set them apart with oil and ceremony for the service of God. A man was not a priest merely by wearing the robes; he had to be clothed and then consecrated, dressed in glory and then made holy for the work.
The last command is the humblest and the most sobering. God orders plain linen undergarments to cover the priests from waist to thigh whenever they minister, so that they would not incur guilt and die. Even in a chapter full of gold and jewels and blazing color, God stoops to guard the priest’s simple dignity and modesty before Him, for holiness reaches all the way down, into the hidden and unseen. And there sounds again the solemn refrain of the whole chapter, so that they will not die, a permanent statute for all Aaron’s line. From the golden plate on the forehead to the linen next to the skin, everything is arranged so that a sinful man might stand in the presence of the holy God and live. And that is exactly what Christ has secured for us, not by robes we put on and take off, but by clothing us in His own righteousness, so that we come before God covered, accepted, and alive.
Study notes Going deeper
The whole of this chapter, with its priest bearing names on his shoulders and over his heart and standing before God under the word Holy to the LORD, was a shadow, and the New Testament lifts our eyes to the substance. The letter to the Hebrews takes the office of Aaron and shows us that it was always pointing to a greater Priest, and it draws from that truth the boldest comfort in all the world.
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16 (BSB)
Do you see what has happened? Aaron passed through the veil into an earthly Holy Place; Christ has passed through the heavens into the true one. Aaron bore Israel’s names on stones that could be lost or laid aside; Christ bears our names as one who was tempted as we are and knows our weakness from the inside, so that He carries us not with cold jewels but with a sympathizing heart. And because such a Priest has gone in for us, the writer says, we may draw near to the throne of grace with confidence. The whole point of the garments was to bring a people near, and in Christ we are brought all the way near.
"Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them." Hebrews 7:25 (BSB)
There is the strength on the shoulders and the love over the heart, made permanent forever. Aaron went in and came out, went in again and came out again, year upon year, and at last he died and another took his place. But of Christ it is said that He always lives to intercede, that He is at this moment carrying the names of His people before the Father and pleading for them, and therefore He is able to save completely, all the way to the end, everyone who comes to God through Him. The names on the breastpiece could fall away; the names on our High Priest’s heart never will.
So carry home the one truth this chapter was made to teach. God dressed His priest to bear the names of all his people on the shoulders of his strength and over the heart of his love, and to stand before Him under the word Holy to the LORD, bearing the guilt of their holy things so that they might be accepted. And every stone and every name and that plate of shining gold was drawn ahead of time to point us to Jesus Christ, who has passed through the heavens as our great High Priest, who carries us upon a heart that knows our weakness, who always lives to intercede for us, and who makes us and all our worship acceptable before God. Your name is over His heart tonight, held there by a strength that cannot fail and a love that will not let you go.