Exodus: The Lord and His PilgrimsНамуна

Our great high priest

Clothing expresses the character and purpose of the wearer. In Joshua 5:13 – 6:2, the ‘Commander of the army of the Lord’ (v. 14) comes, with the Lord dressed for the part (v. 13). The dress declares the person. So Aaron wears the priestly garments the Lord designs for holiness, glory and beauty, to declare (in this case) what the wearer should be. 

First, a priest is qualified to wear the ephod (v. 6; cf. 1 Sam. 2:28; 22:18). The ephod does not seem to have any other significance than to be the distinctive priestly dress. (We do not know whether it was short, like a waistcoat, or longer like a kaftan.) Secondly, the back and front of the ephod are joined by shoulder straps on which are the engraved stones (vv. 7, 9–13), so that on his shoulders the priest carries the names of his people: a picture of the final reality of our Priest living forever to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25). The third garment, the woven band (v. 8), keeps the ephod in place, and the fourth, the breastpiece (vv. 15–30), is loosely held to the front of the ephod by gold cords linking it to the shoulder stones and gold rings linking it to the woven band. The addition of gold in the priest’s case marks him as divine – a requirement which, like all the others, was unfulfilled until Jesus came. 

The priest’s carrying of names on his heart before the Lord (v. 29) is another way of saying that he is responsible for their welfare. The stones put in the breastpiece and called Urim and Thummin (v. 30; literally, ‘the lights and the perfections’) stand for the ideal reality of the Lord’s people as he sees them. Functionally, these stones were a mechanism of guidance whereby the Lord answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions (1 Sam. 23:2) or refused to answer (1 Sam. 14:37). These particular verses do not mention the stones but the reference to the ephod (1 Sam. 23:5, 6, 9) implies their use. In verses 29–30 the phrase ‘breastplate of judgment’ has the basic meaning of decision-making. The priest is the divinely intended decision-maker of his people, responsible for bringing them safely to their homeland. 

The fifth priestly garment is the robe of the ephod (vv. 31–35), designed for the practical purpose of assuring hearers that the priest is alive and active. The sixth garment, the turban or headpiece, is only mentioned as the place where the seventh item, the beautiful medallion of holiness, is set (vv. 36–38), anticipating the holy perfection of Jesus (Heb. 5:8–10; 7:27– 28). But as the Holy One our Priest can indeed bear our iniquity (Ex. 28: 38), because he meets the requirement for the lamb to be perfect (12:5).

Reflection

The Lord Jesus Christ is our ‘wisdom’ (1 Cor. 1:24, 30; Col. 2:2–3).