Exodus 28:1-43

The past few weeks, we’ve been talking about the Tabernacle and how it points directly to Jesus. The colors and materials have significant meaning that show thru that further bolster the greatest story ever told is more in depth than any story told today. Any good storyteller knows how to foreshadow to the climax and beyond.

Especially coming up on Palm Sunday, and Resurrection Sunday as well, to have this kind of focus on Jesus, in my mind’s eye is truly remarkable. Let’s recap just a few things here...before we get into today’s message, which I’m going to go about a little differently than the past few weeks:

Colors: Fine Linen - White - Purity/Holiness Blue - Heaven Purple - Royalty Scarlet - Sacrifice

Metals: Gold - God/Deity Silver - Redemption Bronze - Judgement

Remember, God is still on the mountain with Moses here. Nothing up to this point, nor with what we’ll be talking about today, has been implemented. These are just Moses’ instructions from God. He is laying out to Moses how God wants to be worshipped. And it’s beautiful.

We talked about the coverings of the Tabernacle, beautiful inside, covered by brown goat hair, covered by rams skin died red, covered by badger skin or sea cow skin. All symbols of Christ. The structure of the temple is held up by acacia wood covered in Gold symbolizing the God Man - Jesus would have an ordinary human look on the outside, but His sacrifice would cover our sins, and as the Lord looks at the heart of a person to judge their worth, Jesus would be perfect and beautiful in His work.

The coverings, and the screen covering the temple and surrounding the temple complex would have gold hooks holding up silver and bonze loops, loops symbolizing endless love. The hooks symbolize Jesus holding onto us thru redemption, and our judgement also hanging on Him.

There was a bronze altar where a sacrifice would be given. A Gold lampstand that would need to have pure olive oil brought daily to light the Tabernacle. The Table of Show Bread for communion was opposite the lampstand inside the Holy Place, where only the priests could go. This represents that the light will expose our sins, which is a good thing! Let the Light do it’s work in your life. Then the show bread table represents God’s want to have communion with us.

Then, in the Most Holy Place the foundation of the whole Temple complex, the Ark of the Covenant or the Ark of the Testimony, a box, made of Acacia wood, outlaid in Gold, covered by the Mercy Seat where atonement would be made for all of Israel.

Those pieces of the Temple complex laid out from God’s view in the shape of a cross, the foot of it pointing east, where Temple Mount would be in Jerusalem, where Jesus will come back for His people some day soon.

Finally, there were 3 doors as well. One entering the Tabernacle complex in front of the Bronze Altar, one covering the entrance to the Holy Place, and one more to the Most Holy Place. Symbolizing the Trinity. You can’t make this stuff up. This book is truly the greatest story ever told. So perfectly laid out, God saying “Remember Me, Look for Me, I’m going to uphold My Promises.”

Today, to do this a little differently, let’s read the scripture out, and then we’ll come back and break some of it down. Before we talk about it though, I want you all (especially you kids in the room) to think about what you’re seeing as we talk about the garments that Aaron the High Priest would be wearing when he is consecrated to the people. If you want to, close your eyes and think about what you’re seeing. I’m going to put up a rendition of what it might have looked like to help us all understand, but I want to put into each off our minds first what Scripture says:

Exodus 28:1–4 NKJV

1 “Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. 4 And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.

Exodus 28:5–8 NKJV

5 “They shall take the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, 6 and they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, artistically worked. 7 It shall have two shoulder straps joined at its two edges, and so it shall be joined together. 8 And the intricately woven band of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen.

Exodus 28:9–14 NKJV

9 “Then you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: 10 six of their names on one stone and six names on the other stone, in order of their birth. 11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall set them in settings of gold. 12 And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial. 13 You shall also make settings of gold, 14 and you shall make two chains of pure gold like braided cords, and fasten the braided chains to the settings.

Exodus 28:15–21 NKJV

15 “You shall make the breastplate of judgment. Artistically woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, you shall make it. 16 It shall be doubled into a square: a span shall be its length, and a span shall be its width. 17 And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row; 18 the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold settings. 21 And the stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name; they shall be according to the twelve tribes.

stones

Exodus 28:22–25 NKJV

22 “You shall make chains for the breastplate at the end, like braided cords of pure gold. 23 And you shall make two rings of gold for the breastplate, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 24 Then you shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate; 25 and the other two ends of the two braided chains you shall fasten to the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the front.

Exodus 28:26–28 NKJV

26 “You shall make two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which is on the inner side of the ephod. 27 And two other rings of gold you shall make, and put them on the two shoulder straps, underneath the ephod toward its front, right at the seam above the intricately woven band of the ephod. 28 They shall bind the breastplate by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod, using a blue cord, so that it is above the intricately woven band of the ephod, and so that the breastplate does not come loose from the ephod.

Exodus 28:29–30 NKJV

29 “So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually. 30 And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.

Exodus 28:31–35 NKJV

31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 There shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear. 33 And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. 35 And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out, that he may not die.

Exodus 28:36–39 NKJV

36 “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD 37 And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. 38 So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord. 39 “You shall skillfully weave the tunic of fine linen thread, you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash of woven work.

Exodus 28:40–43 NKJV

40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. 41 So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests. 42 And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him.

Do you think you have a picture in your heads about how Aaron would be dressed as the High Priest? Man, I wish I had the time to go into all of the little details of all of these passages, but we’re going to continue to push thru here.

The first verse of this passage, to the last 3, we see a family in ministry together. I’m not going to focus on this here, but it is important to understand that your family should be serving together. We will find that some of these sons of Aaron were not the greatest of dudes. The Lord will actually make an example out of the two oldest in Leviticus, proving the fact that serving in a leadership role is dangerous work.

We want our kids to serve alongside us. Sometimes it’s not the right time for them though. It IS what the Lord wants, but lead your children in the ways they should go. Those of us with kids, we know our children, we know what they’re capable of AND we know if they’re struggling. Let the Spirit do it’s work in them. Preparing them for serving, and serving early, is an awesome gift to any church body. Let them feel the amazing gift that service brings.

Now, Moses is being given the instruction of how Aaron should be dressed, so just like the Tabernacle, his appearance would be a foreshadow of who Jesus would be when He comes. He knew Aaron would not be ready for this role.

Was there anything special about Aaron? Nope, he could talk eloquently. He was an average person when the Lord met him and he answered the call. He knew the position of authority would break him, as it had broken Moses. We are all bumbling fools, and we’ll see that Aaron is just like us. He blows it, and still God will see fit to use him mightily thru those faults.

Remember we talked to start about the Tabernacle - Sealing skins, covering red ram’s skin sacrifice, covering dirty goat hair which is sin, covering beauty and majesty of our Lord. Aaron would be the opposite of that Tabernacle. Human skin, covered in an atoning sacrifice, holding the judgement of sin at bay, radiating the beauty and majesty of our Lord.

The Tabernacle symbolizes what Jesus did for us. The priestly garments symbolize what Jesus did in us.

The Tunic would be skillfully woven white linen, covering his skin. Jesus’ sacrifice for us would wash us white as snow.

It sits under the robe made of blue symbolizing the heavens. One big long robe made to be strong. A sash would be around, and that sash is a beltlike piece of cloth. It was not to hold the garment on, like our pants these days. It was on the robe to affix the legs of the robe for work. These are the garments Aaron would be wearing when he was in the temple serving.

Think of it like this: When Jesus had finished with the last supper with his disciples, he took a towel and girded Himself and washed his disciples’ feet. He used his sash, became a servant. The King of Kings, not yet clothed in purple garments, would pull up his garment and get on his knees and serve.

The Ephod came next on top, it’s more of an apron. Ephods were used by servants at that time, especially those who prepared food. It would be widely used by those who would be performing the sacrifices in the temple as well. Something Aaron would become very familiar with. It would have onyx stones on each shoulder, kind of like a member’s only jacket. Those loops would hang the breastplate.

It would be adorned with gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, signifying Jesus as we’ve talked about the past few weeks in the colors.

The onyx stones, symbols of strength would each have 6 of the 12 tribes names engraved on them. They would show that they are of equal value to the Lord and His plans. Those stones had the names of the tribes on them, God would see this man carrying the names, and the weight of the tribes would be on his shoulders.

The breastplate would be hung from the shoulder straps. It would mirror the Ephod with the same colors, gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and it’s square and more solid. Incorporated in it would be 12 stones, one for each tribe.

This picture comes from the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, they have all of the pieces of the Temple ready to go to be built on Temple Mount once they have an opportunity to. This is what they would all look like. This is in spanish, the english one was blurred and I can imagine why. Regardless, these are the stones that would be on the breastplate. They were selected because they are beautiful. They were to show that God sees all of His people as precious in His sight.

Now, what is this breastplate called? The breastplate of Judgement, right? Why is that? Why if the stones are so beautiful that are inlaid in it? The Word told us if you remember

Exodus 28:30 NKJV

30 And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.

Judgement, this word is also translated as decision making responsibility. It had 2 things inside it, kept close to the heart. Urim and Thummim? Do any of you know what that means? Nobody knows what they are. What I can tell you is, the words mean “Light and Perfection.” They were to be over Aaron’s heart, with the rest of the tribes. God’s precious ones would be pressed on one man to lead them. Who do we know who is described as Light? Jesus. AND, who is the only one who was perfect? Jesus.

Aaron would feel this weight as long as he lived. The high priest is the one who would atone for the sins of Israel. Until Jesus came. Then He would bear the weight one last time.

This is the Robe. It would hang down and have intricate pomegranates designed as tassles, with bells around them. The people were to hear him coming, to draw their attention to him. And Aaron, on his turban, would wear a gold plate, a crown of sorts with the inscription: Holiness to the Lord. It would be replaced by a crown of thorns to purchase that Holiness for us.

Worship team

All of these things would point, again to Jesus, as you can see. Beauty radiating from the outside, covering the fallible man on the inside.

It’s kind of symbolic of how the Lord looks at us when we accept Him as Lord and savior. After that point, He never looks at us the same again. Our old shell remains on us, covered by purity of a white linen cloth. That would be covered by the blue robe, signifying that our home is no longer this world, but heaven. We are now priests and kings of this world, ambassadors of the King of Kings, with the apron of a worker approved for service and sacrifice.

The breastplate we wear now is Jesus in our heart. We are His precious stones, with His promises written on our heart of flesh, not of stone anymore. And what does the plate of gold say on the turban? Holiness to the Lord. Isn’t that what Jesus did for us? He took what was covered in sin and made us holy. Holy as unto the Lord.

God sees the believer thru the lens of the Messiah. When we turn from our sin, we are no longer slaves but free men and women. We are to serve one another. The temple courts were made for the new believer to see what worship is like. The Tabernacle Holy Place is for the priests. For those of us who are not prepared, but WILLING to do what God has called them to do.

That’s the call. It’s not “You’re ready.” It’s “If I ask, will you answer?”

Revelation 3:20 “20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

Jesus is talking about the lukewarm church. Those of you who know, what does Jesus say He’s going to do in the book of Revelation with the lukewarm church? He says: “I wish you were hot or cold...since you’re not either, I’ll spit you out of my mouth. For some of you, you know God is calling you to something greater.

Service isn’t service without sacrifice. Something has to give. The Lord is calling you all closer to Him. To come closer, you need to say “Here I am Lord.”

As you can see, every day, the Lord’s return is coming near. You’ve been given talents by the Lord. How will you use them? How have you used them? Are they getting dusty? Let’s make today the day we live for more than this life.