Exodus 28.31-43-Instructions Regarding The High Priest's Robe, Turban Forehead Plate, High Priest's Tunic, Turban And Sash And Garments For Other Priests
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday May 20, 2012
Journey Through The Bible Series: Exodus 28:31-43-Instructions Regarding The High Priest’s Robe, Turban Forehead Plate, Tunic, Turban And Sash And Garments for Other Priests
Lesson # 36
Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus 28:31.
This morning we will complete our study of Exodus chapter 28 by noting verses 31-43, which record the Lord giving Moses instructions concerning the high priest’s robe, the turban forehead plate, turban, tunic and sash as well as garments for the other priests.
Exodus 28:31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. 33 You shall make on its hem pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet material, all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe. 35 It shall be on Aaron when he ministers; and its tinkling shall be heard when he enters and leaves the holy place before the Lord, so that he will not die.” (NASB95)
This passage reveals that the Lord commands Moses to make the robe of the ephod completely blue, which stands in contrast to the multicolored ephod with its multicolored breastpiece.
This blue colored robe was to be worn underneath the ephod, which also contained a blue color.
This solid colored robe underneath the ephod was to have a round aperture large enough for the high priest to slip over his head.
The circle of this hole was to be protected by a sturdy border that would prevent tearing or serious wear as it was put on and taken off during the performance of the high priest’s duties.
This robe would have been approximately eight feet long since it had a front and back and would hang to the ankles.
All around the hem of the robe, there were to be blue, purple and scarlet pomegranates and bells composed of gold.
Pomegranate fruit were an orange sized, thick skinned, several celled, reddish berried fruit of the Punicaceae family.
This fruit was prized in the ancient Near Eastern world.
So Moses is being told to make ornamental representations of this fruit all around the hem of the robe that goes underneath the ephod.
These pomegranate tassels provided decorative beauty for this blue robe and kept the bells of gold from hitting each other.
They represent the fruitfulness of the Lord’s provision for His people.
In contrast to the pomegranate tassels on the robe, the gold bells that also were to be all around the hem of the robe had an extremely important function in that they prevented the death of the high priest.
These gold bells would tinkle and thus allow the Israelites to hear the high priest as he ministered in the holy place.
The sound of these bells would assure the Israelites of God’s mercy and grace in allowing the high priest to minister on their behalf in the presence of the Lord.
The bells represent joyfulness as we serve the Lord.
Interestingly, on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:4), the high priest would lay aside this robe and the color ephod and breastpiece and wore simple linen garments of the priest or Levite, which is a picture of the condescension of our Great High Priest, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The laying aside of his color garments by the high priest on the Day of Atonement spoke of our Lord veiling His deity by becoming a human being and suffering a substitutionary spiritual and physical death on the cross in order to serve sinful humanity.
This condescension is spoken of by Paul in Philippians 2:1-11 and is symbolized by the Lord when He laid aside His garments to wash the feet of His disciples in John 13.
Exodus 28:36 “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ 37 You shall fasten it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, with regard to all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.” (NASB95)
These verses refer to the important feature of the turban, which the high priest was to wear while serving in the tabernacle.
It has yet to be described and is so in verse 39.
The Lord tells Moses that on the front of the turban would be a special gold forehead plate, which was to bear the inscription “Holy to the Lord.”
This plate symbolized Aaron’s role as the representative of the Israelites in relation to the atonement as indicated by the phrase in verse 38 “Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrated, with regards to all their holy gifts.”
This clause teaches that without the forehead piece on the turban he wore while serving in the tabernacle, Aaron’s role as representative on behalf of the Israelites in seeking forgiveness for sins through the various offerings would be nullified.
This forehead piece was a reminder to Aaron and the Israelites that Aaron’s service in the tabernacle was performed by means of faith in order to fulfill the purpose of receiving the forgiveness of sins from the Lord with the result that the Israelites would be holy in the presence of the Lord.
They received the forgiveness of sins and were restored to fellowship as a result of their faith that Aaron’s actions were done in obedience to the Lord.
Based upon Aaron’s faithfulness, they received the forgiveness of their sins and were restored to fellowship.
So the gold piece on the turban symbolized the meaning behind Aaron’s actions as high priest.
This is a picture of Christ and the believer.
In order to be declared justified by God and be entered into an eternal relationship with a holy God, the sinner must have faith in the Great High Priest Jesus Christ’s death on the cross.
After conversion, in order to be restored to fellowship, the justified sinner must confess his sins to the Father.
Based upon the merits of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, he is restored to fellowship with God who is holy (1 John 1:9).
To confess one’s sins to the Father as a believer in order to be restored to fellowship is an act of faith on the part of the believer.
The Israelites at this point in the narrative were already declared justified according to Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 10.
Thus, Exodus 28:38 is speaking of the Israelites’ faith which results in the restoration to fellowship.
Therefore, the sinner is accepted by God who is holy because of the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ and His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
The justified sinner after conversion is restored to fellowship with God who is holy based upon the merits of Jesus Christ and His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
Therefore, church age believers today are restored to fellowship as a result of confessing their sins to the Father, which is an act of faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross for them.
Thus, in the same way the justified sinner is restored to fellowship with a holy God because of his faith in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for him so the nation of Israel was restored to fellowship based upon their faith in the actions of their high priest Aaron who typified our Great High Priest Jesus Christ.
Thus, Exodus 28:36-38 emphasizes with the Israelites then and church age believers today that God wants His people to be holy like Him which demands that they remain in fellowship with Him and confess their sins to Him when they do sin.
This passage is in relation to experiential sanctification.
“Sanctification” is a technical theological term for the believer who has been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of conversion in order to serve God exclusively and is accomplished in three stages: (1) Positional (2) Experiential (3) Perfective.
All three stages of sanctification refer to the process of conforming the believer into the image of Jesus Christ, which is the Father’s plan from eternity past (Romans 8:28-30).
Sanctification is all about the believer experiencing the holiness or perfect character of God in his life through his thoughts, words and actions.
It demands holiness or perfect character from the believer as well as the believer living by the power of the Spirit and the Word through the process of fellowship.
The believer cannot experience fellowship with God without experiencing the holiness of God.
If God is holy and He is, then the believer must be holy as well.
In fact, every believer is commanded in Scripture to be as holy as God (1 Peter 1:14-16).
Fellowship means being in the presence of God and being in the presence of God means that one is holy as God.
God is holy and because He is holy the believer must be as holy as God in order to come into His presence.
Therefore, fellowship with God demands that the believer approach God with reverence.
This is accomplished by acknowledging any known sin to the Father in order to be restored to fellowship and maintaining that fellowship by obedience to the Spirit’s teaching which is found in the Word of God.
It demands that the believer be honest with God since God is light and can reveal the hidden motives and thoughts of the believer as well as knowing all his actions (1 John 1:5-10).
Exodus 28:39 “You shall weave the tunic of checkered work of fine linen, and shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of a weaver.” (NASB95)
The tunic was a long white coat worn beneath the robe of the ephod and was more complete than a loincloth and reached to the knees.
The standard garment worn by both men and women in the biblical period was a linen tunic.
Worn next to the skin, ankle length, with long sleeves, it provided protection from the sun and sometimes was embroidered or given a fancy hem by the wealthy (Gen 37:3 and 2 Sam 13:18–19) or by priests.
The sash was a wide belt worn around the waist of the high priest and was to be the work of an embroiderer.
Exodus 28:40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics; you shall also make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty. 41 You shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him; and you shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve Me as priests. 42 You shall make for them linen breeches to cover their bare flesh; they shall reach from the loins even to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the tent of meeting, or when they approach the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and to his descendants after him.” (NASB95)
In verse 40, the Lord instructs Moses that he is to make tunics, sashes and caps for Aarons’ sons which were for dignity and honor in the sense that these articles would provide them with high status in the Israelite community so that they are respected.
In verse 41, the Lord instructs Moses to clothe Aaron’s sons with these articles and anoint, ordain and sanctify them in order that they might serve Him as priests.
“You shall anoint” is the verb mā∙šǎḥ (מָשַׁח) (maw-shakh´), which refers to the symbolic act of pouring oil on Aaron’s sons in order to dedicate them for service in the tabernacle.
“Ordain” is composed of the verb mā∙lē(ʾ) (מָלֵא) (maw-lay´) which means “to fill” and the noun yāḏ (יָד) (yawd), which means “hand.”
Thus, it literally means “to fill the hand” but figuratively is an expression for the consecration offering for the priesthood and which offering is noted in Leviticus 8:33.
This expression speaks of putting the priestly responsibilities under the control of Aaron’s sons.
“Consecrate” is the verb qā∙ḏǎš (קָדַשׁ) (kaw-dash´), which refers to setting apart Aaron’s sons to serve the Lord in the tabernacle as priests.
The “linen breeches” mentioned in verse 42 refer to undergarments which had a trouser-like or pant-like foundation which ensured no accidental uncovering of the waist and genital areas.
In the ancient world, most people did not wear underwear.
Even though Levitical priests eventually wore undergarments (Exodus 28:42), there was always the risk of the worshipper or priest’s genitals being exposed as he walked up steps, which would insult God.
Thus, the Lord wants Aaron’s sons to wear underwear so that they do not sin in His presence and be executed.
The last statement in verse 43 “It shall be a statute forever to him and to his descendants after him” refers to all the regulations presented in chapter 28.