Daily Scripture Reading Exodus 27:14 - 28:14
There are many Christians who think of God as our heavenly daddy. They believe that when we get to heaven we are going to greet Jesus as our best pal, or perhaps sit on his lap and snuggle. They assume there will be a casual, unpretentious atmosphere when we see Jesus face to face.
When the Israelites built the tabernacle, they also created garments for the priests. The garments were designed to set the priests apart. The garments generated formality and induced the Israelites to treat the priests with very high regard. The common people were not supposed to treat the priests as a peer living next door. This is a picture of what the New Testament tells us about Jesus, our high priest.
In the 27th chapter of Exodus, we read about the construction and dimensions of the curtains that formed the court around the tabernacle. The north and south curtains were 100 cubits long. The curtain on the west end was 50 cubits long. The east end was also 50 cubits, but the entrance into the courtyard was in the east end, so the east end was not enclosed with a solid curtain.
Ex. 27:14 The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three bases.
Ex. 27:15 And for the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three bases.
The gate was in the middle of the east side. The curtain was 15 cubits long on both sides of the opening, leaving an opening for the gate 20 cubits wide.
Ex. 27:16 And as for the gate of the court there shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver, with their four pillars and their four bases.
At the gate, there was a screen so that people could not look directly into the courtyard. They had to walk around the screen to get into the courtyard.
Ex. 27:17 All the pillars around the court shall be furnished with silver bands with their hooks of silver and their bases of bronze.
Ex. 27:18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits of fine twisted linen, and their bases of bronze.
Ex. 27:19 All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, and all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.
Ex. 27:20 ¶ “And you shall command the sons of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.
Look at the words “light” and “continually”. The tabernacle was going to be covered and have curtains at the entrance; thus, it would have been dark. Throughout the Bible, light represents good and dark represents evil; therefore, it would not have been good for the tabernacle to be dark. This required a perpetual light inside the tabernacle.
Ex. 27:21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout their generations for the sons of Israel.
Ex. 28:1 ¶ “Now as for you, bring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priests to Me—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
Ex. 28:2 You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.
Notice the word “holy”. Aaron, as the priest, was to have holy garments. The word “holy” means “to set apart”. Aaron was to have garments that would identify him as being different than everyone else and having an office that no one else had.
Look at the words “glory” and “beauty”. The garments were to be beautiful, not drab and ordinary.
Ex. 28:3 You shall speak to all those wise at heart whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to set him apart as holy, in order for him to minister as priest to Me.
Once again we see the concept that the purpose of the garments was to set Aaron apart from all the other Israelites.
Ex. 28:4 These are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of checkered work, a turban and a sash, and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, in order for him to minister as priest to Me.
The priestly robe was not just one layer. It was multiple layers with multiple pieces. The high number of layers and pieces helped to distinguish the priest from all the other Israelites.
Ex. 28:5 They shall take the gold and the blue and the purple and the scarlet material and the fine linen.
Ex. 28:6 ¶ “They shall also make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of the skillful designer.
Take note of the words “gold”, “blue and purple and scarlet”, “fine twisted linen”, and “skillful designer”.These were not cheap garments. Both the materials used and the skill in creating them made them valuable garments.
Ex. 28:7 It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, that it may be joined.
Ex. 28:8 The skillfully woven band, which is on it, shall be like its workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen.
The words “skillfully woven” also communicated the skill and time invested in creating Aaron’s garments.
Ex. 28:9 You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,
Look at the word “engrave”. Engraving names in onyx stones takes skill. It is not something just anyone can do.
Ex. 28:10 six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the second stone, according to their birth.
Ex. 28:11 As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them all around in filigree settings of gold.
The word “filigree” indicates intricacy in the design.
Ex. 28:12 You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for remembrance.
Ex. 28:13 You shall make filigree settings of gold,
Ex. 28:14 and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them a twisted work of cords, and you shall put the chains of cords on the filigree settings.
Take note of the phrase “two chains of pure gold”. It takes a lot of time and skill to make chains, particularly out of gold. Furthermore, they used pure gold, which is an expensive material.
When the Israelites went to the tabernacle, the garments worn by the priests set the priests apart from the rest of the Israelites. The common people did not go into the tabernacle and treat the priests as peers or as good buddies. Instead, they regarded the priests with reverence and as being somewhat superior.
There are many Christians who think of Jesus as our heavenly daddy. They believe that when we get to heaven we are going to greet Jesus as our best pal, or perhaps sit on his lap and snuggle. They assume there will be a casual, unpretentious atmosphere when we see Jesus face to face.
The New Testament calls Jesus a great high priest (see Heb. 4:14) and a king (see 1 Tim. 1:17). Just as priests wear garments that separate them from the common people, so too kings wear garments that separate them from the common people. When Jesus is called a Priest and a King, He is being differentiated from us. That means when we get to heaven and see Jesus, it will not be a reunion of peers or pals. Instead, it will be subjects meeting their Master.
What has been your concept of what it will be like to meet Jesus?
How should you change how you envision that event?
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you and please tell others about Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. In order to join, go to Bible Mountain dotcom, click on subscribe, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold nor given away. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”