Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 28:26-29

26 And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward.

27 And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.

28 And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.

29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.

We heard yesterday how the breastplate was secured at each side to the shoulders. This would still allow it to swing from side-to-side, though, so today we hear that there were two more points of attachment on the forepart of the ephod, just above the waist. Thus, the gems and the names inscribed upon them would be held firmly in place.

Also, verse 29 explicitly confirms the symbolism that I mentioned in yesterday’s post: as the priest performs his duties in the tabernacle the names of the breastplate are to bear “upon his heart…for a memorial before the Lord continually.” Specifically, we are told, it is the “judgment of the children of Israel” that is to weigh upon his heart.

Much of the symbolism we have heard about the tabernacle would keep the priest in constant remembrance of God, but this breastplate would also keep him in constant remembrance of the children of Israel. Thus, the priest was a mediator between the two, bringing God and the Israelite into one within his own person, trying to close the gap between them via sacrificial offerings, a type for Christ who would come many years later.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 28:22-25

22 And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold.

23 And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

24 And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.

25 And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod before it.

The breastplate would hang from two golden chains, one on each side. The other ends of the chains would be secured to the two shoulder pieces that the onyx stones were held in. Yesterday I spoke of the broad sense of duty that the priest had for each of the twelve tribes (represented by the onyx stones on the shoulders), in addition to the specific love that would be required for each one (represented by the individual stones on the breastplate).

In today’s verses, those two concepts are literally linked together. The love and the duty are fastened together. The duty is borne because of the love, and the love is borne out in the performance of the duty.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 28:17-21

17 And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.

18 And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

19 And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.

20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.

21 And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

The face of the breastplate would be covered with twelve precious stones. They would be four rows of three stones, and each would be inscribed with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. We were already told that each priest would bear the twelve names upon his shoulders, six on each side engraved in a single onyx stone, and now all of them again on the chest, but here each carved into its own unique jewel.

There may be some symbolism in this. Having a cluster of names on each shoulder could mean having a broad sense of the burden for the work that the priest must perform for each tribe. The work for the Danite would be indistinguishable from the work for a Benjaminite. Each would be part of the same mass of labor, and so, too, their names could be massed together, six on each shoulder. But the tribes were not to be lumped together in such a way upon the heart. Twelve unique stones on the chest suggests having a unique and individual love for each tribe, the priest being able to appreciate their separate roles within the whole.

As for the types of stone that are described, some of them are assumed my modern scholars to be incorrectly interpreted. For example, there is no evidence that these ancient people would have known of the diamond, nor that they would have had the technology to etch a name into it. It therefore seems highly likely that a different stone was meant.

I have to assume that each stone was not chosen at random. If a sardius was selected for Reuben, I assume there was something in the nature of the sardius that was seen as particularly fitting for the nature, role, and destiny of Reuben within ancient Israel. There are several commentaries that suggest what those connections might have been, but I do not have the background to know which ones are most credible, so for now I will content myself with the opinion that the connections do exist.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 28:13-16

13 And thou shalt make ouches of gold;

14 And two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches.

15 And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.

16 Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.

Ouches is another word for settings: recessed receptacles to hold the onyx stones mentioned in the previous verses. These would be attached to the shoulder, and golden chains would run from them to the breastplate that sat upon the chest.

I have seen some images where the breastplate is rigid and made of some metal, usually gold. I have also seen images where the breastplate appears to be made of woven cloth. I assume the metal presentation comes from the name of the article: breastplate, which we most often identify as a metal piece of armor. Verse 15, however, suggests that the cloth interpretation is correct. It sounds as though it was made of the same dyed linen that the ephod was, and probably blended in with it.

We are told that the breastplate was a square, one span on each side. A span was half of a cubit, which was about a foot-and-a-half. A span would therefore be about nine inches, which is well-fitted to the chest of an adult. Of course, the truly notable element of the breastplate was not the body of it, but the stones that were embedded on its face. We will examine those tomorrow.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 28:9-12

9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:

10 Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.

11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.

12 And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

On each shoulder of the priests would be an onyx stone, each set in a golden base and each with half of the tribes of Israel engraved on its face. According to Josephus, the names were written in order of birth, the six elder sons of Jacob being placed upon the right shoulder, and the six younger upon the left.

Thus, the priests literally bore the weight of the twelve tribes upon their shoulders, a constant reminder that they stood not only representatives of God, but also of all the people. Every move of the arm and hands while carrying out of their tabernacle duties would shift the tribes upon their shoulders.

God also specifies that the stones were to be engraved “like the engravings of a signet.” A signet was a ring or a bracelet with a person’s name carved into it, which would be pressed into wax as a seal or signature for whatever document it was attached to. There is no record of the shoulder stones ever being used literally as a signet, but God does seem to be suggesting that they are to be viewed as a sort of signature of the people upon the priests.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 28:6-8

6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work.

7 It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together.

8 And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

Today we hear the details of the ephod and the girdle that the priests wore. The ephod, once again, was a sort of apron that was the priest’s outer layer of clothing, worn above the robe and coat. The girdle was a sash, bound around the waist to secure the layers of clothing against the body.

These two articles of clothing were to be made with linen, dyed in colors of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, woven together in a cunning pattern. There is an immediate connection between this and the inner curtains and walls of the tabernacle. Recall that the instructions for those included that they be made, “of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet.” Also, just as the tabernacle followed that first layer with others of goats’ hair, rams’ skin, and badgers’ skin, similarly the priest had other layers with their robe and their coat.

These similarities in design would have had the aesthetic effect of binding the personage of the priest to the place of his duties. One could tell at a glance that the man belonged with the tabernacle because of their similar adornment. There is also a symbolic lesson, wherein it is suggested that the body of the man was the tabernacle of the Lord, meant to house the same holy and most holy places that the constructed building did. Paul made this very point in 1 Corinthians 6:19: “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you.”

In fact, the one difference between the priest’s clothes and the curtains was that the clothes added the extra color of gold. This might suggest that the person was an even holier tabernacle than the physical edifice. While the Israelites would construct this new tabernacle, God had already constructed the human tabernacles, propping them up with bones instead of boards of shittim wood, covering them with human skin instead of badgers, topping them with human hair instead of goats. Man was made for the same purpose as the tabernacle, to be a house of the most holy of places. A sacred structure wherein resides the presence of the Lord.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 28:4-5

4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

5 And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.

The overview of the clothes is given in today’s verses, and next we will hear about each piece in greater detail. All of the mentioned elements are as follows:

  1. A mitre: a sort of hat or turban. Something that would be worn on the head.
  2. A breastplate: a square patch of fabric which was adorned with precious stones. It sat on the chest, hanging from the shoulders by chains of gold.
  3. An ephod: a sort of apron that the breastplate rested upon.
  4. A robe: a poncho-like layer underneath the ephod.
  5. A broidered coat: yet another layer underneath the robe.
  6. A girdle: a sash tied around the waist to secure all the layers.

Thus, there are three layers upon the body: broidered coat, robe, and an ephod, all bound by the girdle, with a breastplate upon the chest, and a mitre on the head.

Yesterday we spoke of the clothes as having a weighty beauty, and one can see how all of these layers and different adornments would fit that bill. We have already seen great symbolism in the structure and instruments of the tabernacle, and surely the pattern continues with this complex and multi-faceted clothing. We will consider the meaning of each as we continue.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 28:1

1 And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

We now turn from the details of the tabernacle structure to the dress and preparation of the priests that would carry out its duties. First of all, there were specific men appointed to the office of the priest. At this point it was to be Aaron and his sons. In all, there were only five of them, and we heard previously that there were 600,000 men who participated in the Exodus. If that means 600,000 households, and all of them were only to make a single offering in a year, then it would be approximately 329 households serviced per priest every day of the year.

Of course, eventually the priesthood would be expanded to the entire tribe of Levi, but even then, there is an even smaller bottleneck when we consider that there was only one altar in the tabernacle courtyard upon which to sacrifice animals. According to the numbers that we have, that one altar would have to facilitate 1,644 sacrifices per day for each household to make one offering per year.

And we have not even addressed special times of the year, such as the festivals, when everyone would be bringing an offering at once! In short, I don’t know how the logistics of sacrifices at the tabernacle worked. I don’t think we have all enough details to understand how the work was distributed so that every Israelite could make an offering when he needed to.

But presumably there was a robust enough system that it did work, and there were dedicated men whose whole labor would be carrying out these most sacred rituals, connecting every individual soul in Israel to God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 13:1-2

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

God had spared the lives of all the Israelite firstborn, but that didn’t mean He was leaving them untouched. Just as the Israelites had marked their doors with the blood of the lamb, God had marked all of Israel’s firstborn sons to serve Him.

Notice that God says to “sanctify” the firstborn, not to “sacrifice” them. These boys would not be killed like the Egyptians, but they would still be giving up their lives in the service of God. They would be the priests to carry out the rituals of the temple, performing sacrifice and making atonement for the masses. And just as every family in Egypt was touched by the death of their firstborn, so too every family in Israel would be linked to God, also through their firstborn. Every Israelite would personally know someone who was part of this sanctified work, the firstborn would be the leaven that raised the whole nation.

Of course, this arrangement would only persist for a season. In time, the tribe of Levi would prove itself more faithful, and as a reward God would assign them to be the new priest class. All other tribes would retain their firstborn sons, then depending on the righteousness of more pure families to keep their connection to God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 6:21-25

21 And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.

22 And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.

23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

24 And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.

25 And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.

In these verses we hear the children of Izhar and Uzziel, who were Moses and Aaron’s uncles, and the sons of Korah, who was Moses and Aaron’s cousin. More importantly, we also hear the names of Aaron’s sons and his grandson, all of whom would be integral to the law that God would lay forth. Through Moses, God would establish the priestly office and detail its responsibilities. This office would first fall to Aaron and his sons, and then to their descendants, ultimately turning the entire Levitical tribe into a priest class in Israel.

The tribe of the Levites would serve exclusively in this function, being the only ones authorized to perform the priestly duties until the advent of Jesus Christ, who was of the tribe of Judah. Christ would extend the priestly responsibility to any worthy man who was called to it, regardless of his heritage. For now, though, it would be approximately 1,600 years that the Levites would carry this duty alone.