Exodus28chapter 28

Exodus 28:1-2

Aaron and his four sons are called out of the nation by name to minister in the priest's office, so the priesthood begins as one household. Nadab and Abihu stand in the founding list, and Leviticus 10:1-2 records what became of them. The garments are ordered for glory and for beauty, a phrase that occurs twice in Scripture and both times in this chapter, here of Aaron and at verse 40 of his sons.

Exodus 28:3-5

The word wisdom occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and it is given to weavers and engravers rather than to a king or a judge. The men who receive it are called wise hearted, a phrase that also begins here and then runs through the building chapters at 31:6, 35:10 and 36:1. Six garments are named and the materials repeat the four of the tabernacle curtains with gold added.

Exodus 28:6-8

The ephod is woven of the same materials as the innermost curtain of 26:1 and the vail, with gold worked in among them. Exodus 39:3 says how the metal got into the cloth, beaten into thin plates and cut into wires so it could be worked with the thread. The man who serves in the tent is dressed in the fabric of the tent.

Exodus 28:9-12

Two onyx stones carry the twelve names, six to a stone, ordered according to their birth. Aaron wears them on his shoulders, which is where a load is carried, and the text calls them stones of memorial. Matthew Henry and Sir Robert Anderson read the shoulders here and the heart at verse 29 together as a figure of Christ carrying his people, and Hebrews 9:11-12 speaks of the high priest entering the holy place once for all.

Exodus 28:13-16

Gold settings and chains of wreathen work hold the breastplate, and every fitting that touches it is pure gold. The piece is foursquare and doubled, which makes it a pouch rather than a flat plate, and the doubling is what verse 30 depends on. A span is half a cubit, so the whole thing sits inside the width of a man's chest.

Exodus 28:17-21

Twelve stones in four rows carry the twelve names, one name to a stone, each cut like the engraving of a signet. The shoulder stones grouped the names six and six by birth order, while here every tribe has its own stone and its own place in the setting. Revelation 21:14 and 21:19-20 set twelve foundation stones in the wall of the city with the names of the twelve apostles upon them.

Exodus 28:22-28

Seven verses go on fastening, and the reason arrives at the end of them, that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod. Rings at the top, chains up to the shoulder ouches, rings at the bottom and a lace of blue underneath hold it at four points. The chapter spends more words securing the piece than describing it.

Exodus 28:29-30

Aaron carries the names on his shoulders at verse 12 and on his heart here, and the verb both times is bear. Into the doubled pouch go the Urim and the Thummim, and the text never says what they were or how they worked. Josephus reports a shining in the stones, an old rabbinic reading has the engraved letters standing out to be read, and other writers take them as lots. Numbers 27:21 and 1 Samuel 28:6 show them in use, and Ezra 2:63 records a time when no priest had them.

Exodus 28:31-35

The robe worn under the ephod is all blue, and its neck opening gets a woven binding so that it be not rent. Bells of gold and pomegranates alternate around the hem, and the reason given for the bells is sound, that his sound shall be heard when he goes in and when he comes out. The people outside cannot see the priest at his work and can hear him, and the alternative the verse names is that he die not.

Exodus 28:36-38

make a plate of pure gold: A plate of pure gold on the front of the mitre carries an engraving cut like a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. It rides on the forehead so that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which grants that even Israel's gifts need covering before they are accepted. Zechariah 14:20 puts that same inscription on the bells of the horses in the day it describes, so what was written on one man's forehead ends up on common harness.

Exodus 28:39-41

The coat, the mitre and the girdle finish Aaron's dress, and the sons receive coats, girdles and bonnets for glory and for beauty, the phrase from verse 2 returning to close the list. Verse 41 puts three acts in order, anoint them, consecrate them, sanctify them, and the anointing comes first. The word anoint occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and the first man anointed in the Bible is a priest rather than a king.

Exodus 28:42-43

Linen breeches are ordered to cover their nakedness from the loins to the thighs, which is the same concern Exodus 20:26 raised about going up by steps to an altar. Genesis 3:7 and 3:21 began the covering of nakedness and the priesthood inherits it. The chapter closes on a penalty, that they bear not iniquity and die, made a statute for ever to Aaron and his seed after him.