Exodus 28:6-14. The Ephod.
WE trust each of our readers, who are interested in the Bible Lessons, have read this long chapter, and noticed the different garments as pointed out in our last paper, and will now consider their wonderful typical teachings all fulfilled in Christ.
That high priest represented the Israelites before God, and is a type of Christ, who is the Great High Priest to represent all His people now before God.
The ephod, which marked him as a priest, was to be made of gold, blue, purple, scarlet and fine twined linen. These different materials bring before us the different glories of Christ. First, the gold His divine character; second, the blue His heavenly character; third the purple His royal character; fourth the scarlet His human glory and Jewish royalty, and fifth, the fine-twined linen His spotless purity.
As a divine person, He was the only One who was suitable to go into God’s presence, and seeing He became a man He was not only able to die for us and thus be our Saviour, if we have accepted Him, but is now our Great High Priest and is in God’s presence to represent us in all these glories. So God sees all those who believe in Christ in all His perfections.
On the shoulders of the high priest were placed precious stones, one on each shoulder, and they were set in gold. Six names of the children of Israel engraved on one stone, and six on the other, and the engraving was to be cut in deep like the engravings of a signet. There would be no way to take these names off; they were there to stay.
The shoulders marked the strength of the priest, so as a type of Christ we have Him with all His strength or ability as a triumphant victor over death and judgment, bearing us up before God. Every believer, therefore, is maintained before God without any change, and that as a precious stone, so that when God. who is light, shone upon these stones, all He could see was Himself reflected back again. Therefore the prophet could say about His people.
“He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel.”
May every believer, who reads these lines, be enabled to say, and rejoice in the fact that “So God sees me.” He sees me in all the perfection of my Great High Priest who represents me before God.
ML 06/25/1922