Chapter 18
Exodus 28
“What I would like to tell you next,” said Mother the following evening, “is about Aaron’s clothes of glory and beauty; and even these teach us about the Lord Jesus. There were three distinct parts to his holy garments. The outside part was called an ephod. It was to be made of those lovely colors we have heard of before; gold, blue, purple and scarlet. There was a girdle about the waist. This girdle speaks of service. When Jesus was on earth we are told He took a towel and girded Himself to do a service for His disciples.
“On the shoulders of the ephod were to be two precious stones with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel cut into them or engraved. They could never be rubbed off. Also there was to be a breastplate of the same material as the ephod in shape of a square and set in it were to be four rows of precious stones of three in each row. What do you think was to be engraved on each stone?”
“I can guess,” exclaimed Arthur. “A name?”
“Yes, Arthur. God’s High Priest was to bear the name of each tribe upon both his shoulders and upon his heart before God. And that is just like Jesus now. It is a beautiful figure of the way the Lord Jesus carries all the burdens of His people, and at the same time loves them forever. The breastplate and the girdle of the ephod and the precious stones upon the shoulders all were to be fastened together with rings and chains of gold above and with a lace of blue beneath; because they were never to be separated from the ephod. And in the breastplate Moses was to put the Urim and the Thummim.”
“A Urim and Thummim,” pondered Arthur. “What was that, Mother?”
“The Bible does not tell us exactly, but they were something by which God would make known His mind to Aaron for they should be on Aaron’s heart before God continually. It is a figure of the Lord Jesus having us always on His heart of love and bearing us along, as it were, on His strong shoulders.
“Then there was the robe of the ephod, which was to be all of blue, and on the hem at the bottom were to be pomegranates of blue, and purple and scarlet. A pomegranate is a kind of fruit full of seeds and red juice. There were to be bells of gold between them round about — a bell, then a pomegranate, another bell and a pomegranate. The Lord said, ‘And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord and when he cometh out, that he die not.’ In this robe of heavenly color, Aaron was to go in and out before the Lord, and whenever he moved, the ringing of the bells should be heard. It was not that Aaron had to think of the bells, or to try to make them ring; but as he moved about obeying the word of the Lord and serving Him, the bells would ring and the fruit was seen on the hem of his robe.”
“Could God hear the bells ring, Mother?” asked Sophy thoughtfully.
“Yes,” replied Mother, “and the people also heard them while Aaron was inside doing his work for God. I think it tells us that while they could not see him, they would know by the sound of the bells that what he was doing was accepted before God. And this makes us think of what God the Father said to the Lord Jesus. ‘Thou art My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’
“Under the robe Aaron was to wear a coat of fine linen embroidered all over, which was a figure of the snowy whiteness and cleanness of our Lord. White linen speaks of righteousness too, and we know the Lord Jesus was righteous and holy.
“Then on his head Aaron was to wear a mitre, or high hat. It was also to be made of fine linen; and the Lord told Moses to make a plate of pure gold, and to engrave on it like a seal, the words: Holiness to the Lord; he was to put it on a blue lace on the front of the mitre that Aaron might always wear it upon his forehead, because he was to bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel should offer before the Lord, that they might be accepted.
“I think that instead of the ringing of the bells, the sound that is heard now is the sound that the Holy Spirit produces in the hearts of His people. The Lord Jesus is not now moving about like Aaron, bearing the sins of Israel before God, because He has finished His work completely and He has put away sin forever. Jesus died on the dreadful cross to do it and He has gone into heaven itself where He is in the presence of God making intercession for us. When He appeared there God sent down the Holy Spirit in His name to live in the hearts of His people in this world, to make us quite sure Jesus is up there. But He is sitting down now at God’s right hand, because He has saved us perfectly. He is waiting there until the time when He is to come back here to take His redeemed ones to be with Himself. So you see Aaron is only a very tiny figure of the Lord Jesus. Yet even in Aaron God showed His people what grand thoughts He had about them and about His own glory.
“Now I must tell you a little about Aaron’s sons.”
“Were they to be dressed like Aaron, Mother?” asked Sophy.
“No. They were to wear coats and girdles and caps, for glory and for beauty, and to have white linen clothes inside all when they came near to the altar to minister. Their clothes however, were not to be nearly as rich and beautiful as Aaron’s and they needed no breastplate. This was only for the high priest who was the type of Christ — interceding for the people as Christ does now for all believers.”