Exodus 39

CHAPTER 39THEME: The holy garments of the high priestAaron was the high priest, and the garments he wore all spoke of the person of Christ. We have already been given the pattern for these garments.

Exodus 39:1

These garments are called “holy” because they are set apart for the service of God.

Exodus 39:5

It was “curious” in the sense that it was woven in an unusual way. There were eight articles of clothing worn by the high priest. Four were the same or similar to those worn by all the priests. Four were peculiar to him and separated him from the other priests; they were “garments for glory and for beauty.” This is a picture of our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, in all His extraordinary graces and glory. Each article of clothing was symbolic. On the great Day of Atonement when Aaron took the blood into the Holy of Holies, he laid aside all of his garments of beauty and glory and wore only the simple linen garments that the other priests wore. He must be unadorned but pure. The white linen that the priests wore speaks of righteousness. Isa_52:11 says, “Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.” God still says this. I do not believe that God uses a sinful preacher, teacher, or layman, no matter how prominent or talented he may be. They are doing nothing for God because He will not accept their work. They are building with wood, hay, and stubble. We must be clothed with the righteousness of Christ and then live a life to back it up. This is one lesson taught in these basic garments. It is interesting to note that when Aaron went into the Holy of Holies to offer the sacrifice for the sin of the people, he laid aside his garments of glory and beauty. When the Lord Jesus came to earth, He did not lay aside His deity, but He did lay aside the garments of glory and beautythat is, He laid aside His prerogatives as God. He laid aside the Shekinah glory and came to earth as a human being; He was born a baby. Man was looking for a king, not a baby. Then He offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin. He died in His humanity. To say that God died on the Cross is not quite accurate. I wonder what they mean by “death.” When Jesus Christ died on the Cross, He was separated from God, that is true. There was a rift in the Godhead, to be sure, when Christ was made sin for us who knew no sin (2Co_5:21). But even at that moment, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself (2Co_5:19). This is a mystery, friends, that I cannot penetrate. I have read the works of many theologians and have found that they have not penetrated it either. These garments of beauty and glory were really lovely. The high priest was richly attired and colorful. He wore the ephod which had two stones, one on each shoulder, with six of the names of the tribes engraved on one stone and six on the other, which speaks of the strength and ability of our Lord, that Great Shepherd of the sheep. When one sheep gets lost, our Great Savior finds it, puts it on His shoulders and brings it back. Thank God that we have a Shepherd who can put us on His shoulders and bring us safely back to the fold. He is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God through Him (Heb_7:25). The high priest also wore a breastplate which was somewhat like a vest. It had twelve stones on it, and it was a thing of great beauty. Possibly it had some sort of pocket where the Urim and Thummim were placed. The Urim and Thummim had something to do with prediction. We are not told how it worked. The beautiful stones on the breastplate speak of the fact that Christ carries us on His heart today. He loves us. “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Joh_3:16). These stones depict His great love for us. Now on the robe of the ephod were the golden bells and pomegranates so that when the high priest was serving, those bells could be heard ringing as he went into the Holy Place. The pomegranates speak of the fruitful life of the believer. The bells speak of the testimony of that life. When the priest was in the Holy Place, the Israelites could say, “Well, he is in there, in the place of worship, serving for us. We know he is there because we can hear the bells.” That is what worship should mean to us, friend. Our high priest is representing us in God’s presence. It ought to draw us to the person of Christ. I used to have an elder in one of my churches when I was a young man who was a great encouragement to me. He was a wonderful man of God and he would come to me on Sunday morning and say, “Well, you rang the bell today.” If you want to know the truth, I really did not. I preached some lousy sermons in those days but his point was, because he was a student of the Bible, that he was able to come into the presence of Christ through the preaching of the Word of God. To hear the bells of the high priest was a wonderful experience. What a picture the garments of the priest give! The mitre on his head said, “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.” This speaks of holiness and has to do with the inner life, but the important thing is that it means the high priest is wholly given to the work of the ministry. Holy means anything that is set aside for the use of God. There is something I would like to say to preachers today. I have been a preacher for a long time now and I know there are a great many people who want a preacher to do everything under the sun. They want him to socialize, backslap, hold hands, be nursemaid, as well as preach. No wonder many preachers have nervous breakdowns. Many preachers are nothing more than wet nurses for a lot of little babies in Christ. They go around burping them all the time.

The preacher who stands in the pulpit today ought to be able to wear the mitre “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.” That is, he should have time to prepare a message. He should have time to spend before God in prayer. I am amazed at the number of people who invite the preacher out on a Saturday night. That should be his day for meditation and preparation. I once had an elder say to me, “Vernon, I appreciate your coming to see me, but I will tell you what I would like you to do. I would like you to spend time preparing a message instead of visiting me.

Business is difficult today, and I get weary and discouraged. When I come to church on Sunday, I want to hear something that comes from God. I need help and I hope you will spend Saturday preparing so that I will be able to hear from heaven on Sunday morning and evening.” I think he had a right to say that. My friend, we need to recognize the fact that preachers ought to wear the mitre. Without it, our ministry for the Lord will not be effective.