Exodus 28 Background Information with Maps and Images (Picture Study Bible

Exodus 28

1 - "Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.

2 - You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.

3 - You shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest's office.

4 - These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest's office.

These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest's office.

5 - They shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen.

6 - "They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skillful workman.

7 - It shall have two shoulder straps joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together.

8 - The skillfully woven band, which is on it, that is on him, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

9 - You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel:

10 - six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, in the order of their birth.

11 - With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel: you shall make them to be enclosed in settings of gold.

12 - You shall put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for a memorial.

13 - You shall make settings of gold,

14 - and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them like cords of braided work: and you shall put the braided chains on the settings.

15 - "You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, you shall make it.

16 - It shall be square and folded double; a span shall be its length of it, and a span its width.

17 - You shall set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and beryl shall be the first row;

18 - and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald;

19 - and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

20 - and the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be enclosed in gold in their settings.

21 - The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes.

22 - You shall make on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold.

23 - You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

24 - You shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.

25 - The other two ends of the two braided chains you shall put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in its forepart.

26 - You shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which is toward the side of the ephod inward.

27 - You shall make two rings of gold, and shall put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in its forepart, close by its coupling, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

28 - They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not swing out from the ephod.

29 - Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.

30 - You shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron's heart, when he goes in before The LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before the LORD continually.

31 - "You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.

32 - It shall have a hole for the head in the middle of it. It shall have a binding of woven work around its hole, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn.

33 - On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, around its hem; and bells of gold between and around them:

34 - a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe.

35 - It shall be on Aaron to minister: and its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before The LORD, and when he comes out, that he not die.

36 - "You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, 'HOLY TO YAHWEH.'

37 - You shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be on the sash; on the front of the sash it shall be.

38 - It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before The LORD.

39 - You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer.

40 - "You shall make coats for Aaron's sons, and you shall make sashes for them and you shall make headbands for them, for glory and for beauty.

41 - You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office.

42 - You shall make them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness; from the waist even to the thighs they shall reach:

43 - They shall be on Aaron, and on his sons, when they go in to the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place; that they don't bear iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute forever to him and to his offspring after him.

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Exodus 28 Images and Notes

Brief Summary: Orders being given for the fitting up of the place of worship, in this and the following chapter care is taken about the priests that were to minister in this holy place, as the menial servants of the God of Israel. He hired servants, as a token of his purpose to reside among them. In this chapter, I. He pitches upon the persons who should be his servants (v. 1). II. He appoints their livery; their work was holy, and so must their garments be, and unanswerable to the glory of the house which was now to be erected (v. 2-5). He appoints the garments of his head-servant, the high priest, which were very rich. (1.) An ephod and girdle, (v. 6-14). (2.) A breast-plate of judgment (v. 15-29), in which must be put the urim and thummim (v. 30). (3.) The robe of the ephod (v. 31-35). (4.) The mitre (v. 36-39). The garments of the inferior priests (v. 40-43). And these also were shadows of good things to come.

Outline
Aaron and his sons set apart for the priest's office, Their garments. (1-5)
The ephod. (6-14)
The breastplate, The Urim and Thummim. (15-30)
The robe of the ephod, The plate of the mitre. (31-39)
The garments for Aaron's sons. (40-43)

Garments of the High Priest
ILLUSTRATION

Aaron, the brother of Moses, was the first high priest in Israel. He was succeeded by his eldest (surviving) son, Eleazar. The high priest (Heb. hakkohen, "the priest," hakkohen haggadol, "the great Priest") had the highest position in the Israelite hierarchy. Like a king in his coronation the high priest also was anointed. He wore special garments, had a crown, and a breastplate which contained the urim and the thummim. He entered the holy of holies in person on Yom Kippur to make atonement for the sins of his own house as well as the sins of the nation.