Exodus 28:43
Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and his descendants.
Sermons
The Priests and Their GarmentsJ. Orr Exodus 28:1-43














I. OBSERVE HOW THE INDIVIDUAL IS HERE SUBORDINATED TO THE OFFICE. Jehovah tells Moses here, amid the solemnities of the mount, that his brother Aaron and Aaron's sons are to be taken for service in the priest's office; but no word is said concerning the characters of any of these men, not even Aaron himself. There is a demand that those who made the priestly garments should be wise-hearted, men with a spirit of wisdom which Jehovah himself would put into them; but nothing is said as to Aaron himself being wise-hearted. Nor is there any indication given beforehand of any personal fitness that he had for the office. We gather much as to the way in which God had been training Moses; but Aaron so far as we can see, seems to have been led by a way that he knew not. All the commandment to Moses is, "take to thee Aaron thy brother." He is indicated by a natural relation, and not by anything that suggests spiritual fitness. It is interesting to compare the utter absence of any reference here to personal character with the minute details of what constitutes fitness for bishop and deacon, as we find these details in the epistles to Timothy and Titus. In the old dispensation where there was but the shadow of good things to come, the trappings of the official and the ceremonies of the office were of more importance than the character of any individual holder. The purpose of Jehovah was best served, in proportion as the people, beholding Aaron, forgot that it was Aaron, and were chiefly impressed by the fact that they were looking on the appointed priest of the Most High.

II. OBSERVE WHAT WAS AIMED AT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PRIESTLY GARMENTS. They were to be for glory and for beauty. Not only different from the garments of the common people, but much more splendid. Gold was worked into the very substance of these garments; precious stones glittered upon them; and everything was done to make them beautiful and impressive. Nor was the splendour of these garments for a mere occasional revelation. Though not worn constantly, yet they had to be assumed for some part of every day; and thus all eyes were continually directed to symbols of the glory, beauty, and perfection which God was aiming to produce in the character of his people. There was as yet no finding of these things in human nature. The gold of human nature could not yet be purified from its debasing dross; but here for a symbol of the refined and perfected man, was gold, pure and bright, we may imagine, as ever came out of the furnace; and here were these precious stones, inestimably more precious since the tribal names were graven on them, and with the preciousness crowned when they took their place on the shoulders and breasts of the priest. Thus, whenever these stones flashed in the light, they spoke forth afresh the great truth, that this priest so gloriously attired, was the representative of the people before God; not a representative whom they had elected for themselves, and who would therefore go to God on a peradventure, but one who, because God himself had chosen him, could not fail to be acceptable. The principle underlying the direction to make these splendid garments is that which underlies the use of all trappings by government and authority. The outward shows of kingly state, the crown, the sceptre, the throne, the royal robes - these may not be impressive now as once they were; but they have been very serviceable once, and may still serve an important purpose, even though it be not easily perceived. It might make a difference in the administration of justice, if the garb of those who are the chief administrators were to differ nothing in public from what it is in private.

III. OBSERVE THAT TO SHOW FURTHER THE IMPORTANCE ATTACHED TO THESE GARMENTS, GOD HIMSELF PROVIDED SKILL FOR THE MAKING OF THEM. Much skill might be needed, far more than could be guessed by the observer, to make these garments graceful and impressive. What was all the richness of the material unless there was also dextrous, tasteful, and sympathetic workmanship? The gold, and the blue, and the purple, and all the rest of the promising materials would have availed nothing in some hands to avert a clumsy and cumbrous result. The people provided all they could, and it was a great deal; but God had to provide the craftsmen in order to make full use of the people's gift. - Y.

The coat of fine linen.
The portion of the high priest's dress called the coat was more properly a tunic. It was the innermost garment worn by the high priest, being placed first upon him after he was washed (Leviticus 8:7). It seems to be derived from a verb meaning "to cover, or hide." It seems to have been interwoven, like net or chequer work, so as to present what in modern days we should call a "damask" appearance, combining weaving with a species of embroidery. The blue robe, and gorgeous ephod with its cluster of brilliant precious stones on the shoulders and breastplate, would entirely conceal from the eye of an observer this fine linen coat. Beneath, therefore, the splendid dress of the high priest there was a more humble attire of pure white, though it was still a "garment for glory and beauty." The outer garments were distinctly of a representative character; that is, they bore the names of Israel before the Lord. But in this under tunic there was no apparent connection with that people. It was rather the personal clothing of the high priest, manifesting him, beneath all his official glory, as one who could minister before the Lord in a perfect righteousness of his own. A glory and beauty no less costly and precious than was displayed by the other garments, though to the eye of sense not so striking in appearance. In fact, the high priest could not have worn his magnificent apparel Unless he could previously exhibit a spotless purity, diversified in every possible way like the embroidered fine linen coat. The Lord Jesus, in the days of His flesh, passed through an ordeal of temptation and suffering, throughout which He evinced His complete fitness to be the Great High Priest in resurrection, showing forth a righteousness and holiness, as well as grace, sympathy, and tenderness which proved Him perfectly suited for this high dignity and responsibility.

(H. W. Soltau.)

This garment was most proper to our High Priest of the New Testament, Jesus Christ, who is by it described (Revelation 1:13), "clothed in a garment down to the feet." Noting —

1. The excellency of His person, who is "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6), for such long white garments ever betoken peace, both within the church and without.

2. That He excelled in wisdom and counsel, being the Great Counsellor and the "Spirit of counsel and understanding resting in His breast" (Isaiah 11:2), for to such also the garments belonged (Daniel 5:7, 16).

3. The lovely and beautiful connection and conjunction of His prophetical, priestly, and princely offices; sincerely and perfectly fulfilling them and appearing before God in them as in a most costly embroidered garment consisting of many pieces and many colours fitly couched and laid together. And this garment He wore, not only on earth (as the priests did), but now after His ascension, He continues to perform the office of the High Priest for His Church, in the same embroidered garment, presenting before God the merit of His only sacrifice and making intercession to the Father for it.

(T. Taylor, D. D.)

The girdle.
This was worn by the Hebrews as an ornament and as a strengthener. It was put on Aaron, but our Jesus has in Himself everything that was symbolized by this, and everything else that was put on Aaron. I like to look at the girdle as the symbol of service, and at Jesus Christ as our girded High Priest, ever ready to go to God on His people's errands. Jesus is ever ready for any service His people may need. He will present their prayers to God and obtain answers for His beloved disciples, or He will stoop to wash their feet.

(G. Rodgers.)

This girdle was made of the same materials as the vail; but the order of their arrangement was that of the innermost curtains of the Tabernacle, viz., "fine linen, blue, purple, scarlet." The fine linen, type of righteousness, comes first, answering to that beautiful passage in Isaiah 11:5. Righteousness and faithfulness which the Lord Jesus has made perfectly manifest and proved to the utmost in His death upon the Cross. The object of the girdle was to strengthen the loins for service. And the high priest, beneath garments of majesty, glory, brilliancy, and power, still preserved his place as the girded righteous servant of the Lord. So the Lord Jesus upon the throne of glory, having all power in heaven and in earth, and with the name above every name, yet delights to maintain His place as God's servant, fulfilling the Father's counsels and accomplishing His will in the salvation and ultimate perfection of those that are His. We have in John 13 a striking illustration of our blessed Lord's holy service; deeply instructive to us in two ways: first, as teaching us what His present occupations are in our behalf, and next, as giving us an example which we have to follow if we would taste of His happiness and joy. One way in which we may wash one another's feet is by prayer and intercession for one another; and another mode is by seeking to deliver any of the Lord's people that may be ensnared, from the entanglements into which they have fallen.

(H. W. Soltau.)

The sixth garment is the girdle of needlework (ver. 39). Of divers matter, linen, blue silk, purple and scarlet, and of divers colours (Exodus 39:29). The use of it was to fasten the priest's garment unto him, that they may not hang loose upon him in his ministration; and specially points out unto us our High Priest, Jesus Christ, described after His ascension (Revelation 1:13), "And girt about the paps with a golden girdle." Noting in Christ four things.

1. The truth and constancy in accomplishing all the gracious promises of the gospel, seeing our High Priest is girt about with a girdle of verity.

2. His justice, integrity, pure and uncorrupt judgment, as gold (Isaiah 11:5), "Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins and faithfulness the girdle of His reins."

3. His readiness to do the office of a Mediator.

4. His mindfulness and care in performing His office. For as not girding is a sign of carelessness and negligence, so girding of care and industry. So our Lord and High Priest never carelessly cast off any poor and penitent sinner; but in the days of His flesh minded their misery; and now in heaven keeps on His girdle, casts not off the care of His Church, but perpetually accomplisheth whatsoever is needful for her salvation.

(T. Taylor, D. D.).

People
Aaron, Abihu, Eleazar, Israelites, Ithamar, Moses, Nadab, Shoham
Places
Mount Sinai
Topics
Aaron, Age-during, Altar, Approach, Bear, Bring, Causing, Congregation, Death, Descendants, Die, Died, Drawing, Enter, Everlasting, Forever, Free, Guilt, Holy, Incur, Iniquity, Lasting, Lest, Meeting, Minister, Nigh, Order, Ordinance, Perpetual, Sanctuary, Seed, Serve, Sin, Sons, Statute, Tabernacle, Tent, Themselves, Wear, Whenever
Outline
1. Aaron and his sons are set apart for the priest's office
2. Holy garments are appointed
6. The ephod and girdle
15. The breast-plate with twelve precious stones
30. The Urim and Thummim
31. The robe of the ephod, with pomegranates and bells
36. The plate of the mitre
39. The embroidered coat
40. The garments for Aaron's sons

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 28:43

     5578   tents
     7404   ordinances

Exodus 28:1-43

     1065   God, holiness of

Exodus 28:42-43

     5190   thigh
     6750   sin-bearer
     8269   holiness, separation from worldly

Library
Three Inscriptions with one Meaning
'Thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it ... HOLINESS TO THE LORD.'--EXODUS xxviii. 36. 'In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.'--ZECH. xiv. 20. 'His name shall be in their foreheads.'--REV. xxii. 4. You will have perceived my purpose in putting these three widely separated texts together. They all speak of inscriptions, and they are all obviously connected with each other. The first of them comes from the ancient times of the institution
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Names on Aaron's Breastplate
Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord, upon his two shoulders, for a memorial.... And Aaron shall bear the names of the Children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the Holy Place.'--EXODUS xxviii. 12,29. Every part of the elaborately prescribed dress of the high priest was significant. But the significance of the whole was concentrated in the inscription upon his mitre, 'Holiness to the Lord,' and in those others upon his breastplate and his shoulder.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Ninth Day. Holiness and Mediation.
And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.'--Ex. xxviii. 36, 38. God's house was to be the dwelling-place of His Holiness, the place where He was to reveal Himself; as the Holy One, not to be approached but with
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

Edwards -- Spiritual Light
Jonathan Edwards, the New England divine and metaphysician, was born at East Windsor, Connecticut, in 1703. He was graduated early from Yale College, where he had given much attention to philosophy, became tutor of his college, and at nineteen began to preach. His voice and manner did not lend themselves readily to pulpit oratory, but his clear, logical, and intense presentation of the truth produced a profound and permanent effect upon his hearers. He wrote what were considered the most important
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 3

That the Ruler Should be Pure in Thought.
The ruler should always be pure in thought, inasmuch as no impurity ought to pollute him who has undertaken the office of wiping away the stains of pollution in the hearts of others also; for the hand that would cleanse from dirt must needs be clean, lest, being itself sordid with clinging mire, it soil whatever it touches all the more. For on this account it is said through the prophet, Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord (Isai. lii. 11). For they bear the vessels of the Lord who undertake,
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Sanctification
'For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.' I Thess 4:4. The word sanctification signifies to consecrate and set apart to a holy use: thus they are sanctified persons who are separated from the world, and set apart for God's service. Sanctification has a privative and a positive part. I. A privative part, which lies in the purging out of sin. Sin is compared to leaven, which sours; and to leprosy, which defiles. Sanctification purges out the old leaven.' I Cor 5:5. Though it takes not
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

That the Ruler Should be Always Chief in Action.
The ruler should always be chief in action, that by his living he may point out the way of life to those that are put under him, and that the flock, which follows the voice and manners of the shepherd, may learn how to walk better through example than through words. For he who is required by the necessity of his position to speak the highest things is compelled by the same necessity to exhibit the highest things. For that voice more readily penetrates the hearer's heart, which the speaker's life
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Thirtieth Lesson. An Holy Priesthood;'
An holy priesthood;' Or, The Ministry of Intercession. An holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.'--I Peter ii. 5. Ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord.'--Isaiah lxi. 6. THE Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord hath anointed me.' These are the words of Jesus in Isaiah. As the fruit of His work all redeemed ones are priests, fellow-partakers with Him of His anointing with the Spirit as High Priest. Like the precious ointment upon
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer

That the Ruler Should be Discreet in Keeping Silence, Profitable in Speech.
The ruler should be discreet in keeping silence, profitable in speech; lest he either utter what ought to be suppressed or suppress what he ought to utter. For, as incautious speaking leads into error, so indiscreet silence leaves in error those who might have been instructed. For often improvident rulers, fearing to lose human favour, shrink timidly from speaking freely the things that are right; and, according to the voice of the Truth (Joh. x. 12), serve unto the custody of the flock by no means
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 13, 8-10. 8 Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; love therefore is the fulfilment of the law. CHRISTIAN LOVE AND THE COMMAND TO LOVE. 1. This, like the two
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

The Covenant of Grace
Q-20: DID GOD LEAVE ALL MANKIND TO PERISH 1N THE ESTATE OF SIN AND MISERY? A: No! He entered into a covenant of grace to deliver the elect out of that state, and to bring them into a state of grace by a Redeemer. 'I will make an everlasting covenant with you.' Isa 55:5. Man being by his fall plunged into a labyrinth of misery, and having no way left to recover himself, God was pleased to enter into a new covenant with him, and to restore him to life by a Redeemer. The great proposition I shall go
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Earliest Christian Preaching
1. THUS far we have confined ourselves to the words of Jesus. The divine necessity of His death, indicated in the Old Testament and forming the basis of all His teaching regarding it, is the primary truth; the nature of that necessity begins to be revealed as the death is set in relation to the ransoming of many, and to the institution of a new covenant -- that is, a new religion, having as its fundamental blessing the forgiveness of sins. I do not think this view of our Lord's mind as to His own
James Denney—The Death of Christ

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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