Exodus 28

Exodus 28

Exodus 28:1 “And you should bring Aaron your brother near to you, and his sons along with him, chosen from among the sons of Israel, to serve me as priests- Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

Exodus 28:2 And you should make sacred clothes for Aaron your brother, to display glory and for beauty.

Exodus 28:3 You should speak to all those whose hearts are wise, whom I have filled with a breath of wisdom, so that they make Aaron’s clothes to consecrate him for my priesthood.

Exodus 28:4 These are the clothes that they should make: a sacred pouch, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They should make sacred clothes for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests.

Exodus 28:5 They should receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

Exodus 28:6 “And they should make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked.

Exodus 28:7 It should have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together.

Exodus 28:8 And the skillfully woven band on it should be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

Exodus 28:9 You should take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,

Exodus 28:10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth.

Exodus 28:11 As a jeweler engraves signets, so should you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You should enclose them in settings of gold filigree.

Exodus 28:12 And you should set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron should bear their names before Yahveh on his two shoulders for remembrance.

Exodus 28:13 You should make settings of gold filigree,

Exodus 28:14 and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you should attach the corded chains to the settings.

Exodus 28:15 “With skilled craftsmanship, you should make a sacred pouch for justice. You should make it after the style of the ephod – out of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen should you make it.

Exodus 28:16 It should be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth.

Exodus 28:17 You should set in it four rows of stones. A row of Sardis, topaz, and carbuncle should be the first row;

Exodus 28:18 and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;

Exodus 28:19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

Exodus 28:20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They should be set in gold filigree.

Exodus 28:21 There should be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They should be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.

Exodus 28:22 You should make for the sacred pouch twisted chains like cords, of pure gold.

Exodus 28:23 And you should make for the sacred pouch two rings of gold and put the two rings on the two edges of the sacred pouch.

Exodus 28:24 And you should put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the sacred pouch.

Exodus 28:25 You should attach the two ends of the two cords to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod.

Exodus 28:26 You should make two rings of gold and put them at the two ends of the sacred pouch, on its inside edge next to the ephod.

Exodus 28:27 And you should make two rings of gold and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

Exodus 28:28 And they should bind the sacred pouch by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the sacred pouch should not come loose from the ephod.

Exodus 28:29 So Aaron should bear the names of the sons of Israel in the sacred pouch of justice on his heart, when he goes into the Sacred Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before Yahveh.

Exodus 28:30 And in the sacred pouch of justice you should put the Lights and the Darks, [1] and they should be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before Yahveh. Thus, Aaron should bear the judgment of the sons of Israel on his heart before Yahveh regularly.

Exodus 28:31 “You should make the robe worn with the ephod entirely of blue.

Exodus 28:32 It should have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, so that it may not tear.

Exodus 28:33 On its hem you should make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them,

Exodus 28:34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe.

Exodus 28:35 And it should be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound should be heard when he goes into the Sacred Place before Yahveh, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

Exodus 28:36 “You should make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Sacred to Yahveh.’

Exodus 28:37 And you should fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It should be on the front of the turban.

Exodus 28:38 It should be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron should bear any guilt from the sacred things that the people of Israel consecrate as their sacred gifts. It should regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahveh.

Exodus 28:39 “You should weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you should make a turban of fine linen, and you should make a sash embroidered with needlework.

Exodus 28:40 “For Aaron’s sons you should make coats and sashes and headbands. You should make them for glory and beauty.

Exodus 28:41 And you should put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and should anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.

Exodus 28:42 You should make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They should reach from the hips to the thighs;

Exodus 28:43 and they should be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the conference tent or when they come near the altar to minister in the Sacred Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This should be a permanent prescription for him and for his offspring after him.

[1] ‎ אֶת־הָאוּרִים֙ וְאֶת־הַתֻּמִּ֔ים = The Lights and the Darks.

Exodus 28 quotes:

“As the Tabernacle is a type of the plan of salvation, so the high priest is a type of the true High Priest in the plan of salvation, i.e. Jesus. The work of the high priest also is a type of the work of the true High Priest. The Levites who helped the high priest minister in the Tabernacle represent the work of the believers. The description of the high priest and his function appears in Exodus 28:1-39; Leviticus 8:1-9, 24 and Hebrews 5:1-10.”

Pfeffer, John. The Table in the Wilderness. Self Published. 2008. p. 19.

“Twelve different stones were part of the material offered for use at the tabernacle (see page 59). They were part of the special garments for the high priest. A list of the stones is found in Exodus 28:9 and 17-20. Each of the 12 stones on the high priest’s breastplate had a name of one of the 12 tribes engraved upon it. Also, on the shoulders of the robe of the ephod were two onyx stones, each engraved with six names of the 12 tribes according to their birth (Ex 28:10).”

DeWitt, Roy Lee. Teaching from the Tabernacle. Revival Teaching, 1986. p. 40.

” This robe was woven with twelve strands of blue thread and covered the body, except for the arms and head, all the way down to six inches above the ground. At the bottom of this blue robe pomegranates, a fruit in the Near East, were sewn. Between each pomegranate was a bell. As the high priest walked, these bells rang as they bumped into the pomegranates, thereby indicating to the assembled Israelites that the high priest was alive and well in the midst of his duties in the holy place.’”

Zehr, Paul M. God Dwells with His People : A Study of Israel’s Ancient Tabernacle. Herald Press, 1981. p. 120.