The Priestly Garments

From the blue and purple and scarlet yarns they made finely woven garments, for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. And they hammered out gold leaf, and he cut it into threads to work into the blue and purple and the scarlet yarns, and into the fine twined linen, in skilled design. They made for the ephod attaching shoulder pieces, joined to it at its two edges. And the skillfully woven band on it was of one piece with it and made like it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Exodus 39: 1 to 5)

After making the tabernacle, Bezalel continued to lead the craftsmen to make the priestly garments for ministering in the Holy Place. Not only that they made the garments as God commanded Moses but also made them from scratch. They made the ephod first. Then the breastpiece as described below.

He made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. It was square. They made the breastpiece doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth when doubled. And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row; and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold filigree. There were twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They were like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. (Exodus 39: 8 to 14)

Then they attached the breastpiece as below.

And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Exodus 39: 21)

He also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue and more as below.

On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates— a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Exodus 39: 24 to 26)

Then the rest wear as below.

They also made the coats, woven of fine linen, for Aaron and his sons, and the turban of fine linen, and the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twined linen, and the sash of fine twined linen and of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework, as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Exodus 39: 27 to 29)

Finally, the holy crown was described below.

They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.” And they tied to it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Exodus 39: 30 31)

So, their final result was described below.

According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them. (Exodus 39: 42 43)

The reason that Bezalel and the craftsmen could accomplish the tabernacle as God had commanded was because of the Spirit of God. The reason that God would give them His Spirit was because Moses could convey and fulfill God's commands exactly as God commanded. Because of that, later on, God describes Moses as below.

And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (Numbers 12: 6 to 8)

God said the same about Jesus during his transfiguration as described below too.

And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17: 4 5)

Moses was God's servant while Jesus Christ is God's beloved Son. If Israelites trusted that Moses could lead them to fulfill God's commands and to enter Canaan eventually, then for those who are saved by grace, we should obey and trust Jesus Christ to lead us to the eternal New Jerusalem even more. Immanuel.

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