In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Welcome back to Purify the Heart. This is Pastor Zachary Courie. In Exodus 27, the Lord instructed Moses regarding the bronze altar, the tabernacle courtyard, and the perpetual light inside. In Exodus 28, the Lord gives detailed instructions to Moses on the garments for the priests serving at the tabernacle.
Exodus 28
28 “Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. 5 They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.
6 “And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. 7 It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together. 8 And the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. 9 You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 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. 11 As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. 12 And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance. 13 You shall make settings of gold filigree, 14 and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.
15 “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. 16 It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. 17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; 18 and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. 21 There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. 22 You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. 23 And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. 24 And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. 25 The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 26 You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. 27 And you shall 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. 28 And they shall bind the breastpiece 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 breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. 29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord. 30 And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly.
31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 It shall 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. 33 On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35 And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.
36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ 37 And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be 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 embroidered with needlework.
40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. 41 And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 42 You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; 43 and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him. (Exodus 28:1–43, ESV)
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
You may have noticed that Exodus 28 says the priestly garments were made “for glory and for beauty.” That line alone is worth pondering.
Many Protestants struggle with the idea of glory and beauty in the Divine Service. Often, it’s because they misunderstand worship to be primarily our service to God rather than God's service to us. With that false view, anything ornate or beautiful, not to mention extravagant, in the church can seem inappropriate to some—“When I come before God,” the thinking goes, “it should be with nothing but humility.” That’s why some might say, “Jesus didn’t wear fancy clothes—so pastors shouldn’t either.”
But that’s missing the point.
If you’ve been following along the last few days, you've heard about the ark, the table for the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, the intricate details of the tabernacle, the altar, and the outer court. None of it was plain. Nothing was utilitarian or sterile (in a decorative sense). No white walls and bare plywood. No, the Lord commanded high-quality materials: acacia wood, overlaid with gold for the ark and the table, pure gold for the golden lampstand, bronze for the altar, silver for the bands and fillets around the courtyard.
The Lord wanted His dwelling to be beautiful—not because He needs shiny things, but because beauty reflects to us something about Him. The people weren’t to hoard the gold and jewelry that the Lord had them plunder from the Egyptians before they left Egypt, but to give it to the Lord for the construction of His house. Later, Solomon would build a temple that was even more magnificent than the portable tabernacle.
When we come to the garments for the priests, it’s no surprise that the Lord again demands splendor—garments for glory and for beauty. This is a restoration back to man in the Garden of Eden prior to the Fall, where the glory of man is to reflect God’s glory, in whose glorious image and likeness he was made.
Now, are Protestants wrong when they say Jesus wore simple clothes? No. Philippians 2 tells us He humbled Himself. He came not in glory but in lowliness, to be our substitute, to be like us. But the priest didn’t wear those garments to reflect himself—they were set apart only for priestly service. That’s the key. The garments were holy, used only in God’s service, and they reflected His majesty.
The same principle applies today. Pastors wear vestments not to draw attention to themselves, but to point to Christ. In the historic Church, and especially in the Lutheran tradition, the pastor wears an alb (the white robe) to symbolize Christ’s righteousness covering the man, and a stole to signify the yoke of Christ—His calling to serve. On Sundays and feast days, the celebrant wears a chasuble—that poncho-like garment my members see me wear at our church during the Lord’s Supper. It’s set apart for that sacred service, just as the priestly garments were set apart for their purpose. My members may also have noticed that I don’t wear it on Wednesday evenings during Lent. That’s because those are daily office services—Matins, Vespers or Evening Prayer are services where the Sacrament is not offered.
Even outside the service, when visiting shut-ins or the hospital, I wear my clerical clothing: black shirt, white collar. The black is a reminder of death—the wages of sin. The white collar symbolizes that the only righteousness I have to speak of is not my own, but Christ’s. Like Johnny Cash once said when someone told him he looked like he was going to a funeral: “Who says I’m not?” That’s the idea. In this dying world, I wear a uniform that points to Christ crucified and risen.
Everything about the Divine Service, and the clothing of the one who officiates it, is meant to say something about Jesus—specifically Jesus in His exaltation. That’s why we often conclude our prayers “through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns”. So we’re not pointing merely to the Jesus who willfully entered into a state of humiliation before the cross, but to the same Jesus who is the risen and glorified Lord who now reigns over all as the Exalted King.
That’s the Jesus who serves you in Word and Sacrament.
So, in the Divine Service, which has a real connection to the Divine Service in the Tabernacle and in the Temple, it’s fitting that the pastor reflects, not Christ’s humiliation, but His glory. Not because the pastor is glorious, but because Christ is and He has chosen this man to reflect His glory. Certainly some pastors have misused their position, and some have glorified themselves rather than Christ. If I’ve ever done that, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. But just as the Lord still dressed Aaron and his sons in garments for glory and beauty—even knowing their weaknesses—so also today, He clothes His ministers to communicate something greater than the man: the Lord proclaims Himself, that we who are otherwise unworthy of His glory and His beauty, are being reincorporated back into it when we believe that we are received into favor and that our sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake.
Let us pray. Almighty God, by Your great goodness mercifully look upon Your people that we may be governed and preserved evermore in body and soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Thanks for joining me to Purify the Heart! In Exodus 29, the Lord gives instructions on the consecration of the priests. Until then, grace be with you. Amen.
