We are in chapter twenty-eight of Exodus with our word for today which is a phrase used for the first time in the Bible. בִגְדֵי־קֹ֖דֶשׁ holy garments. It is used 11 times in the Old Testament, twice in our chapter. Let’s start with our chapter since it is also the first time it is used in the Bible. Exodus 28:1-5 Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests ... And you shall make בִגְדֵי־קֹ֖דֶשׁ holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 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. 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 בִגְדֵי־קֹ֜דֶשׁ holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. Did you notice how these clothes were not ordinary cloths but made with care and skill out of valuable material? They were to be both for glory and beauty because they were for the service of God and the work of connecting the people to himself. This emphasis on the specialness or holiness not common continues with our next use. Exodus 29:29 וּבִגְדֵ֤י הַקֹּ֙דֶשׁ֙ The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. The rest of the chapter goes on to give details of both the priest’s anointing and ordination. Both of these were ceremonies of setting one apart for God’s work and to accomplish his purposes. And in both of these ceremonies our phrase is used as to what they are to wear. We also see our phrase used to describe what the high priest was to wear when entering the holy place to make the sin offering on the day of atonement. Leviticus 16:3-5, 32-34 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the בִּגְדֵי־קֹ֣דֶשׁ holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering … And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father's place shall make atonement, wearing בִּגְדֵ֥י הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses.
This reminds us of how God uses this idea of clothing to symbolize holiness and purity. Both ideas of our salvation and transformation use clean or special clothes as a comparison to teach us about Christ work in us. I’ll close with these great passages. Galatians 3:25-27 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness. Colossians 3:8-10 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
