and two chains of pure gold, made of braided cord work; and attach these chains to the settings. two chains of pure goldThe use of "pure gold" in the construction of the priestly garments signifies the utmost value and purity required for those who serve in the presence of God. Gold, in biblical times, was a symbol of wealth, divinity, and kingship. The Hebrew word for gold, "zahav," often denotes something precious and enduring. The "two chains" suggest a connection, possibly symbolizing the link between God and His people, or the unity between the priestly role and divine service. Historically, gold was a common material in ancient Near Eastern cultures for items of religious significance, underscoring the importance of the priestly office. made of braided cord work
The phrase "braided cord work" indicates a level of craftsmanship and intricacy. The Hebrew word "sharashot" implies something that is interwoven or intertwined, suggesting strength and beauty. This craftsmanship reflects the care and precision required in the service of God, as well as the complexity and interconnection of the divine laws and commandments. The braiding could also symbolize the intertwining of the divine and human elements in the priestly ministry, where the priest acts as a mediator between God and the people. attach these chains to the settings
The instruction to "attach these chains to the settings" highlights the importance of order and structure in the worship of God. The Hebrew word for "settings," "mishbetsot," refers to the sockets or bases that hold the stones on the priestly garments. This attachment signifies stability and security, ensuring that the elements of the priestly attire are firmly in place. It reflects the idea that the priesthood is not a haphazard or casual role but one that is firmly established and ordained by God. The settings provide a foundation, much like the foundational truths of faith that support and uphold the believer's life. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe leader of the Israelites, who received the instructions for the priestly garments from God on Mount Sinai. 2. AaronMoses' brother, who was appointed as the first high priest of Israel. The instructions for the priestly garments, including the chains, were specifically for him and his descendants. 3. Mount SinaiThe place where God gave Moses the Law, including the detailed instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle and the priestly garments. 4. TabernacleThe portable sanctuary where the Israelites worshiped God during their journey through the wilderness. The priestly garments were part of the worship practices associated with the Tabernacle. 5. Priestly GarmentsSpecial clothing designed for Aaron and his sons to wear while serving in the Tabernacle, symbolizing their consecration and service to God. Teaching Points Symbolism of Purity and HolinessThe use of pure gold in the chains symbolizes the purity and holiness required of those who serve God. As believers, we are called to live lives of holiness and purity. Obedience to God's InstructionsThe detailed instructions for the priestly garments remind us of the importance of obedience to God's Word. We are to follow His commands with precision and reverence. The Role of MediatorsThe high priest served as a mediator between God and the people. This points us to Jesus, our ultimate Mediator, who intercedes on our behalf before the Father. The Beauty of WorshipThe intricate design of the priestly garments reflects the beauty and order of worship that God desires. Our worship should be intentional and reflect the glory of God. Continuity of God's PlanThe priestly garments and their components, like the chains, are part of God's unfolding plan of redemption, culminating in Christ. We are part of this ongoing account of salvation. Bible Study Questions 1. What does the use of pure gold in the priestly garments teach us about the nature of God and His expectations for those who serve Him? 2. How can we apply the principle of obedience seen in the making of the priestly garments to our daily walk with God? 3. In what ways does the role of the high priest in the Old Testament foreshadow the work of Jesus as our High Priest? 4. How can the beauty and order of the priestly garments inspire us to approach our worship of God today? 5. What are some practical ways we can live out the holiness and purity symbolized by the gold chains in our own lives? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 39This chapter describes the actual making of the priestly garments, including the chains of pure gold, showing the fulfillment of God's instructions. Leviticus 8Details the consecration of Aaron and his sons, where they wore the garments described in Exodus 28, highlighting the importance of obedience to God's commands. Hebrews 4:14-16Connects the role of the high priest in the Old Testament to Jesus as our great High Priest, emphasizing the continuity and fulfillment of the priestly role in Christ. People Aaron, Abihu, Eleazar, Israelites, Ithamar, Moses, Nadab, ShohamPlaces Mount SinaiTopics Attach, Bands, Best, Braided, Chains, Cordage, Corded, Cords, Embroidered, Enclosures, Ends, Fasten, Filigree, Fixed, Frames, Gold, Hast, Laced, Ouches, Plaited, Pure, Rope, Settings, Thick, Thread, Twisted, Wreathed, WreathenDictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 28:1-43 1065 God, holiness of Exodus 28:9-21 4342 jewels Exodus 28:11-15 4333 gold Exodus 28:13-14 5251 chains 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 ScriptureThe 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 Links Exodus 28:14 NIVExodus 28:14 NLTExodus 28:14 ESVExodus 28:14 NASBExodus 28:14 KJV
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