EXODUS LESSON 63

    We will begin this lesson in Exodus 39:1 "And of the blue, and
purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the
holy [place], and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD
commanded Moses."

    This and the rest of Chapter 39 is in detail about the priest's
garments.  We dealt with this in chapter 28 of Exodus, and so, we will
not go into very much detail here.

    Exodus 39:2 "And he made the ephod [of] gold, blue, and purple,
and scarlet, and fine twined linen." Exodus 39:3 "And they did beat
the gold into thin plates, and cut [it into] wires, to work [it] in
the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine
linen, [with] cunning work."

    We will just touch again on a few small points of interest.  The
gold was hammered, and cut very fine like thread, and woven into this
beautiful dyed linen. The gold would give it brilliance. This ephod
was like a great big vest that the high priest wore.  This was a very
colorful, strikingly beautiful garment.

    Exodus 39:4 "They made shoulderpieces for it, to couple [it]
together: by the two edges was it coupled together."  Exodus 39:5 "And
the curious girdle of his ephod, that [was] upon it, [was] of the
same, according to the work thereof; [of] gold, blue, and purple, and
scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the LORD commanded Moses."

    We spoke of this curious girdle before as being a side self-belt
that kind of molded the garment into the high priest, as if to make
the garment and high priest one.

    Exodus 39:6  "And they wrought onyx stones enclosed in ouches of
gold, graven, as signets are graven, with the names of the children of
Israel." Exodus 39:7 "And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod,
[that they should be] stones for a memorial to the children of Israel;
as the LORD commanded Moses."

    We see, here, two pieces of gold with onyx stones mounted in them.
One was worn on each shoulder of the high priest.  The names of 6
tribes of Israel were engraved in each of the two onyx stones;
thus the high priest had all the 12 tribes of Israel on his shoulders.

    Exodus 39:8  "And he made the breastplate [of] cunning work, like
the work of the ephod; [of] gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and
fine twined linen."  Exodus 39:9 "It was foursquare; they made the
breastplate double: a span [was] the length thereof, and a span the
breadth thereof, [being] doubled." Exodus 39:10 "And they set in it
four rows of stones: [the first] row [was] a sardius, a topaz, and a
carbuncle: this [was] the first row."  Exodus 39:11 "And the second
row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond." Exodus 39:12 "And the
third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst." Exodus 39:13 "And the
fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: [they were] enclosed in
ouches of gold in their enclosings."

    This breastplate was 3 palms wide (span) and 3 palms long. It was
doubled making a pocket in the middle. On the front, there were 12
pieces of gold attached to the vest in 4 rows of 3 each. Set in the
gold were 12 precious stones, 1 for each tribe of Israel. Not only did
the high priest have the people on his shoulders, but on his heart as
well, as we see in verse 14.

    Exodus 39:14 "And the stones [were] according to the names of the
children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, [like] the
engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the
twelve tribes." Exodus 39:15 "And they made upon the breastplate
chains at the ends, [of] wreathen work [of] pure gold." Exodus 39:16
"And they made two ouches [of] gold, and two gold rings; and put the
two rings in the two ends of the breastplate."  Exodus 39:17 "And they
put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of
the breastplate." Exodus 39:18 "And the two ends of the two wreathen
chains they fastened in the two ouches, and put them on the
shoulderpieces of the ephod, before it." Exodus 39:19 "And they made
two rings of gold, and put [them] on the two ends of the breastplate,
upon the border of it, which [was] on the side of the ephod inward."
Exodus 39:20 "And they made two [other] golden rings, and put them on
the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart of it, over
against the [other] coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the
ephod."  Exodus 39:21 "And they did bind the breastplate by his rings
unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be
above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might
not be loosed from the ephod; as the LORD commanded Moses."

    This was just telling how this breastplate was connected to the
ephod by these chains.  The chains being attached to hooks behind the
breastplate kept the hooks from distracting from the beauty.

    Exodus 39:22  "And he made the robe of the ephod [of] woven work,
all [of] blue."  Exodus 39:23 "And [there was] an hole in the midst of
the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, [with] a band round about the
hole, that it should not rend."  Exodus 39:24 "And they made upon the
hems of the robe pomegranates [of] blue, and purple, and scarlet,
[and] twined [linen]." Exodus 39:25 "And they made bells [of] pure
gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the
robe, round about between the pomegranates;" Exodus 39:26 "A bell and
a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the
robe to minister [in]; as the LORD commanded Moses."

    We see, here, a beautiful robe for the high priest to minister in.
At the bottom, there were alternated pomegranates and gold bells.  The
rest of it was just explaining how it was made.

    Exodus 39:27  "And they made coats [of] fine linen [of] woven work
for Aaron, and for his sons," Exodus 39:28 "And a mitre [of] fine
linen, and goodly bonnets [of] fine linen, and linen breeches [of]
fine twined linen," Exodus 39:29 "And a girdle [of] fine twined linen,
and blue, and purple, and scarlet, [of] needlework; as the LORD
commanded Moses."

    We see, here, more garments, these made for the high priest and the
priests. Notice that even the priest had linen.  Linen, remember, is
symbolic of righteousness. The priests symbolize the Christians. We
know by this that we must put on the righteousness of Christ. These
breeches were for modesty.  We have covered all of this in an earlier
lesson.

    Exodus 39:30  "And they made the plate of the holy crown [of] pure
gold, and wrote upon it a writing, [like to] the engravings of a
signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD."  Exodus 39:31 "And they tied unto it a
lace of blue, to fasten [it] on high upon the mitre; as the LORD
commanded Moses."

    This is describing the beautiful headpiece of the high priest who
proclaimed with this headpiece HOLINESS TO THE LORD.  By it being on
his forehead, it showed that it was on his mind continuously.

    Exodus 39:32  "Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent
of the congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according
to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they."

    This was a very strong statement.  Not only did it make the
statement that all of the work was done, but it said that it was done
exactly as the plans were given to Moses by the Lord.  No changes were
made at all.

    Exodus 39:33  "And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the
tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his
pillars, and his sockets," Exodus 39:34 "And the covering of rams'
skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers' skins, and the veil of
the covering," Exodus 39:35 "The ark of the testimony, and the staves
thereof, and the mercy seat," Exodus 39:36 "The table, [and] all the
vessels thereof, and the shewbread," Exodus 39:37 "The pure
candlestick, [with] the lamps thereof, [even with] the lamps to be set
in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light," Exodus
39:38 "And the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet
incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door," Exodus 39:39 "The
brasen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels,
the laver and his foot," Exodus 39:40 "The hangings of the court, his
pillars, and his sockets, and the hanging for the court gate, his
cords, and his pins, and all the vessels of the service of the
tabernacle, for the tent of the congregation," Exodus 39:41 "The
cloths of service to do service in the holy [place], and the holy
garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons' garments, to minister in
the priest's office." Exodus 39:42 "According to all that the LORD
commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work."

    We see here, again, a list of each item that was made.  Moses had
 received the plans from God.  God had called Bezaleel and Aholiab to
 do the actual oversight of the work, and now that this was finished,
 it had to be brought to Moses to examine each item to make sure that
 each detail had been carried out to the fullest.

    Exodus 39:43 "And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold,
they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it:
and Moses blessed them."

    All of this work pleased Moses, because he saw that Aholiab and
Bezaleel had done their job well. Now, Moses spoke a blessing on all
the workers. This blessing was actually a blessing from God, but Moses
was God's agent and the blessing spoken by Moses came from God. This
blessing was for this world, but Moses, these workers, Bezaleel, and
Aholiab would have great reward in heaven, as well.












































                          Exodus 63 Questions


1.  What was the ephod made of?
2.  What type of thread was it sewn with?
3.  What was the ephod like?
4.  How was it coupled together?
5.  What was the curious girdle?
6.  What were the onyx stones mounted in?
7.  What was graven upon them?
8.  Where were they worn?
9.  What was the symbolic meaning of these two shoulder onyxes?
10. What was the breastplate made of?
11. How many stones were on the front of it?
12. What did they symbolize?
13. What was the shape of the breastplate?
14. What did this breastplate full of stones symbolize?
15. How was it attached to the garment?
16. What was around the hem of the robe?
17. What were Aaron's sons' coats made of?
18. What was the mitre?
19. What do the priests symbolize?
20. What was written upon the plate on the crown?
21. What did they do with all the items when they finished them?
22. How did Moses judge the work?
23. Where had the plans originally come from?
24. Who were the two overseers of the work?
25. What did Moses do for the workers?