Holy to Yahweh
31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 It shall have a hole for the head in the middle of it. It shall have a binding of woven work around its hole, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn. 33 On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem; with bells of gold between and around them: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35 It shall be on Aaron to minister: and its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Yahweh, and when he comes out, that he not die. 36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’ 37 You shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be on the sash. It shall be on the front of the sash. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh. 39 You shall weave the tunic with fine linen. You shall make a turban of fine linen. You shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer. 40 “You shall make tunics for Aaron’s sons. You shall make sashes for them. You shall make headbands for them, for glory and for beauty. 41 You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. 42 You shall make them linen pants to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the waist even to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons, when they go in to the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, that they don’t bear iniquity, and die. This shall be a statute forever to him and to his offspring after him.
Bells announce the priest's movements so he does not die, and a gold plate on his forehead makes the nation's gifts acceptable.
“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
A single-color robe under the ephod, with a reinforced opening for the head that it not be torn Exodus 28:32. The instruction is practical, and it acquires a second life at a trial where a high priest tears his own robe in the presence of the man he is condemning Mark 14:63.
On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem; with bells of gold between and around them:
Fruit and bells alternating around the bottom edge — one of the few purely ornamental elements in the sanctuary, and it is not ornamental. Its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Yahweh, and when he comes out, that he not die Exodus 28:35.
The bells are audible outside. A nation standing in the court could hear the priest moving in a room they could not see into, and the sound meant he was alive. The clause that he not die is attached without softening: the man representing them was working somewhere lethal, and the sound of movement was the only evidence anyone outside had that the representation was still going on.
“You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’
Worn on the forehead, tied over the turban, the only inscription in the sanctuary meant to be read by other people. And the reason given for it is the most searching sentence in the chapter.
It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh.
The iniquity of the holy things. Not of their crimes — of their offerings. The assumption is that even what Israel brings as worship is defective, and requires covering before it can be received. There is nothing a person can present, however sincerely, that arrives clean; and the remedy is a holiness worn by someone else on their behalf, always in place, so that the gifts are accepted on his forehead rather than on their merit.
You shall make them linen pants to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the waist even to the thighs.
The chapter of glory and beauty ends with underwear, and with the same warning as the bells: that they don't bear iniquity, and die Exodus 28:43. The exposure forbidden on the altar steps Exodus 20:26 is forbidden again here, at the level of a garment nobody would see. Approach to God is regulated to the last detail, and the details do not become optional because they are hidden.
settled What this mark means