Blessings to Israel Ministries

In the modern church much of the symbolism in the Old Testament is often misunderstood or simply ignored. However, God's choices had meaning and the High Priest's garments were no different. Aaron, the older brother of Moses was named by God as the first High Priest of the nation of Israel and his attire spoke as loud as his words.

The outer most garment is called the Ephod (similar to an apron) and it represented the priesthood. It was made of interwoven linen with threads of solid gold (Exodus 28:6). The blue represents the heavenly origin of God, the purple represents the Lord's royalty, and the scarlet represents the blood shed for God's people.

Below the ephod was a blue robe that is described in Exodus 28:31-35. Attached to the bottom of the robe were small pomegranates made out of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, alongside gold bells. Aaron and all later High Priests had to wear this when entering the Holy Place before God and when leaving or he would die. The pomegranates were present to show the fruitfulness of the priesthood. Beneath the blue robe was a spotless white tunic representing the purity of God.

Around the waist was the girdle or belt which represented the righteousness and sanctification of God.

The breastplate of Judgment was attached by gold chains to the outside of the Ephod and the Curious Girdle. The breastplate had twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel which represented God's people on the Lord's heart (Exodus 28:15-29). Inside the breastplate of judgment was the Urim and the Thummim (Exodus 28:30). The Urim represents light and excellence while the Thummim represents perfection and completion. It is believed God would use these two stones to answer "Yes" or "No" to the prayers of Israel. There are various opinions as to how the Lord actually used the stones but regardless of the visual use it's obvious that God wanted to give direction to His people.

On the High Priest's head there was the mitre and on it was a plate of pure gold with the words engraved "Holy to the Lord." Aaron had to wear the mitre to bear the iniquity committed in the Holy things so that the atonement for the sins of Israel could be accepted (Exodus 28:36-39). The High Priest was viewed as Holy and only he could make an offering to atone for the sins of the Israelites.

It is not chance that in Hebrews it refers to Jesus as our High Priest. We no longer have to go through a man to reach God but only Jesus Christ could be our royal Priest, bear our iniquity and judgement, remain Holy to God, and atone for the sins of the world.

Our High Priest