Search Tools
New Defender's Study Bible Notes
28:2 holy garments. The high priest, Aaron, was to be God’s representative, as it were, to the people, as well as the people’s representative to God. It was fitting, therefore that his garments be “for glory and for beauty.”
28:3 spirit of wisdom. Joshua, like these craftsmen making the beautiful garments of the high priest, was “full of the spirit of wisdom” (Deuteronomy 34:9). Two very different types of occupation are detailed, yet both were carried out “heartily, as unto the Lord” (Colossians 3:23) in the wisdom of the Spirit of God.
28:6 make the ephod. The “ephod” was a two-piece sleeveless coat; the “curious girdle” (Exodus 28:8) was a woven sash holding the ephod to the body; the golden “ouches” (Exodus 28:11) were filigree settings for the onyx stones; the “habergeon” (Exodus 28:32) was a coat of mail; the “mitre” (Exodus 28:37) was a sort of turban. Linen “breeches” (Exodus 28:42) constituted the undergarment, and a seamless blue linen robe (Exodus 28:31) was just under the ephod and its beautiful breastplate of jewels.
28:8 curious girdle. This special girdle was an “intricately-made sash” to be worn around the waist.
28:16 a span. This was understood as the typical span of a hand’s breadth, between the extended thumb and little finger.
28:30 Urim and the Thummim. The mysterious Urim and Thummim, set in the twelve-jeweled breastplate of the high priest (Leviticus 8:8), evidently had something to do with recognizing God’s will for the twelve tribes in their wanderings and conflicts (Note Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33:8; I Samuel 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65). Exactly what they were and how they functioned has been the object of much speculation; if their meaning was something like “lights and perfections,” as most scholars believe, they must have been in some way a medium of special divine guidance during this strategic period in God’s plan for His people Israel.