What does it say?
Aaron and his sons: Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ilthamar were elected by the Lord as priest on behalf of the people before the Lord; the Lord also raised up skillful people to make garments for the priests. The outer piece of the priestly garment was a long vest called an ephod which had a stone on each should with the names of the sons of Israel engraved on the stones. The breast piece of judgment was finely knitted and decorated (four rows of precious stones representing the twelve tribes) pouch that contained the Urim and the Thummim (lights and perfections) before the Lord. The cloth of the ephod was blue and the him was decorated with bells and pomegranates so that the priest jingled when he walked before the Lord. Aaron wore a turban with a plate of pure gold with the engraving (Holy to the Lord) fastened to the turban with a blue cord. The turban of the high priest was more ornate than that of the other priests. The priest also wore linen breeches (boxer shorts) which would cover the priest genitals.
What does it mean?
Of all the people on the earth, the Lord chose Israel and his sons to be his people and he chose Aaron and his sons to be his priests. It is not man who choses God but God who choses man. The Lord is holy; therefore, the priest are distinguished from the people by the garments that they wore. By having the names of the sons of Israel worn on the shoulders of the priest it would have been a continual reminder that they are representing the sons of Israel before the Lord. The twelve precious stones on the breast piece would have been a reminder that the sons of Israel are precious to the Lord. Only one priest (the high priest) wore the gold plate that said “Holy to the Lord.” This indicated him as the high priest. The priest’s nakedness was to be covered when ministering before the Lord. I suspect that this has something to do with Adam and Eve’s nakedness and coverings in the garden after they had eaten the forbidden fruit. (Gn 3:7)
What shall I do?
There are no longer successive priests who minister before the Lord on behalf of the people. Just like Aaron and the sons of Aaron were chosen to be high priests, Jesus Christ was chosen by God to be our high priest forever. Our high priest is different than Aaron because he is high priest perpetually. Jesus did not glorify himself to be a high priest but the Father chose him to be our priest forever. (Heb 5:5-6) The purpose of the priest was to offer up sacrafices to the Lord on behalf of the people. He had to enter holy of holies once a year to atone for the sins of the people because the sacrifices that Aaron made were not eternal. Jesus offered up his body once for all obtaining eternal redemption for all who believe in him. (Heb 9:11-14) Therefore, I shall come to the Lord our God through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
