The Exodus. Day 106, Other Priestly Garments And Their Significance, Part Two

We conclude Chapter 28 today by finishing our study of the priestly garments the Lord told Moses and the Israelites to create.

Yesterday we studied Aaron's blue robe and the golden headband that said "Holy To The Lord" which was to be affixed to the front of his turban. Today we'll look at the tunics he and his sons are to wear, the sashes for their robes, and the priestly undergarments.

"Weave the tunic of fine linen and make the turban of fine linen. The sash is to be the work of an embroiderer. Make tunics, sashes and caps for Aaron's sons to give them dignity and honor." (Exodus 28:39-40) Below I'm inserting an illustration which shows the garments of the regular priests versus the garments of the high priest.

Aaron's sons wore a simple linen tunic with an embroidered sash around their waists and a white linen cap on their heads. Aaron would have also worn a simple linen tunic but he would have donned the other garments of the high priest overtop of the tunic. The Bible never makes any mention of foot coverings, so you'll almost always see the priests pictured as being barefoot. Some scholars think the priests wore sandals while serving at the tabernacle but I tend to side with the scholars who believe the priests did not wear shoes while they ministered on this holy ground. (In Exodus 3:5, at the burning bush, the Lord commanded Moses to take his sandals off when approaching, for the presence of the Lord was so strong there that He said, "The place where you are standing is holy ground.") If the ground near the burning bush was too holy for shoes, the ground the tabernacle sat on---where the Lord's glory will appear---was even holier.

It's hard to imagine the Lord would have gone into such great detail about every aspect of the priests' wardrobes without mentioning the type of foot coverings they were to wear. This leads me to think they didn't wear shoes. Further clues that they didn't wear shoes can be found in Exodus 30 and Exodus 40. In those passages we'll see that the priests were required to wash their hands and feet before beginning their daily duties at the tabernacle. A bronze basin was placed between "the tent of meeting and the altar" (Exodus 30:18, Exodus 40:30-31) and the men had to wash their hands and feet in this basin whenever they entered the tabernacle and again before presenting any type of sacrifice or offering to the Lord. It's my opinion that they removed their sandals outside the tabernacle enclosure and then undertook the ceremonial hand and foot washing at the bronze basin once they got inside. It seems unlikely they'd put their dusty sandals back on over clean feet, so I think they didn't slip their sandals back on until they were leaving the tabernacle enclosure.

"After you put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint and ordain them. Consecrate them so they may serve Me as priests." (Exodus 28:41) Our next chapter will go over their ordination ceremony in detail.

"Make linen undergarments as a covering for the body, reaching from the waist to the thigh. Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants." (Exodus 28:42-43) Not even a glimpse of anything improper is ever to be spotted at God's house. Earlier in Exodus He gave the instruction that the altar of the tabernacle must not be on a raised dais so there would not be a flight of steps to climb in order to reach it. A steep flight of steps would have caused the priests to run the risk of exposing too much flesh. "And do not go up to My altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed." (Exodus 20:26) The idolatrous cultures of Old Testament times typically placed their altars on high places, requiring the priests and priestesses to climb steep steps while holding the skirts of their robes high to avoid tripping over them and falling down the stairs. This meant that the worshipers gathered near the altar saw the legs and a whole lot more of these priests and priestesses. On top of that, some of the religious rituals of these pagan cultures involved fertility rites that included purposeful nudity and public sexual acts. Such a thing must never even be hinted at in the Lord's house. No one's mind should be on the lustful things of the flesh while they are gathered for worship. No one should behave in the Lord's house the way the heathen tribes of Canaan behaved at their pagan altars.

The Lord is honored by modesty. It is disrespectful to the Lord and to one's own self to "let it all hang out" by wearing immodest clothing that leaves little to the imagination. The tabernacle altar has no steps for the priests to climb, but this ground is to be considered so holy and the priests are to have so much reverence for the Lord that not even the dust of the earth is to be exposed to any of the private parts of their bodies. They will wear long underwear that comes almost to their knees so their modesty, and the dignity of the Lord's house, is preserved at all times.

When we go to the Lord's house are we there to be seen or are we there to worship the Lord? Is it about us or is it about Him? Why would we bother going if we aren't going to focus all our attention on Him? Why would we want to draw the attention of others away from Him and onto ourselves? It matters what we wear in the Lord's house. If it didn't He wouldn't have spent so much time talking about what can and cannot be worn in the tabernacle. We don't have to wear expensive clothes or fancy clothes but we owe it to Him to wear modest clothes. We owe it to ourselves too, for we are the sons and daughters of the living God. We are the children of the King of kings and Lord of lords; our bodies should be clothed in a way that reflects the honor and dignity of our position as the cherished offspring of a holy God.