28:1-26
We now come to the priestly garments. Initially Aaron and his four sons were to serve as priests, though two of these sons would die for offering unauthorised fire (Nadab and Abihu, Lev 10:1,2). The garments are of high quality and they were “for glory and for beauty” (Ex 28:2). There are a number of details of the garments that we are highly unsure about. In Ex 28:3 we read that God has filled certain people with a “spirit of skill”. The distinction we tend to draw between “natural” and “spiritual” gifts is nowhere near as clear cut as we sometimes imagine. What we might think of as natural gifts can be spiritual gifts.
Perhaps the most important element of all this is that the priest was representing the whole nation of Israel (Ex 28:9,10,21). Christ has entered the true holy of holies on our behalf and He does so on our behalf. Christ is always in the presence of the Father, and He stands there reminding the Father of us.
What exactly the Urim and Thummim were remains something of a mystery, but they were used in decision making. It seems that they somehow were a matter of throwing lots. Throwing lots for decision making does occur in the Old Testament (e.g. Prov 18:18) and even once in the New (Acts 1:26), though there is no record of it occurring again after that. We should also note that the throwing of lots was not thought to be a chance process, rather the outcome was in the hands of God (Prov 16:33).
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