The Government on His Shoulders Text: Exodus 28:6-14
Introduction: God Cares About Fabric
We live in an age that prides itself on its casual approach to everything, especially worship. We are told that what is in the heart is all that matters, and that external forms are, at best, a distraction and, at worst, a form of dead legalism. Our worship services are often indistinguishable from a TED talk or a rock concert. We have stripped our sanctuaries, simplified our liturgies, and dressed down our ministers, all in the name of a disembodied, abstract "sincerity."
And then we come to a chapter like Exodus 28, and the entire edifice of our modern, casual Christianity begins to tremble. Here, God, the sovereign creator of the universe, dedicates an enormous amount of inspired Scripture to describing, in painstaking detail, the clothing that His high priest is to wear. He specifies the materials: gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. He outlines the design, the structure, and the function of each piece. This is not a footnote; it is a revelation. God cares about fabric. God cares about colors. God cares about craftsmanship. And He cares about them because they are not mere decorations; they are declarations. They are sermons in thread and stone.
The modern evangelical mind, when it doesn't skip over these passages entirely, tends to treat them as a kind of quaint, Old Testament peculiarity, something we have thankfully "graduated" from. But this is a profound mistake. These garments were not arbitrary. They were, as the text says, for "glory and for beauty," and they were shadows pointing to the substance, which is Christ. To ignore the shadow is to misunderstand the substance. To be bored by these details is to be bored by the glories of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ. Every thread, every color, every engraved stone is a word from God, preaching the gospel to us. If we have ears to hear, we will find that this ancient priestly wardrobe has everything to do with our salvation, our security, and the nature of the one who represents us before the throne of God.
In this passage, we will focus on the ephod, and particularly the shoulder pieces. Here we will see how God designed this garment to teach His people about representation, intercession, and the strength of the one who carries them before the Father. This is not about fashion; it is about the very structure of our redemption.
The Text
"They shall also make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of the skillful designer. It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, that it may be joined. The skillfully woven band, which is on it, shall be like its workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the second stone, according to their birth. As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them all around in filigree settings of gold. You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for remembrance. You shall make filigree settings of gold, and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them a twisted work of cords, and you shall put the chains of cords on the filigree settings."
(Exodus 28:6-14 LSB)
The Fabric of the Gospel (vv. 6-8)
We begin with the materials and basic structure of the ephod.
"They shall also make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of the skillful designer. It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, that it may be joined. The skillfully woven band, which is on it, shall be like its workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen." (Exodus 28:6-8)
The ephod was a sleeveless, apron-like garment, worn over the blue robe of the priest. It was the foundational garment upon which the breastpiece would be attached. But notice the materials. These are not just any materials; they are the colors of the tabernacle itself. They are the colors of heaven and earth meeting. Gold speaks of divinity, glory, and purity. Blue speaks of the heavens, of transcendence. Purple is the color of royalty, a mixture of blue (heaven) and scarlet (earth). Scarlet, the color of blood, points to sacrifice and the life of man. And the fine twisted linen speaks of righteousness and a pure, unblemished humanity.
What are we seeing here? We are seeing the gospel woven into a garment. This is a portrait of the one who would come, Jesus Christ. He is divine (gold), He is from heaven (blue), He is the King of Kings (purple), who would shed His blood for His people (scarlet), all in a perfect, righteous human nature (fine linen). The ephod is a wearable Christology. Aaron, a sinful man, had to be clothed in this symbolic righteousness to even approach God. He had to wear the gospel.
This repudiates our modern, gnostic tendencies to separate the spiritual from the material. God communicates His truth through created things. Beauty is not a distraction from theology; it is a vehicle for it. The "skillful designer" is filled with the Spirit of God to do this work, because this work is a proclamation of the truth. The band, skillfully woven, holds it all together, just as the integrity and faithfulness of Christ holds His work together. This is a picture of a cohesive, beautiful, and glorious Savior.
Engraved and Remembered (vv. 9-12)
Now we come to the centerpiece of this section: the stones on the shoulders.
"You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the second stone, according to their birth. As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them all around in filigree settings of gold. You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for remembrance." (Exodus 28:9-12)
This is profoundly significant. The High Priest does not go into God's presence alone. He goes in as a representative, and he literally carries the people of God with him. The twelve tribes, the entire covenant community, are placed upon his shoulders. The shoulders are the place of strength, of bearing burdens, of government. Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah, "For unto us a child is born... And the government shall be upon his shoulder" (Isaiah 9:6). Here, Aaron, as a type of Christ, bears the government, the responsibility, the very identity of the people on his shoulders.
Notice the details. The names are engraved, like a signet. This is not written in ink that can be smudged or erased. It is permanently cut into the stone. This speaks of the eternal security of God's people. Those whom Christ represents, He represents permanently. Their names are engraved on Him. He cannot forget them, and He cannot lose them. They are set in filigree of gold, surrounded by His divine nature.
And what is the purpose? It is for "remembrance." This is a crucial covenantal term. It does not mean that God is forgetful and needs a visual aid. It means that God is being officially reminded of His covenant promises to these people. Aaron, bearing these names, stands before Yahweh, and the presence of these names is a perpetual appeal to God's own covenant faithfulness. It is as though the priest is saying, "Remember Reuben, remember Simeon, remember Judah. Remember the promises you made to them."
And this is exactly what our great High Priest, Jesus, does for us. He bears us on His shoulders of omnipotent strength. He carries our burdens. And He presents us before the Father, not on the basis of our own wavering faithfulness, but on the basis of His own finished work and God's unbreakable covenant promises. When the Father looks at the Son, He sees us, engraved upon Him. Our salvation rests not on the strength of our grip on Him, but on the strength of His grip on us. He bears our names on His shoulders for a perpetual remembrance.
Secured by Gold (vv. 13-14)
Finally, the passage describes how these stones are to be secured.
"You shall make filigree settings of gold, and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them a twisted work of cords, and you shall put the chains of cords on the filigree settings." (Exodus 28:13-14)
Again, the details matter. The settings for these stones, which bear the names of the people, are made of gold. Our security is grounded in the divine nature of our Priest. The chains are also of pure gold, twisted like cords. This speaks of a strength that is both divine (gold) and complex (twisted cords). Our connection to Christ, our representative, is not a single, fragile thread. It is a strong, multifaceted, divine work. He holds us fast.
This is a picture of glorious security. The people of God are engraved on stone, set in gold, and fastened with golden chains to the shoulders of their powerful representative. This is the opposite of the flimsy, man-centered gospels so common today, where our position with God is always in doubt, dependent on our feelings or our latest performance. The biblical picture is one of robust, objective, covenantal security in the person and work of our High Priest.
Conclusion: The Weight of Glory
So what does this ancient piece of clothing have to do with us? Everything. Aaron was a shadow, a placeholder. He was a sinner who had to offer sacrifices for himself. He would eventually grow old and die. His shoulders were weak. But he pointed to the one whose shoulders are not weak. He pointed to Jesus Christ, the true and better High Priest.
When Jesus carried the cross, He was carrying the weight of our sin on His shoulders. But in His resurrection and ascension, He now carries the weight of our names on His shoulders in glory. He bears us, His people, into the very throne room of heaven. He represents us there with unconquerable strength. The devil can bring accusations against us, our own hearts can condemn us, but our names are engraved on the shoulders of our Priest. He is our remembrance before the Father.
This is why we must reject the drab, formless, and casual religion of our day. It is an insult to the "glory and beauty" of our Savior. The God who designed these garments is the same God who has clothed us in the righteousness of His own Son. He has taken our filthy rags and given us a robe of righteousness, a garment of salvation. Our worship, our lives, and our churches ought to reflect the glorious weight of that reality. We are a people engraved in stone, secured by gold, and borne up on the shoulders of the Son of God. Let us therefore live and worship accordingly, with reverence, with joy, and with unshakeable confidence in our great High Priest.