The Sign on the Forehead Text: Exodus 28:36-38
Introduction: The Battle for the Forehead
In our modern democratic age, we like to think of ourselves as unmarked, unbranded individuals. We are autonomous, self-defining, and beholden to no one. We are, in short, our own. But the Scriptures teach us that this is a profound illusion. There is no such thing as an unmarked man. Every human being bears a mark on his forehead, which is to say, his identity is publicly declared by his ultimate allegiance. The only question is whose mark you bear. Will it be the mark of the Beast, a sign of your allegiance to the dragon and his crumbling secular order? Or will it be the seal of the living God?
The book of Revelation tells us that the servants of the Beast receive his mark on their right hand or on their foreheads (Rev. 13:16). This is the public sign of their economic and spiritual loyalty to a system that despises Christ. But long before John saw that vision on Patmos, God had already claimed this territory. He had already established the principle that the forehead, the very seat of a man's identity and thought, was to be consecrated to Him. The battle for the soul is a battle for the forehead.
Here in Exodus 28, as God is giving the intricate instructions for the priestly garments, we come to a piece that seems small but is freighted with immense theological gravity. It is a golden plate, fixed to the front of the high priest's turban, engraved with a simple, devastating, and glorious declaration: "Holy to Yahweh." This wasn't just a piece of religious bling. It was a weapon. It was a standard. It was a declaration of ownership and a provision of grace that cuts to the very heart of the gospel.
We are going to see that this small golden sign teaches us three crucial things. It teaches us about God's absolute standard of holiness, the problem of our perpetual failure to meet that standard, and God's gracious provision for our acceptance through a substitute. This is not just about Aaron's hat. It is about how any sinful man can stand before a holy God and live.
The Text
"You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘Holy to Yahweh.’ You shall fasten it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel set apart as holy, with regard to all their holy gifts; and it shall continually be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh."
(Exodus 28:36-38 LSB)
The Unwavering Standard (v. 36)
First, let's look at the object itself.
"You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘Holy to Yahweh.’" (Exodus 28:36)
God's instructions are always precise because His reality is precise. This is to be a plate of pure gold. Gold, in Scripture, consistently symbolizes that which is divine, pure, and of the highest value. This is not some cheap alloy. It represents the perfect, untarnished, and glorious nature of God's own being. And on this plate of divine purity, a message is to be engraved.
The engraving is to be like that of a signet. A signet ring was used to impress a king's seal upon a document, marking it with his authority and ownership. This is not casual graffiti. This is an official, authoritative, and permanent declaration. And what is the declaration? "Holy to Yahweh." Or, Kodesh l'Yahweh. This is the standard. This is the flag planted on the highest point of the high priest's person.
Holiness means to be set apart, to be distinct, to be utterly other. Yahweh is holy in His very essence. He is not like the pagan gods, who were simply super-powered, immoral louts. He is transcendentally separate from sin, from corruption, from all that is common and profane. And because He is holy, everything dedicated to Him must also be holy. The tabernacle is holy. The instruments are holy. The sacrifices are holy. And the people are commanded, "You shall be holy, for I Yahweh your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2).
This inscription on the forehead of the priest is a constant, visible reminder of this foundational reality. Every time an Israelite saw the high priest, he would see this golden declaration flashing in the light. It was a reminder that the central business of their lives, the very purpose of the covenant, was holiness. Their entire system of worship was designed to drill this one fact into their thick skulls: God is holy, and you are not.
The Pervasive Problem (v. 37-38a)
Now, where is this declaration to be placed, and what is its function?
"You shall fasten it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel set apart as holy, with regard to all their holy gifts..." (Exodus 28:37-38a LSB)
The plate is fastened with a blue cord. Blue speaks of the heavens, of that which is from above. This holiness is not a human achievement; it is a heavenly declaration. It is placed right on the front of the turban, on Aaron's forehead. It is the most visible part of his attire, the first thing you would see. He is literally thinking under this sign. His whole identity as a priest is governed by this public seal of holiness.
But then we come to the shocking reason for this plate. Its purpose is for Aaron to "take away the iniquity of the holy things." This should stop us in our tracks. The iniquity of the holy things? We expect iniquity in our sins, our rebellions, our outright acts of disobedience. But God says there is iniquity, there is crookedness and stain, even in Israel's best efforts. Their holy gifts, their sacrifices, their tithes, their acts of worship, are all contaminated.
This is a radical indictment of the human condition. Even when we are trying our best to worship God, our efforts are marred by sin. Our motives are mixed. Our focus wanders. A flicker of pride attaches itself to our generosity. A moment of self-congratulation sours our prayer. We bring our "holy" gifts, but they are touched by unholy hands and offered from unholy hearts. The stain of sin is so pervasive that it infects even our worship. As Isaiah would later say, "all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Isaiah 64:6).
This is why all attempts at self-salvation are doomed from the start. You cannot offer God a pure gift because you are not pure. You cannot perform a holy act that will satisfy Him, because your very nature is unholy. The problem is not just with our bad deeds; the problem is with our "good" deeds. There is iniquity in our holy things. And this iniquity, left undealt with, would cause God to reject not only the worshipper but the worship itself.
The Glorious Provision (v. 38b)
So, we have an impossibly high standard and a hopelessly sinful people. What is the solution? God provides it right here.
"...and it shall continually be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh." (Genesis 28:38b LSB)
This is the gospel in gold and linen. The plate must be on Aaron's forehead continually. Why? So that they, the people of Israel, may be accepted. Aaron, their representative, their substitute, wears the declaration of perfect holiness for them. He stands before God with "Holy to Yahweh" on his forehead, and God looks at that declaration and accepts the people on that basis.
Aaron bears away their iniquity by presenting a countervailing holiness. The holiness is not his own, inherently. It is the holiness of his office, the holiness that God has assigned to him as their mediator. The people's tainted gifts are accepted because they are presented by a priest who is officially and publicly marked as holy. God accepts the people not because of the quality of their performance, but because of the identity of their representative.
This is a beautiful, physical picture of the doctrine of imputation. Aaron's "holiness," represented by the golden plate, is credited to the people. He stands in the gap. He absorbs the iniquity of their worship and presents on their behalf a perfect standard of holiness. And because of him, because of what is on his forehead, they are accepted.
Our Great High Priest
Of course, Aaron was just a shadow. He was a sinful man himself, who had to offer sacrifices for his own sins before he could offer them for the people. His turban and golden plate were types, pointing forward to the ultimate reality. They were a placeholder for the true High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the one who is truly "Holy to Yahweh." He is the eternally pure Son of God, the one whose worship was always perfect, whose motives were never mixed, whose every thought and deed was utterly consecrated to the Father. He had no iniquity, either in His life or in His worship.
And He has become our great High Priest. He stands before the Father for us. The book of Hebrews tells us that He is the "merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17). Just as Aaron bore the iniquity of Israel's holy things, Christ has borne the iniquity of our entire lives, our holy things and our very unholy things, upon the cross.
When you come to God in faith, you are united to Christ. You are now "in Him." And God the Father no longer sees the stain on your worship. He does not see the mixed motives in your prayers or the pride in your service. He sees the forehead of His Son. He sees the perfect, unwavering declaration: "Holy to Yahweh." And on the basis of Christ's perfect holiness, which is imputed to you, you are accepted. It is "continually on his forehead, that [you] may be accepted before Yahweh."
This is our only hope. It is not that we try harder to make our holy things less iniquitous. It is that we abandon all trust in our holy things and trust only in our Holy One. When we are tempted to despair over our flawed worship, our wandering minds in prayer, or our imperfect service, we must look away from ourselves and look to our High Priest. He is at the right hand of the Father, and on His forehead is the golden plate of His own perfect righteousness, worn on our behalf. Because He is accepted, we are accepted. Because He is holy, we are counted as holy. This is the heart of our faith, engraved not on gold, but on the heart of God Himself.