Exodus 27.1-28.43

The Altar of Burnt Offering / The Court and Its Hangings / The Oil for the Lamp / Vestments / The Ephod / The Breastpiece / Other Priestly Vestments

Today's reading consists of two sections: instructions for building the open-air court outside the tabernacle and instructing for creating vestments that the priests should wear

The Court of the Tabernacle

The open- air court is to be a rectangle containing the tabernacle and altar and having the following dimensions: 50 cubits on the North-South axis and 100 cubits on the East-West axis. The tabernacle lies in the western end, the altar in the eastern end.

The Altar of Burnt Offering: Exodus 27.1-8

The hollow altar should be made with boards of acacia wood and measure 5 cubits long by 5 cubits wide by 3 cubits high. There should be a horn attached to the four corners, each overlaid with bronze.

Pots for ashes, shovels, basins, forks, and firepans should be made of bronze.

There should be a grating of bronze with four bronze rings at its corners. It should be placed under the ledge (inside) of the altar, halfway down the body.

The altar is transported with poles of acacia wood overlaid with bronze (not gold!) that fit through the rings.

The Court and Its Hangings: Exodus 27.9-19

For the north and south sides of the tabernacle a 100-cubit-long hanging of fine twisted linen shall hang from 20pillars (presumably of acacia wood) in 20 bronze bases. The hooks and bands of the pillars should be silver.

The west side should have a 50-cubit-long hanging with 10 pillars and 10 bases.

The east side, also 50 cubits long, shall consist of 15-cubit hangings on either side, each supported by 3 pillars in 3 bases. The curtains form a sort of gateway.

The gate should be a screen twenty cubits long made of fine twisted linen and yarn in blue, purple, and crimson, embroidered with needlework. It should be supported by four pillars with four bases.

All the pillars around the court should be banded with silver and have silver hooks. Their bases should be bronze.

Bronze pegs will be used to pin the cords that stabilize the pillars to the ground (think of a rain fly on a camping tent).

The Oil for the Lamp: Exodus 27.20-21

The Israelites should make olive oil for the lamp. The lamp, located outside the Holy of Holies, should be lit every evening and tended until morning by Aaron and his sons. This shall continue every night through the generations.

Vestments for the Priesthood

Vestments: Exodus 28.1-5

Aaron and his sons (Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar) are to serve God as priests. They shall wear vestments crafted by the most skilled of the Israelites. These vestments include: breastpiece, ephod, robe, checkered tunic ("fringed" in other readings), turban, sash. These shall be made of gold, blue, purple and crimson yarn, and fine linen.

The Ephod: Exodus 28.6-14

The ephod, a long vest, is to be made of the materials and colors listed above. Two shoulder-pieces attached at the edges shall hold it together. It should have a decorated band of the aforementioned materials.

The names of the sons of Israel should be engraved on two onyx stones, six names to a stone, in order of birth. The stones should be mounted on a gold filigree (an ornament of woven gold chains) on the shoulder-pieces.

[The location of the stones is such that the priest has the tribes of Israel immediately resting on his shoulders - a constant remind of history for both him and those who see the stones.]

Two chains of pure gold should be attached to two settings of gold filigree.

The Breastpiece: Exodus 28.15-30

The "breastpiece (or "pouch") of judgment" should be made in the same unifying style of the other fabricated accessories: with gold, blue, purple, and crimson yarns and twisted linen. This "judgment" is divination. Intrigued? Read on.

The breastplate is to be a square when doubled, a span long (about 8 inches) and a span wide. Stones should be set in gold filigree into it in four rows, three stones to a row. [Here again appears the number twelve].

• Row 1: Carnnelian, chrysolite, emerald
• Row 2: Turquoise, sapphire, moonstone
• Row 3: Jacinth, Agate, Amethyst
• Row 4: Beryl, Onyx, Jasper.

Each stone should be engraved with the name of a tribe of Israel.

Two cords of twisted gold chains should fit through two gold rings at the edges of the breastpiece, attaching to the settings on the ephod.

Gold rings on the ends of teh breastpiece should be bound to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that the breastpiece lies on the decorated band of the ephod and does not come loose.

All this is for Aaron's benefit:

So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgement on his heart when he goes into the holy place, for a continual remembrance before the Lord. In the breastpiece of judgement you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord; thus Aaron shall bear the judgement of the Israelites on his heart before the Lord continually.
(Ex. 28.29-30)

What is the Urim and the Thummim? According to HarperCollins, these are, "according to comparative evidence, light and dark stones extracted from the pouch for the purposes of divination" (132). Huh.

Aaron's vestments are a perfect example of form following function. Aaron is clad in many reminders of history, and anyone who sees him will be reminded as well. The stones are close to Aaron's heart, physically placed near the center of his being and source of emotion.

Other Priestly Vestments: Exodus 28.31-43

The Robe
Worn underneath the ephod, it is one piece, with an opening for the head in the middle. Around the opening is a woven binding so the robe does not tear. The lower hem should have a pattern of alternating gold bells and (the other three colors ubiquitous in the temple) blue, purple, and crimson pomegranates. The sound of the bells ensures that the Lord will hear Aaron coming when he enters the Holy of Holies - otherwise Aaron might die.

The Rosette (or Shiny Plate
This should be made of gold and have be engraved with "Holy to the Lord." It should be fastened to the front of the turban with a blue cord. The plate is like a lightning rod or guilt vacuum - sucking up the guilt incurred by the Israelites that comes with making their donation.

Checkered tunic and Turban
Made of fine linen.

Sash
Embroidered.

For Aaron's sons
They shall wear tunics, sashes, and headdresses. Moses shall anoint them all and ordain and consecrate them, so they may serve God as priests.

They shall wear linen undergarments reaching from the hips to the thighs. This way there is no way they might expose their nakedness to God. The drawers are to be worn in the tent of meeting, near the altar, and in the Holy of Holies. Otherwise, they will bring guild on themselves and die.