The Tabernacle and Its Furniture by John Kitto
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place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not”—would seem to intimate that the sound of the bells was to be considered to harbinger his approach to the Sacred Presence; which without such announcement, would be regarded as an unceremonious and disrespectful intrusion. The sound also intimated that he was clothed in the proper vestures of his office, to minister without which was death; and it might likewise serve to admonish the people of the sacred offices in which their priest was engaged on their behalf.
Josephus describes the robe of the ephod as reaching to the feet, and consisting of one entire piece of woven work, but parted where the arms came out. He also states that it was fastened with a girdle, embroidered with the same colors as the girdle of the tunic, but with gold interwoven. This garment was called “the Robe of the Ephod,” only as worn by the priests; but it seems, in its general form, to have been the same with the “mantle” mentioned in I Samuel 15:27; 18:4; 24:5, 12; John 1:20; 2:12, as worn by kings and persons of distinction. The word translated “robe” in the sacerdotal dress, and “mantle “in the instances cited, is in the original Hebrew the same.
Ephod
The Ephod seems to have been a short sleeveless cloak, covering the shoulders and breasts. It was not peculiar to the high priest, for it is said to have been worn by Samuel while ministering before the Lord (I Samuel 2:18), by David, while engaged in religious service (II Samuel 6:14), and by inferior priests (I Samuel 22:18). But in all these cases, it is distinguished as “a linen ephod,” and appears not to have been regarded as a sacred but as an honorary vestment. The ephod of the high priest was different in its materials, though perhaps the others resembled it in shape. It was made of gold, of blue, of purple, of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, all skilfully and curiously wrought. It had a back-part and a fore-part united by shoulder-pieces, and by strings which went out from each side and tied the garment to the body. On the top of each shoulder was an onyx stone, set in sockets of gold, each having engraven upon it six of the names of the tribes of Israel.
Breastplate
The High Priest in his robes,
Exodus 28:39
(Click to enlarge the picture)
The Breastplate. This splendid and most distinguishing ornament of the pontifical vesture was worn upon the breast of the ephod. Its basis was a piece of the same rich brocade with the ephod itself; it was doubled, that it might the better bear the precious stones which were set in it; and it was, when thus doubled, a span square. The stones were twelve, of as many different kinds, each bearing the name of one of the tribes of Israel. They were arranged in four rows, three in each row. At each corner was a ring of gold, from the two uppermost of which went two golden chains of wreathed work, whereby the breastplate was connected with the shoulder-pieces of the ephod; while, from the lower rings, similar chains connected it with the girdle of the ephod, which girdle was made of the same stuff as the ephod itself, and was passed twice round the body, after which the ends were suffered to hang down in front. It is worthy of notice that the sacred text describes the names of the tribes as being engraved on fourteen (twelve for the breastplate and two for the shoulder-pieces) not only of the most precious but of the hardest stones in existence, not excepting even the diamond. This shows that the difficult art of gem-sculpture was in an advanced state among the Israelites in the wilderness, having been doubtless acquired by them in Egypt. It was directed that the stones should be engraved “with the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet” (Exodus 28:11). This reference to the signet shows that this kind of work was familiarly known; and of what sort it was, we may be able to form some judgment from the signets which were from the most remote antiquity in use among the Egyptians, cut likewise in precious stones, and in a manner which evinces a complete mastery of the nicest processes of this beautifully minute art. Proofs of this proficiency among the people in whose land the Israelites had so long sojourned, are still to be seen far too abundantly to admit of question, in our museums, in the shape of rings, amulets, scarabaei, bracelets, and other ornaments. Indeed, that wonderful storehouse of the most ancient knowledge, which has in our own times been found in the tombs and temples of ancient Egypt, might afford materials for the elucidation
