The Mitre
The next item we notice in the garments of the high priest is the mitre (Ex.28: 36-38). This mitre was of beautiful white material and was a very important part of the attire. In Eph. 6: 14-17, we have a list of the parts of the amour and weapons of spiritual warfare which are given to believers, and one of these is the helmet of Salvation. This mitre on the high priest speaks to us of the helmet of Salvation (Eph. 6:17). When we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are crowned by him with loving-kindness and tender mercies (Psal. 103:4).
With great love God created man, and it was in His heart to give him many precious blessings which he had been preparing for him for eternity, before the sun and moon were created (I Cor. 2:9). In western countries young girls gather all kinds of valuable articles intended for their future home and the baby they will have one day. They begin to do this before their engagement and even before they know who their future husband is going to be. They will not allow anyone to see what they are collecting. With much faith and hope, and with much love, the young girl goes on planning and preparing for the child yet to be born. She dreams, "One day I will get married. A child will be born to me and for that child I must prepare everything that is necessary." In the same way, long before the earth was created, God thought of you and me, and planned and prepared many good things for us.
Because of Adam's sin we have lost the privilege of enjoying the benefits of God's love. But when we repent of our sins and put our faith in Christ, those blessings are given back to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. So the mitre reminds us that the crown of God's love and kindness which was lost because of Adam's sin will now be made available to us freely, if we will only repent and put our faith in Christ.
The Lord wants us to be filled with His fullness. Christ's love is like an ocean (Eph. 3:18-19). He not only wants to forgive us our sins but He wants to fill us with His fullness. Through the mitre of the high priest the Lord conveys this message to us: "Oh My children, I want to crown you with My loving-kindness. I want to fill you with My fullness." If we would only allow Him to be our Lord, and acknowledge Him to be our Head, He would accomplish all His loving purposes in our trials and crown us with His loving-kindness and tender mercies.
There is a second message which is brought to us by the mitre. It is a message of grace. "By the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (I Cor. 15:10). We may wonder why human beings like us so frail, so weak and so foolish, should be filled with His fullness. Why does God want to fill us with His fullness? The answer is not because of what we are, nor because of our cleverness or our gifts or our talents. But because of His grace. Perhaps you may think, a man like Paul can attain to that standard of fullness, but I cannot, because I am so weak. But Paul himself declares that he is what he is only by the grace of God. It has to be the same with you and with me. Do not think that you can receive God's fullness because of your Bible knowledge, or intelligence or other qualifications. It must be only by God's grace. Therefore we should never take pride in our family or in our education or in any thing else. The Lord shows us that if we want to be a partaker of His glory and beauty, we must then learn how to claim His grace for every thing. We are saved by His grace alone and after that, day by day, we have to claim the same grace for every need.
Sometimes, through very painful experiences the Lord teaches us that His grace is sufficient in every situation (2 Cor.. 12:9). Paul, the apostle, had gone through many hardships without a murmur or complaint (2 Cor. 11:23). We read that God permitted him to suffer from a painful "thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor. 12:7-9a). We do not know what this thorn was. Evidently it was something exceedingly painful, because Paul says, "I be -sought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me." He never prayed like this at any other time. When he was in prison he did not say, "Lord, release me from prison." He bore every trial very patiently. But in this case, he besought the Lord thrice to remove the thorn. This proves that the thorn must have been an extraordinarily painful one. At such a time, God's answer was, "My grace is sufficient for thee." God allowed the thorn to remain with Paul for a definite purpose. First of all, it was meant to keep him humble, lest Paul should be exalted above measure through the divine revelations given to him. Secondly, it was meant to teach him a little more of God's grace. This cannot be understood easily. Even though Paul had received many revelations and wonderful experiences, he still had to suffer this very painful thorn in the flesh in order to learn more of the grace of God. Thus we see that God permits all kinds of painful experiences in the lives of His children in order to teach them more of His grace.
We are so weak that we need God's grace every moment and in every situation. We fail Him and grieve Him many times a day but God is very gracious. In His grace He forgives us and lifts us up every time. If we are not given a cup of tea in time we loose our temper and get angry. We easily take pride in what we are, what we give, and what we can do. We can be delivered from all these weaknesses, and transformed fully and finally into God's image and into His glory and beauty by the grace of God alone. Whatever blessing we receive is entirely by His grace. So on no account should we take pride in ourselves. We are only worms before God; yet He has lifted us up from our 4qw estate and given us a place of honor. As we realize this, we cannot help thanking God constantly for the abundant grace He is showering on us day by day.
Over the mitre of the high priest was placed a golden plate (Ex.28:36) on which were written these words, "HOLINESS TO THE LORD." This should be our daily motto, to keep us holy to the Lord. Our God is a holy God: He is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). How can weak creatures like us stand before Him? (Mal. 3:2, 3). He wants us to be partakers of His holiness and to become like pure shining gold. For this purpose, He has to chastise us constantly (Heb. 12:10, 11). These chastisements are to us like many refining fires. When the work of refining has been completed, we shall show forth His holiness, not only upon this earth, but in heaven also, and that for ever and ever.
Thus finally we shall be made partakers of God's glory and God's beauty and be filled with God's fullness.