The Ephod
Let us consider the ephod which the high priest had to wear on the blue robe (Lev. 8:7). It was made of gold, blue, purple, scarlet and fine twined linen (Exo. 28:6). This ephod made of five kinds of material was a beautiful and attractive garment. It stands for light and reminds us that we are the light of the world. Wherever believers may be, in schools, in workshops, in hospitals or anywhere else, they must shine as lights. Our lives must show forth the virtues of our Lord Jesus Christ; His love, holiness, meekness, patience and gentleness must be seen in us by all around. People who do not believe the gospel will notice our dress, conversation, manners and walk of life and will be constrained to acknowledge that we are different from them.
On the top of the ephod, on the shoulders there were two ouches or pockets of gold and two onyx stones. One onyx stone on the right side shoulder and the other on the left (Exo.28:8,9). They were part of the ephod. The twelve names of the sons of Israel were engraved on these two stones, six names on one and six names on the other, according to the order of their birth (Exo. 28:10). This shows that the twelve tribes were equally precious to the Lord. This also shows that God is willing to bear all our burdens upon His shoulder.
When we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, we all have some fault or failure or weakness in us. Nobody is free from such. We inherit these weaknesses from our fathers and they from their fathers and so on. We are born in sin (Psa. 51:5). If the father has a bad temper, invariably the children will have it. If the father is greedy for money, the children too, are of the same type. If the father has a haughty, proud spirit, the children will have the same. Thus we inherit the weaknesses of our parents. We cannot overcome our weaknesses by reformation or tears or other things. But the Lord Jesus Christ can transform us as we humble ourselves and confess our failures and weaknesses day by day.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our High priest and He bears our weaknesses on His shoulder. We are privileged to go to Him with all our weaknesses, shortcomings and failures. So by faith we say to Him, "My Lord, I confess my shortcomings, failures and faults. Have mercy upon me. Give me victory over all these." As our High Priest He bears our burdens also (1 Pet. 5:7). Believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has a very strong shoulder to carry you through any kind of weakness, shortcoming or failure. He is our strength in our weaknesses and failures. He is our Advocate (1 John 2:1). By His advocacy all our shortcomings are transformed into divine virtues (Heb. 7:25). These virtues of the Lord Jesus Christ are symbolized by the five materials of the ephod: gold, blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen. Through these garments, God shows us how the virtues of Christ should be woven into our lives. Five is the number of grace. Divine virtues are given to us as we willingly obey Him. Here the gold speaks of the divine nature by which we are enabled to know heavenly things, and which is manifested by Christ like virtues. These virtues become apparent when we, with strong faith endure patiently trials and temptations (1 Pet. 1:7).
Threads of gold were woven into the ephod. First of all, the gold had to be melted and taken through the refining fire seven times. The fire beneath the gold would melt it, and fire above the gold would remove the dross from it. In the same way, it is only by the fire of sufferings and persecutions that the believer's life can be refined and made to show forth God's glory. So do not be surprised if you are despised, hated and persecuted by the world. God will allow such fiery experiences in your life in order to make you like pure gold.
The molten gold had to be beaten with the hammer and made into a plate. Then it was cut into thin strips. Each strip was passed first through the large hole in an iron plate, then through the next hole which was slightly smaller. In this way it was passed through all the holes in the iron plate until it was finally passed through the smallest hole and came out as a golden thread, fit to be woven into the ephod. The bar of gold could not be woven, so it had to be taken through all these processes. It had to be melted in the fire, beaten with the hammer, cut into pieces and passed through many holes, and converted into fine golden threads.
Through all this we learn that, as believers, we can never become Christ like if we do not go through sufferings. Those who have had no experience of hardships and difficulties will remain hard-hearted and unsympathetic. They will not be meek, gentle and kind and therefore they cannot show forth the virtues of the Lord Jesus Christ. After they have gone through sufferings, they will become gentle and meek. You may have noticed that a person who has gone through much suffering can bear a rebuke without resentment and does not mind even if people hate him and curse him, while another who has lived only in pleasure, gets very much offended at the least provocation. Therefore to make us kind, gentle and sympathetic like Christ, God takes us through the refining fires of afflictions and trials.
The blue speaks of the heavenly wisdom we are given, as we bring ourselves in subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ completely. The more we come under subjection, the more the Holy Spirit reveals Himself to us. Such wisdom is given to us through strong faith. That is why the gold thread and the blue material are woven together. The purple speaks of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the privilege of binding Satan in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 18:18). The authority of the Lord Jesus Christ comes into us to defeat the devil and with the same power we can claim for others deliverance or healing (John 14:12-14). The scarlet speaks of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So often we say, "I am not worthy, I dare not go near the holy place." But because of our faith in the precious blood we can go into the holy place very boldly and claim God's promises, God's power and God's grace (Heb. 10:19). The fine twined linen in the ephod speaks of the pure life of the Lord Jesus Christ which flows into us (Gal. 2:20). As we obey Him, others can see the humility, kindness meekness and longsuffering of the Lord Jesus Christ in us.
The golden thread was woven together with blue, purple, scarlet and white linen in a peculiar heavenly design. No artist in the world could have thought of such a design. God revealed it to Moses and through him to the skilled workers. Just as the design was unique, the life of a believer too must be totally different from that of worldly people. This difference will become more and more evident as the believer grows spiritually and God's glory and beauty will be revealed through him increasingly. Thus he is prepared for his share in God's fullness.
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