BEMA Episode Link: 328: Sanctuary — Listening by the Mishkan
Episode Length: 2:00:54
Published Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2023 01:00:00 -0700
Session 6
About this episode:

Brent Billings is with Josh Bossé and Reed Dent to consider the role of priests in the tabernacle through their clothing.

Presentation for Sanctuary — Listening by the Mishkan (PDF)

A Commentary on the Book of Exodus by U. Cassuto

Diary of a Country Priest (1951 film)

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

Title & Source Summary

Episode: 328: The Priestly Garments (Tabernacle Series)
Hosts: Brent Billings, with guest teachers Josh Bosse and Reed Dent (Marty Solomon is absent)
Focus: Genesis 1:14–19 (Day Four of creation); Exodus 27:20–21; Exodus 28 (the priestly garments)

This episode continues the series that reads the building of the Mishkan (tabernacle) alongside the seven days of creation. The hosts start with Day Four, when God places the sun, moon, and stars in the sky to separate, govern, mark sacred times, and give light. They then turn to Exodus 27:20–28:43, where the people bring clear olive oil for the lamps and Aaron and his sons receive sacred garments. The main claim is that Day Four fills the space Day One separated. In the same way, the priests “fill” the tabernacle and act as lights, like stars that orient people in the dark. Each garment says something about priesthood: the priest carries the community, keeps each person’s name on his heart, is visibly present and fruitful, and bears the people’s guilt so they can be accepted before God. The hosts also apply this to ordinary believers as part of a “kingdom of priests.”

Key Takeaways

• Day Four fills what Day One separated. Day One brought light and darkness. Day Four fills that space with specific sources of light: the sun, the moon, and the stars.
• The stars matter more than the text’s brief mention suggests. When the moon is gone, the stars still give light. They don’t give enough light to work by, but they are enough to tell you where you are and when you are.
• The priests are presented as lights. Like the stars, their role is to help people find their way through space, time, and seasons of darkness.
• The community supplies the light. The people bring the olive oil, which is the fruit of the land (Day Three), and the priests tend it. The priest can’t make light without the community, and the community needs the priest to keep the light burning.
• The clothes teach. Each garment visually tells people something about what a priest is and does.
• Shoulders and heart. The onyx shoulder stones carry the community as a whole. The breastpiece carries each tribe by name over the heart, so decisions must weigh individual needs and not just the good of the group.
• Bells and pomegranates. The priest’s presence is meant to be heard, found, and fruitful. It exists for other people, not for the priest’s own ego.
• “Holy to the LORD” means carrying other people’s guilt. The gold plate on Aaron’s forehead shows that holiness here centers on carrying the community’s burdens so they can be accepted before God.
• Sin is brought into God’s presence. Aaron enters the holy place bearing the people’s guilt. This challenges the popular idea that God “cannot be in the presence of sin.”
• Small practices count. Keeping people’s names in mind, and actually remembering them, is a simple way to act as a priest.

Main Concepts & Theories

1. Day Four: Lights That Govern, Mark, and Orient (Genesis 1:14–19)

• The chiasm within Day Four:
  1. Separate day from night (v. 14)
  2. Serve as signs for sacred times, days, and years (v. 14)
  3. Give light on the earth (v. 15)
     • Center: God makes the two great lights and the stars (v. 16)
  4. Give light on the earth (v. 17)
  5. Govern the day and the night (v. 18)
  6. Separate light from darkness (v. 18)
• Separating vs. filling: Days 1–3 separate spaces (light/dark, waters, dry land). Days 4–6 fill those spaces. Day Four fills Day One’s light and darkness.
• “Lights” vs. “light”: Day One has abstract light. Day Four has light-giving things (Hebrew me’orot, “luminaries”).
• “To govern”: This is a different word from the “dominion” given to humanity later. Josh points out that it is the same root used when God speaks to Eve in Genesis 3.
• “Set” = “give”: The verb in “God set them in the vault of the sky” is the Hebrew natan, “to give,” which suggests the lights are a gift.
• Creation joins in the work: As on Day Three, when the earth brings forth life, creation now takes part in God’s ordering. The lights do the separating themselves.

2. The Stars: Light for Orientation, Not for Doing

• The sun marks days and the moon marks months. The stars keep time on a larger scale by signaling seasons.
• The moon is inconsistent: sometimes bright, sometimes missing. The stars are constant.
• Stars rarely give enough light to work by, but because they are spread across the sky they work as a map. Sailors and travelers navigate by them.
• Theological point: In seasons of darkness, we often don’t know where we are or what time it is. Knowing you are in a dark season changes how you live: you rest more, look for support, and are gentler with yourself. Josh compares this to Ecclesiastes’ “a time for everything.”

3. Oil for the Lamp: Community as the Source of Light (Exodus 27:20–21)

• The chapter break falls oddly. This section introduces the priests and belongs with Exodus 28.
• It mirrors the start of the tabernacle instructions, which also began with the people bringing materials. The cycle (light, water, land) starts over at “light.”
• Clear oil from beaten olives:
  • Reed notices the tie to Day Three: the fruit of the earth literally becomes light.
  • “Clear” marks quality. Josh applies it this way: show up to your community without clutter, bringing your best.
• Continual light: The lamp burns “from evening till morning” as a lasting ordinance, which echoes the constancy of the stars.

4. Why Start With Clothes?

• The garments are for “glory and beauty” (kavod and tiferet). They are necessary for consecration and for serving as priests.
• In Western culture, clothing seems shallow. In the text, the clothes carry weight.
• How clothes relate to light:
  • Both are visual, and both communicate.
  • Reed recalls Psalm 104:2, where God is “wrapped in light as with a garment.”
  • Reed also notes that light itself is not seen; it reveals other things. The Day Four question, then, is how the priests act as sources of light that make God’s presence and nature visible and give people their bearings.
• Kavod (glory): The root means “heavy.” It is also the word for the liver, the heaviest organ, and it describes Pharaoh’s “hardened” heart. It is used for the glory of the LORD (cloud and fire) in Exodus 16 and 24. Oddly, its first appearance is Genesis 31:1, where Laban’s sons complain about Jacob’s “wealth.”

5. The Ephod and the Shoulder Stones (Exodus 28:6–14)

• Rough description: Something like a backward apron from the waist down, with two straps going up the back and over the shoulders. The breastpiece hangs from these straps.
• Two onyx stones, each engraved with six names of the sons of Israel in birth order, set on the shoulders.
• “Memorial” appears twice:
  • A memorial for (or of) the sons of Israel
  • A memorial before the LORD, as Aaron “bears their names on his shoulders”
• Meaning: The priest carries the whole community as its representative. They are named, real people, not an abstract responsibility.
• Reed’s link to Day Four: The memorial stones work like a “portable, wearable festival.” Like the sacred seasons, they orient people in time and remind them of their story.

6. The Breastpiece of Decision and the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:15–30)

Feature	Shoulder Stones	Breastpiece Stones
Number of stones	2	12
Names per stone	6	1
Type of stone	Both onyx	Twelve different, colorful stones
Placement	Shoulders	Over the heart
Emphasis	The community as a whole	Each tribe as an individual

• “Engraved like a seal”: Brent asks why this is repeated. Josh offers two ideas:
  1. The letters may be raised (embossed) rather than cut in.
  2. It may point to what a seal does: a seal authenticates. The people “sign off” on the priest as their real representative.
• Link to the garden: Umberto Cassuto’s commentary on Exodus (1967) notes that these gems reappear in Ezekiel 28, in connection with Eden.
• Mishpat (justice/decision): The “breastpiece of decision” is literally the breastpiece of mishpat, the careful, discerning justice that makes sure everyone is cared for.
• The Hebrew “heart”: Not just emotions but the seat of the inner life: thought, will, intention, and feeling.
• Application: A leader carries the whole group on the shoulders, but when making decisions must keep the specific needs of smaller or overlooked groups in mind. Crude utilitarian math is ruled out: “Everyone has a place.”
• Urim and Thummim: Literally “lights and perfections/completions.” These are placed in the folded pouch of the breastpiece and later used to seek God’s guidance (for example, in the David stories). Light is again tied to decision-making, especially questions of timing: when to go, how fast, and which path.
• “Continually”: The names are before God constantly. God sees each person in their own context, not as “a big blob of humanity.”

7. The Robe: Bells, Pomegranates, and a Collar That Won’t Tear (Exodus 28:31–35)

• Reinforced collar: Rabbinic readings describe a folded-over edge, like chain mail, so the priest cannot tear his robe in mourning while serving. When ministering, the priest sets aside his own grief.
• Golden bells:
  • The priest’s presence is always audible. “There’s no secret-agent priest.”
  • Read negatively, the bells guarantee integrity.
  • Read positively (Reed), the priest is meant to be found, like a beacon or lighthouse.
  • Gold is the material associated with God’s presence.
• Pomegranates:
  • Full of countless juicy seeds.
  • In Jewish tradition, linked to mitzvot (good deeds): “may your merits be as numerous as pomegranate seeds.”
  • Linked to Day Three’s fruit: where the priest goes, fruit should follow.
• “So that he will not die”: Josh connects this to Nadav and Avihu (Leviticus 10). At the tabernacle’s inauguration, while the people were celebrating together, they went off privately to hold their own worship and died. The lesson is that the priesthood is not a VIP pass. Priests serve for the people and alongside them.
• Plants don’t eat their own fruit. They give it away so new life can grow elsewhere. Priesthood calls for selflessness, which Josh sees fulfilled in Jesus.

8. The Gold Plate: “Holy to the LORD” (Exodus 28:36–38)

• The plate (tzitz, originally “flower” or “blossom”) is fastened with a blue cord to the front of the turban. Rabbinic tradition says it was two fingers wide and stretched from ear to ear.
• Its function: Aaron “bears the guilt” of the holy gifts the Israelites consecrate, so that they are accepted (find favor) before the LORD.
• A new view of holiness: Holiness here is less about individual moral performance and more about carrying the community’s burdens so they can be right with God. It is a crown that says, “I will hold your sin.”
• Reed’s challenge: The common line that “God can’t be in the presence of sin” doesn’t fit this text. Aaron carries the people’s guilt into the holy place.

9. Tunics, Sashes, Caps, and Undergarments (Exodus 28:39–43)

• Aaron’s sons also receive garments “for glory and beauty.”
• Why clothes before the job description? The priest’s daily duties come next week. Josh suggests the clothes are an invitation to grow into. You put them on, learn what they mean, and then fill them in a way that lives up to their glory.

10. Atonement as a Covering Between You and Sin

• Reed: a priest helps people “navigate their own atonement.” Atonement deals with the conscience, and the guilt, like Adam and Eve’s hiding, is what keeps people away from God.
• Josh goes further: kaphar (“to cover”) in Leviticus is not a covering over sin but a covering between you and sin.
• Sin creates false boundaries: shame, fear (“I have no right to talk to them again”), habits, and broken relationships. The priest brings light to show that these walls aren’t as fixed as they seem.
• Like the stars, the priest doesn’t fix everything but helps you see where and when you are.

Examples & Applications

1. Navigating by stars. Sailors and desert travelers find their way by fixed stars. In the same way, a trusted person in your life may not solve your problem but can help you understand what season you’re in.
2. Knowing you’re in a dark season. Grief, burnout, or transition calls for more rest and support. Naming the season is itself a kind of light.
3. Bringing “clear oil.” Show up to church, a small group, or a family gathering fully present, not distracted or held back. The community’s light depends on everyone’s contribution.
4. Parenting as small-scale mishpat. Brent describes judging disputes between his four-year-old and two-year-old. Even low-stakes fairness requires discernment. Spiritual leaders face much heavier versions.
5. The loneliness of leadership. Reed mentions the film Diary of a Country Priest. Leaders carry the people but often can’t explain every decision. That is part of what the shoulder stones carry.
6. Avoiding “transference.” Reed’s wife, a counselor, avoids making a client’s story about her own. Pastoral care allows more mutual sharing, but it takes wisdom to know when “me too” helps and when it pulls the focus back to yourself.
7. The “backstory test.” Josh notices that when he needs a lot of backstory to share his own experience, he’s probably seeking appreciation rather than giving a gift.
8. Remembering names.
   • Reed writes down each new student’s name and one detail after meeting them. Months later, greeting them by name “lights them up.”
   • Brent, a wedding photographer, learns the names of everyone in the wedding party, keeps using them, and accepts that he’ll sometimes get them wrong. Most people don’t make that effort, so it communicates a lot of value.
9. Hospitality as light. Is your hospitality grudging or open-handed? It shows people something about God’s presence.
10. “Keep the fire small.” The rabbis read Leviticus’s command to keep the altar fire always burning as advice to keep it small. Choose one manageable practice you can keep up.
11. Thinking in time, not just space. Instead of fixing someone’s problem “from A to B,” ask what would help them get through today and this week. Give them one “crumb of light.”

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

• Umberto Cassuto’s A Commentary on the Book of Exodus (1967), for detailed discussion of the Urim and Thummim and the gemstones.
• Ezekiel 28:13 and its list of Eden gemstones compared with the breastpiece stones.
• The Urim and Thummim across the Hebrew Bible (Numbers 27:21; 1 Samuel 14, 28; Ezra 2:63).
• Nadav and Avihu (Leviticus 10): what “strange fire” was, and how the story relates to the priestly garments.
• The word kavod from Genesis 31:1 through Exodus, and how “heaviness” relates to glory.
• Psalm 104:2: God clothed in light, and how it relates to the priestly garments.
• The chiastic structure of Genesis 1 and how its parallels map onto the tabernacle instructions.
• Atonement (kaphar) in Leviticus: “covering between” versus “covering over,” and how Hebrews reads it.
• “Kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9): how the priestly role applies to all believers, and where it differs from formal spiritual leadership.
• The pomegranate in Jewish tradition: the temple pillars (1 Kings 7), the spies’ report (Numbers 13), and later rabbinic associations with mitzvot.
• Tzitzit and the blue cord (tekhelet): how the cord on the high priest’s plate connects to the blue thread commanded for every Israelite (Numbers 15:38).

Comprehension Questions

1. On Day Four of creation, what three functions are given to the lights, and why do the hosts argue that the stars, though barely mentioned, are especially important for people living through darkness?
2. Why is the command to bring clear olive oil (Exodus 27:20–21) a fitting start to the section on the priests, and how does it connect Day Three’s fruit with Day Four’s light?
3. Compare the onyx shoulder stones with the twelve breastpiece stones. What does each set’s number, type, and placement suggest about how a priest should carry the community?
4. What two purposes might the golden bells and pomegranates on the robe’s hem serve, and how does the story of Nadav and Avihu shed light on the warning “so that he will not die”?
5. How does the gold plate engraved “Holy to the LORD” change the usual Western idea of holiness, and what does it suggest about the claim that God cannot be in the presence of sin?

Summary

This episode shows that the priestly garments are more than ceremonial costume. Read next to Day Four of creation, they show the priest as a light, less like the sun that lights up everything and more like a star: constant, orienting, and present even in the darkest seasons. Each garment says something about the role. The shoulders carry the whole people. The heart holds each name and weighs each need with justice. The bells make the priest easy to find, and the pomegranates promise fruit that is given away. The plate on the forehead carries the people’s guilt into God’s presence so they can be accepted. All of it depends on the community bringing its best oil. For those of us trying to live as a kingdom of priests, the invitation is manageable and personal: keep the fire small but burning, show up fully present, set your ego aside, help people see where and when they are, and start with something as simple as remembering someone’s name.

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