Exodus 27

v1-8: The bronze altar was where sacrifices were made by the priests on behalf of the people. The horns on the altar “were symbols of help and refuge.” As “helpless sinners fly for refuge to the horns of this altar,” to Christ, “when justice pursues them… they are kept safe because of the sacrifice offered there.”

v9-19: The “courtyard was a type of the church, enclosed and separate from the world.” It was this courtyard “into which the people of God entered with praise and thanksgiving.” But this courtyard could only contain a “few worshippers.” Not any more, as because of the gospel, “there is space for all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ.”

v20-21: “The priests were to light the lamps and to keep them burning… In the same way it is the work of ministers, by the preaching and expounding of the Scriptures, which are like a lamp, to give light to the church.”

Exodus 28

v1-5: Now that Israel was a nation, it was necessary for there to be a public priesthood. Moses was pleased to invest his brother to “this office, and his sons after him.” From Aaron “descended all the priests of” Israel. The priests were giving glorious garments to wear which would remind them of “the dignity of their office” and “that the people might have a holy reverence toward the God whose [priests] appeared in such grandeur.” These garments represented perfect purity of the priest, pointing to, the Lord Jesus Christ who “is holy, innocent, and undefiled.”

v6-14: “As Aaron had the names of all Israel on his shoulders on the precious stones,” so Christ has the church on his shoulders, and represents her before God.

v15-29: Though the people could not come near to God, the high priest, who had their names on his breastplate, carried them with him when he entered the Most Holy Place. “In the same way, believers, even while they are here on earth,” can enter by faith and “sit with Christ in the heavenly realms.” That “the name of each tribe was engraved on a precious stone” shows how precious believers are in God’s sight. “How precious should Christ’s name be to our hearts, since he is pleased to put our names so near his!”

v30: The Urim and Thummim were used to find out God’s will. In Christ, God has made known his will, and “from him we have received the Spirit of truth, who leads us into all truth.”

v31-39: Aaron risks his life if he serves God in ways that are different from what had been ordained. It really does matter how we serve the Lord. The golden plate fixed to Aaron’s forehead, engraved with the words, HOLINESS TO THE LORD, was to remind him “that God is holy and that his priests must be holy.” All who serve the Lord “must be separated from all contamination of sin, and set apart for God, his service, and his honour… wanting his glory in all they do.” Though our service is not this, through Christ, what is defective is forgiven, and “what is good is accepted” and pleasing to God.

v40-43: The priests were to wear their priestly robes when they served the Lord. A failure to do this was to incur guilt and die. These robes are types of “the righteousness of Christ” without which we cannot appear before God, and “the armour of God” which we need because of “our spiritual enemies.”