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Exodus 28:40–43
“You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him” (Ex. 28:42–43)
Priests in ancient Israel wore a specific uniform that marked them off from the other people as God’s holy representatives of the nation. We have seen this throughout Exodus 28:1–39, where we find a record of the directions that the Lord gave Moses for making the priestly garments, specifically the instructions for the clothing of the high priest. Today’s passage concludes the directions for the priestly garments by detailing the garments for the other priests in Israel as well as the undergarments for all the priests, including the high priest.
Exodus 28:40–41 says that the Israelites were to make “coats and sashes and caps” for Aaron’s sons—that is, the priests, for Aaron was the first high priest of Israel (see Lev. 16, which identifies the high priest as Aaron). We do not find many details regarding these garments. It is clear enough that they were simpler garments than those that the high priest wore, for there is no mention of a breastpiece of judgment or an ephod. The priestly garments, however, were made for the same purpose as the high priest’s clothing: “for glory and beauty” (Ex. 28:40; see Ex. 28:2). It would be reasonable to assume, therefore, that the garments of the ordinary priests bore some resemblance to the high priest’s clothing even though there were differences. Perhaps they were crafted in the same colors as the high priest’s garments.
In Exodus 28:42–43, we find directions for the “linen undergarments” that all the priests of Israel wore. These garments covered “the hips to the thighs,” thus concealing the private parts of the priests. Unlike other ancient Near Eastern religions whose priests sometimes did their work in the nude, the Israelite priests had to be fully clothed. Sexual acts would not be part of the worship of the one true God as they were in the worship of the pagan gods in Canaan.
The priestly garments were made for glory and beauty, but as verse 43 indicates, they also shielded the wearer from incurring guilt as he entered the Holy Place of the tabernacle and thereby kept him safe. This warning reminded the priests and the Israelites in general that to approach God not clothed in His prescribed garments was to risk one’s very life. We find here an anticipation of our need to come before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ. As Jesus Himself says, those who attempt to come to the heavenly wedding banquet will be cast into the outer darkness if they are not clothed with His perfection (Matt. 22:1–14; see Zech. 3:1–5).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Ultimately, the only garment that will keep us safe in the presence of God is the righteousness of Christ, His perfect obedience imputed to us in our justification by faith in Him alone. If we are trusting in anything else to be right before God, we will perish, but if we are resting in Jesus alone, His righteousness gives us eternal life.
For further study
- Genesis 15:6
- Habakkuk 2:4
- Luke 18:9–14
- Romans 4