Exo 28:1 And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.
Exo 28:2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.

In reading these things, we must remember that this is not the pattern we are to go by today. This was before Jesus Christ came to become our high priest. Jesus fulfilled the need for any priesthood. We no longer need a priest with holy garments to perform rituals and ceremonies in order to perfect the people and remove their sins. Jesus did this once and for all when He died on the cross and rose from the grave. He fulfilled the law in all points. Now we do not need this type of ministry. All we need now is a pastor type of leader and teachers to teach the word.

Some religions try to bring back what Jesus Christ fulfilled and abolished with His death, burial and resurrection.

Because of Christ there should no longer be any separation between a clergy and a laity. There should not be any such thing as a laity. Christ is the only head. Pastors are under shepherds. They are not any higher than those of the congregation. We need apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors etc but they are to work together with all the congregation for correction, doctrine, reproof, teaching and such so that the body of Christ can be perfected and able to be a witness to the whole world of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here is Exodus though things had to be done according to God's pattern until the perfect one was to come who was His own Son, Jesus Christ.

Exo 28:3 And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

God made the seamstress. Not all are talented in that direction. God through His spirit gave them the ability to make the garments of the priests.

Exo 28:4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and an embroidered coat, a miter, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
Exo 28:5 And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.
Exo 28:6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work.
Exo 28:7 It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together.
Exo 28:8 And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
Exo 28:9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:
Exo 28:10 Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.
Exo 28:11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.
Exo 28:12 And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

God must have known the time when Israel would be tempted to forget God and copy the nations surrounding them. The garments were made as a memorial to place the names of the children of Israel on the garment of Aaron.

Exo 28:13 And thou shalt make ouches of gold;
Exo 28:14 And two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches.
Exo 28:15 And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.
Exo 28:16 Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.
Exo 28:17 And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.
Exo 28:18 And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
Exo 28:19 And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
Exo 28:20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their enclosings.
Exo 28:21 And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.
Exo 28:22 And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold.
Exo 28:23 And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.
Exo 28:24 And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.
Exo 28:25 And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it.
Exo 28:26 And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward.
Exo 28:27 And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.
Exo 28:28 And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.
Exo 28:29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.

This showed the great need for an intercessor and one to represent the people before God. The people needed divine guidance continually. They needed the office of the priesthood to continually go before the Lord on their behalf until the time came when Christ was to appear fulfilling this requirement and becoming the only intercessor between God and man.

To go back under the law after receiving Christ is to put back things Christ abolished. The book of Galatians is a good one to read when we are tempted to bring back religious rituals that were temporary until Jesus Christ. They pointed toward Christ and the need for spiritual cleansing that came from Jesus Christ.

Exo 28:30 And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.

Since they were not saved from sin as we now understand salvation, they had to be judged continually. The death of Christ saved them from sin as well as those that came after Christ but they were saved by looking forward to the time when the Messiah would come. We are saved by faith also but by looking back to the time He died for sin.

Exo 28:31 And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
Exo 28:32 And there shall be a hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of a habergeon, that it be not rent.
Exo 28:33 And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:
Exo 28:34 A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.
Exo 28:35 And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not.

Hearing that sound made the people know that Aaron was ministering on their behalf at the altar. Remembering that Jesus Christ had not yet come shows us that even Aaron's life was in danger if all instructions were not followed to the letter.  Sin cannot stand in the presence of God.  Sin had to be abolished.  The one that was to abolish sin with His death and resurrection was to come in the future but at that time they could only point to the future time by offerings, animal sacrifices and the ministry performed by the priests.  The law was the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. 

Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Exo 28:36 And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
Exo 28:37 And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the miter; upon the forefront of the miter it shall be.
Exo 28:38 And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

This shows us the need of someone interceding for our sins. This was done continually. Now it is no longer necessary because the perfect sacrifice has been made and the way of salvation was made perfect.

Exo 28:39 And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the miter of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework.
Exo 28:40 And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.
Exo 28:41 And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.

This office became defiled when priests became corrupt and did this in name only not having a heart that was truly after God.

Exo 28:42 And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:

God's law concerning the covering of our nakedness has not changed. From the time when God made clothes for Adam and Eve until now, our nakedness is to be covered. That has never changed. Because of the fall, we now need to be covered by clothing.

God was so strict about this so they had to have these breeches to cover them when they climbed steps to the altar.

Modesty is still necessary even in today's world. We have broken this and opened ourselves up to sin. Modesty in dress is taught in the New Testament as well as the old.

Exo 28:43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute forever unto him and his seed after him.

They were to set the example and be covered so that the flesh would not rear its ugly head and destroy the meaning of what was taking place when they ministered the office of the priesthood. Even though the priesthood was abolished by Jesus Christ in which He now is the only priest we need, those the minister the gospel need to still be modest in dress as an example to others. We still need to overcome the desires of the flesh. When are dress is not modest, we open the door to fleshly lusts that war against the soul.

Flesh is weak and can be overcome only by the Holy Spirit. This is made possible when we come to Christ and receive His spirit.

Exodus 29