THE
ROBES OF THE HIGH PRIEST
By D. M.
PANTON.
God delights in the Types.
He took three days to give
the Decalogue; He took six days to create [restore] the worlds; but He took thirty days to give the ordinances in
Leviticus (Exod. 40: 17 compared with Num.
1: 1), ordinances to which the New Testament refers forty times: for not in law, nor in creation, but in grace is the
supreme pleasure of God. And the reason
of this is clear. The things of the Law,
says Paul, are a shadow of the things to come; but the
body - the substance which casts the shadow is
Christs (Col. 2: 17). The Old Testament not only died with Christ upon its lips, it also lived with
Christ upon its heart; and as the shadow of our earth, passing across the face
of another planet, will tell astronomers unknown secrets about our earth, so
each type, a shadow, reveals in Gods beloved Son, the Body which casts the
shadow, details otherwise unknown. The
Types are the letters which, in our childish hands, always spell Christ, and ever with new and lovelier meaning.
Much of Gods truth sinks into the soul through the eye: so
the details in the Types are not fanciful, but instructive; for whatever
the Holy Spirit touches instantly becomes significant; and even colours and numbers, in His hands,
utter forth glory. Take an example of numbering. Four are the colours of the Temple tapestry;
four, the ingredients of its incense; four, the spices of its anointing oil;
the priestly garments are four; and the High Priests additional garments, four
more; for four is the earthly number - four elements, four
winds, four divisions of mankind, four heads of the animal creation, etc. - and
worship in the Temple was thus revealed as the perfection of earthly worship. Take an example in colouring. Gods judgment throne is white (Rev. 20: 11), for it is a
throne of righteousness; the Form upon it is of Fire-colour (Rev. 4: 3), for it is a judgment throne: it is
circled with an emerald bow (Rev. 4: 3), for
in the midst of wrath God remembers mercy: and its foundation is sapphire (Exod. 24: 10),
for the Lord has established His throne in the heavens.
We turn to the robes of the High Priest (Exod. 29: 5;
Lev. 8: 7). That a deep
significance lies in these robes is obvious because the High Priest alone in
all Israel, alone in all the world, was clothed magnificently by
Divine command.* God Himself ordered, and designed, his
robes, and designed them for glory and for beauty. Why? Because Christ, of whom the High Priest
was a type (Heb. 7: 28), alone among the
sons of men was clothed with a magnificent righteousness. The High Priests robes show what God thinks of Christ: the robes are of Gods designing, and
of Christs wearing, and, delineate the righteousness of the God-man. Her priests also will I clothe with righteousness (Ps. 132: 16).
[* The priests also had garments for glory and for beauty (Ex.
28: 40), but not the magnificent robes peculiar to the High Priest.]
The robes were made, not of silk, or wool, but of linen, the product
of a plant out of the ground. They shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon
them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court (Ezek. 44: 17).
Linen is the oldest textile fabric in the world; it is found in pre-historic
human remains; it wrapt the mummies of
The White Robe (or coat) was
the tunic worn next the flesh. It is, if
I mistake not, the righteousness of the Son of man. This is beautifully revealed in details. (1) It was a hidden garment. It fell from the neck to the ankles (so Josephus),
but was completely covered by the Blue Robe, which also fell the full length of
the figure. So our Lords spotless human
character was seen by few: to myriads of eyes He was a deceiver, a breaker of
the Law, a demoniac, or a blasphemer. By
the magnificent robes themselves the
White Robe was concealed. What does this
mean? It was His assertions of Godhead,
to the Jew, and confessions of royalty, to the Gentile - true assertions and
confessions of fact - which blotted the White Robe from the eyes of both the
Israelite and the Roman. (2) It was a
full garment, for the righteousness of Christ covers the whole man; it was a white robe, for it was the spotless purity of
the Holy One of God: it was the inner garment, for what God alone could see in Christ - the hidden man of the heart - was white as light. He had to be a spotless priest to the eye of
God before He could be a glorious Priest to the eye of man. For such a high
priest became us, holy, guileless, undefiled,
separated from sinners (Heb. 7: 26).
(3) A white robe, though not this White
Robe of embroidered beauty, was the only one worn when the High Priest entered
the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.* For all the garments depict Christs
righteousness: but the active righteousness of His life disappears when, on
Calvary, He presents Himself without spot, and so without colour, to God, in passive righteousness, a
guiltless Man for guilty men. The purple
robe and the scarlet robe in the judgment halls; the seamless robe, seamless,
thus corresponding with the Blue Robe; the crown of thorns - the only gold
earth ever gave her Lord - all are put off ere He makes atonement; and at last,
in the grave, the apostles find the High Priests linen
clothes lying.
[* But the embroidery itself,- woven
in chequer work (Ex. 28: 39), which was
confined to this Robe, seems indicative of the imprint of the nails, much as
the pitch in the Ark cemented, as with blood, that massive structure of
righteousness. It is the skin of the
Sacrifice, with which, as of old (Gen. 3: 21),
God clothes the fallen.]
Worn over the White is the Blue Robe, or robe of the ephod. It was made all of
blue* This
appears to be the righteousness of the Son of God. For blue is the colour of
the heavens beyond all clouds, where God is; and, in the heavens, Ezekiel saw a
throne as the appearance of a sapphire (Ezek. 1: 26). So Christ came out of the blue, from God, and
went back into the blue, to God, and, throughout His earthly life, He was the Son of man, which is in heaven (John 3: 13). Wherever Christ went He carried a bit of
heaven, an atmosphere of God: over the robe of the humanity fell the exactly conterminous
robe of the Deity. (1) It was seamless,
falling, as a whole, over the head upon the shoulders. As through one
trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so through one
righteousness,** - no
patchwork quilt, but a seamless robe the free gift
came unto all men to justification of life (Rom.
5: 18). (2) It was forbidden to
be rent. The moment Caiaphas
rent his robe, the high priesthood passed from Aarons sons: our Lords
seamless robe was never rent, for His priesthood is eternal. He, because He abideth for ever, hath His
priesthood unchangeable (Heb. 7: 24).
(3) From the fringe of the Blue Robe hung alternate bells and
pomegranates. Bells - confession; the faithful and true Witness: pomegranates - fruitfulness; Who
went about doing good:
sound and
fruit, and as much fruit as sound.
But why on the Blue Robe? Because the
White Robe is faultlessness rather
than fruitfulness, and the Blue Robe is fruitfulness rather than faultlessness: the White Robe is the negative
perfection of spotlessness, rather than the positive perfection of heavenly
activities: the White Robe is the passive righteousness of suffering the Law
unto death, rather than the active righteousness of keeping the Law unto
life. Both were necessary for the
salvation of men. For the saved have obtained a like precious faith in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1: 1), - who combines, in Himself, the
perfect righteousness of a man, and the perfect righteousness of God.
[* The flax bears a
bright blue flower.]
The outermost garment is the
Many-coloured Robe (or ephod). It was made of gold, of blue, and purple,
scarlet, and fine twined linen.* A ray of light, on its departure from
the sun, is white : as it travels through the blue, it strikes upon the world, and so
breaks up into many colours. So our Lord, the light of the world,
coming a white ray from God, and descending through the blue, had His life, by
contact with earth, broken up into gold-glory, blue - heavenly-mindedness,
purple - royalty, scarlet - blood-shedding, and white
- holiness. He takes human
relationships, and reveals latent excellencies: gold - God come into the world;
blue - the Man whose mind was always in Heaven; purple - the Heir of the most
sacred royalty in the world; scarlet - the Lamb for the sins of the world;
white - the Holy One whom the tomb could not hold. So, in the transfiguration, when Christ goes
up into a high mountain apart, back, as it
were, through the blue, His garments became white as the light (Matt. 17:
2): the Light of the world became, once again, the white Ray from the
throne of God.**
[* Samuel the prophet
(1 Sam. 2: 18), David the king (2 Sam. 6: 14), and
Aaron the priest, all wore the ephod:
our Lord combined the three offices in His own Person.
** The cunningly woven
girdle, of the same blending of colours and cut from the same piece (Ex. 27: 8), was the fourth and last garment
peculiar to the High Priest; righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins (Isa. 11: 5).]
With cunning workmanship, the
wisdom of the Holy Ghost, the gold - the Godhead - was wrought into every
colour: through and through our Lords character, and through and through the holy
life, gleamed and glistened the Divine.
And they did beat the gold into thin plates,
and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the
scarlet, and in the fine linen.
Take the Blue. Storm-tossed upon
the lake, He sleeps; and He awoke ...
and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great
calm (Mark 4: 39). A tired human mind, asleep; a roused mind
that can at once control the world: how cunningly the Gold is wrought into the
Blue! Take the Purple. Wise men come out of the East to worship, as
king, Where is He that is born king? for our Lord, in a sense, was born in the
Purple; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east,
went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was
(Matt. 2: 9). A helpless, tender infant, in a manger; Gods
star-crowned king: how cunningly the Gold is wrought into the Purple! Take the Scarlet. Across Kidron, with
weapons and torches; came Judas and his band; when
therefore He said unto them, I am, they went backward, and fell
to the ground (John 18: 6). A harmless, sword-less Lamb for sacrifice; a
cohort prostrate at a Name: how cunningly the Gold is wrought into the
Scarlet! Take the Linen. A Body is laid, limp and dead, upon the
rock. In three days the linen swathes
have sunk empty, as the Divine Form has passed up and out: how cunningly is the
Gold wrought into the fine twined Linen!
So the righteousness of Jesus was threaded with the Divine: the
righteousness of the Man was shot through and through with the righteousness of
God.
The White Robe- atonement, the obedient Lamb offered
without spot: the Blue Robe - ascension, the Son of God returning
whence He came, where, as it were, we can overhear the tinkling of the bells of
the interceding Priest; the Many-coloured Robe - glory, the King of kings,
coming back crowned with many crowns.
These robes - one righteousness- God offers to all: conversion is Christ
putting on the robes of His glory in the eyes of the soul, as He then transfers
them to the shoulders of faith. For the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ
is unto all
- as a universal offer and upon all them that believe
(Rom. 3: 22) - a garment woven of God, and let
fall out of the heavens upon the shoulders of faith. He is the Lord our
righteousness: drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let
the skies pour down righteousness [the incarnate Son of God]: let the earth open, that they may bring forth salvation, and
let her cause righteousness to spring up together [the risen Son of Man] ; I
the Lord have created it (Isa. 45: 8).
It is the salvation of the soul.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul
shall be joyful in my God; FOR HE HATH
CLOTHED ME WITH THE GARMENTS OF SALVATION, HE HATH COVERED ME WITH THE ROBE OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS (Isa. 61: 10).
* *
* * *
* *
0 Saviour, I
am Thine
By every right
Which can be ever claimd
Of love or might.
Saviour! the
Law Divine
Thou didst fulfil
By holy act, and meek
Submissive will.
0 Saviour, leave me not,
Or else I stray
Back to the sordid sins,
The weary way.
Saviour! my
only pledge
Is Thy dear love,
Which, shrined
within my heart,
Shall rich life prove.
My hope is all in Thee,
Thy promise sure:
I am Thine own to-day
And evermore.
- W. GRAHAM.
-------