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Exodus 28

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1 Take unto thee also Aaron thy brother with his sons, from among the children of Israel, that they may minister to me in the priest's office: Aaron, Nadab, and Abiu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

2 And thou shalt make a holy vesture for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.

3 And thou shalt speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's vestments, in which he being consecrated may minister to me.

4 And these shall be the vestments that they shall make: A rational and an ephod, a tunick and a strait linen garment, a mitre and a girdle. They shall make the holy vestments for thy brother Aaron and his sons, that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.

5 And they shall take gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen.

6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen, embroidered with divers colours.

7 It shall have the two edges joined in the top on both sides, that they may be closed together.

8 The very workmanship also and all the variety of the work shall be of gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen.

9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and shalt grave on them the names of the children of Israel:

10 Six names on one stone, and the other Six on the other, according to the order of their birth.

11 With the work of an engraver and the graving of a jeweller, thou shalt engrave them with the names of the children of Israel, set in gold and compassed about:

12 And thou shalt put them in both sides of the ephod, a memorial for the children of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon both shoulders, for a remembrance.

13 Thou shalt make also hooks of gold.

14 And two little chains of the purest gold linked one to another, which thou shalt put into the hooks.

15 And thou shalt make the rational of judgment with embroidered work of divers colours, according to the workmanship of the ephod, of gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen.

16 It shall be foursquare and doubled: it shall be the measure of a span both in length and in breadth.

17 And thou shalt set in it four rows of stones: in the first row shall be a sardius stone, and a topaz, and an emerald:

18 In the second a carbuncle, a sapphire and a jasper.

19 In the third a ligurius, an agate, and an amethyst:

20 In the fourth a chrysolite, an onyx, and a beryl. They shall be set in gold by their rows.

21 And they shall have the names of the children of Israel: with twelve names shall they be engraved, each stone with the name of one according to the twelve tribes.

22 And thou shalt make on the rational chains linked one to another of the purest gold:

23 And two rings of gold, which thou shalt put in the two ends at the top of the rational.

24 And the golden chains thou shalt join to the rings, that are in the ends thereof:

25 And the ends of the chains themselves thou shalt join together with two hooks on both sides of the ephod, which is towards the rational.

26 Thou shalt make also two rings of gold which thou shalt put in the top parts of the rational, in the borders that are over against the ephod, and look towards the back parts thereof.

27 Moreover also other two rings of gold, which are to be set on each side of the ephod beneath, that looketh towards the nether joining, that the rational may be fitted with the ephod,

28 And may be fastened by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a violet fillet, that the joining artificially wrought may continue, and the rational and the ephod may not be loosed one from the other.

29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the rational of judgement upon his breast, when he shall enter into the sanctuary, a memorial before the Lord for ever.

30 And thou shalt put in the rational of judgment doctrine and truth, which shall be on Aaron's breast, when he shall go in before the Lord: and he shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his breast, in the sight of the Lord always.

31 And thou shalt make the tunick of the ephod all of violet,

32 In the midst whereof above shall be a hole for the head, and a border round about it woven, as is wont to be made in the outmost parts of garments, that it may not easily be broken.

33 And beneath at the feet of the same tunick round about, thou shalt make as it were pomegranates, of violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, with little bells set between:

34 So that there shall be a golden bell and a pomegranate, and again another golden bell and a pomegranate.

35 And Aaron shall be vested with it in the office of his ministry, that the sound may be heard, when he goeth in and cometh out of the sanctuary, in the sight of the Lord, and that he may not die.

36 Thou shalt make also a plate of the purest gold: wherein thou shalt grave with engraver's work, Holy to the Lord.

37 And thou shalt tie it with a violet fillet, and it shall be upon the mitre,

38 Hanging over the forehead of the high priest. And Aaron shall bear the iniquities of those things, which the children of Israel have offered and sanctified, in all their gifts and offerings. And the plate shall be always on his forehead, that the Lord may be well pleased with them.

39 And thou shalt gird the tunick with fine linen, and thou shalt make a fine linen mitre, and a girdle of embroidered work.

40 Moreover for the sons of Aaron thou shalt prepare linen tunicks, and girdles and mitres for glory and beauty:

41 And with all these things thou shalt vest Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him. And thou shalt consecrate the hands of them all, and shalt sanctify them, that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.

42 Thou shalt make also linen breeches, to cover the flesh of their nakedness from the reins to the thighs:

43 And Aaron and his sons shall use them when they shall go in to the tabernacle of the testimony, or when they approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary, lest being guilty of iniquity they die. It shall be a law for ever to Aaron, and to his seed after him.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 10079

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10079. 'And one wafer' means lowest celestial good. This is clear from the meaning of 'wafer' as celestial good in the external man, dealt with in 9994, thus that which is lowest. In the heavens there are two distinct and separate kingdoms; one is called the celestial kingdom, the other the spiritual kingdom. Each kingdom has three parts; each has an inmost part, a middle part, and a lowest part. The inmost good of the celestial kingdom is meant by 'bread', middle good by 'cakes', and lowest good by 'wafers', see above in 9993. It says that they were to take one loaf of bread, one cake, and one wafer, and after these had been waved they were to be burned with the burnt offering, and that Aaron and his sons were to eat the bread left over in the basket at the door of the tent of meeting. These things served to mean the transmission of the good of love from the Lord and the reception of it in the higher heavens, that is, in the celestial kingdom. The transmission of that good was meant by the bread which, after it had been waved, was burned on the altar, and the reception of it was meant by the bread that was eaten. It says 'one' loaf of bread, 'one' cake, and 'one' wafer because Good from God is essentially one.

[2] Next it must be stated why it was decreed that not only the ram's fat and right flank had to be burned on the altar but also offerings of bread, which were called minchahs, when yet good is meant equally by the bread or minchahs as it is by the fat and flank. Without knowledge of why it had to be done offering bread as well would seem to be superfluous. But the reason was that sacrifices and burnt offerings were not demanded, only permitted, and that they were therefore unacceptable in the heavens. Therefore minchahs as well, or offerings of bread, were presented, and also drink offerings of wine, which were acceptable; for 'bread' means all celestial good and 'wine' all the truth that goes with it. This also explains why sacrifices and burnt offerings were called bread, and in addition minchahs or gifts; for minchahs in the original language denotes gifts. But see what has been shown previously on these matters,

Sacrifices and burnt offerings were first introduced by Eber and came down from him to the descendants of Jacob, 1128, 1343, 2818, 4874, 5702.

Sacrifices and burnt offerings were not demanded, only permitted, 2180.

Sacrifices and burnt offerings were called bread, 2165.

'Bread' means celestial good and 'wine' the truth that goes with it, 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3735, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915, 6118, 6377, 8410, 9323, 9545.

The like is meant by 'minchah' and 'drink offering', 4581.

From this it is evident that it was for the same reason also that the Lord abolished the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and retained the bread and wine. But it should be recognized that the flesh of a sacrifice or burnt offering served in particular to mean spiritual good, whereas the bread of a minchah served to mean celestial good, and that this was why not only flesh but also bread had to be offered.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.