Exodus 39:20, commentary and pictures

The verse records the placing of two more gold rings low on the sides of the ephod toward its front, opposite the upper fastening and above its skillfully woven band, as part of its detailed workmanship. The ephod itself was a short, richly embroidered garment of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet belonging to the high priest's garments made for glory and for beauty, and here it holds the breastplate of judgment on which the tribes of Israel were represented. It stands within the full account of the earthly sanctuary whose pattern was shown to Moses in the mount in Exodus 25-31 and then carried out in Exodus 35-40 until the tabernacle was set up, inspected by Moses, and found to follow God's command exactly, when blessing and glory came down. As one of the laws given through Moses concerning the sanctuary and its furnishings, its directions about offerings and types help trace the substance of the new dispensation from the shadows of the old, making the making of the sanctuary useful for learning God's way and Christ's priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. It belongs to God's express direction after the Exodus to build Him a dwelling that He might dwell among His people to reveal His love more fully, and to the order of atonement service done in separate apartments that points to the remedy for sin and shadows forth the investigative judgment of the house of God before the second coming of Christ.

Words and Setting

The two other rings of gold were fixed low on the two sides of the ephod underneath toward its forepart, facing its other joining and above its skillfully woven band, a precision showing how detailed its workmanship was. The ephod itself was a shorter garment richly embroidered with gold and blue and purple and scarlet, belonging to the high priest's garments made for glory and for beauty, whose rings are left without further explanation. This forming of the ephod stands within the making of the breastplate of judgment in Exodus 39:8-21, worn by the high priest with the tribes of Israel represented upon it.

The making belongs to the complete description of the worldly sanctuary and its furnishings, instructed in Exodus 25-31 and carried out in Exodus 35-40. Those instructions were given to Moses in the mount, and the building and setting up in Exodus 33-40 followed them in chronological order in the course of events from Exodus 19 until the tabernacle was set up. The finished work was inspected by Moses and found to follow God's command and pattern, carried out explicitly just as directed. Upon that completion blessing and glory came down upon the congregation and the building.

The tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus. It was raised in the heart of the wilderness far from enemies as the movable dwelling place where God dwelt with men, the building erected at God's command in which worship on earth centered. It was given when the ransomed people were bound to Jehovah by solemn covenant as a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, and were provided with legal ordinances for guidance. Its sides and one end were upright boards closely joined with lower ends set in silver sockets in the ground, held by outside crossing bars passing through rings at uniform distances, roofed with curtains reaching to the ground on both sides, closed at the east end by hangings of fine-twined linen, and divided by another curtain into two apartments with the outer apartment twice as large as the other. Its inner walls overlaid with fine gold shone to represent the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem, and the ceiling curtains of finest linen wrought with angels represented the angels waiting upon Jehovah. Such skill in working gold was already present in the ancient world long before the Exodus, supporting the historical plausibility of the account.

Teaching and Significance

The verse stands among the laws given through Moses, which are more than the Ten Commandments and include civil, sacrificial, health, ceremonial, and moral laws for Israel. As part of the laws concerning the sanctuary and its furnishings, its instructions about offerings and types help trace the substance of the new dispensation from the shadows of the old. The account of making the sanctuary to which it belongs is useful for learning about God's way and, through the earthly sanctuary's role as a pattern, Christ's priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary.

It is part of the explicit instructions God gave Israel after leading them out of Egypt to make a sanctuary as His dwelling place so He could dwell among them to reveal His great love more fully. This continued the unfolding plan of redemption that from Eden to the Exodus was shown in the simple offering of a lamb for sin upon an altar of rough stones, with the father of each family acting as priest and mediator between his family and God. The full description of the sanctuary and its furnishings running from Exodus 25 to the end of the book gives the exact formula of the atonement work done in two kinds of service by different persons at different times in separate apartments for the errors of the people, pointing to the remedy for sin. That structure had sides and one end of upright boards closely joined with lower ends set in silver sockets in the ground, held by outside crossing bars passing through rings at uniform distances, roofed with curtains reaching to the ground on both sides, closed at the east end by hangings of fine-twined linen brushed aside for passage, and divided by another curtain into two apartments with the outer apartment twice as large as the other. Its inner walls overlaid with fine gold shone with greatest brilliancy to represent the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem, and the ceiling curtains of finest and purest linen wrought with many angels in beautiful needlework represented the angels waiting upon Jehovah.

The description of the breastplate of judgment in Exodus 39:8-21 worn by the high priest, on which the tribes of Israel were represented, belongs to the tenth-day atonement service of the house of Israel, which was in a certain sense a day of judgment. That service shadows forth the investigative judgment of the house or church of God before the second coming of Christ. In the Greek Old Testament the curtain at the entrance of the holy place, the first apartment, is called katapetasma, the same word used for the veil before the most holy place and for the court gate. This proves that katapetasma does not always mean the second veil, and its meaning in any place, including the New Testament, must be decided by setting and context.