Exodus 39:21
And they did bind the breastplate by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as the LORD commanded Moses.
The fastening kept the breastplate of the high priest firmly joined to the ephod above its woven band by blue cords through their rings, exactly as God had directed. It belongs to the building of the sanctuary after the Exodus from Egypt so that God might dwell among His redeemed people and teach them salvation by a great object-lesson. Every detail was made after the pattern God showed to Moses on the mount, and that earthly pattern with its ceremonies pointed to the heavenly sanctuary and to Christ who forgives sin and transforms character. The breastplate bearing the tribes in the atonement service foreshadowed the investigative judgment of the house of God before the second coming of Christ.
Tabernacle Setting and Construction
The breastplate was bound by its own rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace or cord of blue, set above the curiously woven band of the ephod so that it stayed in place and would not be loosed from the ephod, exactly as the Lord commanded Moses. This direction belongs to the building and setting up of the sanctuary recorded in Exodus 33-40, and more narrowly to Exodus 35-40, which describe the preparation and fitting of the Tabernacle. That building work comes in chronological order after the instruction concerning the sanctuary given in Exodus 25-31, continuing the order of events from Exodus 19 to Exodus 32, and the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year from the departure from Egypt.
It is part of the account that the sanctuary, its furnishings, priestly garments, and service objects were made explicitly and in detail according to the design God prescribed, the pattern He showed to Moses in the mount for Israel to make so He might dwell among them. The Lord's directions for building were carried out explicitly, and the parts were constructed in detail according to God's command and inspected by Moses as a true pattern. The sanctuary so built was a marvelously beautiful structure, a great multiple object-lesson, raised from free-will offerings by specially endowed workmen according to the divine pattern given to Moses in the mount. Its detailed craftsmanship in linen, gold, and jewelry was possible in the ancient world because skilled work of that kind existed long before the Exodus.
Israel's carrying out of God's instructions is recorded in this making of the sanctuary and its furnishings as God directed, and when the work was completed blessing and glory came upon the congregation and the building. The making of the sanctuary and its service objects stands within the account of the sanctuary's building and inauguration, and the manifestation of God's glory in the building and inauguration showed His acceptance of the people's repentance.
Purpose and Typological Meaning
Exodus 39:21 belongs to the explicit directions given after the deliverance from Egypt for building God a sanctuary that He might dwell among His people and reveal His great love more fully in the unfolding plan of redemption. That sanctuary was a marvelously beautiful structure raised from free-will offerings by specially endowed workmen according to the divine pattern shown to Moses in the mount, and it stood as a great object-lesson by many forms and rites setting forth the plan of salvation. It was given to a people redeemed from Egyptian bondage who had been unfitted by slavery to comprehend God's salvation and the character He required.
The verse is part of the account of the wilderness tabernacle whose worship centered on the holy of holies, where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat. It is part of the law of Moses commanded in Horeb with statutes and judgments, comprising the Ten Commandments together with civil regulations, sacrificial and ceremonial laws, laws of conduct, and health laws. It belongs to the law set forth in Exodus 20 to 40 and Leviticus which God's people in the last days are called to remember, whose ceremonial details of offerings, sacrifices, and types find their substance traced in the new dispensation.
The making of the earthly sanctuary and its furnishings described in Exodus 39 served as a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary and its service. Its ceremonies pointed to Christ, whose power forgives sin, transforms character, and delivers people from their burdens. Exodus 39:8-21 presents the high priest wearing the breastplate of judgment bearing the tribes of Israel in the tenth-day atonement of the house of Israel, which in a certain sense was a day of judgment. That service shadows forth the investigative judgment of the house, or church, of God before the second coming of Christ.