Exodus 39:6, commentary and pictures

The verse describes two onyx stones enclosed in settings of gold, engraved as signets are engraved with the names of the children of Israel, the tribes of Israel. The work was done by workmen whom God specially endowed for the building, made exactly according to the divine pattern given to Moses in the mount for the wilderness tabernacle, that God might dwell among His people. The two gold-mounted onyx stones were borne on the high priest's shoulders. Together with the names engraved on the breastplate, the names borne on the shoulder stones picture Christ, the great High Priest, bearing the names of repentant, believing people, for the sanctuary in its forms and rites was a great object-lesson comprehending the great plan of salvation.

Sanctuary Construction Described

The verse describes two onyx stones enclosed in ouches or settings of gold, engraved as signets are engraved with the names of the children of Israel, the tribes of Israel, which the high priest wore on his shoulders. The engraved, gold-set jewelry it describes was possible in the time of the Exodus, because the skill required for such work was present in the ancient world.

The verse belongs to the record of carrying out the detailed instructions for the sanctuary given in Exodus 25 to 31, set forth in the building and setting up described in Exodus 33 to 40 and running to the end of the book, following in chronological order the events of Exodus 19 to 32. It is part of the full description of the sanctuary and its furnishings running from Exodus 25 to the end of the book, which gives the exact pattern of the atoning service. It belongs to the record of how the instructions for building the sanctuary and making its furnishings, including the ark with all its furniture and equipment, were carried out just as God directed.

The verse belongs to the account of the wilderness tabernacle, the worldly sanctuary first pitched in the wilderness after Israel came out of Egypt across the Red Sea, built by Israel at God's command after He redeemed them from Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand. It was the earthly center of worship, which revolved around the most holy place, where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat. It was a marvelously beautiful, movable dwelling-place made from free-will offerings of all materials, wrought and fashioned that God might dwell among His people. Because long slavery had unfitted Israel to comprehend His great salvation and the character He required, God gave in its forms and rites a great multiple object-lesson comprehending the great plan of salvation.

The work the verse describes was done by workmen whom God specially endowed for building, with its dimensions, material, furnishings, and all made just as God directed and exactly according to the explicit divine pattern given to Moses in the mount on Sinai. When the sanctuary work was completed just as directed, wonderful blessing and glory came down upon the congregation and the building. The manifestation of God's glory at its construction and inauguration showed that He accepted the people's repentance.

Ceremonial and Priestly Meaning

Exodus 39:6 falls within the laws given through Moses, which include ceremonial laws and laws revealing offerings, sacrifices, and types. It belongs to that body of law through which the substance of the new dispensation can be traced from the shadows of the old.

The full description to which it belongs, running from Exodus 25 to the end of the book, gives the exact pattern of the atoning service with its two kinds of ceremonies in two apartments. That sanctuary had upright boards closely joined and set in silver sockets in the ground and held by bars passed through rings, with curtains roofing to the ground on both sides and hangings of fine-twined linen at the east end. A dividing curtain made the outer apartment twice as large as the inner, the inner walls were overlaid with fine gold shining with the reflected light of God's glory in the New Jerusalem, and the ceiling linen of finest purest linen was wrought with many angels in needlework representing the angels of heaven waiting on the bidding of Jehovah. The two onyx stones set in gold and engraved with the names of the children of Israel, the tribes of Israel, were borne on the high priest's shoulders. Together with the names engraved on the breastplate, those shoulder-borne names picture Christ, the great High Priest, bearing the names of repentant, believing people.