Exodus 39:7
And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses. And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses.
The verse records that two onyx stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes were fastened on the shoulders of the high priest's ephod as stones of memorial for Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses, so that he bore their names on his shoulders.
They were made as part of the wilderness sanctuary built exactly according to the divine pattern shown to Moses in the mount, carrying out precisely the directions given for its furnishings.
That sanctuary was made to be God's dwelling place among His people and the center of their worship, where His law rested beneath the mercy seat.
Though made for that present use, it was a great object-lesson of the plan of salvation, typical of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, with all its rites pointing to Christ.
Sanctuary Construction and Setting
Two onyx stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were set on the shoulder pieces of the ephod of the high priest to serve as stones of memorial for the children of Israel, exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses, so that in his ministry the high priest bore the tribal names upon his shoulders. The making and placing of these stones belongs to the preparation, fitting, and erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness at God's command. That tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus.
The verse stands in the record of how Israel carried out God's instructions for building the sanctuary and making its furnishings. The work described in Exodus 35 to 40 carried out exactly the directions for the sanctuary that God had given in Exodus 25 to 31, with the ephod made just as God directed as part of the ark with all its furniture and equipment. Exodus 33 to 40 records the building and setting up of the sanctuary in chronological order after Exodus 19 to 32, immediately following the instruction concerning the sanctuary in Exodus 25 to 31 that God gave to Moses in the mount. When the work was completed it was submitted to Moses, who found it made as God had commanded according to the pattern shown to him, and blessing and glory came down upon the congregation and the building when it was finished.
The structure so built was a marvelously beautiful sanctuary erected after the deliverance from Egyptian bondage. It was made according to the divine pattern given to Moses in the mount, made exactly according to the directions given there. It was built with free-will offerings by workmen whom God specially endowed for the task.
Dwelling Place and Typology
The onyx stones on the shoulders of the ephod belong to the account of the tabernacle that Israel erected in the wilderness at God's command so that He might dwell among them. That sanctuary was made as God's dwelling place among the people, built at His instruction that they make Him a dwelling so He could dwell among them. It was the center of Israel's worship, focused on the holy of holies where the law of God rested beneath the mercy seat. The same dwelling role continued in Israel's later worship until Solomon's temple, built after the same pattern, became the Lord's dwelling place.
The memorial stones of the ephod stand within the laws God gave through Moses. They belong to the body of Mosaic law, which includes moral, ceremonial, civil, health, and other regulations. That same body of law reveals offerings, sacrifices, and types.
The marvelously beautiful sanctuary structure made after Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage was a great multiple object-lesson comprehending the great plan of salvation. It was built with free-will offerings by workmen whom God specially endowed, according to the divine pattern given to Moses in the mount, so God could dwell among them. Though the worldly sanctuary constructed in the wilderness answered its purpose, it was typical of and foreshadowed the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, with all its rites pointing to Christ.