Exodus 39:9
It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled. It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled.
Exodus 39:9 belongs to the account in Exodus 36-39 of making the sanctuary furnishings. It belongs to the larger account of building the sanctuary and its furnishings and establishing its services. It belongs to the building and setting up of the sanctuary in Exodus 33-40, in which the Lord's directions were carried out explicitly. This building work came next in chronological order after the events of Exodus 19-32 and the sanctuary instruction God gave to Moses in the mount in Exodus 25-31, and the manifestation of God's glory at the sanctuary showed His acceptance of the people's repentance.
The sanctuary Israel was told to make after being led out of Egypt was His dwelling place built so He might dwell among them. It was a marvelously beautiful structure built in order to reveal more fully His great love, continuing the unfolding plan of redemption previously shown in the simple offering of a lamb for sin upon an altar of rough stones. It was a great multiple object-lesson comprehending the plan of salvation, given because slavery had unfitted Israel to comprehend God's salvation and the character He required. It was built from the free-will offerings of the children of Israel by workmen specially endowed by God. It was built according to the divine pattern given to Moses in the mount.
The verse falls within the laws given through Moses that Malachi calls Israel to remember, as part of the Mosaic material that includes both moral commands and the laws concerning offerings, sacrifices, and types. It describes the breastplate as foursquare, made double, a span in length and a span in breadth. This tabernacle workmanship reflects the skill and craftsmanship present in the ancient world.
The breastplate is the breastplate of judgment worn by the high priest bearing the tribes of Israel. It was worn in the tenth-day atonement of the house of Israel, which was in a certain sense a day of judgment when every soul was examined and the unrepentant soul was cut off from among the people. That service shadows forth the investigative judgment of the house or church of God, when the cases of the righteous dead and living are decided before the second coming of Christ while Jesus offers His blood for the blotting out of sins. The wilderness tabernacle the verse helps describe was the earthly sanctuary where worship centered, with its service revolving around the Most Holy Place where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat. The sanctuary and its service were figures of the heavenly sanctuary and pointed to Christ and His work.