HOMILETICS. Ver. 31.-The Teachings of the Robe. L TuE ~'EED o:r HEAVENLY CALK AND PURITY. The robe was to be of one hue--uniform, peaceful; without glitter; something on which the eye could rest it.self with a quiet satisfaction. And it was to be "blue"- the colour of heaven, the hue which God hw. spread over " tha.t spacious :firmament on high," which in his word represent.s to us his dwelling. "The blue sky is an image of i,urit.y." Nothing purer, nothing calmer, nothing more restful, than the deep soft azure of the eternal unchanging bky. The high priest's robe was t.o mirror it. He was to p~nt himself before God in a robe " all of blue." So let us present ourselves befor& him arrayed in purity and peacefulness. II. THE NEED OF m"ITY. If the ephod was to some extent emblematic of the one- ness of the Church, so, and much more, was "the robe of the ephod." It was of woven work (eh. x:xxiL 22), absolutely sea.ml~ne, emphatica.lly, m material, in hue, In texture. So Christ prayed that his Church might be one--" as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us-one, even as we are one ; I iu them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one" (John xvil. 21-23). Visible unity is broken up ; but something of invisible unity there may still be, if all true lovers of Christ will cultivate the spirit of unity; judge charit.a.bly; think the best they can of all branches of the Church ; look to the good points of each ; pray for thei.: advance in holiness and in the knowledge of Christ; work with them so far as they can ---t.g., for charit.a.ble and moral objects, amicably. If we thus act, if we be thus minded, we shall, in a true sense, put on "the robe of the ephod "-we shall be promoters, and not hinderers, of unity. ill THE NEED OF KEEPING OUR .ATTENTION FIXED ON THE .A<n'IONB OF OUB TRUE Hlaa l'B.u:aT, AND JOINING IN TBE1l. The bells of the robe were to advertise the µeuple of every movement made by the high priest, and enable them to take their part in his actions. To profit by the contrivance, they had to keep their ears attent to the soUDd, and their minds :fixed on the service which was in progress within the sanctuary. We Chrunans have equal need to mount up~ thought cont~ually to that holy pl~, whither Christ has taken our nature, and set 1t down at the right hand of God-to JOIIl with him as he pleads his meritorious sa.cri1ice on our behalf; to "have boldness" with him "to enter into the holiest;" with hlm to ask the Father to pardon our sins; with tiim to intercede for the whole Church; with him to pray that strength may be given us to persevere. We do not, indeed, need bells t.o tell us how he is employed at each f'II. XXVIII. 3G-38.) THE IlOOK OF EXODUS. 291
euc?essivo moment, ~caus~ he i~ always doing all t~eee ~hinge for us-n\w:i.y,q inoor- cedmg, always ple11dmg his eacr1fice, always beseechmg his Father to forcrive us an,l sustain us. We may join him in these acts at any moment. Thus, bells ar~ not neces- sary for us; but still they may sometimes help us. Many an Israelite, whose thon,,ht~ wandered nnd became fixed on worldly things, when no sound issued from the sanctu';iry wo.s recnlled to a sense of religion, and the recollection of his soul's needs, by the tink~ ling of the priest's golden belle. So Christians, who ought in heart and mind ever t 0 nscend to where Christ sits at the right hand of God (Col. iii. 1-3; Eph. ii. 6, etc.), but whose attention will wander to earth and earthly objects, may sometimes by the chime of bells, or by their solemn toll, be woke up to higher thoughts,-recalled, as it were, from earth to heaven, tnken back from the vain distractions of the world to that bJly place where their High Priest is ever interceding for them.
EXPOSITION. Vere. 36-38.-TBE Mrrm!I. Joeeph11B tells taught the high priest himseli not to rest us tho.t the head-dress of the high priest was npon outward forms, bnt to aim in his own " not o. conical co.p, but o. sort of crown, ma.de person, and teach the people to aim coutin- no.lly, at internal holiness. The extreme im- of thick linen swathes" (A.nt. Jud. iii. 7, § 3). portance of this, causes the patting forward at rt wo.s thus reo.lly a species of turban. The once of the plate and its inscription before any colour wo.s white; and the only ornament on account of the "mitre" is given. it wo.s the gold plo.te, with its blue ribbon or Ver. 87.-Thou ahalt put it on a blue lace. fillet. In eh. xxxix. 31, it is explained that the blue lace, or ribbon, was "tied to it," probably at Ver. 36.-Thon ahalt make a plate of pure either end. That it may be upon the mitre- gold. The plate, though a mere ornament of i.e., "that it may be kept in place, and not the mitre, wo.s, at once, its most conspicuo11B slip from its position on the mitre.'' o.nd its most significant feature. Placed di- Ver. 38.-11; aha.Il be upon bis forehead, rectly in front, right over the forehead, and that Aaron may bear the imquity of the probably of burnished gold, it would attract aaorecl thmga. Imperfection attaches to universal attention, and catch the eye even everything that man does ; and even the sacri- more than the breast-plate. Its position me.de fices that the people offered to God reqnired it" the culminating point of the whole priestly to be atoned for and purified. It was granted attire " (Kalisch)-and its inscription gave to to the high priest in his official capacity to that position extra.ordinary force and signi- make the necessary atonement, and so render ficance. For it taught that "holiness to the the people's gifts acceptable. For this purpose Lord" is the very highest crown and truest he was invested with an official holiness, pro- excellence of religion-that to which all cere- claimed by the inscription npon the plate, monial is meant to conduce-that without which exhibited him o.s the type and repre- which o.11 the paraphernalia of worship must sentative of that perfectly Holy One, througb. ever be in God's sight a mockery. It set this whom alone can any real atonement be made truth conspicuously before the eyes, and was to the Father. It shall be &lwaJII upon bis apt to impress it upon the hearti; of all. It forahead--i.e., whenever he ministers.