"And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim ["lights and perfections"]; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the Lord: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually." We learn, from various passages of the Word, that the "Urim" stood connected with the communication of the mind of God in reference to the various questions which arose in the details of Israel's history. Thus, for example, in the appointment of Joshua, we read, "And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him, _after the judgment of Urim before the Lord_." (Numb. xxvii. 21.) "And of Levi he said, 'Let thy Thummim and thy Urim [thy perfections and thy lights] be with thy holy one.... They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law.'" (Deut. xxxiii. 8-10.) "And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, _nor by Urim_, nor by prophets." (1 Sam. xxviii. 6.) "And Tirshatha said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim." (Ezra ii. 63.) Thus we learn that the high-priest not only bore the judgment of the congregation before the Lord, but also communicated the judgment of the Lord to the congregation. Solemn, weighty, and most precious functions! All this we have, in divine perfectness, in our "great High-Priest, who has passed into the heavens." He bears the judgment of His people on His heart continually; and He, by the Holy Ghost, communicates to us the counsel of God, in reference to the most minute circumstances of our daily course. We do not want dreams or visions; if only we walk in the Spirit, we shall enjoy all the certainty which the perfect "Urim," on the breast of our High-Priest, can afford.
"And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.... And beneath, upon the hem of it, thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister; and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not." (Ver. 31-35.) The blue robe of the ephod is expressive of the entirely heavenly character of our High-Priest. He is gone into heaven,--He is beyond the range of mortal vision; but, by the power of the Holy Ghost, there is divine testimony to the truth of His being alive, in the presence of God; and not only testimony, but fruit likewise. "A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate,"--such is the beauteous order. True testimony to the great truth that Jesus ever liveth to make intercession for us will be inseparably connected with fruitfulness in His service. O, for a deeper understanding of these precious and holy mysteries![13]
[13] It is needless to remark that there is divine appropriateness, as well as significancy, in all the figures presented to us in the Word. Thus, the "pomegranate," when opened, is found to consist of a number of seeds, contained in a _red_ fluid. Surely this has a voice. Let spirituality, not imagination, judge.
"And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And thou shall put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre, upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon _his_ forehead, that _they_ may be accepted before the Lord." (Ver. 36-38.) Here is a weighty truth for the soul. The golden plate on Aaron's forehead was the type of the essential holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. "It shall be ALWAYS upon HIS forehead, that THEY may be accepted before the Lord." What rest for the heart amid all the fluctuations of one's experience! Our High-Priest is "always" in the presence of God for us. We are represented by, and accepted in, Him. His holiness is ours. The more deeply we become acquainted with our own personal vileness and infirmity, the more we enter into the humiliating truth that in us dwelleth no good thing, the more fervently shall we bless the God of all grace for the soul-sustaining truth contained in these words, "It shall be always upon _his_ forehead, that _they_ may be accepted before the Lord."