And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the
gates of the inner court
The priests before described; when they enter the right way into a true Gospel church, consisting of such who are internally renewed, and have an inward work of grace upon their hearts, and are inward court worshippers; either as private Christians, to pray together, to praise the Lord, to hear his word, and sit down at his table; or as public ministers, to preach the Gospel, and administer ordinances: they shall be clothed with linen garments;
meaning not the outward conversation garments of the Lord's people; nor their inward garment of sanctification; but the robe of Christ's righteousness, and garments of salvation; that fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of the saints; and which, though but one, serves for many; and answers not only all the purposes of a garment, but even of many, of change of raiment: like a garment, it is on, and not in, the saints; it is put upon them by imputation; and, like a garment, it covers them, protects them from all injuries, keeps them warm and comfortable, and beautifies and adorns them; and is compared to linen for its whiteness and purity; see ( Revelation 3:18 ) ( 19:8 ) and in this all the people of God, ministers and private Christians, perform all their services in the house of God; making mention of this, and of this only, whereby they become acceptable unto God, ( Psalms 71:16 ) ( Ephesians 1:6 ) : and no wool shall come upon them, while they minister in the gates of
the inner court, and within;
it is certain that the priests under the law had wool upon them in the time of their ministry; for the purple, blue, and scarlet, as the Jewish writers F11 observe, were all of them dyed wool; of which, with other things, the girdle common to all the priests, and the ephod and breast plate of the high priest, were made, ( Exodus 28:5 Exodus 28:6 Exodus 28:8 Exodus 28:15 ) , and which they wore in their common service: to the Jews in general it was not lawful to wear a garment of linen and woollen, ( Leviticus 19:19 ) ( Deuteronomy 22:11 ) and therefore, as Josephus says F12, to the priests only it was allowed to wear such a garment; and it is common with the Jewish doctors F13 to observe, that
``the priests were not clothed to minister in the temple but with wool and linen;''indeed, on the day of atonement, the high priest, when he went into the holiest of all, had only linen garments on him; and of the service of this day Jarchi interprets the text; but Kimchi rightly objects, that the holiest of all cannot be called a court; and besides, it is said in the plural number, they shall be clothed, and minister;