Exodus 28:11-21

11 With the work of an engraver, and the graving of a jeweller, thou shalt engrave them with the names of the children of Israel, set in gold and compassed about:

12 And thou shalt put them in both sides of the ephod, a memorial for the children of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon both shoulders, for a remembrance.

13 Thou shalt make also hooks of gold.

14 And two little chains of the purest gold, linked one to another, which thou shalt put into the hooks.

15 And thou shalt make the rational of judgment with embroidered work of divers colours, according to the workmanship of the ephod, of gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen.

16 It shall be four square and doubled: it shall be the measure of a span both in length and in breadth.

17 And thou shalt set in it four rows of stones. In the first row shall be a sardius stone, and a topaz, and an emerald:

18 In the second a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper:

19 In the third a ligurius, an agate, and an amethyst:

20 In the fourth a chrysolite, an onyx, and a beryl. They shall be set in gold by their rows.

21 And they shall have the names of the children of Israel: with twelve names shall they be engraved, each stone with the name of one according to the twelve tribes.

Exodus 28:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 28

This chapter informs us of the servants God would have to minister to him in the house, or tabernacle, he had ordered to be made, even Aaron and his sons, Ex 28:1 of the garments they were to wear in their service, Ex 28:2-5 and first of the garments of the high priest, and particularly of the ephod, with the girdle, on the shoulder pieces of which were to be two onyx stones, with the names of the children of Israel engraved on them, Ex 28:6-14, and that of the breastplate of judgment, with the Urim and Thummum in it, Ex 28:15-30 and of the robe of the ephod, Ex 28:31-35, and of the mitre, Ex 28:36-39 and then of the garments of the common priests, Ex 28:40-43.