Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen—the work of skilled hands. – Exodus 28:6

Today's Scripture Reading (November 28, 2024): Exodus 28

We have an image of the way certain people dress. Not only that, but we judge people based on little more than what they wear. We all do it. Early in my career, I was taught that a certain level of dress was expected of me. If I were preparing to deal with the bank or company executives, I would wear a shirt and tie. When I started to work in the church, my boss always wore a tie, even when he was warned by denominational executives not to. I remember him getting pulled up in front of a denominational meeting so that the grand-pooh-bah of the church could cut the tie off of him. (I am pretty sure the whole incident had been set up in advance, so it wasn't a much-beloved tie.)

Police officers wear a specific uniform, as do members of the Armed Forces or other various Military divisions. In some countries, lawyers wear powdered white wigs, especially for critical criminal trials. Priests often wear clerical collars. There was a short-lived time in my life when I briefly considered putting on a clerical collar during my weekly duties, just because then the community could quickly identify me. Like I said, it was short-lived. I have never donned the clerical collar. I enjoy my track pants, t-shirt, and hoodie too much. But that often means that people seem to think that I work in tech support, not the church (and I apologize to all of you working in tech support and dress better than I do). 

God instructs Moses that Aaron and his sons, the first priests of the nation, should wear specific clothing. The ephod was an ornate apron-like garment, and this ephod was to be made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread. These were important colors. Blue was a tricky color to make during ancient times, so these colors were reserved for special occasions. 

But more than that, fine linen was the dress of the noble and the priest in Egypt. The people of Israel would have recognized fine linen as the dress of the priest and some other important dignitary. So, by dressing the priest in fine linen, the people would readily identify the priesthood because they had already seen this mode of dress before.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 29