4 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST

4 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST

MARCH 3, 1965

Henry F. Kulp

Exodus 28: 5 - 8 And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

We have been telling you the Tabernacle would have been valueless without Aaron, the High Priest. You remember that God put the nation Israel under law, and because of this, God could not deal directly with the folks who were under the law. So God gave them a High Priest, and he represented the entire nation, and that’s what made them safe. God gave them a High Priest for their safety, and God robed the High Priest and designed his garments. He was the only man in the history of the world for whom God designed garments. There were six garments in all, and so far we have studied them as the High Priest put them on. 

First of all, the coat—the white coat—then the robe, which was blue, and now we come to the ephod. The white linen coat speaks of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ as a man. He was righteous, He was the sinless man, and attached to this embroidered coat was a girdle that speaks of service. Then we have the robe of the ephod, and we said that this robe speaks of office, dignity, and authority. And this is what Jesus Christ set aside when He became a man, and it was blue, which was the heavenly color. The Man of Heaven has authority. Around the hem of this garment were pomegranates which speak of fruit—you will remember the apple is the fruit of love, and the grape is the emblem of joy, so Jesus Christ as a man had fruit for us.

1/  Then he had golden bells and these all speak of the fact that the High Priest was ministering on the behalf of the people—they could always hear Him in there working on their behalf, and this speaks of His testimony before the Father for us. Right now, He is testifying of us.

2/  Now let us turn to the ephod. The ephod was the beautiful garment that reached from the shoulders to just above the knee, and then the robe of blue could be seen for about 8 or 10 inches below the ephod, then below that was the white linen coat. Now we said the ephod was a beautiful garment. As a matter of fact, it was the most beautiful of all the garments. 

Notice, Verse 6 They shall make the ephod of gold and blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen with cunning work. 

So the ephod was a short garment from the neck down to the knee. It was sleeveless, very beautifully made. Made something like the veil. All these colors with threads of pure gold were wrought into the garment. Notice what it says about the gold.

Exodus 39: 3 And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.

Here it tells us how it was put in. They did beat the gold into thin plates, cut it into wires to work it into the blue, in the purple and in the scarlet and in the fine linen with cunning work. The gold being the metal must have stiffened the ephod, as well as giving it a glory and a brilliance which was unsurpassed. One can easily appreciate the words, garments for glory and for beauty. God speaks of the glory of God. Remember, the priest speaks of Jesus Christ in His resurrection, ascended glory. 

Notice, Isaiah 40: 25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

Why, of course, to no one. He is the Man that is higher than the heavens. Remember, gold is non perishing.

Hebrews 1: 11, 12 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

3/  Blue, of course, is the heavenly color. He is the glorified deity from Heaven—and of course, scarlet, again, speaks of His blood, and then purple speaks of His office as the King of the earth, and also as the rich One.

Luke 16: 19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

So Jesus Christ in II Corinthians 8: 9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

He became poverty stricken for us that we might be made rich, but after His death, burial and resurrection, He is again the wealthy One of the universe. This is why it is so wonderful for us to know in Romans 8 that we are joint heirs with Him. He is again the wealthy Man of the universe. Purple speaks of this fact, and that one day He’ll be the King of this world.

4/  These colors all show the blessedness of His being.

Exodus 28: 9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:

This ephod was joined at the shoulders, and it had two pieces on the shoulders to which was to be attached a stone on either shoulder. What this stone was we are not told, but it was a very precious stone upon each shoulder, and it must have been quite large, because six of the names of the tribes were on one shoulder, and six names of the tribes were on the other shoulder. 

Exodus 28: 12  And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

This speaks of Aaron as High Priest, carrying the entire nation on his shoulders, and that is exactly where God carries the Nation Israel, on His shoulders. In other words, it wasn’t their own motivation—it is never the motivation of the child of God, it is always God who carries us. If we are to get to Heaven we must be carried by God, Again this goes in conjunction with Romans 8: 14 where we are led by the Holy Spirit. We do not know the way to go, we would not get there—the Holy Spirit leads us as we are upon the shoulders of the Lord Jesus Christ.

5/  Exodus 28: 15 And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.

On this ephod were the two shoulder pieces showing that he carried the Twelve Tribes on His shoulders everywhere he went, always on his shoulders. Then he said, make a breast plate, and this also was attached to the ephod, and in the breastplate were twelve stones—each of the twelve stones had a name written—one of the names of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Exodus 28: 21  And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

Exodus 28: 29  And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.

Notice, this, upon his heart, when he goeth in to the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. He bore Israel on his shoulders and he bore them on his heart—on his shoulders to be carried and on his heart to be loved. Do you know that the Lord Jesus Christ carries you and loves you? Yes, the Lord does love you. He will not let anything in the world touch you without His permission. Let me show you a very beautiful thing for the nation Israel.

Deuteronomy 33: 3  Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.

On His heart to be loved, in His hands to be used, they sat at His feet to be taught. 

Then notice, Deuteronomy 33: 12 And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

I like that—On His heart to be loved, in His hands to be used, at His feet to be taught, on His shoulders to be carried.

6/  Let me show you a principle of God with His saints in every age. 

John 17: 23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

God loves you and He loved His Son. How could He ever let you be lost?

7/  The curious girdle. This girdle was neither loose nor attached, but on with the ephod. The word, girdle in its original form means, device. The word, curious. I wondered what that word, curious, meant. That is the word we get curiosity from—if a thing is a curiosity there is none other like it. It wouldn’t be a curiosity if there were another like it. This was a curious girdle, there was something marvelous about it—there was never another one like it. We said, the girdle always stands in the Bible for service. You remember there was a girdle on the white linen coat, and this was all that Aaron wore when he went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, so he was serving the people there. This girdle here—the curious girdle, was to mean that when he wore all the clothes and ministered for the people day by day, he was in service for them. All this was held together by the fact that he served mankind.

8/  He, Jesus, is doing that right now.

Romans 8: 34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

9/  Let me show you that curious girdle in the New Testament.

John 13: 1 - 5 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

Now notice the 2nd Verse And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son to betray Him. Jesus knowing the Father had given all things into His hand, and He was come from God and went to God. 

It says that Jesus was conscious of His deity. He knew He came from God.

Verse 4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

He arrived at the supper and laid aside His garments and took a towel and, notice, girded Himself. After that He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciple’s feet, and to wipe them with the towel, wherewith He was girded.

I think that is a beautiful picture of that curious girdle. The Son of God, the Infinite Son of God, girded with a towel—He laid aside His garments. Was there anything like that in history. Is there anything like that in religion? No, here Jesus Christ has full consciousness that God has given everything to Him—committed all things unto His hand. He came from God and would go back to God. Took a towel and removed His garments, and washed the Twelve Disciple’s feet. There isn’t any service like that in religion. 

Notice, He washed the feet of Judas. Verse 12 So after He has washed their feet and had taken off His garments and was sitting down again, He said unto them—Know ye not what I have done to You? Then Verse 26 Jesus answered and said, he it is to whom I shall give the sop when I have dipped it, and when He had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas. 

Judas was at the table, Judas had his feet washed. Did you ever hear of a humble servant like that? I think that is the picture of the curious girdle. If you knew someone was planning your death, you wouldn’t treat them like that. He washed the feet of Judas, knowing that Judas was going out from the supper to betray Him.

10/  Exodus 28: 29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.

Notice the breastplate was a breastplate of judgment—a breastplate of safety—for He not only bore Israel upon His heart, but He bore their judgment. Aaron was the bearer of the judgement for the Twelve Tribes, he was to be responsible for them. I like that. 

This is exactly what Romans 8: 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

It teaches us—there is no judgment for us.

11/  Exodus 28: 30 And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; 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.

Here we have the Urim and Thummim spoken of. These were two precious stones and they were used by the High Priest.

Numbers 27: 21  And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

This is where Joshua is being appointed to take Moses’ place before Moses dies, and they do not want to make a mistake—they want to know the will of the Lord, and in the 21st verse it says, And he shall stand before Eliezer the priest, Aaron was dead at this time, and Eliezer was the High Priest, who shall ask council for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord. 

They wanted to know if Joshua was the man to follow Moses, so they consulted the Urim and the Thummim, by which God gave them to know His will, and it seems like they could not get anything from Urim and Thumim except yes, and no. and it was used at times of great stress when they must know what the Lord would have them to do.

12/  I Samual 30: 7, 8 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

David asked for the ephod to have the Urim and the Thummim because the Amalekites had come up and destroyed Ziklag, and taken David’s two wives. He desired therefore, to seek the mind of God as to what he should do in the battle.

13/  I Samuel 28: 6  And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.

God refused to give him His will. But notice, they went to this breastplate, to these two stones to find the will of God—yes or no.

AMEN

3/3/1965 / 4 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST / 8/3/2025

3 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST

3 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST

February 24, 1965

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Exodus 28: 39 And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework.

Exodus 39: 27 And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons,

When you study the High Priest in the Old Testament, you must bear in mind, you must remember, that you are studying a type of the Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, the One Who is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. The garments are that which made Aaron the High Priest. He was nothing in himself—he was just a weak, terrible sinner.

1/ We will study his garments, not in the way they are outlined in the Bible, but the way he would put them on, so we will have to skip about a bit.

2/ First of all, you have the coat, Thou shalt embroider the coat. Gazing at this coat from a distance, especially in contrast with the other garments, it would appear quite ordinary, but upon a closer examination, you would find there was skill and beauty attached to the makeup of the fabric. This is true of the Man, Jesus Christ. If you would look at Him in just an ordinary circumstance, when He was upon earth—you would see just an ordinary, good man. 

This is true, John 4: 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Here you have Jesus Christ on a journey—He comes to Jacob’s well, and there comes a woman of Samaria to draw water—Jesus said unto her—Give me to drink, and she said, How is that Thou, being a Jew, askest a drink of me? She saw only an ordinary Jew, nothing more. He was dressed like a Jew, He looked like a Jew, but as she came in closer contact with Him, she realized Who He was and what He was. She was saved. And so it is with Christ Jesus.

3/ This coat was made of fine linen, and historians tells us of a linen such as cannot be even purchased today—it is not manufactured. This was an Egyptian art which died with the Egyptians. You say, how could they get this linen?

Exodus 3:22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

They spoiled the Egyptians, they left with a great quantity of this linen.

4/ This was one garment the High Priest and the priests wore alike, for all wore the white coat. Of course, there was one difference. It was the High Priest’s under-garment, but with the other priests, it was his only garment. The white speaks of righteousness—the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not speaking of His deity, this is speaking of His humanity. These garments speak of His humanity, and as a man He was completely righteous. Jesus Christ was the sinless One. Perfect and holy.

5/ Attached to this embroidered coat was a girdle—this is not the curious girdle that we will study later on, but this was a girdle that was attached to the embroidered coat, and this girdle when on, could not be seen except on the day of atonement, because the other garments covered it up. Girdle is a symbol of service—the Bible constantly speaks of having your loins girded about, being ready for action, and this must be the attitude of the priest. Always ready for action. In other words, this righteousness was ready to go to work. And how did it? By Christ the Man, being made sin, His righteousness was imputed to us.

II Corinthians 5: 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

6/ Exodus 28: 31-35 And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue. And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent. 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.

Now we have the robe of the ephod, and this is the first of the vestments which belong expressly to the High Priest. This is the first time the word, robe occurs in the Scriptures, and it stands in contrast to the coat. The coat is a garment used expressly for the purpose of covering. The robe is always worn as a symbol of office, dignity, and authority.

I Samuel 24: 4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily.

Here we read of David. The men come to him and say, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto me, I will deliver thine enemy into thy hand, that thou mayest do to him as sees fit unto thee. And David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe, privily—or privately. In other words, Saul was finished as King—his authority was stripped from him. His dignity and his office is now gone. That is, in the sight of God, not of man at this point.

Ezekiel 26: 16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.

Here it says, Then all the princes of the sea shall come from their thrones and lay away their robes and put on their embroider garments. They shall clothe themselves with trembling. They shall sit upon the ground, and they shall tremble at every moment and be astonished at Thee.

Here again, a robe is a symbol of an office, authority.

7/ Of course the robe carries with it the thought of dignity. Whenever you think of royalty, you think of dignity. You cannot picture a judge wearing all his judicial robes, running for a bus, can you? No, the robes dignify a man for the office he holds. So it was with Aaron. Remember, Aaron had no dignity. He didn’t have any authority—only when he put the robes on. Notice, it was blue, entirely blue—and blue speaks of Heaven—it is the Heavenly color. It must have been a beautiful robe. Jesus Christ, the Man is from Heaven. This is why I have tried to point out the erroneous view of the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ that is propagated by many. His body came from Heaven. It was made by God, in Heaven, and placed in the womb of Mary. 

Notice, Jesus Christ said, John 8: 23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

Ye are from beneath, I am from above. That is the difference between Jesus Christ the God-Man, and the human race. He came from Heaven.

8/ John 3: 12 -13 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Four times in these two verses, you have the word Heaven or Heavenly. Notice, everything about Jesus Christ was Heavenly. Everything He did was Heavenly. Everything He said was Heavenly. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Heavenly One. Our whole concern should be Heavenly, for this God-Man came from Heaven. Modernism, and where it is so evil, is always interested in things on the earth, but our minds should be on things above.

Colossians 3: 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

9/ Blue runs throughout the whole tabernacle. Every place you went, you found blue because it is all Heavenly.

10/ It just had a hole in the top, large enough to slip over the head, and that was to be wrought with great strength, so it could never be rent, it could never be torn. The hole in the top, through which the head passed, had a neck-band, and that was it which had such great strength, an Habergeon (hab—er—jun)

Exodus 28: 32 And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent.

That is an armored plate or a coat of male. No one is ever going to take away the dignity of the Lord Jesus Christ or His office as King. When the time comes, He will be King over all the earth.

11/ There is a time coming when He will be authority over the earth, but right now He is the authority of the church.

Colossians 1: 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

He is the Head of the body, the church. He is the authority of the Church not men, as it were.

12/ Around the hem of this garment there were pomegranates and golden bells. The pomegranates were made of blue, purple and scarlet. They acted as pads between each of the bells, thus preventing them from clashing against each other with discord. The pomegranates were a fruit, and therefore they suggest fruitfulness to us. And this, of course, is the work of Jesus Christ, being fruitful on our behalf. The pomegranate is considered a lucious fruit in the East—the apple is the fruit of love, and the grape is the emblem of joy. So the pomegranate is that which speaks of peace. The pomegranates were brought back by the two spies with their large bunch of grapes.

Numbers 13: 23 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

And this was a witness that the land was fruitful, and so the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf should bring peace to our hearts.

Notice, Philippians 4: 6, 7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

When we pray and commit everything into His keeping, and He works on our behalf, we have peace that passeth understanding.

13/ What about the bells? They were golden bells, and we said there was to be no discord. The truth is that each bell had a distinct, mellow ring, and as they rang together, there was a beautiful melody produced. The High Priest did not wear this robe on the Day of Atonement, when he went into the holiest of all, but every other day, he wore this garment. The High Priest ministered day by day in the Holy Place—not the Most Holy Place, but the Holy Place. He had to see that the candlestick was properly trimmed and burning. He was there to see that the golden table had incense, and that the incense was burning, he had to see that the shewbread was in a proper place. Then he would come out and see that the priests who were ministering were washing at the laver properly. Then he would oversee the offerings at the brazen altar—and all the time he was ministering, these bells were ringing, and they could hear it outside. The people outside could know that the High Priest was about his work on their behalf. The bells were a constant testimony of this fact.

14/ I think that the Lord Jesus Christ wants us to have such a realization of CHRIST at God’s right hand, that we are conscious of Him being there all the time. He is there this moment for you, and your name is on His lips. I think we could be saved a lot of our fears and troubles if we were conscious that every moment, Christ is about His work for us.

Romans 8: 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Perhaps you could hear those little golden bells and say, Praise the Lord, He is serving there for me at the right hand of God the Father, in Heaven.

15/ My times are in His hands. Everything that concerns me, He has taken over in His hands.

16/ Now look at Exodus 28: 34 A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.

A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate—the same number of each—the bell is a testimony, and the pomegranate is fruit. Christ has fruit for us, and He has a testimony for us, before God the Father.

17/ But what about us? We should have bells and pomegranates. Too many of us do not have fruit. We have too much talk, but it ought to be even. Everything we say ought to be balanced by something that we do. There should not be more noise than fruit, and there should be noise, though—don’t think that you can get by without speaking of Jesus Christ.

18/ But, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ has a balanced ministry for us He talks concerning us, and He has fruit for us. 

That’s why Romans 8:28 can be a reality in ourlives. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

II Corinthians 4: 16, 17 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

How wonderful it is to know that Jesus Chris is right now there on our behalf. This makes Hebrews 4: 16 all the more important— Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

And the more thrilling in the believer’s life, as we realize who we are and what we are, and what Jesus Christ is doing for us.

AMEN

2/24/1965 / 3 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST / 7/31/2025