Only the high priest had the right to wear the ephod. This typifies that we the believers do not have the right to put on what is signified by the ephod. Only Christ wears the ephod. This means that only He has the fastening power and the girding strength. Christ holds us, binds us, and fastens us to Himself. We may say that Christ links us to Himself. The holding power is His divine glory and human beauty.
We need to remember that the ephod was a piece of clothing used for fastening. Three plates were fastened to the ephod—the two shoulder plates and the breastplate. Because these plates were fastened to the ephod, they were also fastened, bound, girded, to the high priest. Having been fastened to him, they could not fall away from him. This is the significance of the ephod.
As the High Priest, Christ has the fastening power, the tying strength, and the binding ability. We do not have this power, strength, or ability.
Sometimes Christians speak of the way the Lord holds us, embraces us, and keeps us. When I was young, I thought that the Lord Jesus held us as a shepherd holds a lamb in his arms. I pictured the Lord as One embracing us and carrying us in this way. But if we consider the picture of the ephod, we shall see that the Lord does not merely hold us; He binds us and fastens us to Himself, just as the plates are joined to the ephod. To hold is not as significant as to fasten, and to embrace is not as significant as to gird or bind. We are fastened to Christ; we are bound to Him. Yes, Christ bears us and carries us. However, He does not carry us like a shepherd carrying a lamb in his arms. Instead, He carries us like the high priest wearing the ephod to which the shoulder plates and the breastplate were securely fastened.
Christ has fastened all of God’s people to Himself. This fastening is through His divine glory and human beauty. This means that His divine glory and human beauty are the strength to fasten us to Himself.
Exodus 28:9 and 10 say, “And you shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, according to their birth.” These onyx stones engraved with the names of the children of Israel symbolize us, the believers. Therefore, they signify all God’s redeemed people. Verse 12 says, “And you shall put the two stones upon the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before Jehovah upon his two shoulders for a memorial.” This signifies that God’s redeemed people are upon Christ’s shoulders. We are not held in His arms like lambs; we are upon His shoulders like the pieces of onyx stone. We are the precious stones upon the ephod, the fastening piece, composed of the divine glory and human beauty.
Since the day you were saved, you have been held by Christ. However, do you know what has been holding you all this time? Some would say that Christ is powerful and that we are held by His power. Yes, John 10:28 indicates this: “And I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.” This does indicate Christ’s power to hold us. In John 10:29 the Lord Jesus goes on to say, “My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” There are two hands holding the believers, the hand of Christ the Son and the hand of the Father. These hands signify power and also love, but they do not imply the divine glory and the human beauty. According to the picture of the plates fastened to the ephod, we are tied to Christ by His divine glory and human beauty. Therefore, Christ’s divine glory and human beauty are the fastening strength which binds us to Himself. We are held to Him continually by His divine glory and His human beauty.
We need to ask ourselves how in our experience we are held by the Lord. Some may say that they are held by faith. They may pray, “Lord Jesus, I don’t have any faith. Please give me the faith so that I can believe that I am in Your hand and that You are holding me.” I have often prayed in this way. I have had many experiences of this kind of prayer and of this kind of believing. But the more I prayed like this, the less I seemed to trust in the Lord. The more I asked for faith, the less faith I had. Many other Christians have had a similar experience. Perhaps you have prayed, “Lord, You are my Keeper. You have the keeping grace, You have the power to hold me, and You love me. Lord, embrace me and preserve me. But You know, Lord, when trouble comes, I seem to forget everything. Therefore, Lord, I ask You to infuse me with Your faith. O Lord, infuse Yourself into me as my living faith.” But the more you pray like this, the less it seems that faith is infused into you.
Forty years ago I became seriously ill of tuberculosis. During that time I did not have any faith that the Lord would heal me. Of course, I did not lose my basic faith, the saving faith, in the Lord. But I did lose any faith that the Lord would heal me of tuberculosis. The elders, the co-workers, and the church with all the saints prayed for me. I had given a number of messages to the saints telling them that the Lord is faithful and charging them to believe in Him. I encouraged them to trust in Him, for He would never fail them. Then I became ill and found it difficult to trust in the Lord. A certain sister who brought my food to me three times a day talked with me about faith. She asked me why I did not have the faith that the Lord would heal me. I said to her, “Sister, you are right. I don’t have a bit of faith. Can you please help me and tell me what faith is?” It seemed rather strange that I would ask her such a question. She had been saved through my preaching, and now I was asking her to tell me what faith is. She was very surprised and was not able to answer me. Actually, the situation of every preacher is like this.
My point here is that when we realize the divine glory and the human beauty of Christ, we are spontaneously fastened to Him. There is no need for us to try to believe in Him. The fastening power does not come from our faith: it comes from what He is and what He has. The Lord has the divine glory and the human beauty. He is glorious, and He is beautiful. Whenever we consider Him or gaze on Him, we are fastened to Him in a practical way in our experience. There is no need for us to attempt to believe in Him or trust in Him, for we are already girded to Him.
I enjoy reading and studying the four Gospels. As we read the Gospels, sometimes we can see the glory of the Lord, and sometimes we can see His beauty. Even while the Lord was in the flesh on earth as a man, His glory could be seen. Even in His incarnation He was glorious. When we read the Gospels, we can see that the divine glory was with Him. We can also see the Lord’s human beauty, a beauty that is fine and very precious. We do not have the words adequate to describe the human beauty of the Lord Jesus revealed in the four Gospels. But as we read the Gospels, something within our being realizes how beautiful the Lord is. For example, the way He dealt with His disciples and talked with Mary and Martha in John 11 was beautiful. When we consider the divine glory and human beauty of the Lord in the Gospels, we are spontaneously fastened to Him. Then we are held to Him and even carried on His shoulders. His divine glory and His human beauty tie us to Himself.
I believe that many of us have had this kind of experience reading the Gospels. By reading the story of the Lord’s life on earth, we see His divine glory and His human beauty, and we are fastened to Him. Then we have the sense that we are safe and secure. We realize that we can never fall away from Him. This is the experience of the ephod.
Do you have such an ephod? I am quite sure that I do not have it. If you would study me, you would not be fastened. I am short both of the divine glory and the human beauty. Christ, however, is different. He has the ephod, and with Him there are the divine glory and the human beauty.