Having seen how the gold and the linen are woven together through a process involving suffering, let us now go on to consider the colors of the ephod. The color blue signifies Christ’s heavenliness. Brown, by contrast, is the color of things earthy or dusty. With Christ there is nothing brown. With Him everything is blue, heavenly.
Purple signifies the kingliness of Christ. In all He did the Lord Jesus was kingly. Even as a child growing up in the home of a carpenter, He conducted Himself in a kingly way. If you read the account of the way He spoke to His parents when He was twelve, you will realize that He spoke to them in a kingly manner. Even as a small boy of twelve, He could act and speak with kingliness (Luke 2:46-52). If you read through the four Gospels again, you will see that in everything He said the Lord was a king. He did not assume His kingship; it was manifested spontaneously.
We in our natural life certainly are not heavenly or kingly. Instead of expressing blue, we express brown, the color of dust. Furthermore, instead of conducting ourselves like kings, we may act in a way that is very low. When we lose our temper, we may be “scorpions.” Even when we are happy, we still may not have the Lord’s kingly manner. But when the Lord Jesus became angry with those in the temple and made a whip of cords to drive them out, He was angry in a kingly way (John 2:15-16). Moreover, when He wept at the tomb of Lazarus, He did so with kingliness (John 11:35). Even in His weeping, the Lord’s kingship was manifested.
Scarlet signifies redemption. Throughout His life on earth, the Lord Jesus acted in a redemptive way. For example, He manifested the color red, the color of redemption, when He said to His disciples concerning the multitude, “Give them something to eat” (Matt. 14:16). The Lord did not want to see the people go hungry. This implies redemption. Also, when the Lord Jesus healed the woman who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years and was bound by Satan, He was acting in the way of redemption (Luke 13:11-16). To those who criticized Him concerning this, He said that He did not want this woman to be bound by Satan any longer.
Along with the colors blue, purple, and scarlet, we have golden yellow and pure white. Golden yellow signifies the expression of God. When the Lord Jesus fed the five thousand with two loaves and five fishes, God was manifested. The golden yellow color shone forth from Him. Also, when He was angry and cleansed the temple, He manifested both His kingliness and the golden yellow of His divinity. Furthermore, on that occasion the pure linen, signifying the expression of Christ’s humanity, could also be seen.
Both God and man, divinity and humanity, were manifested in the life of the Lord Jesus on earth. In the living of this Man we can see heavenliness, kingliness, and redemption. We can see the divine brightness and also a pure humanity. In the living of the Lord Jesus we see all these colors.
Can you point to a chapter of the New Testament that portrays the Lord Jesus in the way He is portrayed in the ephod? There is no such chapter in the New Testament, for this kind of description cannot be put into words. It can only be presented by a picture.
Is it possible to describe adequately in words a person’s face? Certainly not. You may take a thousand words to describe someone’s nose or ear, and still your description would not be complete. But a picture would be better than thousands of words. This is the reason I treasure the picture of Christ in Exodus 28.
It is a sad thing that for centuries Christians, including those who love the Lord and seek Him, have not paid adequate attention to the portrait of Christ in Exodus 28. As a result, their appreciation of the Lord has not been sufficiently high. I can testify that by considering this picture, I appreciate the Lord much more, and out of my appreciation I have given Him new worship. I have said, “Lord, I see You in this picture, and I appreciate You. But I cannot put into words what I see and appreciate. Lord, here in Exodus 28 I see You. Thank You, Lord, for this picture of Yourself. You are the ephod woven with gold and linen. Your divinity and humanity are together in Your one Person, yet the nature of divinity and humanity remain. They are not lost. Lord, I praise You for the wonderful Person You are!”
We thank the Lord for the marvelous picture of the ephod with all the beautiful colors. These colors, the colors of the rainbow, are the most beautiful colors in the universe. What colors are more beautiful than the five colors of the ephod? I do not believe you can find colors more beautiful than these, for these colors are in a textile signifying the expression of the Lord’s Person.
I have not interpreted the picture in Exodus 28 according to my natural cleverness. Furthermore, I am not the one who painted this picture. Rather, I have received the mercy from the Lord to understand it to some degree. Here in Exodus 28 we have a picture showing us that there is a fabric in this universe woven with golden and linen thread and containing the five colors of golden yellow, pure white, blue, purple, and scarlet. This is the ephod that the Lord Jesus is wearing today. He is still clad in a garment made of gold and linen and with five beautiful colors expressing His divinity, humanity, heavenliness, kingliness, and redemption. How marvelous!