According to this picture of the priestly garments, Christ holds the church and sustains the church. The breastplate is held by the ephod, and the shoulder-pieces are supported by the ephod. Now we must see that the long skirt signifies the church joined to Christ. From this we receive an impression of where the church is. The church is in Christ, on His breast; the Church is upon Christ, upon His shoulders; and the church is joined to Christ.
The robe is called the robe of the ephod because it was mainly for the ephod. With the ephod we see Christ with the church. Hence, the long robe is for Christ with the church. The basic interpretation of this long robe is that it signifies both the individual and corporate Christ as God’s full expression. In this expression we have Christ and also the church joined to Christ.
According to 28:31, the long robe of the ephod was all of blue. This indicates that the church is all heavenly. The New Testament gives us this revelation concerning the church. The church is not in heaven, but the church is heavenly. In nature and position the church is not earthly but heavenly. John 3:7 indicates that we have been born from above. This reveals that heaven, not earth, is our source. Therefore, even though we are on earth, we have been born from above, from heaven, and have a heavenly life with a heavenly nature. Even our position is heavenly.
Exodus 28:32 says, “And there shall be an opening for the head in the middle of it; there shall be a border of woven work around its opening; like the opening of a coat of mail it shall be, that it may not be torn.” This verse indicates that the long robe was woven in such a way that it was one whole piece. At the top was an opening woven very strongly, like the opening in a coat of mail used for fighting. The reference to a coat of mail in verse 32 indicates that the priestly service is a warfare (Num. 4:23, margin “to war the warfare”). While we are serving as priests, we are also fighting as warriors. Our robe is a priestly garment, but the opening is like that of a coat of mail. Verse 32 says that the opening was like a coat of mail so that “it may not be torn.” This means that something could happen to damage the garment.
Today we are here as a testimony of the Lord. However, we cannot avoid warfare. We do not want to fight, but many times we have been attacked by others. Therefore, our priestly garment must have the kind of opening to indicate that our ministering is a fighting.
Verses 33 and 34 say, “And you shall make upon its skirts pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, on its skirts all around; and bells of gold in the middle of them all around: a bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe all around.” Verse 33 speaks of pomegranates and bells, and verse 34, of “a bell of gold and a pomegranate.” When the garment was being made, the pomegranates came before the bells. But in function, the bells come before the pomegranates.
As we have pointed out, the skirts are a sign of fullness, and the fullness of Christ is the church. Therefore, the pomegranates and bells on the skirts must be matters related to the church. The pomegranates and bells were not part of the tunic, which does not signify the church. They were the bottom part of the robe, which does signify the church. This means that we need to consider the pomegranates and the bells as related to the church.
The pomegranates were made of linen signifying humanity, and the bells were made of gold signifying divinity. With the pomegranates we have humanity, and with the bells we have divinity. In the church life we always have humanity and divinity. Humanity is related to the pomegranates, and divinity, to the bells.
If you see a ripe pomegranate with its seeds, you will receive an impression that a pomegranate is full of life. In the Bible pomegranates signify the fullness of life. The church should be full of life in her humanity. This is the significance of pomegranates made of linen.
The church differs from Christ in that Christ never makes mistakes, but the church does make mistakes. You and I often make mistakes, especially when we act too hastily. For this reason, we need the golden bells to warn us not to walk too fast or carelessly. Fullness of life is expressed in the church’s humanity, but the voice of warning is expressed in the church’s divinity, as signified by the golden bells. The proper speaking of the church always comes from her divinity. If in the church we speak from ourselves, that is pitiful. We all need to learn to be little bells uttering a sound that has its source in divinity, not humanity. Such a sound is pleasant and gentle, for it comes not from a steel bell but from a golden one. What the church needs is not a few large bells, but a great many small ones.
I can testify that throughout the years in the church life, I have been warned a number of times by the speaking of young brothers and sisters. Sometimes they stand up and speak something in the meeting that is a warning to me. It seems that I hear the sounding of a little golden bell warning me not to walk carelessly. This is a description of a particular aspect of the church life: the church speaking out of divinity, based upon the fullness of life in humanity.
When we all express the fullness of Christ as life in our humanity, there will be among us many golden bells. Then there will be God’s speaking, God’s voice expressed through the divinity of the church. In each of us there is a certain amount of divinity. From this element of divinity a sound comes out in a small scale, like the ringing of a little bell. First we have the expression of the fullness of life and then the sounding of the golden bells, that is, the speaking from the divinity of the church. The church has humanity for the expression of the fullness of life and also divinity for the sounding of the golden bells. First we have the fullness of life, the pomegranates. Out from this we have the sounding of the bells. However, it is difficult to tell which comes first, the sounding of the bells or the expression of the fullness of life. Both are in the church as the long train of Christ.
In the local churches we have pomegranates and bells. However, if you visit the degraded part of Christianity, you may not find any pomegranates or bells. No matter what you may say or how you may walk, you may not hear any warning sounds. But in the churches there are many voices of warning, voices that come from the fullness of life.
In the church we are not under human control. Certainly no one is controlling the way we think. I can testify that I do not control the elders in Anaheim and that they do not control me. However, we all are controlled by the pomegranates and the bells. The proper church life is full of the expression of life in the pomegranates and of the warning from the sounding of the golden bells. Do you know what are the signs of the proper church life? The signs are the pomegranates and bells.
According to 28:34, the pomegranates and the bells were placed alternately, a bell and a pomegranate. This indicates that the divine voice is interrelated with the divine life. God did not command Moses to have only bells on the skirts of the robe. If in the church life we have bells without pomegranates, there will be gossip and criticism, not the ringing of golden bells. But if pomegranates are placed alternately with bells, gossip and criticism will disappear, and instead there will be a proper, divine sound.
In order for pomegranates to be placed alternately with bells in the church life, we need to grow in life and eventually blossom in life. Then we shall become pomegranates. Instead of gossiping, we shall give forth a divine sound. Furthermore, this growth in life will influence others and cause gossip and criticism to be replaced by the proper sounding of little golden bells. If this is the experience of a certain brother, he may come to the meeting to testify of how he has been dealt with by the Lord in a particular matter. Through his speaking others may be warned, for they shall hear the sound of golden bells placed alternately with pomegranates.
If the church is proper and is truly Christ’s fullness, His train, then on the skirt there will be pomegranates and bells. In the church there will be the expression of life and the divine sounding. I have learned these things through experience and observation in the church life.
Only by experience can we understand the significance of the typology of the long robe with pomegranates and bells. First we see that the pomegranates and bells are attached to the skirts of the long robe. This indicates that they are related to the church life. Furthermore, the pomegranates signify the fullness of life, and the bells are for sounding. But the sounding is not from a human source; it is from a divine source, even divinity, as indicated by the fact that the bells are golden. Whatever we speak in the church must be of divine origin, of the divine source. At the same time, we need the fullness of life expressed in linen, in humanity. Therefore, in the church we have the beauty of life expressed in our humanity and the divine sounding from the golden bells. These are signs of the proper church life.