The robe is Christ Himself as our righteousness. We are under His covering. Most of us know this as a doctrine, but I am afraid that very few know it in an experiential way.
What I mean is this: suppose we meet a brother in the church who is very meek, very humble, just, and good. But he was born as a meek, humble, just, and good person. Before he was saved, he was also meek, humble, and good. Now in the church some may say that he is such a good brother, but before he was saved he was just as good as he is now! Does he have Christ as his robe? No. All he has is his own righteousness, his natural goodness. You cannot discern that Christ is expressed as his meekness, as his humility, or as his justice. The sweet savor of Christ cannot be sensed in his behavior. You may say that he is a good brother with a good character, but the flavor or sweet odor of Christ in his outward behavior is missing. But in the meekness of some Christians there is a real sense of the sweetness of Christ. The flavor of Christ is definitely sensed in their meekness. Sometimes in a brother’s humility you can only sense pride, not Christ. Do you see the difference?
Our robe must be Christ expressed as our righteousness. We must not express our meekness, our humility, our rightness, our goodness, but Christ as all these things. We must not know meekness, but Christ! We must not know humility, but only Christ! This is a profound lesson for us to learn. We must learn to reject our natural meekness, humility, and rightness; then Christ will have a free way to flow out of us to be expressed as our covering.
The ephod is made of five main items: fine twined linen, gold, blue, purple, and scarlet. This is very interesting. Linen signifies the purity of Christ; gold, the divine nature of Christ; blue, the heavenly nature of Christ; scarlet, the redemption of Christ; purple, the kingship and dignity of Christ. All these things must be Christ wrought into us and expressed through us. Others should see upon us the purity of Christ, the divine nature of Christ, the redemption of Christ, the heavenly nature of Christ, and the kingship, headship, dignity, and authority of Christ. They will see these things in us when these aspects of Christ have first been wrought into us. Then we will have a rich and beautiful expression of Christ.
The mitre is Christ as our boast and glory. He is our turban, our crown, our head covering; He is our boast and glory. We have nothing to boast of except Christ. When Christ as all these things has been wrought into us, these things will emanate from us as the very expression of Christ.
The garments of the priests also contain the aspect of building, signified by the precious stones built into the gold. The first stone mentioned is onyx, and the last one is jasper. This is very interesting, for in chapter two of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, the onyx stone is in the flow of the river in the garden of Eden. Then in Revelation, the last book, the main precious stone is jasper. Revelation 4 tells us that the One who sits on the throne looks like jasper. The manifest appearance of God is likened to jasper in the Bible. Jasper is the very expression of God. Jasper and onyx, as well as many other precious stones, are built up in that golden city, the New Jerusalem, which is the dwelling place of God. Thus, on the garments of the priests is the miniature of the New Jerusalem! In the settings of gold on the breastplate, the stones are built up together as a body. This simply means that when Christ is fully wrought into us, He will be expressed through us, and in this expression of Christ is the building of the church.
We must eat of Christ and enjoy Him again and again, taking Him as our food all the time. Then we will eventually be filled and saturated with Christ, and He will become our outward expression and manifestation. In this manifestation, all the precious stones are set in sockets of gold. These precious stones represent the transformed ones, who are set in the golden nature of the divine life. This is the building. All are related to one another and built up together as a Body by experiencing Christ in different ways.
There are also the Urim and the Thummim upon the breastplate. Urim means “light,” and Thummim means “perfection.” When the breastplate is built up with all the precious stones set into the golden sockets and related as one, it then, with the Urim and Thummim, becomes the means of God’s revelation for His people. It is through this that God reveals to His people His mind concerning them.
First, we must take Christ in and digest Him as our very content. Second, we must express Him outwardly. Third, in this outward expression is the building up of the Body. Finally, in this building are the “Urim” and “Thummim” as the revelation of the Lord’s mind concerning His people. The Lord’s revelation to His people is through the building (the Body) and in the building (the church).
All these things should not be merely a kind of talking or teaching to us. They must be definitely experienced by us. We all must feed on Christ, learning how to take Him in as food. Then we will be filled and saturated with Him. Spontaneously, we will have an outward expression and manifestation of Christ. Others will see all that Christ is among us and upon us. They will see the purity of Christ, the divine nature of Christ, the heavenly nature of Christ, the redemption of Christ, and the kingship of Christ. They will simply see Christ upon us in His real manifestation. And in this manifestation there is the building of the saints, for they will be transformed into the precious stones and built up together in the divine nature. Finally, the revelation will come from the Lord through His built-up Body, showing us His mind about His people.
Now we can realize how much is included in the priesthood; it is very comprehensive. We have only seen a very simple and brief sketch. May the Lord reveal all these things to us in a practical way that we as priests may experience Christ as our inner food and outer clothing.