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Moses' clothing the sons of Aaron with priestly garments signifies that the believers as New Testament priests are adorned with Christ's divine attributes mingled with His human virtues; our outward expression should be Christ's divine attributes expressed in human virtues (v. 13):
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In typology garments signify expression (cf. Isa. 64:6; Rev. 19:8); the priestly garments signify the serving priests' expression of Christ; the priests were also sanctified, separated to God, by their holy garments (Exo. 28:2-3).
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The priestly garments, being mainly for glory and for beauty (v. 2), signify the expression of Christ's divine glory and human beauty; glory is related to Christ's divinity, His divine attributes (John 1:14; Heb. 1:3), and beauty, to Christ's humanity, His human virtues.
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Christ's divinity, typified by the gold of the priestly garments, is for glory, and His humanity, typified by the blue, purple, and scarlet strands and the fine linen, is for beauty (Exo. 28:4-6); a life that expresses Christ with the divine glory and human beauty sanctifies us and qualifies us to be the priesthood (cf. Rom. 13:14).
Morning Nourishment
Exo. 28:2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.4 And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of checkered work, a turban and a girding sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and for his sons that he may serve Me as a priest.
In typology garments signify expression (cf. Isa. 64:6; Rev. 19:8). The priestly garments signify the serving priests' expression of Christ. The priests were also sanctified, separated to God, by their holy garments (Exo. 28:3). (Exo. 28:2, footnote 1)
The priestly garments, being mainly for glory and for beauty, signify the expression of Christ's divine glory and human beauty. Glory is related to Christ's divinity, His divine attributes (John 1:14; Heb. 1:3), and beauty, to Christ's humanity, His human virtues. Christ's divinity, typified by the gold of the priestly garments, is for glory, and His humanity, typified by the blue, purple, and scarlet strands and the fine linen, is for beauty. A life that expresses Christ with the divine glory and the human beauty sanctifies us and qualifies us to be the priesthood. (Exo. 28:2, footnote 2)
Today's Reading
In Leviticus 8:7-9 Moses clothed Aaron with the high priest's garments. "He put the tunic upon him and girded him with the girding sash and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod upon him....And he placed the breastplate upon him, and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim. And he placed the turban upon his head, and on the turban, on its front, he placed the golden plate, the holy crown." This signifies that Christ as our High Priest is adorned with all the excellencies of His divine and human attributes and virtues. These attributes and virtues are Christ's garment.Moses' clothing the sons of Aaron with priestly garments signifies that the New Testament priests are adorned with all the attributes and virtues of Christ.
The New Testament uses clothing to refer to our outward expression (Matt. 21:7; John 13:4). Our outward expression should be the expression of Christ's divine attributes. These attributes include the divine love, kindness, and holiness. Christ's divine attributes are expressed in human life as virtues. This means that the divine attributes become human virtues, and the human virtues are the expression of the divine attributes. The divine attributes and human virtues are not merely combined and united but mingled. For example, as a man Christ had human love, but this human love was mingled with the divine love. What God is (oil) was mingled with what Christ is (fine flour) in His humanity. In this way, God's nature was included in the expression of Christ's humanity. Because in Christ the divine attributes were mingled with the human virtues, His love, kindness, and mercy are extraordinary. In Him, the divine love, kindness, and mercy were mingled with the human love, kindness, and mercy.
This mingling of the divine attributes and the human virtues has become our clothing, because we who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). To put on Christ is to be clothed with Christ. The very Christ with whom we are clothed is our priestly garment. Now whether we are a husband or a wife, a parent or a child, a teacher or a student, we should wear our priestly garment— a garment that is the expression of Christ's divine attributes mingled with His human virtues. Especially when we are going out to preach the gospel to sinners, we need to wear this garment. The expression of Christ should be our uniform. As we contact others, we need to impress them with the expression of Christ, that is, with the Christ with whom we are clothed. If we do this, we will have power and authority in our gospel preaching.
When we are ordained by God to serve Him as priests, He clothes us with Christ. One day you may consecrate yourself to the Lord to be a priest. Immediately, God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit will adorn you. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 251-253)
Further Reading: Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 28