The Priest’s Garments, Pt. 2: The Urim and Thummim

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“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it.¹⁶ It shall be square and doubled, a span^[a] its length and a span its breadth. ¹⁷ You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius,^[b] topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; ¹⁸ and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹⁹ and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰ and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. ²¹ There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. ²² You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. ²³ And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. ²⁴ And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. ²⁵ The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. ²⁶ You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁷ And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ²⁸ And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. ²⁹ So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord. ³⁰ And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly. (Exodus 28:15-30)

The Breastpiece (v. 15-30)

We left off last week looking at the two onyx stones that were placed upon the shoulders of the High Priest, upon which were engraved the names of the sons of Israel. As we move to the breastpiece today, we find similar themes jumping out at us. The breastpiece was to be made like the ephod – of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarns of fine twined linen. The breastpiece was to be a square and on the breastpiece were to be four rows of three stones. So twelve stones on the breastpiece, one for each of the sons of Israel, and each with his name engraved upon the stone. So as we begin to consider the breastpiece of the priest’s garments, we might ask, “What’s the deal with the stones? Why are these precious and valuable stones part of the priest’s garments? Is there a biblical or theological significance?” Well, I’m glad you asked. The precious stones on the priest’s garments is not the first time we see such stones in the Bible, nor is it the last time. To help us understand the significance here, we need to consider the use of these precious stones throughout the Bible.

 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. (Gen. 2:10-12)

So very early in the Bible, before the fall, we see that the land was rich with gold, bdellium, and onyx stone. So in these stones of the priest’s garments we are reminded of the world without sin. And when the priest served in the holy place, he was entering into a place without sin, as it were, into the Heavenly places. Of course the work of the priest was not going back, but it was going forward. The work of the priest signified that there was atonement and sacrifice for sin. The sins that came into the world are temporarily dealt with by God through atonement and the ministry of the priests on behalf of the people. So the tabernacle is a type of garden restoration, where men are restored back into a right relationship with their Creator.

There is another passage in the prophet Ezekiel which furthers this imagery. Now, I don’t claim to know all that is going on in Ezekiel 28, but there is a prophecy against the king of Tyre, which seems to be in reference to an angelic being. 

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹² “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:

The point of this for our purposes today is to see these precious stones were in the garden, the holy mountain of God, and seem to be part of the guardian cherub’s garb, signifying his blamelessness before he sinned. So then in Exodus as God establishes the Aaronic priesthood, he clothes the high priest with these precious stones, showing the priests to be angelic-like ministers of God as they ministered in the holy place.

There is one other passage I want to look at for this.

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹ having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹² It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— ¹³ on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. ¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵ And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. ¹⁶ The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.^[d] Its length and width and height are equal. ¹⁷ He also measured its wall, 144 cubits^[e] by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. ¹⁸ The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. ¹⁹ The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. ²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. (Revelation 21:9-21)

So here is John’s vision of the New Jerusalem which is the Bride, the wife of the Lamb, that is, the Church of Jesus Christ. And she is pictured as this beautiful city adorned with similar precious stones and jewels. So following these precious stones through the Bible we are taken from the garden to the city of God, which is a bride adorned for her husband. We are taken from sinless man in the garden, to the atoning work of the priests to redeem from sin, and then to the pure and spotless bride, redeemed by Christ. The beauties and perfections of this New Jerusalem bride show us the preciousness of the bride to Christ, and of how He is making her spotless and pure, to live forever with Him, one day, without sin. This is the picture we are given in Ephesians 5, speaking of husbands and wives, verse 25 and following says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” So these precious stones signify the holiness of the Bride, as Christ makes her so. Christ is making his church of a more precious and holy value than the priest’s garments. So we are as a bride adorned for her husband with precious jewels and stones. Clothed in the robes of Christ’s righteousness which are more costly and valuable than even the costliness of the priest’s garments.

This language is even used and spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

So Aaron would wear these precious stones on his garments as he entered into the holy place before the Lord, and as verse 29 says, “So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD.” To bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD. I won’t belabor this point since we talked about it last week with the onyx stones on the shoulders, but here again, as Aaron faithfully ministers in the tabernacle, he bears the people before God, as they go in to God’s present through a representative, and thus God remembers His people and His covenant to them. How precious a type of Christ this is, that we also are brought before the presence of God always, through our representative, Jesus Christ, so that God does not forget us, His covenant, or His promises. And thus we see the legitimacy of having a qualified representative. We can truly be said to be brought before the LORD through another bearing our names before Him. And the names are not just scribbled on a piece of paper and brought before God that way, but they are engraved in precious stones, signifying that God’s people are precious in His sight and His remembrance of them does not rust or fade away. That is a precious truth to remember when you are low and need assurance, or comfort, or a reminder of the love God has for you.

The Urim and Thummim (v. 30)

Next, we have mention of the Urim and Thummim, which is a feature of the breastpiece. They were placed in the breastpiece, on Aaron’s heart, as he went before the LORD. There is a bit of mystery here as to what the Urim and Thummim were. Some of you may have never even heard of the Urim and Thummim before. There are just a few places in the Bible where they are mentioned, and it is not clear to us exactly what they were or how they were used. There are a few things we can deduce about them from Scripture, which we will consider, but we cannot go much beyond that. This seems to be a matter to which Deuteronomy 29:29 may be applied, which states, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” There is little revealed about the Urim and Thummim, and what is revealed, IS for us; but there is much about them which is not revealed, and thus we must allow the secret things to belong to the LORD.

So allow me to simply state what they were, and then show you a few passages. The Urim and Thummim were some sort of objects which were used for rendering judgments, through which, the LORD God made known His will in certain matters, using them as an instrument to make known His will or judgments. We might think of them somewhat similar to the practice of casting lots which we see in Scripture. But the Urim and Thummim were particular objects belonging to Israel, the priest, and his attire.

So one place we see them is Numbers 27. In this passage Joshua is being commissioned to take over and lead Israel as Moses is told he will not enter the promised land. Numbers 27:21 says this, “And he [Joshua] shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” So even this reference is a bit mysterious, but what we can know is that there was some direction or judgment given to Joshua by God through the Urim of the priest, by which he led Israel.

Then another mention of the Urim and Thummim is in the book of Ezra when Israel was freed to return to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity, Ezra lists who returned then Ezra 2:63 says, “The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult Urim and Thummim.” So here we see again that the Urim and Thummim belonged to the priesthood, and it was consulted for some judgment or direction.

So what do we make of this from what we can know? The Urim and Thummim were for the priest. People like Joshua could go to the priest to consult the Urim and Thummim for judgment or direction. Another thing that may help us is to note that the words “Urim and Thummim” are not translations. Those are the Hebrew words. But the septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, used by Jesus and the apostles, translated the Urim and Thummim of Exodus 28 as “Manifestation and Truth.” Or “Light” and truth. This is the way that the early church fathers spoke of them, as one Cyril of Alexandria says, “The twelve stones encircle the Urim and Thummim, which point toward Christ as a manifestation and truth…He manifested the truth by having taken away the worship of God in shadows and in type.” 

So how did early church fathers get from the Urim and Thummim to Christ? They would read that they are the manifestation, or light, and truth. Then they would look at a passage like Psalm 43:3 as a reference to the Urim and Thummim, since they are the light and truth, and then ultimately see it about Christ by reading the Psalms Christologically. Psalm 43:3 says, “Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!” And as we read in the New Testament, Jesus is the light of the world, and He is the way, the truth, and the light, no one comes to the Father but by Him, John 14:6.

So whatever wisdom, or direction, or knowledge that was obtained from consulting the Urim and Thummim, this ultimately foreshadowed Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life, and as Colossians 2:2-3 says, “…the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

So now in New Testament times we no longer consult Urim and Thummim for light and truth, but all such wisdom and knowledge is found in Jesus Christ, who has been revealed to us, as Hebrews 1 says that now God has spoken to us by His Son. Today, all believers are made priests to God, and as the Urim and Thummim were placed within the breastpiece of the priest, upon his heart, so Christ dwells in us, in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit, who guides us and leads in the truth. This is amazing stuff.

But also, note the wording of Exodus 28:29-30. It says, “…Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment ON HIS HEART.” Then verse 30, “…in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and THEY shall be ON AARON’S HEART…Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on His heart…” So the judgment, or the wisdom, was the Urim and Thummim that was on Aaron’s heart. So Israel could consult them – “what should they do? What is right, what is wrong, are they in the right or in the wrong?” Likewise, the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts judges us, so to speak. He convicts us of sin when we are wrong. He comforts us also. As Jesus said in John 9, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” And in John 14 Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of Truth.” And He says that this Spirit of Truth “dwells with you and will be in you.” Also in John 14 Jesus says that He will MANIFEST Himself to those whom He loves. In John 16 Jesus says that the Spirit will “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” And again, to His disciples, Jesus says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…” 

You see, we have something better today than the Urim and Thummim, we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, who guides us into the truth, that is Jesus Christ, and He testifies and witnesses to Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. This wisdom and knowledge is far more precious than gold, or onyx, or precious stones. This knowledge of Christ and possession of the Spirit is worth more than anything else in the world. So get this wisdom. 

Young people, in all your school and learning, all wisdom and knowledge begins first with fear of God in Christ. In every decision we have to make, we have been given the Spirit of truth and the Word of God to lead us. The world loves chaos and is ruled by a spirit of confusion, but this is not the Spirit of truth, we are not to be swayed by such a spirit, as waves tossed in the wind. Today, we are surrounded by political chaos, military unrest, gender confusions, disordered homes, a mish-mash of religious pluralism, and we are led by blind guides. But Christ’s church must and will remain stable and unswayed on the truth and in obedience to God’s Word, because no matter what is around us, we have the Spirit of Truth in us, the Light of the World shining upon us, and the Word of God to guide us. As the Psalmist says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” So let us be like the Psalmist who also says, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

So in order to be stable and steadfast Christians, in order to walk faithfully before God, we must hide God’s Word in our heart, so that we might not sin against Him. Sin is disorder. Sin leads to chaos, confusion, and doubt. We don’t have to go to the high priest to consult the Urim and Thummim, we have God’s Spirit and we can store up God’s Word in our hearts. That is so much more precious. 

What about in your life? Do you store up God’s Word in your heart? Do you meditate upon it? Think upon it? Study it? Fathers, are you imparting the Word of God to your families? Parents, do you teach your children the bible? Do you show them in your own life and practice in the home, how precious and valuable the Word of God is? If you want your children to be steadfast and faithful in a perverse generation, they will need you to instill in them the words of life, wisdom, and truth. They will need to see and know and believe that the riches of Christ and knowing Him is more precious and valuable than all the riches of the world.

So many young people grow up in the church today without any real direction in life. In many ways they are paralyzed because they don’t know how to make decisions or to apply wisdom and knowledge in life. Sadly, many of their years of strength and energy of young adulthood are spent aimlessly, hoping for a sign or a proverbial open door. Or worse, they are spent following worldly conventions of wisdom. Maybe that was you. Or maybe some of the young people that are growing into adulthood here are so uncertain about their future and what they should do. How in the world are we supposed to know wisdom to make decisions? The first thing to remember is that you don’t need to know the future plans God has for your life, in order to make decisions. If you are waiting around to know what those plans are, then no decisions will ever be made. Secondly, we must know the Word of God to know what is right and what is wrong, and then obey what God says is right and wrong. You must know the wisdom of God’s word to know the general aims of men and women in life – what your role as God created you is, and then act accordingly. Third, then, if something is morally right according to God’s Word, and in line with the general aim of men and women, seek counsel from godly older Christians. As the Proverbs teach, there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors, and wise counselors are assumed. Then fourth, pick a choice that is aligned with those principles, trusting Christ, and go for it, unto the glory of God.

In following God’s word thus, humbly before Him, you can be as wise as a priest and wise as kings who sought judgment from the Urim and Thummim.

Allow me to close with this prayer from the Scottish Psalter of 1595: “O God, hear our prayers and receive our complaints; refuse us not for thy righteousness’ sake. Enter not into judgment with us thy servants, for we know, if thou dealest strictly, no man, not even the most holy, may stand in judgment before thee. Teach us therefore, O Father, to do thy will, and let thy Holy Spirit lead us in all our ways, that they may be agreeable to thy ordinances, and that thorough Jesus Christ thy Son. Amen.”