A Word in Season: Bearing Our Names (Exodus 28:12, 29)

The High Priest’s Garments as a Picture of Representation

Exodus 28 describes the uniform of the High Priest of the Israelites, it is a striking portrayal of this man in the glory, the splendor of his outfit and his equipment, and one of the striking things about it is that two parts of this outfit and equipment are designed to bring the names of God's people before the Lord.

In verse 12 there are two stones on the shoulders of his ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, so Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial. And then there's a breastplate and that breastplate has on it 12 stones and on each of the stones is the name of one of the sons of Israel, and those stones set in the breastplate hang over the heart so that in verse 29 Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he goes into the holy place as a memorial before the Lord continually.

So you have this High Priest adorned for glory and for beauty, a representative who carries all the names of God's people on his shoulder and over his heart, these onyx stones strapped over the shoulder, the 12 gems on the plate over the heart as a memorial before the Lord, a sign or a reminder.

Now every name of the tribes is there, the weakest and the worst, the littlest and the least from Reuben down to Benjamin, on his shoulder where there is strength to bear them and to govern them, and on his heart where there is love to care for them and delight in them.

And both of those parts of the equipment are perpetually present, neither one is ever missing, neither one slips or falls. He carries them before God and there is no name there but theirs as the one who is holy to God and representing them.

Christ Our Great High Priest

And what we have really here is a picture of our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, who having made one sacrifice for sins forever, now ever stands in the presence of God for his people as their representative, interceding for them.

This is a truth then, not just expressed by what we read in Exodus 28, but to be in joy by God's people today, because our Saviour is perpetually before the Father with the names of all his saints on his shoulder and on his heart.

Not on the shoulder alone, power if you like without pity or labour without love, and not on the heart alone, pity without power or sympathy without strength, but the names of the saints on his shoulder and on his heart, power with pity, labour with sympathy, strength with love, both always engaged, neither ever altered.

Bearing His Name Before All Men

Now do we believe this about our Lord Jesus Christ? Do we see through the lens of the High Priestly garments and equipment the beauty and the glory of our Saviour? Do we understand what it means for him to bear our names before God, our mediator, our representative, he who as our great High Priest laid down his own life as a sacrifice for us, God to govern us, God to redeem us, God to love us, God to keep us, a High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us?

Isn't it wonderful to consider that if you have put your faith in him, he is bearing your name before your Father in heaven. He has come before him not with the blood of bulls or goats, but with the precious blood that he himself has poured out.

In his sacrifice and then in his resurrection and now in his session, his reign at the right hand of God, his intercession before the throne, he is perpetually demonstrating the infinite strength and love upon which we rely.

He bears our names. Should we not bear his, what he does with beauty and with glory, should it not be our honour to reflect that what he does for us and which we cannot begin to reach to, we might nevertheless say that we are not ashamed to bear his name and to be Christians before all men.