Please turn to Exodus chapter 28. Exodus chapter 28, beginning on page 68 of your pew Bible. Exodus chapter 28. This is the word of the Lord. Then bring near to you Aaron, your brother, and to sons with him from among the people of Israel to serve me as priests, Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And you shall make holy garments for Aaron, your brother, for glory and for beauty. You shall speak to all the skillful whom I have filled with the spirit of skill, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. These are the garments that they shall make, a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checkerwork, a turban and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron, your brother, and his sons to serve me as priests. They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet yarns, and of fine-twined linen skillfully worked. It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges so that it may be joined together. And the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet yarns, and fine-twined linen. You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, and the order of their birth. As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance. You shall make settings of gold filigree and two chains of pure gold twisted like cords, and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings. You shall make a breastpiece of judgment and skilled work, and 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. It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row. And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. There shall be 12 stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. signets, each engraved with its name for the twelve tribes. You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords of pure gold, and you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece, and you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it with a woven binding around the opening like the opening in a garment so that it may not tear. On its hem, you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns around its hem with bells of gold between them, a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe. And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out so that he does not die. You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it like the engraving of a signet, holy to the Lord. And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead that they may be accepted before the Lord. You shall weave the coat and checkerwork of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework. For Aaron's sons, you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. And you shall put them on Aaron, your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them that they may serve me as priests. You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs, and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him." This is the word of the Lord. Why has God given to us Exodus chapter 28? What does it have to do with us? And what does it have to do with Christmas, if anything? Why has God given to us Exodus chapter 28? this description of the garments of the priest of the Old Testament, the garments of the priest who served in the tabernacle, those garments which, according to Exodus chapter 28, were holy, those garments which, according to Exodus chapter 28, were for glory and for beauty. Why? Why were they for glory and for beauty? And why has that been written down for your sake? The garments of the priest, The garments of the priest in the Old Testament, the garments of the priest of the tabernacle, those garments holy, those garments for glory and for beauty, those garments are a revelation of your hope. The garments of the priest holy, the garments of the priest for glory and for beauty. They are a revelation of your hope and they even reveal the necessity of the incarnation. The necessity for Christmas. They reveal why it was that the Word became flesh. The garments of the priest were a revelation or a revelation of your hope, even as the tabernacle was and is a revelation of your hope. Why was Israel instructed to build the tabernacle? Exodus chapter 25, verse eight. God says to Moses, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst. God commands his people to build him a sanctuary and he gives the reason that I may dwell in your midst. The tabernacle, it was the dwelling place of God in the midst of his people. As the tabernacle was in the midst of the people, so God was in the midst of his people. The tabernacle of the Old Testament, it served as a revelation of Israel's hope a revelation of your hope. For the tabernacle and its ministry, Hebrews 8, verse 5, served as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, of the heavenly things that have come. The tabernacle in the midst of God's people was a copy and shadow of that day when God's heavenly dwelling place would come down to rest in the midst of God's people. The tabernacle was a revelation of Israel's hope. The tabernacle is a revelation of your hope. The dwelling place of God with man. Emmanuel, God with us. As the tabernacle was a revelation of Israel's hope, so also the priests who served in that tabernacle were likewise a revelation of Israel's hope. The priests who served in the tabernacle are a revelation of your hope. In Exodus chapter 19 verse 6, when the Lord makes His covenant with His people, He declares something about them. He declares to them that they should be to Him, that they will be to Him a kingdom of priests. The kingdom of Israel, the kingdom of God. It was a kingdom of priests. Every member of that kingdom, every citizen of the kingdom of God was considered a priest of God. Israel was to be a kingdom of priests. And so, when God ordained one tribe of the people to serve as his priests in the tabernacle, the people would have understood that those priests served as a symbol of the people as a whole. that who the priests were, that what they did, that it was a reflection of who, of what all the people were meant to be. The priests of Israel, the priestly tribe, those priests revealed something about everyone within the kingdom. They served as a reflection of the people's identity before God. They were a revelation of what God intended his people to be. They are a revelation of what God intends you to be. And so the garments of the priest The garments of the priest were a part of that revelation. The garments of the priest are a part of that revelation. The priest was clothed in holy garments, even as God intended to clothe His people in holiness. The priests were clothed in garments that were for glory and for beauty, even as God intended to clothe His people in glory and in beauty. But what made those garments glorious? What made those garments beautiful? Certainly we may recognize the beauty of gold, the beauty of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, the beauty of fine twined linen, The beauty of it all skillfully worked. But this is not why those garments were glorious. This is not why those garments were beautiful. They were glorious. They were beautiful. In so far, as they reflected the tabernacle itself. Insofar as they reflected the dwelling place of God. Insofar as they reflected the One who dwelt in that place, God Himself. The gold and the blue and the purple and the scarlet yarns and the fine twined linen. the material from which the garments of the priests were made. These were the very same materials from which the tabernacle itself was made, particularly the sanctuary with its holy place and its most holy place. The priest clothed in gold, clothed in blue and purple and scarlet yarns, clothed in fine twined linen. The priest clothed in these things was a reflection of the entire tabernacle. The priest was a reflection of the sanctuary. The priest was a reflection of the dwelling place of God. And why was he clothed? Without these garments, the priest was naked. not only physically, but also spiritually. Without the garments of the priest, the priest was naked before the Lord. And according to Exodus chapter 28, That nakedness was a reflection of his guilt before the Lord, the people's guilt before the Lord. The priest's nakedness was a reflection of his guilt. The priest's nakedness was a reflection of the people's guilt. It was for this reason that he was covered with those garments. It was for this reason that he was covered, not with any garments, but specifically with those garments that reflected the holiness of the Lord, those garments that reflected the glory of the Lord, those garments that reflected the beauty of the Lord. Standing in those garments, he was then able to stand before the Lord. Standing in those garments, he was then able to dwell in the presence of the Lord. The priest in the tabernacle served as a revelation of your hope. A hope that you once had in Adam, but a hope that you lost in Adam. Ezekiel chapter 28. Ezekiel chapter 28 speaks of these things. Speaking of the hope that you lost in Adam, using the very language of Exodus chapter 28. Ezekiel chapter 28 verses 12 through 15. There the Lord says, concerning Adam, you were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering. Sardius, topaz, and diamond. Beryl, onyx, and jasper. Sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle. And crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created, they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you. You were on the holy mountain of God. In the midst of stones of fire, you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you. to dwell with the Lord, to dwell with the Lord in holiness, to dwell with the Lord in glory, to dwell with the Lord in beauty. This was your hope in Adam. This was the hope that you lost in Adam on account of his unrighteousness. on account of his transgression, on account of his disobedience, on account of his sin. But in Exodus chapter 28, In Exodus chapter 28, God reveals to his people what he will do for them according to his grace. In Exodus chapter 28, God reveals to his people that he will grant to them this hope again. that the hope which they lost in the priest Adam, they will gain in the priest Christ. In Exodus chapter 28, God reveals to his people that he will clothe their nakedness that He will cover their guilt, that He will clothe your nakedness, that He will cover your guilt with His holiness, with His glory, with His beauty. The garments of the priest Their holiness, their glory, their beauty. It was the holiness. It was the glory. It was the beauty of the Lord. They were a revelation of your hope. a revelation of the gospel, serving as a copy and shadow of the heavenly glory and the heavenly beauty with which you will be clothed, with which you have been clothed. This was why the Word became flesh. This is why the Son of God was born of a woman. to clothe you, to clothe you in the glory and beauty of heaven, to clothe you in the glory and the beauty of the Lord. This is why the Word became flesh. This is why the Son of God was born of a woman. This is why He took to Himself your likeness. The Son of God was clothed in your likeness, that you might be clothed in His likeness. He took to Himself your nakedness, that you might be clothed in His glory. He bore your image, that you might bear His image. He bore your guilt that you might bear His righteousness. He became one without form or majesty that we should look on Him. He became one without beauty that we should desire Him. that you might possess the glory and the beauty of the Lord. He took to Himself the image of the man of dust, that He might grant to you the image of the Man of Heaven. Why did the Word become flesh? Exodus chapter 28 tells us for glory and for beauty. Not the glory of this world, not the beauty of this world, but for the glory and the beauty of heaven, for the glory and the beauty of the Lord. that you might be clothed in that glory, that you might be clothed in that beauty, that you might reflect that glory, that you might reflect that beauty, that you might be holy to the Lord. People of God, by faith in Jesus, you are clothed in the holiness of Christ. By faith in Jesus, you are clothed with the glory of Christ. By faith in Jesus, you are clothed in the beauty of Christ. The garments of the priest in the tabernacle, they were but a copy and shadow of the garments of Christ, the garments of your great High Priest in the heavenly tabernacle, the garments with which He has clothed you, the garments with which He will clothe you when He raises you from the dust into His glorious and beautiful image to reflect His holiness before Him forever and ever. when He raises you to reflect the glory and the beauty of the Lord. This is how you must see yourselves, for this is how God sees you. This is how you must see one another as possessors of the beauty and the glory of the Lord. When you despise one another, when you mistreat one another, When you abuse one another, you despise, you mistreat, you abuse the glory and the beauty of the Lord. Why did the word and for beauty. And now that he has come, you are a chosen race. You are a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation. You are a people for His own possession, that you may now, that you may forever proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, who called you out of darkness into His glory, who called you out of darkness into His beauty. People of God, you are the dwelling place of God. You are the dwelling place that Christ is building. You are the dwelling place that Christ has clothed. You are the people that he has clothed for glory and for beauty. Amen. Let us pray.