In the ephod, we see a garment that symbolizes the priesthood. This ornamental vest had gold, blue, purple, and scarlet woven together with fine twined linen (Ex. 28:5–8). The colors and material convey various beauties of the Lord Jesus, and as they are intricately entwined together to form a single magnificent fabric, we are reminded that to try to take away even one of the precious glories of our Lord would blemish the overall image of who He is. The entire ephod would be ruined if one tried to extract a particular thread from it.

Consider the blue thread, which symbolizes Christ’s heavenly character. If we were to accept everything else about Christ except that He came from heaven’s glory, we would be left with a marred picture of who He really is. Therefore, His holy divinity (gold), His heavenly character (blue), His royal majesty (purple), His glory as king of Israel (scarlet), and His perfect humanity (fine linen) all come together to form a beautiful ornate fabric.

This does not prevent us from focusing on one trait or another at various times. The ephod was not made of a single color for a reason—we can on one occasion meditate on Christ’s pathway of righteousness as a sinless Man, and at another time consider that He is God’s only Son who is exalted at the Father’s right hand. Every thought of Him captures our hearts as we appreciate His exquisite glories—glories revealed because by grace we have been brought to know Him. May we, like David, desire to “behold the beauty of the Lord” (Ps. 27:4).