No surprise that God draws the best outlines. Be careful! Make sure you color in the lines.
Exodus 39 describes the most remarkable clothing ever made, designed by the One who carved the rose, paints the sunsets, and splashes glory on the autumn leaves. Aaron was privileged to wear it, but really it was designed to picture Someone of another line, “called by God as High Priest ‘according to the order of Melchizedek’” (Heb 5:10). First, we notice that it was designed to fit a man! For the Creator of the universe? Yes, “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16). And here we discover an inspired illustration of what theologians call the hypostatic union. Sounds fancy, but the first word is simply the English form of the Greek hupostasis, meaning to stand under, what is foundational, its essential nature, as in the verse, “Faith is the substance (hupostasis) of things hoped for” (Heb 11:1). Or speaking of Christ, “the express image of [God’s] person (hupostasis)” (1:3). When we add the word union, we refer to the miracle of the Son of God becoming what He never was (human), while not ceasing to be what He always was (divine). One Person, but two natures, truly God and fully Man. Now look at the ephod, made of two substances: gold, which is not made but discovered, like His deity; and linen, which grows, like His humanity, for “the child grew, and became strong in spirit” (Lk 2:40). When the high priest stepped into the light, his ephod might appear to be only dazzling gold; in the shadows, only linen. But it was both. So too, when Jesus slept in the boat (Mt 8:23-27), He seemed all human. But when He commanded the storm, the disciples said, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (v 27). Thus He can meet both God’s standards and our needs. Praise His Name!