The Holy Linen Coat

by MCILREE, A. | Category: Garments For Glory | Mar 2009

Exodus 28:39-42; 39:27-29; Leviticus 8:30; 16:4

God is the God of fine things. Among His Old Testament foreshadowings of Christ, fine flour(1) speaks of the lowliness of the Sacrifice; and now fine linen points to the loveliness of our great High Priest. Behind its beauty lay the processing of the inconspicuous flax plant. Nothing much to look at, its stalks held a secret which had to be unlocked by being cut down, laid out to dry,(2) pulped by steeping in water, and then carded to separate it into fibres from which linen yarn was spun. Egyptian linen was renowned for its fineness: a single thread could blend three hundred and sixty strands into what has been described as 'woven air'.

Made to depict One who is co-equal with their Designer, Aaron's 'holy garments 'for glory and for beauty'(3) echo this Christ-centred witness - 'He is unique'.(4) Their character portrays Him

'Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting'(5)

and perfectly fitted for the cross, but once stained with blood and oil they announce the added dimension of what He became through the cross. Sealed with those symbols, they declare that the blood of Christ and Spirit of Christ are in harmonious agreement with all they represent, collectively and individually. Having come, lived, and died in perfect unison with the Holy Spirit,(6) He ascended as 'Minister of the sanctuary' having 'obtained a more excellent ministry' in the 'greater and more perfect tabernacle'.(7) The word 'better' in the letter to the Hebrews confirms that the old covenant was 'good',(8) and its description of the heavenly tabernacle leaves us in no doubt that Aaron's garments allowed him to enter an excellent ministry in a great and perfect tabernacle on earth. Did it go unnoticed on the day of his consecration and erecting the tabernacle, that the colours of his garments matched its gateway, and that the initial garment of fine linen he was given matched the final act of hanging its surrounding court? He must be seen in the character of Christ, therefore he needed something to wear. Yet no external garments could make Aaron compare with the internal splendour of our High Priest, nor could their outward glory and beauty capture the virtues of Him in whom God sees 'truth in the inward parts'.(9) He needs no adorning for His adornment is within, whereas Aaron's primary need was for a coat and under-garments of fine linen. These were no mere pieces of cloth woven and bleached to brilliant whiteness. No, their fibre and fabric were masterminded under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to represent the Lord's intrinsic worth and essential nature. Flawless from top to bottom, there were no snagged threads, no defects in the weave, and it was completely without spot. To the most scrutinizing eye, there was no fault in it, just as Pontius Pilate would say of the Man it foreshadowed. It needed no repair work to make it an appropriate symbol of Him to whose perfections nothing can be added or taken away.

When the church is gathered home, Christ will present her to Himself in unspotted bridal glory, 'arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints'.(10) In other words, their character resembles His. So, too, did the warp and weft of Aaron's coat. Allowing scripture to interpret scripture, we hear Job describe his clothing: 'I put on righteousness, and it clothed me'.(11) Later, we discover that his statement became a requirement of Aaron's line - 'Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Your saints shout for joy'.(12) Did a redeemed congregation shout for joy on that special New Year's Day? They had every cause! But there was an apparent double barrier: a court of fine linen five cubits high was above them, and a man whose righteous standard was beyond them. It was insurmountable and unattainable, but not unavailable for he was their way through. How glorious the dawning realization that, in their high priest, the seeming double barrier was in reality a double invitation to serve inside. At the altar, they could stand where he stood, serve where he served, and learn to value the significance of a man whose flesh was 'clothed in righteousness', even to the extent of his hidden sash which bound that righteousness to every step and secured a righteous walk. He must reflect One whose righteousness is 'the belt of His loins',(13) whose walk is infinitely secure because He loves righteousness and hates iniquity.(14) Centuries ago, some Christians said, 'We have learned to equivocate�Our convictions sit easily about us like an old lady's loose gown. Righteousness has lost its wholesome sternness. The other side of love is hate, but we do not love truth so ardently that we hate a lie. We are too casual. We need His sense of right and wrong, of black and white.' Casual carnality is always the enemy of righteousness, but there was nothing casual about Aaron. His holy linen coat demanded this love-hate relationship, and God built in features to safeguard it.

Daily, he engaged in gathering the remains of the previous day's evening sacrifice.(15) In the silence of the night, God had been left with the value of the lamb and, in the morning, the priest clad in linen removed the ashes - the evidence of a finished work. How appropriate was their removal! A man 'clothed with righteousness' placed them on the east (Heb. qedem) side of the altar,(16) the side which speaks of eternity (Deut. 33:27 - Heb. qedem) and God's eternal view of the cross where the Holy and righteous One was slain.

Annually, on the Day of Atonement, there was similar high-priestly care. Dressed in white, he offered the sacrifices that pointed forward to the greatest Sacrifice of all, when God 'made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him'.(17) Within Calvary's dark hours, not in full public gaze like Aaron, Christ our sin-offering conquered a much more real double barrier. Our Saviour is the way through. Our High Priest is the way in. Our double barrier in salvation and service has become a double invitation. 'Jesus Christ the righteous',(18) the incarnate 'righteous God',(19) Jehovah Tsidkenu - 'the Lord our righteousness'(20) is our Man of fine linen.

It is worth remembering that the high priest's garments were part of the pattern that was given to Moses on the mountain. The pattern of the tabernacle's structure would have been incomplete without the pattern of its service, and the pattern of service equally incomplete without the pattern of the servants. When Aaron was clothed he began to depict God's Pattern Servant, not only the nature of the ministry but the nature of the Minister. This was significant in these garments of fine linen. Being foundational to all other parts of his clothing, they emphasise the perfect nature of the One He calls 'My righteous Servant'.(21) This means that He does what He is. He speaks in righteousness,(22) because He is righteous; He judges righteously, in perfect equality with His Father(23), because He is 'the righteous Judge';(24) and righteousness is the foundation of His throne,(25) otherwise it could not be the throne of glory.(26) Such is the seriousness of sin that it has robbed man of the glory of God,(27) and such was the cost of remedying this that only the death of Christ could make many righteous(28) and bring many sons to glory.(29) What joy to be among the many! Was there glory in the pattern? Yes, and it was twofold. The glory of God's presence filled the place(30) and it clothed the person who, in 'glory and beauty', showed the glory of His righteousness and the righteousness of His glory.

Linen holds a practical and salutary lesson for the Christian. God says of His priests, 'they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat',(31) or more pointedly, 'they shall not clothe themselves with sweat', shunning other yarns, such as wool and cotton, which promote sweat and defile both body and garments. We are called to 'put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh'(32) and, 'hating even the garment defiled by the flesh',(33) we fix our eyes upon Him. We share His righteousness, so blessed by finding it in our Saviour, and further enriched by seeing it in our great Priest. In appreciation of our salvation, we love and follow Him in service, discovering as we go that 'Righteousness shall go before Him, and set us in the way of His steps'.(34)

Bible references from NKJV unless otherwise stated

(1) Lev.2:1 (2) Josh.2:6 (3) Ex.28:2 (4) Job 23:13 (5) Mic.5:2 (6) Luke 1:35; Acts 10:38; Heb 9:14 (7) Heb.8:2,6; 9:11 (8) Rom.7:12 (9) Ps.51:6 RV (10) Rev.19:8 (11) Job 29:14 (12) Ps.132:9 (13) Is.11:5 (14) Heb.1:9 (15) Ex.29:38-39; Lev.6:9-11 (16) Lev.1:16 (17) 2 Cor.5:21 (18) 1 John 2:1 (19) Ps.7:9 (20) Jer.23:6 (21) Isa.53:11 (22) Isa.63:1 (23) 1 Pet.2:23 (24) 2 Tim.4:8 (25) Ps.89:14 (26) 1 Sam.2:8 (27) Rom.3:23 (28) Rom.5:19 (29) Heb.2:10 (30) Ex.40:34 (31) Ezek.44:18 (32) Rom.13:14 (33) Jude 23 (34) Ps.85:13 RVM

MCILREE, A. | Mar 2009
Garments For Glory