Exodus 28 talks about the priest’s garments, his clothes. The priest must wear underwear whenever they go into the tent of meeting. The priests have coats, sashes, and caps for glory and beauty. Part of the particulars of how God constructed the tabernacle was for His glory, but also for beauty.

He created you for His glory and also for beauty.

Of course, Christian beauty could be defined in terms of good works, like in 1 Timothy 2:10.

Did you notice the colors of the priestly garments? They are the same as those used in the tabernacle. The outside, on the priest, matched the inside of the tabernacle.

I found that an interesting thought, that the outside should match the inside. Think of that along with the 1 Timothy verse.

If Christ does dwell within us, then the pure gold within us should be reflected on the outside. Our outside, our lives, should reflect the glory and beauty within.

We can do that with good works, done to God’s glory, not our own. We can do that with acts of love, selfless love, not in manipulation in order to get something in return. We can do that with obedience. We can do that when our hearts move us to give cheerfully.

Then people can see our lives and know that we’re different, we’re set apart. Our lives can demonstrate what Aaron’s side said: “Holy to the Lord.”

Your set-apart life is what marks you as “Holy to the Lord,” just as if you were the one wearing that sign on your forehead. Christians, are, after all, priests onto the Lord.

The sign isn’t the only part of the priestly garment. It also bore the names of God’s people. He brought them before the Lord for righteous judgment, to confess sins and to receive forgiveness, grace, mercy, and sometimes discipline.

We do not live in isolation. We are part of the body of Christ, and part of earthly nations, part of families, part of communities, part of churches.

We need to bear them up before the Lord, before the mercy seat. We have a job to do as priests unto a holy God.