Mixtures of Colors

In previous sections we have studied the correlation between various colors and various bible subjects. Sometimes we see colors mixed together in the scriptures to give us a portrait of various things. The most common mixtures are of gold, blue, purple, scarlet and white. Some things that contain these mixtures are the garments of the high priest, the covering of the tabernacle, the veil of the tabernacle and temple, the door of the tabernacle, and the gate of the court yard to the tabernacle. We will examine these things in the next few essays to see how the colors portray the character of these things.

Ex. 28:4-8 "And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth."

These garments were the garments to be worn by Aaron and his sons after him as they executed the office of the High Priest. It is apparent to serious bible students that the High Priesthood after the order of Aaron was a type of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. The garments worn by the High Priests showed forth in types the nature, work, and several characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ, our High Priest after the order of Melchisidec.

We first view the ephod worn by the High Priest. It showed forth the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The ephod was made of "gold, of blue, and purple, of scarlet, and fined twined linen, with cunning work."

Gold is the bible color associated with the subject of kings and kingdoms. Christ came as a Great Warrior King to save his people from their sins. He came also to establish His kingdom of heaven on earth.

Blue is the bible color associated with laws and commandments. In order for this Great Warrior King to save his people from their sins it was necessary that he first keep the laws and prophecies of God perfectly: Matt. 5:17-18 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets perfectly.

Purple is the bible color associated with royalty. The things of the King are often referred to as being royal. For instance in the Old Testament the following things of kings are referred to as being royal: royal city; royal bounty; seed royal; royal wine; crown royal; royal house; royal commandment; royal estate; royal apparel; royal throne; royal diadem; royal pavilion; royal statute; royal law; and royal priesthood. All of these things point to the things which make up the Kingdom of heaven or Kingdom of God. Today, the royal city would be the church; the seed royal would be the born again elect children of God; the royal throne is where Christ sits as a king; the royal law is God's commandments that we love our neighbors as ourselves. The royal priesthood is set forth for us in 1 Pet. 2:9 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" Thus, God's elect people make up the royal priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scarlet is the bible color associated with war and sacrifice. Jesus came to save his people from their sins. Also, without the shedding of blood is no remission. It was necessary that Jesus be the perfect sacrifice for his sin-condemned and hell-deserving people. They could do nothing to save themselves. The work of redemption belonged solely to the Lord and he tread the winepress of the wrath of God alone. He alone died on the cross and shed his blood that his people might be delivered.

White is the bible color associated with righteousness. Fine linen is clean and white. Through the atoning blood of Christ we are not only redeemed from our sins but we are made righteous in the eyes of God: 2 Cor. 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

From the above, we see that the colors of the ephod in type show us that Christ is the Great Warrior King, which he kept the law and prophets perfectly, that he established his kingdom on earth, and that he redeemed his people from their sins and made them righteous before God.

"And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth." Next, we read in Ex. 28:11, 12 "With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial." The onyx stones are green in color and the color green is associated with the subject of life. The twelve names engraved in the two stones represent the entire elect family of God consisting of both Jews and Gentiles. They have life through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He bore them on his shoulders (their burdens were upon him) where he bore their burdens and delivered them. He also gives them spiritual life.

Ex. 28:15-30 "And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it. Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their enclosings. And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold. And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate. And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it. And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward. And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod. And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.

And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually. And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually."

In the breastplate of judgment there were twelve stones and each stone contained one of the names of the children of Israel. All Israel was represented in these twelve stones. Likewise in judgment the names of all the elect family of God are worn upon the heart of our High Priest Jesus Christ. The High Priest bore the names upon the breastplate as a memorial. Likewise, our High Priest remembers all of his elect children and bore their judgment for them.

The connecting pieces connecting the breastplate of judgment to the ephod are all of gold. We see the handiwork of Christ our King tying all the work together. This points us to the covenant of redemption whereby God has tied all the work of redemption together: Rom. 8: 29, 30 "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

Ex. 28:31, 32 "And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue. And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent." Since the color blue is associated with laws or commandments, it cannot be stressed too much that there could be no rents in the law. Christ had to keep the law perfectly in order to be a perfect sacrifice. Anything less than perfection would not be sufficient to make Christ the perfect sacrifice for his people. Christ kept the law perfectly despite all the efforts of Satan and his lieutenants.

Ex. 28:33-35 "And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not." A bell gives a sound. A pomegranate is a very fruitful fruit. The bell and the pomegranate were alternated. Thus you have a bell, then you have a pomegranate. The correlation is that the sound would be heard first then the fruit would appear. The golden bells and pomegranates were on the hem of the robe of the ephod.

The work represented by the golden bells and pomegranates was therefore dependent on the work of Christ the High Priest to keep the law perfectly and become the perfect sacrifice. The golden bell would represent the voice of the King. The pomegranate would represent the fruit brought about by that voice. John 5:25 reads " Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." Every time the Lord through his voice speaks to someone who is dead in trespasses and sins, that voice brings forth spiritual life. We often refer to this as being born again or being born of the spirit.

Ex. 28:36-38 "And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD." In this we see the High Priest represented also as a king (gold plate). Under the law kings could not be high priests and high priests could not be king. However, Christ came as a High Priest after the order of Melchisidec and not after the order of Aaron. Melchisidec was king of Salem and his name meant king of righteousness. The title of the High Priest was "HOLINESS TO THE LORD." None has been as holy as our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the perfect keeper of the law and the perfect redeemer of his people. He is the perfect king of the kingdom and has done all things well. Because of Christ's perfect work, our worship and service before God and our prayers unto God are accepted.

Ex. 28:39 "And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework." The fine linen shows forth the perfect righteousness of our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was clothed with righteousness and he is the King of righteousness. He is also our righteousness. Praise be to his holy name.