The Holy Crown

The head garment of the high priest is described in 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."

A signet was a signature ring. It contained an engraved seal that was peculiar to its owner and when the seal was impressed on documents it represented the authority of the owner. For instance, the signet seal of a king represented the authority of the king. From the scriptures we know that King Ahab, King Ahasuerus, and King Darius all had and used their signet rings to authorize official documents and orders of the king. The seal of the ring carried the full weight and authority of the king. The seal of the signet is found frequently in the scriptures.

Examples of the seals use are as follows:

1. II Tim. 2:19 "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity."

2. Eph. 1:13, 14 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the  word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."

3. Rev. 7:2, 3 "And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."

The seal on the golden plate was "HOLINESS TO THE LORD." The word LORD is translated from the Hebrew word meaning Jehovah. As we studied earlier the name Jehovah is the name denoting God as a covenant making, covenant fulfilling God. Thus the will of our high priest, Jesus Christ, was to fulfill the covenant of God to save his people from their sins. The signature of this covenant making, covenant keeping God is HOLINESS. Jesus Christ is the Holy One, he is described as holy,harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He is also described as that "Holy Child." His conception into the world was different from anyone else's conception, as he was conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of a virgin. His life was holy as he kept the law to a jot and a tittle and he lived by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. His nature was holy in a way that none other was as he was both man and God. He fulfilled all that was written of him. He truly in his nature and work bore the signature HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

The high priest bore the burden of the children of Israel on his shoulders, he bore the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart in the breastplate of judgment, and he bore their iniquities upon his mind (forehead). Cannot we see all these things fulfilled by our High Priest, Jesus Christ. In II Cor. 5:21 we read, "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." Thus it is thru Jesus' holiness that he was the perfect sacrifice for our sins and thereby making us righteous before God.

It is thru the HOLINESS of Jesus Christ that we are accepted before the Lord as we read in Eph. 1:6, 7, "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."

Because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and because we are made accepted in the beloved, our worship and service to God is acceptable to God. According to Phil. 4:18 it is "an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God."