The commentary is based mostly on the LXX, with frequent reference to the MT.

1 And do thou take to thyself both Aaron thy brother, and his sons, even [them] of the children of Israel; so that Aaron, and Nadab and Abiud, and Eleazar and Ithamar, sons of Aaron, may minister to me. 2 And thou shalt make holy apparel for Aaron thy brother, for honour and glory. 3 And speak thou to all those who are wise in understanding, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom and perception; and they shall make the holy apparel of Aaron for the sanctuary, in which [apparel] he shall minister to me as priest.

The priesthood typologically represents Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church. (Eph 1:22-23) The apparel represents the Body of Christ, the Church. The typological importance of the clothing is important, hence those making them are given “the spirit of wisdom” by God to fulfill this function.

4 And these are the garments which they shall make: the breast-plate, and the shoulder-piece, and the full-length robe, and the tunic with a fringe, and the tire, and the girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron and his sons to minister to me as priests.

Eph 6:14-17, Is 59:17, and Wis 5:17-20 offer the interpretative key to this passage. Christians have righteousness (breastplate), justice/vindication in the eyes of others (shoulder-piece/ornamented vest in MT; this rendering is based on the Greek in Is 59:17 as compared to the Hebrew where it means “vengeance”), zeal (robe, tunic with a fringe, and girdle—all standing in as the shield due to their usage under armor in ancient times), and salvation (the tire/turban). The three fold repetition for the type for zeal indicates that zeal exceeds the other virtues and qualities. Martyrdom is the greatest sort of zeal which is why they make up the greatest proportion of saints.

5 And they shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen.

The body of Christ has the colored threads because it is made up of people meeting the typology already established. Gold indicates that God’s grace is imparted to the people of God.

6 And they shall make the shoulder-piece of fine linen spun, the woven work of the embroiderer. 7 It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined together, fastened on the two sides. 8 And the woven work of the shoulder-pieces which is upon it, shall be of one piece according to the work, of pure gold and blue and purple, and spun scarlet and fine twined linen.

The two shoulder straps with the aforementioned threads and gold represent the Jews and Gentiles, men and women, the diametric opposites made one in the Church. (Gal 3:28)

9 And thou shalt take the two stones, the stones of emerald, and thou shalt grave on them the names of the children of Israel. 10 Six names on the first stone, and the other six names on the second stone, according to their births. 11 [It shall be] the work of the stone-engraver’s art; as the graving of a seal thou shalt engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. 12 And thou shalt put the two stones on the shoulders of the shoulder-piece: they are memorial-stones for the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel before the Lord on his two shoulders, a memorial for them.

The 12 names represent the fullness of all Christian names. (Phil 4:3, Rev 13:8) They are engraved in emerald/onyx (MT) depending upon the translation. Both are correct. Rev 4:3 indicates that the appearance of God (presumably, the Father) is compared to emerald of alternating colors. Onyx has alternating colors. Clearly, as God in His divinity is unable to be seen (1 John 4:12, Ex 33:20 MT), this is a reference to His energies. The alternating colors speak to the diversity of energies (1 Cor 12:3, i.e. instances of the singular, eternal divine energy working itself throughout time). And so, this indicates that Christians are divinized by His divine energies originating ultimately in the Father as He is the hypostatic origin of the Son and Spirit.

However, onyx may being pointing to the different natures in the single person of Jesus Christ, especially if the inference from Rev 4:3 is incorrect.

Aaron wears these pieces, because in reality Christ bares His people, Him being the vine and Christians the branches. (John 15:5)

13 And thou shalt make circlets of pure gold; 14 and thou shalt make two fringes of pure gold, variegated with flowers wreathen work; and thou shalt put the wreathen fringes on the circlets, fastening them on their shoulder-pieces in front.

The gold represents grace and the ornamentation represents Beauty, which is God. This is similar in its typological import to Aaron wearing the clothing. Christ sustains and maintains the Church.

15 And thou shalt make the oracle of judgment, the work of the embroiderer: in keeping with the ephod, thou shalt make it of gold, and blue and purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen spun. 16 Thou shalt make it square: it shall be double; of a span the length of it, and of a span the breadth.

The breast-plate is here called “the oracle of judgement” because it contained Urim and Thummim. (Ex 28:30) The color of the thread and gold here carry the same typological significance. It’s perfect dimensions (1 X 1) indicate that the prophetic office was not a mere shadow, but real. (John 10:51)

17 And thou shalt interweave with it a texture of four rows of stone; there shall be a row of stones, a sardius, a topaz, and emerald, the first row. 18 And the second row, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper. 19 And the third row, a ligure, an agate, an amethyst: 20 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, and a beryl, and an onyx stone, set round with gold, bound together with gold: let them be according to their row. 21 And let the stones of the names of the children of Israel be twelve according to their names, engravings as of seals: let them be for the twelve tribes each according to the name.

The different kinds of stone and the engraving of names speak of the many kinds of righteous people in the Church and heaven. Some more, some less, and everyone different in quality. The stones are surrounded by gold just as a golden halo surrounds a saint’s head on an icon, because grace pervades Christians. Rev 21:19-20 carries the same significance. In Rev 21, Χαλκηδών (Chalcedon, same spelling as the synod), σαρδόνυξ (sardonyx, as compared to sardius, σάρδιον, that is found in Ex 28), χρυσόπρασος (chryophase, as compared to chrysolite, χρυσόλιθος, that is found in Ex 28) and ὑακίνθου (Jacinth, dark blue) are named; but missing in the Ex 28.

The differences in stones, despite the thematic similarity, is hard to guess. Broadly speaking, it conveys the differences between the Old and New Covenants. This is fantastical, but one cannot help but notice something along the line of “divine Easter eggs.” Chalcedon[y] literally matches the spelling of the council, the gem containing both quartz and moganite, quartz having a trigonal structure and a beautiful appearance and moganite being monoclinic and not particularly nice looking. One cannot help but perceive the Christological doctrine in the literal gem, the Triune divine essence and the human essence making up the one hypostasis of Jesus Christ. Chryophase is a green colored Chalcedon[y], ironically representing a repetition of Chalcedon, being repeated twice perhaps indicative of Chalcedon’s follow up synod, Constantinople II—which taught the same doctrine again.

Jacinth is found in Ex 28, but used as the word “blue,” not as a gem. Instead, it is classified as “ligure” which is a blue gem and is found in Ex 28:19 LXX. So in reality, it is on both lists.

The gems found only in Ex 28 are either red carbuncle; or multicolored (sardonyx, agate, onyx). The red points to Christ’s blood shed at the crucifixion. The multicolored likely represent Christ’s diverse natures, both human and divine. It may also represent God’s divine energies, conveyed to man through angelic intermediaries. (Rev 10:1) This seems to foreshadow the teaching of the crucifixion, but also God’s grace given to the faithful before and after this time.

It appears that the typology in Ex 28 is more important than what is found in Rev 21. It is almost as if Rev 21 was written with the intent that the reader or listener have paid very careful attention so as to appreciate the prophecy implicit in the former passage. This helps create a greater appreciation for what is taught in Ex 28, but also the profundity of the Chalcedonian teaching and the horrible nature of the Oriental schism.

22 And thou shalt make on the oracle woven fringes, a chain-work of pure gold. 23 And Aaron shall take the names of the children of Israel, on the oracle of judgment on his breast; a memorial before God for him as he goes into the sanctuary. 24 And thou shalt put the fringes on the oracle of judgment; thou shalt put the wreaths on both sides of the oracle, 25 and thou shalt put the two circlets on both the shoulders of the ephod in front. 26 And thou shalt put the Manifestation and the Truth on the oracle of judgment; and it shall be on the breast of Aaron, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord; and Aaron shall bear the judgments of the children of Israel on his breast before the Lord continually.

God’s grace surrounds the Church. The emphasis on Beauty is the same as previously described in the commentary. Aaron bares the names of the children of Israel because when he serves liturgically he atones for their sins, as Christ does for the Church. The Manifestation and the Truth are the Umim and Thummim. The high priest, and the Great High Priest, serve a prophetic function as well as a propitiatory one.

27 And thou shalt make the full-length tunic all of blue. 28 And the opening of it shall be in the middle having a fringe round about the opening, the work of the weaver, woven together in the joining of the same piece that it might not be rent.* 29 And under the fringe of the robe below thou shalt make as it were pomegranates of a flowering pomegranate tree, of blue, and purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen spun, under the fringe of the robe round about: golden pomegranates of the same shape, and bells round about between these.

The typological import concerning the tunic being all blue is difficult to infer. Perhaps it indicates that the priesthood ought to be male and zealous, pointing to the priest’s zeal belonging to humanity as a matter of nature. The pomegranates woven in red, purple, and red point to Christians (being human) making up the Body of Christ (the God Man represented by the fruit).

30 A bell by the side of a golden pomegranate, and flower-work on the fringe of the robe round about. 31 And the sound of Aaron shall be audible when he ministers, as he goes into the sanctuary before the Lord, and has he goes out, that he die not.

The garment has bells so that the liturgical work should be heard. This appears to carry no other significance than the prayerfulness of the activity, each time the bell rings being akin to a prayer.

32 And thou shalt make a plate [of] pure gold, and thou shalt grave on it [as] the graving of a signet, Holiness of the Lord. 33 And thou shalt put it on the spun blue cloth, and it shall be on the mitre: it shall be in the front of the mitre. 34 And it shall be on the forehead of Aaron; and Aaron shall bear away the sins of their holy things, all that the children of Israel shall sanctify of every gift of their holy things, and it shall be on the forehead of Aaron continually acceptable for them before the Lord.

The golden sign saying “Holiness of the Lord” speaks to such holiness being a direct participation in God’s grace. (Eph 3:2, 7-8)

Again, the blue cloth on the mitre speaks to the priesthood being male. This priesthood serves “the children of Israel.” Though Christ is not conceived through male seed, the identification with blue and the male priesthood prefigures the man Jesus Christ making Himself an offering for sins.

35 And the fringes of the garments [shall be] of fine linen; and thou shalt make a tire of fine linen, and thou shalt make a girdle, the work of the embroiderer. 36 And for the sons of Aaron thou shalt make tunics and girdles, and thou shalt make for them tires for honour and glory. 37 And thou shalt put them on Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, and thou shalt anoint them and fill their hands: and thou shalt sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office.

The importance of the clothing in reference to the consecration with oil for priests typologically is the connection with the clothing’s significance with the priesthood. In other words, the anointing prefigures Christ’s anointing with the Holy Spirit after His baptism.

38 And thou shalt make for them linen drawers to cover the nakedness of their flesh; they shall reach from the loins to the thighs. 39 And Aaron shall have them, and his sons, whenever they enter into the tabernacle of witness, or when they shall advance to the altar of the sanctuary to minister, so they shall not bring sin upon themselves, lest they die: [it is] a perpetual statute for him, and for his seed after him.

The chapter ends on this note, pointing to nakedness and their sin so as to indicate the imperfection of the type. These priests will have to take caution and make sacrifices due to their own sin. This is a perpetual state. Christ perpetually does not have to, as He is the perfect High Priest. (Heb 7:26-28) Hence, the chapter ending on this sour note makes the reader look to a greater fulfilment.