Exodus 28: Pomegranates, Bells, and the High Priest

Exo 28:33  And beneath upon the hem of it [the robe for the high priest] 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:
Exo 28:34  A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.
Exo 28:35  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.

I was taught that every detail in the Bible is important, and it is true. I was also taught that the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, speaks of Jesus in some way, even if it is not immediately obvious. This also is true.

Used by permission

One time, as I was reading the passage above, I wondered about the pomegranates and the bells. What did they represent? The bells I thought I understood, but why pomegranates? And why were they on the hem of the high priest's robe? Other people have wondered this before me, but I did not try to research my question by reading other people's answers. I asked God. I meditated on this for some time, thinking about the pomegranate fruit: a globe shape with a tough rind which surrounds hundreds of seeds. Each seed is covered with a little red juice, the seeds are in groups, and each group is both held together and separated from other groups by a flexible membrane. One day, God showed me the mystery of the pomegranate: The seeds represent individual Christians, covered by Jesus' blood. They are gathered into local churches, where they cling to and support one another. Each local church is part of the whole body of Christ, and the body is held together by the Holy Spirit.

I was awed by this revelation, and still am. What a wonderful picture God painted for us, and how marvelous that each high priest, as he performed intercession for the people of Israel on the Day of Atonement, was wearing a reminder of the Church which was to come! God is great!

But I dismissed the bells, and didn't ask God about them. I assumed I knew: I thought they must represent giving praise to God. Well, that may be true, but there is another beautiful picture here, which God showed me much later. Let me explain:

Verse 35 above says, "And it [the robe] 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."

The High Priest [Aaron] was to wear this robe as he went into the Holy Place. Leviticus 16 records the regulations regarding this. If these rules were not correctly followed, he would die. And since he could only go in alone, the bells on his robe told those outside that the priest was alive and performing his duties before God.

How can the golden bells tell us something about Jesus? First, we must realize that gold, in scripture, represents divinity, and that the word translated 'bell' means something struck. So the golden bells represent Jesus, the Son of God, who was stricken for our sins and iniquities. Wow!

But wait, there's more: the bells were also a signal that the high priest was alive. With this thought, we can see that the bells represent the Spirit of God witnessing to Christians and seekers that Jesus, although He is not walking in a body on the earth, is ALIVE in Heaven performing his priestly duty of intercession before God for everyone who will come to Him. Wow!!

But wait, there's more: because we, as believers, are the Temple, and the Holy Spirit resides in us (1 Cor 3:16), the bells also represent each one of us, witnessing to the world that Jesus is ALIVE, and is standing before God making intercession for all who come to Him. Wow!!!

So in these three verses in the Old Testament, we find a picture of the church, and of  Jesus' death and resurrection. I want to say WOW!!!! How about you?

Hebrews 4:14, Our Great High Priest

Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

I understand that some Christians don't study the Old Testament, and believe it to be no longer valid. I disagree with that position. In fact, one of my passions is finding Jesus in the Old Testament. My most recent find is in the consecration of the High Priest.

Aaron, Moses' brother, was the first High Priest. He was chosen by God for the position, and his sons were chosen to do the job after him. In Leviticus 8 the ritual for Aaron's consecration is given to Moses by God. Here it is, in part:

Lev 8:10-12, 22-23 ¹⁰And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them. ¹¹And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them. ¹²And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.

 ²²And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. ²³And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.

What does that have to do with Jesus, you may be asking. Good question! After all, God says in the Hebrews verse that Jesus IS our High Priest, and that settles it! Yes, I agree, it does settle it. But there is confirmation in the Old Testament which can be seen when compared with events in Jesus' life.

In Lev 8:12 above, Moses poured anointing oil on Aaron's head to sanctify him. It was not just a little bit of oil, because in Psalm 133:2 we are told that the precious ointment ran over Aaron's beard and down to the hem of his robe. Was Jesus anointed in this way? Yes! Remember Mary, Martha and Lazarus's sister?

Mark 14:3, 6-9 ³And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
 ⁶And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. ⁷For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. ⁸She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. ⁹Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

John 12:3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

We know this is the same woman, because the town is Bethany, Jesus is anointed by a woman, and because of these verses:

John 11:1-2 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. ²(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

So Jesus was anointed with enough precious oil to cover his head and his feet. What about the blood of the sacrifice which was applied to Aaron's ear, thumb, and toe?

Mat 27:29-30 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! ³⁰And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.

His head was bleeding from the beating and the thorns. His ears had blood on them. His own blood.
Someone innocent had to die to provide the blood. In Leviticus a ram died. But for Jesus' consecration, Jesus died.

Luke 23:33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

He had nails through his hands and his feet. His thumbs and big toes had blood on them. His own blood.
What a price he paid in order to be our Great High Priest! What suffering he endured in order to make intercession for us with His Father! There can be no greater demonstration of his love for us than this. All we can do is accept it with profound gratitude.

Leviticus 4:3 Sins of the High Priest

Lev 4:3  if the anointed priest shall sin so as to bring guilt on the people, ... (ASV)


The sins of the High Priest also fall on the people.  It is a blessing that our High Priest, Jesus, never sinned!