like Christ; for we shall see Him as He is. God commends His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Rom. v. 8. He bids us behold what manner of love He has bestowed on us, even that we should be called the sons of God: (Ist John iii. I) and the extent of His love is measured by that wondrous word of Christ-"Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." John xvi. 23. And the glory of the redeemed Church will be. according to the manner and measure of this unspeakable love, of which the High Priest is even now the witness.

This ephod of glory and beauty, with its onyx-stones upon the shoulders, linked on with the breastplate of judgment, presented three memorials of Israel before the Lord. The onyx-stones upon the shoulders bore their names before the Lord according to their birth; a memorial of the strength and power with which they were upheld in the presence of Jehovah. Exod. xxviii. 12. And these stones were also stones of memorial unto the children of Israel themselves. They were to remember the power and glory with which they had been by birth connected. Every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes, graven on his own precious stone on the breastplate, was borne upon the heart of the high priest, when he went into the holy place. And the Urim and the Thummim, put in the breastplate of judgment, expressed God's judgment of the children of Israel also upon the heart of the high priest.

In the Septuagint, the breastplate is called Logeion or Oracle; since, by means of it, the high priest obtained oracular responses from God. Are we not instructed (amongst other things) in this truth? viz: that all the counsels of God are only to be learned through the Lord Jesus, the High Priest; and that all the purposes of God are closely connected with His own people, the Church of the present dispensation, and the Israel of the future. So that even the history of the world, and of the various nations and individuals inhabiting it, is

inseparably connected with the glory of Christ in union with His saints, and His future reign with them over the earth.

The famine in Egypt was the occasion for Joseph's exaltation, and for bringing his brethren down into that country. And in the Lord's parable, (Luke xv.) the famine in the distant land was one of the means which God used to make the wanderer think of his father's home. All things are by Christ and for Christ; and He is Head over all things to the Church.

THE ROBE OF THE EPHOD.

"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."-Exod. xxviii. 31, 32.

"And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.

"And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend. Exod. xxxix. 22, 23.

THIS is the first occurrence of this word robe in the Bible. The Hebrew word is subsequently translated robe, Ist Sam. xxiv. 4; 1st Chron. xv. 27; Job xxix. 14; Ezek. xxvi. 16, in all which cases it specifies a garment worn by a king or prince. It is also trans-lated mantle, Ist Sam. xv. 27; Ezra ix. 3, 5; Job i. 20, and ii. 12; Psa. cix. 29; and cloak, Isa. lix. 17.

From all these uses of the word it may be inferred, that the robe of the ephod was a garment of special dignity; a robe of office; and which gave also a princely character to the high priest. No material is specified, but the colour only, blue: and it was the work of a

weaver.

It is remarkable, in Psalm xlv., how the garments of the king are described as if made of sweet perfumes;

as here the garment of the high priest is made only of colour. In our version the word smell is in italics. "All thy garments . . of myrrh, aloes, and cassia,” is the literal translation. Thus colour and sweet odour are the very materials of the priestly and kingly robes.

It was the work of a weaver; Bezaleel and Aholiab having been filled with wisdom of heart to execute this fabric. (Exod. xxxv. 30, 35.) This robe embodied the colour of the heavens; it was all of blue. It seems to have typified the especial glory of the true High Priest, whose name is Prince of Peace; the Lord of Peace; and who wears His princely robes as King of Righteousness, and King of Peace, upon the ground of having made full, perfect, and eternal peace through the blood of His cross. God, known as love, is the God of peace : and He has brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. That title, "the Great Shepherd of the sheep," seems to sum up in one name the whole of the priesthood of Christ, as described in the Epistle to the Hebrews. He is the Great Shepherd; for He is King as well as Priest. He has royal power; a royal heart; royal glory; and His dominions are righteousness and peace; and He is the Shepherd, having proved His love and care for the sheep, in laying down His life for them; and all His priestly service on their behalf is conducted with the heart of a good Shepherd, who loves His own, and whose own the sheep are.

This is, therefore, a princely, priestly, shepherd robe. It displays the love of God as seen in the gift of His Son, and as manifested by the Son Himself, in laying down His life, and so making peace. It was a robe which covered the high priest from head to foot, and showed the great object of his priesthood, namely, to maintain, on the behalf of His own, that peace with God which He had procured at the cost of His own blood, and which the God of peace had sealed and

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established, by raising Him from the dead through the blood of the everlasting covenant-a covenant, of which the main term is, "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more :" a covenant which is ever new, and therefore cannot vanish away, but is everlasting; and of which the King of Righteousness and King of Peace is the Mediator.

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This robe was all of one piece, woven from the top throughout and a provision was made, by means of a binding of woven work round about the hole in the top of it, that it should not rend or be rent. And so strong was this band, that the hole is likened to the hole of an habergeon, or breastplate of armour. Is not this very significant of the unchanging love of Christ? and therefore of the firm and eternal peace obtained and maintained by Him for us; so that nothing can interfere to mar or disturb it. Strong, like a coat of mail, no power of evil can rend this princely robe. Christ Himself is our peace: and through His death God has made peace in His high places. And though our sins of ingratitude, failings, and wanderings here below are numberless, still unbroken peace is preserved above by our faithful High Priest.

This part of the high priest's dress is called "the robe of the ephod." We may consider the ephod as representing the names "Wonderful, Counsellor :" for, it was curiously wrought; and it was the garment whereby God's counsel was ascertained and made known. So this robe marked out its wearer to be the "Prince of peace:" and the Lord Jesus as the Counsellor, is especially Prince of Peace, because all the counsels and purposes of God have, as their object, perfect reconciliation and peace. He is "the God of peace, who shall bruise Satan under our feet shortly," by the power of Him whom He raised from the dead, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, to be the Great Shepherd of the sheep. And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, the counsel of the Father is, by Him to reconcile

all things unto Himself, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven, (Col. i. 20.)

The Lord Jesus is a throned Priest, wearing robes of priesthood and royalty combined. He bears the glory; “He shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both," (Zech. vi. 13:) that is, the counsel of peace between the King and the Priest; so that He wields the kingly sceptre of rule and judgment, with a priestly heart and purpose of mercy and peace. And this will be manifested in the future reign of the Prince of Peace, as it is already revealed to believers. There is a comforting and beautiful benediction (2nd Thes. iii. 16.) "Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always, by all means. The Lord be with you all." The Lord of peace Himself—He who alone, as true King of Salem, King of peace, has the power of giving peace-has the rule of peace-Himself, that blessed word, which tells us of all the perfection and glory of His person-give you peace always, at all times, on all occasions, in all circumstances, in all scenes; by all means; making the very attacks of the enemy end in peace; making the very temptations, weaknesses, and worthlessness of the flesh tend to establish peace in the heart; making sorrows and trials which seem to be most adverse, yet to result in most perfect peace. Surely this is His princely power. This tells us how He is invested by the God of love and peace with all glory and strength, so as to confirm and fill our hearts with peace unto the end.

The first priestly word spoken by the Lord to His assembled disciples after His resurrection was, "Peace be with you." And his own peace, ("my peace,”) He has given and left with us. And what must that peace be? The assurance of being that delight and joy of God; the perfect confidence that God is well pleased in all He has wrought; and the power to look forward to all the attacks of Satan, and