A Fit Man - A Study Of The Garments Of Aaron - The Mitre And Bonnet Series

The principle to be understood is that it taught “holiness to the Lord” (Exo. 28:36) is the highest crown and greatest virtue of worship. All that presents to worship with the absence of the mitre and its head plate would be a mockery to God. It was a truth that God wanted to be set before the eyes of his people as they observed this man who would go before God. Obviously this form has changed in the New Testament church but now it becomes ever more crucial because we are in the priesthood of believers (1 Peter 2:9) and we must have on the correct gear to be pleasing to God. Internal and external holiness are still important to God.

B. The Position of the Priest

Every sacrifice that the Israelites rendered to the priests had to be purified and atoned for. The mere act of the sacrifice would not suffice in itself. It had to go through designated order that God determined for it. For the priest to be able to fill this role, God deemed that the plate of gold on the mitre would clearly state “holiness to the Lord” which would give the priest the right to offer the sacrifice for the atonement. This type points to Jesus Christ who was representative as the Holy One who could atone for sin and justify the saint.

The priest who wore this mitre and those who wore the bonnets had been born into the position. By virtue of being a son of Aaron and Levi these men had been set apart. They had been consecrated in a very holy and ordered manner (Exodus 29). It involved various sacrifices, the process of holy clothing, anointing, unleavened bread, the wave offering, and a period of waiting. It was during this time of the week long process that the most visited place the priest would be at was that altar. We can draw a great principle from this and gather the priority that must be placed on the altar in our lives. It would not be just a once in a lifetime visit for those who were in the priesthood but it would be routinely repeated again and again in their ministry.

It was through this process in Exodus 29 that a official holy position was given to the priest. But when he placed on the clothes of the priest, his holy garments would identify him as separated but it was crucial for his heart and life to also be holy. This is what Jesus pointed out in His excoriation of the Pharisees. He noted that they looked like white-painted graves but inwardly were filled with putrid and decaying things (Matt. 23:27). Throughout Scripture there is a very high pressure point that is brought on hypocrisy. The high priest had on the plate that declared “holiness to the Lord” sitting directly on his head. However he could have a great decaying spirit and attitude working in his thoughts.

What went on in his soul could not be a moral contradiction to the God he served and the people he represented. We must be forever vigilant about this matter of a holy head and heart in this terribly fallen world that we are living in. Overall, we can believe that those who serve the Lord in an official capacity are the majority because it takes masterful work to fill the role of a hypocrite. There are many godly men who are devoted to the cause of the Lord and they are examples to the flock (1 Peter 5:3).