And thou shalt set in it settings of stones -- four rows of stones [one] row, a sardoin, a topaz, and an emerald -- the first row;
Exodus 28 describes the clothes of Israel's high priest, and verse 17 begins the list of twelve jewels for the breastplate he wore over his heart. Four rows of three stones, each cut with the name of a tribe — commentators read this as a picture of how God carries and values His people.
The stones sit in a piece worn on the chest. Aaron already carried Israel's names on his shoulders, so the breastplate says something the shoulders did not:
Aaron bore the names of the children of Israel on his heart, as well as on his shoulders. The breast is symbolic of the affections. So it teaches this: Christ upholds His people before God by everlasting strength, and He also carries them on His heart in everlasting love... He has bound us on His shoulders — carrying our weight — with His own almighty strength. And He has fastened us on His heart with His own undying love, a love no one can fathom.
The first row alone names three different kinds of gem. Why not twelve of the same stone?
We are not able to say what the special meaning of each stone is. But we have no doubt that they do have a special meaning... Each stone had its own character — its colour, its density, the way it bent light, and so on. So each stone was different from the others. In the same way, God takes account of the different ways Divine character is formed in believers. God is surely not the Author of mass-produced articles with no variation at all.
The two onyx stones on the shoulders were alike. The twelve on the breastplate are not:
With the onyx stones, no difference showed between any of the tribes: all were the same. This shows that all Israel stood on the same basis of acceptance... The twelve stones of the breastplate, though, show difference among the tribes. They picture the difference there is among believers. All are set in the breastplate — that is, all believers are one "in Christ," yet each believer is the workmanship of God created to function in a distinct way.
Each tribe's name was cut into a gem. One writer points out what the eye actually sees:
Each name was in a gem, but the name is lost in the gem, and you see only the gem. It is the same in the heavenly city. The names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are in the foundations, but their names are never given. We see them only in the beauty and value of the costly stones that adorn the foundation.
The engraving is also permanent:
These twelve names are engraved on the jewels, so you would have to break the jewels to pieces to get them off. There they stay, as unchanging as the jewels themselves. In the light of the jewels you read the names.
Sardius, topaz, carbuncle — these are costly stones. That choice says something about how God views the people they stand for:
We are used to the thought that divine mercy sees us as objects of pity, or that divine favour sees us as objects of kindness. But we are hardly used to the thought that divine love sees us as objects of value and beauty — objects of adornment, of radiance and rarity. Ah! that is very different... it would give us a higher view of the value of every one, even the humblest, of those He calls "My jewels."
The setting matters too. Light does something to a jewel:
Light falling on precious stones brings out their varied and many beauties. So, as noted with the onyx stones, the names of God's people, carried on the heart of the priest, shine out in all the sparkling brightness and beauty of the stones on which they are engraved. This symbolizes that believers are before God in all the acceptance of Christ.
This is not the only list of gems in Scripture, and the three lists are read as three different displays:
On the breastplate we have mention of twelve precious stones. Again in Ezekiel 28, in connection with the king of Tyre, there are nine precious stones mentioned. Yet again we have mention of twelve stones in the foundations of the wall of the holy city. Now in each case these stones are there to reflect the glory of God. In Ezekiel 28 they reflect the glory of God in creation. On the breastplate they reflect the glory of God in grace. In the holy city they reflect the glory of God in redemption.
- Borne — the shoulders carry weight; the breastplate carries love. Strength and love together present the believer before God.
- Borne distinctly — twelve unlike stones, not twelve copies. All share one basis of acceptance, yet each believer is shaped to work in a distinct way.
- Borne permanently — the names are cut into the gems. You could not get one off without breaking the stone.
- Borne as treasure — the stones are costly. God sees us not as objects of pity but as objects of value and beauty.
- Borne to display — as in creation and in the coming city, these stones exist to reflect the glory of God, here in grace.
and the second row, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a diamond;
The high priest's breastplate carried four rows of gems, three in a row. This verse names the second row, and each stone carried a name of the children of Israel. So why did God keep His people before Him in this way?
Before assigning meanings, one writer sounds a caution about how much we can actually recover from the Hebrew.
On it were twelve precious stones engraved with the names of the sons of Israel, whose judgment Aaron bore on his heart. Connected with it were the Urim and the Thummim, carried by the high priest; but what these were, no one can tell — they are lost. Neither can the names of the precious stones be given, since the meaning of the original words is unknown.
The uncertainty is not vague. It can be traced word by word — the "diamond" here is one such case.
The Hebrew word in Ex. 28:18; Ex. 39:11; Ezek. 28:13 is yahalom. It occurs only in these places and cannot be identified; it is generally held not to be what is now known as the diamond.
This is why the first stone in this row appears as an emerald in some translations and as a carbuncle in others.
Commentators read the sapphire's colour as pointing upward.
The sapphire has an intense blue colour, suggesting the heavenly glories of Christ. Scripture tells us that "the second man is from heaven," and "as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven" (1 Cor. 15:47-48), for the saints take their character from the Lord Jesus. The children of Israel were told to fasten "a cord of blue" on the edges of their garments. This means that the heavenly features of the life of Christ should mark the saints at every step as they pass through this world. The meaning of the name on the sapphire is "set apart."
Another writer pushes the colour further than "heavenly."
In this full and far-reaching rule, everything on earth and everything in heaven centres in the anointed One — in our Lord Jesus Christ. In plain words, it is universal! Not simply world-wide! Not only heavenly! but universal. Here then we have the blessed symbolic meaning of the sapphire with its beautiful blue brilliance. If there is one colour more than any other that might be called the universal colour, it is blue.
The emerald turns up again around God's throne. That scene gives its meaning.
The emerald is an apple-green stone. Revelation 4 speaks of it, where the rainbow around the throne "had the appearance of an emerald." In the middle of the divine glories of that heavenly scene stands the remembrance of God's covenant with the earth. When the Lord Jesus comes from heaven, He will appear in His Father's glory. He will also be seen as Son of David, and King of kings and Lord of lords. All the glory of the kingdoms of the earth will be His.
One writer asks where else the diamond appears in Scripture — and where it is missing.
The diamond is the most valuable and most beautiful of all these precious stones. It seems to single out some special and supreme glory of Christ. Nothing but diamond can cut diamond! Like the onyx, it is not found in the wall of the city in glory. Where is it? It shines in the first three stones of Ezekiel 28, and it glistens on the breastplate of Aaron, yet it is missing from the city wall. This tells us that the diamond points to Jesus, who takes up the kingly dignity in government and the priestly place in grace. He is both King and Priest.
Others hold back from assigning a meaning to each gem, and read the lesson from the variety itself.
What the special meaning of each stone is, we are not competent to say. That they have a special significance we do not doubt. A well-known expert in precious stones gave his considered opinion: the order in which these gems were chosen and arranged was beyond human skill. Only divine arrangement could have done it. Each precious stone had its own character in colour, density, the way it bends light and so on. So each stone differed from the others. In the same way God takes account of the different ways in which divine character is produced in believers.
This row sat on the breastplate, and the breastplate sat over the high priest's heart.
Aaron bore the names of the children of Israel on his heart, as well as on his shoulders. The breast is a symbol of the affections. It teaches, then, that Christ upholds His people before God by everlasting strength. And He also bears them on His heart in everlasting love. He has bound us on His shoulders with His own almighty strength, bearing our weight. He has fastened us on His heart with His own deathless love that no one can measure.
- Honesty first. No one can now name these stones with certainty. That is why translations differ here.
- Sapphire. Its deep blue speaks of heavenly glory. It points to a rule that is universal — not just world-wide, not only heavenly.
- Emerald. Its green returns as the rainbow around the throne. Even in heaven, God keeps His covenant with the earth in view.
- Diamond. It shines on the breastplate and in Ezekiel 28, but is missing from the city wall. It marks the One who is both King and Priest.
- Different, and carried. No two stones match, because God takes account of what He has produced in each believer. Yet all of them rest on the shoulders of strength and over the heart of love.
and the third row, an opal, an agate, and an amethyst;
This is the third of four rows of gems on the high priest's breastplate. Each stone was different from the rest, and each carried the name of one of Israel's tribes over Aaron's heart when he came before God.
Each stone held a tribal name. So the high priest carried the whole nation in two places at once.
Verses 17-20 list the names of the stones, set in four rows… the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst… Each one had engraved on it the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. So all Israel was again pictured as carried on the heart of the high priest, just as all were carried on his shoulders (v. 12).
Some translations begin this row with "a ligure" or "an opal" where the ESV has "a jacinth." No one can say for sure which stone the Hebrew word means.
leshem. The first in the third row of gems in the breastplate. Some suppose it to be the hyacinth, others the lyncurium, and others amber; but its identification is uncertain.
Each stone carried one name. One writer draws from that the equal and personal love of Christ for each of His own.
Every name on the breastplate had its own stone, but not one was larger or brighter than another. Each had a distinctive glory, but all had an equal place on the heart of the High Priest. Each name was deeply engraved there, "like the engravings of a signet," and set to shine with an equal brilliance in the light of the sanctuary… Each saint of God has an infinite preciousness to Jesus; each one is loved by the same love that passes knowledge. He calls His own sheep by name; each one has a personal link with Him.
Some writers read the stones themselves as pictures of Christ's varied glories. The first gem of this row shows many colours:
The Ligure (or the opal) had on it the name "double fruit." How rich and varied are the colours in this precious stone! And how rich and varied were the traits of the heavenly life shown in the Son of God as Man… Christ's death has secured "much fruit" (John 12:24). There is fruit for His God and Father, in those who are like Himself, the many sons. And for Himself He has a bride.
The last stone of the row is purple. One writer reads its colour and its name together:
The amethyst is purple, and reminds us that men, in mockery, clothed the Son of Man in purple. But the Son of Man will soon appear in the glory that the purple pictures. Every knee will bow before Him, and every tongue confess that He is Lord. "Gift" is the meaning of this stone's name, recalling that He was the One God gave for the salvation of men. But He has received a gift from the Father, and speaks of His own as "those whom You have given Me."
Ezekiel 28 lists the precious stones on the king of Tyre. That list is short by three, and one writer names which three:
The first three stones speak of Christ's glory as the Messiah, as shown in Matthew's Gospel. The second row shows Christ as the Servant in Mark. The third row shows Christ as the Son of Man in Luke. The last row — chrysolite, onyx and jasper — shows the glories of the Son of God as in John. The ornaments of the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28 use nine of the twelve stones on Aaron's breastplate. The three missing stones are the third row, the ones that relate to the glory of the Lord Jesus as Son of Man.
A precious stone answers to light rather than fading under it. That fact is turned into a picture of how the tribes stood before God.
Light can never make a precious stone look dim. It only increases and brings out its shine… Whatever their weaknesses, their errors, or their failures, their names glittered on the breastplate with unfailing brightness. The Lord had set them there, and who could pluck them away? Who could get into the holy place to snatch from Aaron's breast the name of one of Israel's tribes?
- Carried. The third row completes four rows of three. Every tribe rode on the high priest's heart and on his shoulders.
- Named. One name per stone: no one is lost in the crowd, and each is engraved as with a signet.
- Uncertain. The first gem is leshem — "jacinth," "ligure," or "opal." No one knows for sure which stone it was.
- Christ. Writers read the stones as His glories: much fruit from His death, and the purple of mockery that points to the glory He will soon be seen in.
- Secure. Light only makes a jewel shine brighter. No one could dim or remove the names God set in that place.
and the fourth row, a chrysolite, and an onyx, and a jasper; enclosed in gold shall they be in their settings.
The last row of the breastplate adds three more stones, and one detail that holds the whole design together: every stone sat in a gold setting. That brings the count to twelve, one for each tribe — so why twelve separate stones, and why gold around each one?
The verse closes a list that began in verse 17. One commentator sets out the whole arrangement and its point.
Verse 20 shows that the settings of the stones were gold. Verses 17-20 list the names of the stones, set in four rows. Each of these stones carried the engraved name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. So the high priest carried all Israel on his heart, just as he carried them all on his shoulders.
The jasper ends both the row and the list. It appears again in the last book of the Bible.
The jasper points us to passages in Revelation that use it to show divine glory. In Revelation 4 we see the vision of the throne of God, and the One who sat there looked like jasper. In Revelation 22, the glory of God shining in the heavenly city is like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. The name jasper means "strength." How great is the strength of Him who sits on the throne! He upholds all things by the word of His power, and He will sustain all in the coming kingdom.
Commentators differ on how much weight each single stone can carry. One of them will not guess.
We are not able to say what each stone means. But we have no doubt that each one carries a special meaning. A celebrated lapidary, an expert in precious stones, said, after careful study, that no human skill could have chosen and arranged these gems in this order. Only God could have done it.
Each tribe had its own stone, and each stone sat inside gold. One writer draws both details together.
The smallest tribe in Israel, like the greatest, had its own jewel and its own engraving. In the same way each believer is now always kept before the face of God. God holds him up by His almighty power, which the shoulders show us as the place of strength, and by His perfect love, which the breastplate worn over the heart sets forth. Each precious stone sat enclosed in gold. This seems to say that we are kept before our God in Christ, who is our lasting righteousness — "in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
The twelve stones were not twelve copies. That difference says something about how God works with people.
Each precious stone had its own character in colour, density, the way it bends light, and so on. So every stone differed from the others. In the same way, God takes account of the different ways divine character is formed in believers. God is surely not the Author of mass-produced articles that never vary in the slightest. In nature, they say, no two blades of grass are alike, and no one ever sees two faces alike in every detail. No doubt it is the same in the realm of grace.
Each stone carried a name, yet the list names only the stones.
Each name was in a gem, but the name is lost in the gem, and the gem alone is seen. It is the same in the heavenly city. The names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are in the foundations, but Scripture never mentions those names. We see the apostles only in the beauty and value of the costly stones that adorn the foundation.
Even the names of these stones are uncertain, and so is the order of the tribes on the breastplate.
We cannot even give the names of the precious stones, because the meaning of the original words is unknown. The order in which the names of the tribes of Israel were written on the breastplate is unknown too, but for a divine reason. We should not think that any one of the redeemed comes before another on the high priest's breast, for all are loved perfectly. His love knows no priority of favour — "having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end," or perfectly.
- Twelve, complete. The fourth row finishes the set. Every tribe rides on the high priest's heart, as they did on his shoulders.
- Twelve, distinct. No two stones match. God takes account of the different ways His character is formed in each believer.
- Twelve, in gold. Every stone sits in a gold setting — each one held before God in Christ, who is our righteousness.
- Twelve, unnamed. The stones are listed, the tribes are not; the name is hidden in the gem, and only the gem's value is seen.
- Twelve, equally loved. Position in the rows grants no rank; the last stone rests on the same heart as the first.