And on the skirts thereof thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, round about the skirts thereof; and bells of gold between them round about
Around the hem of the high priest's blue robe hung woven pomegranates, with small gold bells between them. Nothing here is mere decoration. God fixed every colour, shape and sound. Commentators read the pattern as a picture of Christ's priesthood, and of what should mark those who serve God now.
Before the pomegranates come into view, the garment itself sets the tone. Its single colour, and the care taken over its weaving, carry meaning.
The robe of the ephod was all blue. Blue points to what is heavenly. It pictures the heavenly character of the Priest. It may also picture the place where He carries out His work — or rather, that His character was suited to that place. Hebrews speaks of Him not only as holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, but also as made higher than the heavens (Heb. 7:26). Care was to be taken that it not be torn (v. 32), for what is heavenly in character must be undivided in its perfection.
The pomegranate is chosen for a reason. Cut one open and you find it packed with seed.
The pomegranates speak of fruitfulness. They are full of seeds, and those seeds promise abundant fruit. So the fruitfulness of the Lord Jesus's ministry as High Priest is far beyond anything we can count. We see that fruitfulness in His character and in His works (John 10:25).
You see fruit; you hear a bell. Darby ties the two together as the twofold action of the Spirit.
On the hem of the blue robe there was a golden bell and a pomegranate, one after the other. It is testimony and fruit. The purpose was that his sound might be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die. There was fruit-bearing and testimony, like the early and the latter rain, I should think. These are the two characters of the Holy Spirit's action: testimony and fruit-bearing, the sounding bell and the pomegranate.
The verse names three colours for the fruit and gold for the bells. Each material carries its own meaning.
The colours on the pomegranates spoke of the personal and official glories of the Lord Jesus Christ. The bells of gold spoke of Divine righteousness.
Dennett takes the colours in order. He ties blue to heaven, and the other two to what Christ will inherit.
The fruits of the Spirit are heavenly in character, and so blue is the first colour. But they are also purple and scarlet, because they will be linked with the kingdom-glories of Christ when the Priest comes out — with the glories He will inherit both as Son of Man and as Son of David.
The sound marked two moments: the priest going in, and the priest coming out. Commentators see both in Christ — one already, one still ahead.
The bells and pomegranates on the priests' garments both carry meaning. The bells were heard when he went in and when he came out; they stand for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The pomegranates stand for fruit. These gifts came when Christ went into the glory, on the day of Pentecost. They will come again when He comes out, when there will be a fresh outpouring of the Spirit.
Bell and fruit alternate, one for one. The numbers match, and that is where the lesson bites.
Our fruit should bear the character of Christ and be worthy of Him. It should also match our testimony, just as the pomegranates were the same in number as the golden bells. One often finds Christians with more bells than pomegranates, more words than fruit!
One writer turns the hem into a measure for his own daily life.
The pomegranate was the fruit of the land (see Deut. 8:8). The measure of my testimony as a Christian (the sound) is equal to the fruit I am feeding on. It is equal to my communion. Never more, never less. Only as I feed on Christ will Christ be heard and the sound come from me. Only in this way can I fulfil my priestly service.
- Robe. The robe is all blue, and it must not be torn. It pictures the heavenly character of the Priest, undivided in its perfection.
- Fruit. The pomegranate is packed with seed. It pictures fruit from Christ's priestly work beyond anything we can count, and its colours point to His glories.
- Sound. The golden bells stand for testimony. Bell and fruit are the two ways the Holy Spirit works.
- Timing. The bells sounded going in and coming out. The testimony came when Christ entered glory at Pentecost, and it will come again when He comes out.
- Balance. Bell and fruit alternate in equal number; where words outrun fruit, the pattern God set is broken.
a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, in the skirts of the cloak round about.
The hem of the high priest's blue robe carried a bell, then a fruit, then a bell, then a fruit, all the way round. Why that pattern, and why gold? Commentators read it as a picture of what goes with Christ's priestly service, and with ours.
The two ornaments carry settled meanings across the commentary. The bells give sound; the pomegranate, packed with seed, gives fruit.
The Hebrew word for bell comes from a word meaning "to strike." The bells were on Aaron's robes, "a bell and a pomegranate." Testimony and fruit were to mark all his goings, as they should go with the Christian's walk, through his attachment to Christ.
The colour of the robe says where our High Priest is now.
The blue robe of the ephod expresses the entirely heavenly character of our High Priest. He has gone into heaven; He is beyond the range of mortal sight. But by the power of the Holy Spirit there is divine testimony that He is alive in the presence of God. And not only testimony, but fruit as well. "A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate." Such is the beautiful order. Jesus always lives to make intercession for us. True testimony to that great truth always goes hand in hand with fruitfulness in His service.
The order in the verse matters, and so does the metal.
The pomegranate flower is bell-shaped and golden-crimson. Its fruit is full of seeds, an emblem of great productiveness. The bell and the fruit alternated, and that was the divine order. First, melodious sound; next, fruitfulness. The sound of the high priest's steps was always to be heard as he approached the Lord. The music of the robe announced his way, and his steps were full of fruit. The bells being golden implies a sound that is divinely glorious. The steps of Israel's high priest in the sanctuary pointed forward to our High Priest's footsteps in heaven itself.
Aaron's bells rang as he went in and as he came out. Applied to Christ, that marks two moments — one past, one still ahead.
The bells and pomegranates speak of testimony and fruit. The high priest's sound had to be heard when he went in. We know what happened when Jesus went in to God. The Holy Spirit came forth, and set the golden bells of Gospel testimony ringing in this dark world. We hear their joyful sound in Acts 2. The fruit quickly appeared, three thousand souls being blessed on the first day. God be praised, the bells are still ringing, and the fruit is still being gathered. The sweet story of the Gospel has reached our ears, and we are some of the fruit produced for God. The bells also sounded when Aaron came out from the divine presence. In the same way a fresh sound will ring out when the Lord Jesus comes again. A new testimony will start on the earth, and plenty of fruit — a new crop — will be gathered through it. Israel, not the Church, will be God's witness in that day.
Another writer traces where the testimony and the fruit come from.
The fruits and testimony of the Spirit — the bells and the pomegranates — attach to this character of Christ, pictured here in the high priest. It is from Christ in His heavenly character that they flow; they are attached to the hem of His garment here below.
Because bell and fruit alternate, the two come in equal numbers. One writer turns that count into a test.
Our fruit should bear the character of Christ and be worthy of Him. It should also match our testimony, just as the pomegranates matched the golden bells in number. One often finds Christians with more bells than pomegranates — more words than fruit!
How much a believer feeds on Christ sets the limit of what he can say for Him.
The pomegranate was the fruit of the land. The measure of my testimony as a Christian — the sound — is equal to the fruit I am feeding on. It is equal to my communion. Never more, never less. Only as I feed on Christ will Christ be heard and the sound come from me.
The same writer names the two ways the pair gets pulled apart in practice.
Suppose I give out something in the assembly that is not God's present word for His people. Even if it is true, I am separating the golden bell and the pomegranate. My present testimony is not based on the measure of communion I enjoyed in the past. That too would be separating the golden bell and the pomegranate. No — it is the fruit of the land enjoyed now, and to this alone the golden bell belongs.
- Pair — The bell is testimony, the pomegranate is fruit; the hem never carries one without the other.
- Order — Sound comes first, then fruitfulness; the gold says the sound is a divinely glorious one.
- Source — Both hang from the robe of a heavenly High Priest, and flow from Him.
- Ring — When Christ went in, the gospel bells began to sound, and three thousand were the first fruit; they will ring again when He comes out.
- Ratio — The bells and the fruit were equal in number. More words than fruit tears the pair apart.