NOTES for Exo 28:1-43
Special vestments for priests are an ancient tradition whose roots reach back into prehistory. They may seem an extravagance, at least when the One is concerned. One can still understand someone trying to observe a ceremony and follow proper decorum in the case of pagan gods or spirits: they are not omniscient, and the very people who worshiped them believed that something could be hidden from them, that they could even sometimes be deceived or placated, for example with sacrifices, in order to get one’s way.
In that case, the desire to dress appropriately for an encounter with a god or spirit was quite understandable. Clothing could, in a certain sense, play the same role as it does in a meeting with another person—and in such an encounter one can sometimes achieve something through one’s appearance in general and clothing in particular.
One might, for example, make the desired first impression. With the One, however, all such devices are meaningless by definition: He knows everything and sees every person to their utmost depths; neither appearance in general nor clothing in particular can deceive Him. Why, then, do His servants need splendid vestments, or indeed any special clothing at all? It would be more honest to appear before Him as we are, especially if we truly wish to serve Him with a pure heart. Yet clothing matters to human beings, and it is not always a question of hiding something.
Indeed, when we dress beautifully for close and dear friends whom we expect as guests, we have no intention of deceiving them. We simply want beauty and joy in our fellowship with those we love, and clothing can become one of the elements of which this beauty consists. Clothing is certainly not the main thing, and anyone who is not spiritually obtuse understands that.
The main thing in every friendship is the relationship, and this applies to God even more than to a human being. Yes, God of course knows us as we are; clothing cannot deceive Him. What matters is not the clothing, but the intentions with which a person who is about to stand before God puts it on. Directly opposite intentions can sometimes be concealed beneath the very same garment: one person wants to cover their true spiritual state or true intentions with the prescribed vestment, while another seeks to express them through that same vestment. The result will differ substantially in each case, but the clothing itself will certainly not be to blame.