P. So.

K. Note, then, that the garment of the first in the priesthood was made of the same matter, again containing in itself the glory of Christ, as it were in the image and designs: for the same words and no other mind signify the beauty of Christ. In gold He is known as God; in purple, as having royal dignity; in fine linen, as the Word, subtle and incorporeal; in scarlet — as appearing in the flesh; in matter of blue color, airy — for such is the color of this matter — as having come from above and from heaven, for is not the Word, born of God the Father, both God and King?

P. How can I not?

K. And is it not, being the Word of the Father, subtle and incorporeal, that He appeared in the flesh and is not from above?

P. Pravda.

K. And so, for the refined contemplation of matter, the garments are the same and the same as those of which the veils for the holy tabernacle were also made. But enough about this; it is time to speak of Aaron, woven in many colors in honor and glory. "And they shall make," it is said, "an ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet [wool], and of fine woven linen, with workmanship. He must have two binding bands at both ends of him so that he is tied. And the girdle of the ephod that is over it shall be of the same workmanship as it, of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet [wool], and of fine woven linen" (Exodus 28:6-8). Having appointed the previously mentioned matter for the fabrics, he immediately adds: "And take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel: six of their names on the one stone, and six names of the rest on the other stone, according to the order of their birth; Through the carver of the stone that carves the seals, you shall engrave on the two stones the names of the children of Israel. And thou shalt set them in sockets of gold, and put these two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod: [these] are stones in remembrance to the children of Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on both his shoulders for remembrance" (28:9-12).

P. As it seems, there is a deep meaning in these prescriptions", but first of all, try to say what kind of thing it is called the shoulder (upper robe) or what image of the structure it had?

God decreed that there should be something woven like a tunic and reach the Persians; Worn over the lowest garments, which were close to the body and extended to the feet, shining with the splendor of gold and purple, it presented to the eyes of the spectators a majestic and sacred wonder. He called it a shoulder jacket because, I think, it was a short garment and barely spread over both ramens. On this shoulder plate He clearly commanded that two stones, which were smaragds, should be fastened very well together with thin threads, and on them the names of the tribes of Israel were to be very skillfully carved, so that six tribes were written on each stone. And what is the meaning of this, He Himself explained to us, saying: "And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on both his shoulders for remembrance" (28:12).

P. But what are we to understand by stones, and by that which has been engraved on them?

K. Listen. The stone of the smaragd is pale in color, but in the depths of it there is something radiant, and as if the light is mixed with darkness, and both strive to retain the victory. Thus, Palladius, and our bodily eye, looking up and on high, and stretching to the depths to the ether and heaven, does not it meet with some of the same sight? For even the highest ether is pale in color, and in its depths it is as if gloomy and mixed with moderate light.

P. So.

K. So the Holy Scriptures make this stone an image of heaven. But do not be surprised if it also likens it to a sapphire: for sapphire is also pale in color and does not look far from smaragdus. It is written in the book of Exodus: "Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet something like a work of pure sapphire, and as clear as the heavens themselves" (Exodus 24:9-10). Since the Israelites who were in Egypt served the creature and called the heavens God, the God of all things appeared to them with profit, and moreover walking in the very firmament, so that they might know that He has all things under His feet, and that He is the Lord of the very heavens as the Creator. Do you now understand that the Holy Scriptures make a stone pale with moderate light as a reflection of heaven, since it is by nature light blue?

P. Excellently, you said.

K. Thus the sign of heaven is the smaragd, having Israel written on him by the tribes, and having received a place on the shoulder plate, by which it can be understood that those who are written in heaven will in any case fully rest in Christ, who almost has on shoulders, and considers good children instead of children. Something similar was said by the divine Moses, adorning Israel with the protection of God: "As an eagle makes its nest, it flies over its young, it spreads out its wings, takes them up, and wears them on its feathers" (Deuteronomy 32:11). But David also sings nowhere to every saint and who lives in the help of the Most High: "He will overshadow you with His feathers," he says (Psalm 90:4). "Feathers," I think, means the neck parts and the ramen, and not the whole back. In this way, according to the words of the prophet, they will be lifted up on the shoulders and taken up on the arm, like the ancient Ephraim (Hosea 11:3), written in heaven in a record, which the Saviour Himself revealed to His holy disciples with glorious, wondrous and surpassing all the Divine gifts, thus saying: "But rejoice not that the spirits obey you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:10). 20). And let this inscription on the stones be, it is said, "in remembrance of the son of Israel before the Lord," as if looking upon them in the person of Aaron: God and the Father also receives us in remembrance in the person of Christ, and in Him we have become known to God, worthy of His watch, and as if inscribed in the book of God.