Have you ever felt invisible? Maybe you were passed over at work, or you hoped you’d be the one chosen, only to watch someone else be picked instead. Or perhaps you have sat in a busy church feeling like no one would notice if you weren’t there.
This next passage speaks to those feelings.
When the High Priest went into God’s presence, he carried the names of God’s people over his heart. Twelve stones were set in gold, each one different and each engraved with a tribe’s name. Everyone was included, even those who had made mistakes. Simeon, whose violence had brought shame on his family (Genesis 34; 49:5-7), had his name engraved alongside the rest.
“Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of skilled hands. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. 16 It is to be square—a span long and a span wide—and folded double. 17 Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. The first row shall be carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; 18 the second row shall be turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; 19 the third row shall be jacinth, agate and amethyst; 20 the fourth row shall be topaz, onyx and jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings. 21 There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes. 22 “For the breastpiece make braided chains of pure gold, like a rope. 23 Make two gold rings for it and fasten them to two corners of the breastpiece. 24 Fasten the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece, 25 and the other ends of the chains to the two settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. 26 Make two gold rings and attach them to the other two corners of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod. 27 Make two more gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the seam just above the waistband of the ephod. 28 The rings of the breastpiece are to be tied to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband, so that the breastpiece will not swing out from the ephod. 29 Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the Lord.” (Exodus 28 v 15-29)
The High Priest carried all the tribes’ names into God’s presence. The gold chains, the rings and the blue cord were there for one reason: “so that the breastpiece will not swing out from the ephod.” The names were never to slip off. They stayed where God had put them.
This points us to Jesus, our great High Priest. He carries us into God’s presence through His own sacrifice, and He always lives to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25).
So what does this mean for us today?
When you pray, you don’t come alone. Your name is already before the Father, carried on the heart of His Son.
When you feel overlooked, remember Simeon. You might feel small and forgotten, but you are engraved.
When life shakes you, the cord holds. Grief, illness, failure, or disappointment can rock you, but nothing can “separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Carry others as you are carried. If Jesus holds our names over His heart, we can hold other people’s names in our prayers.
You are carried.
