Names on the Breastpiece: Stones of Trust

Of the blue, purple, and crimson yarns they also made the service vestments for officiating in the sanctuary; they made Aaron’s sacral vestments—as GOD had commanded Moses. The ephod was made of gold, blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen. They hammered out sheets of gold and cut threads to be worked into designs among the blue, the purple, and the crimson yarns, and the fine linen. They made for it attaching shoulder-pieces; they were attached at its two ends. The decorated band that was upon it was made like it, of one piece with it; of gold, blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen—as GOD had commanded Moses. They bordered the lazuli stones with frames of gold, engraved with seal engravings of the names of the sons of Israel. They were set on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the Israelites—as GOD had commanded Moses. The breastpiece was made in the style of the ephod: of gold, blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen. It was square; they made the breastpiece doubled—a span in length and a span in width, doubled. They set in it four rows of stones. The first row was a row of carnelian, chrysolite, and emerald; the second row: a turquoise, a sapphire, and an amethyst; the third row: a jacinth, an agate, and a crystal; and the fourth row: a beryl, a lapis lazuli, and a jasper. They were encircled in their mountings with frames of gold. The stones corresponded [in number] to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, corresponding to their names; engraved like seals, each with its name, for the twelve tribes. On the breastpiece they made braided chains of corded work in pure gold. They made two frames of gold and two rings of gold, and fastened the two rings at the two ends of the breastpiece, attaching the two golden cords to the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. They then fastened the two ends of the cords to the two frames, attaching them to the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, at the front. They made two rings of gold and attached them to the two ends of the breastpiece, at its inner edge, which faced the ephod. They made two other rings of gold and fastened them on the front of the ephod, low on the two shoulder-pieces, close to its seam above the decorated band. The breastpiece was held in place by a cord of blue from its rings to the rings of the ephod, so that the breastpiece rested on the decorated band and did not come loose from the ephod—as GOD had commanded Moses. The robe for the ephod was made of woven work, of pure blue. The opening of the robe, in the middle of it, was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around the opening, so that it would not tear. On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, twisted. They also made bells of pure gold, and attached the bells between the pomegranates, all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates: a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe for officiating in—as GOD had commanded Moses. They made the tunics of fine linen, of woven work, for Aaron and his sons; and the headdress of fine linen, and the decorated turbans of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twisted linen; and sashes of fine twisted linen, blue, purple, and crimson yarns, done in embroidery—as GOD had commanded Moses. They made the frontlet for the holy diadem of pure gold, and incised upon it the seal inscription: “Holy to GOD.” They attached to it a cord of blue to fix it upon the headdress above—as GOD had commanded Moses. Thus was completed all the work of the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting. The Israelites did so; just as GOD had commanded Moses, so they did. Then they brought the Tabernacle to Moses, with the Tent and all its furnishings: its clasps, its planks, its bars, its posts, and its sockets; the covering of tanned ram skins, the covering of dolphin skins, and the curtain for the screen; the Ark of the Pact and its poles, and the cover; the table and all its utensils, and the bread of display; the pure lampstand, its lamps—lamps in due order—and all its fittings, and the oil for lighting; the altar of gold, the oil for anointing, the aromatic incense, and the screen for the entrance of the Tent; the copper altar with its copper grating, its poles and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand; the hangings of the enclosure, its posts and its sockets, the screen for the gate of the enclosure, its cords and its pegs—all the furnishings for the service of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting; the service vestments for officiating in the sanctuary, the sacral vestments of Aaron the priest, and the vestments of his sons for priestly service. Just as GOD had commanded Moses, so the Israelites had done all the work. And when Moses saw that they had performed all the tasks—as GOD had commanded, so they had done—Moses blessed them.

Exodus 39 describes the garments of Aaron, especially the ephod and the breastpiece bearing twelve stones engraved with the names of the sons of Israel. The text repeatedly notes that the craftsmen worked 'as GOD had commanded Moses,' emphasizing obedience rooted in trust.