Seventh-Day Adventist Church

On his heart the high priest carried a breastplate made of the same materials as the ephod. It was two spans long and one span wide. Folded double it was a square span. Reinforced around its sides with gold, it was held to his shoulders with chains of gold and tied to the ephod by ribbons of blue. Upon his shoulders were two onyx stones. Chains connected the breastplate with these onyx stones. On the breastplate itself were twelve stones arranged in rows of three. These gems were engraved with the names of twelve tribes of Israel. At the right and the left of these precious jewels were the Urim and the Thummim. Through these two gems God gave judgments and made decisions. Upon the four corners of the breastplate were four rings of gold through which ribbons were passed and tied at the back to hold the breastplate in position above the heart of the high priest.

Upon the shoulder onyx stones the names of the children of Israel were engraved, not according to the order of the tribes around the tabernacle as was the case in the twelve stones, but according to their ages. The six oldest were on the onyx stone to the right, and the six younger on the onyx stone to the left. Around the high priest’s turban was a gold plate on which were inscribed the two words, “Kodesh Ladonai” or “Holiness to the Lord.” Thus, there were nine pieces to the high priest’s garments – four white ones, then the blue robe, the ephod, the breastplate, the girdle, and the plaque of gold on his turban.