Bearing Our Names Before God

Eucharistic Meditation

In Exodus 28, the Lord instructed Moses to make holy garments for Aaron and his sons, “for glory and beauty,” that they would minister before Him as priests.

This liturgical uniform of the Old Covenant High Priests consisted of an ephod with two beautiful onyx stones engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel on each shoulder. This was so the High Priest would carry God’s people on his shoulders before the Lord. Additionally, he wore a breastplate with twelve unique stones, each engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes and gloriously set in gold. This was so that the High Priest would bear the people over his heart in the holy place.

You can imagine how wonderful and encouraging this sight must have been to God’s people. To see this man of God, on the Day of Atonement, entering the Holy of Holies bearing their names before the Lord.

One of the great benefits of our Lord Jesus’ ascension is that He now forever lives as our true and final High Priest at the right hand of the Father in heaven. And it is there where He always lives to make intercession for us, the people He came to save to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25).

Your name is engraved on the palm of His hand (Isa. 49:16). You have been set as a seal over His heart, with a love as strong as death (Song 8:6). Tribulations and distress, sin and failure, may and will come—and He will never let you go. He will be forever faithful to You, and His ascension is a sure pledge that He will one day bring You to your heavenly home (HC 49).

So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

This communion meditation was given on May 17, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church Downtown in Moscow, Idaho.