Exodus 27:20 – 30:10
The high priest went through a series of purification ceremonies before he could enter the holiest part of the Tabernacle that contained the Ark. He would be anointed with oils. Here he is in a meditative position activated by his personal sephirot represented by the colored circles around his body. The lowest sephirot – Malchut – is associated with the tongue and the penis and this yoga like position is one spoken of in Kabbalah.
In front of him is the ‘choshen” – the breastplate. The Kohen Gadol – the high priest – would wear this composed of twelve precious stones associated with each of the tribes – eg: – “odem” the red jewel for Reuven; the green one for Shimon, the multi colored one for Levi, the light greenish one for Judah, the sapphire for Issachar, the white one for Zebuloun, the next for Dan, Naftali, the purple for Gad, a goldish one for Asher, and the last two for Joseph, and Benjamin. In each stone were the letters of the tribes and the names of the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In between the front and back of this breastplate were scrolls of parchment called the “urim ve’tumim” and when asked a question the letters would light up with a reply from Hashem that the high priest would decipher.
The blue “aifod” apron was part of the garments the high priest wore.
