"You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it--of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD.
Exodus 28:15-29
The second comment is by William Still: 'May we not say that whereas the Lord Jesus bears all His sons equally on His shoulders into the presence of God (the message of the ephod), on His heart He bears them according to their choice and fitness for service and according, therefore, to their nearness to His heart? If anyone doubts that this is a legitimate inference, let him consider our Lord's persistent choice of three of the twelve (cf the raising of Jairus' daughter, the transfiguration, and Gethsemane), His 'favouritism' for the beloved disciple, John (John 19:26, 20:2, 21:7). A further word about the distinction between the names by birth on his shoulders, and on his breast by tribes: the one speaks of strength, the other of love, but there is strength and love in both. What is the difference? The one is fundamental, the other conditional. There is a love God bears all His children (John 3:16). But there is a love He bears those who love Him with all their heart. This is their reward. See Proverbs 8:17a. This was the love Jesus bore John, and Peter and James. Does Jesus bear you this love? Have you won it? (see also John 14:21, 23).'