Aaron and his sons were to have coats, girdles and bonnets made of fine linen (Ex. 28:40). They were also to wear linen breeches to cover their nakedness when they came into the tabernacle of the congregation. The fine linen speaks of practical righteousness, and so we can see that, typically, everything they wore was to be suited to the moral character of God. This moral glory shone out in perfection in Christ, the one who wore the “coat ... without seam, woven from the top throughout” (John 19:23).
Needless to say, the Lord Jesus, the blessed antitype, never needed anything to cover His nakedness, for He was ever and always perfect. Even His “inwards” were washed with water (Ex. 29:17). This shows us that His every motive, word and deed were always pleasing to God His Father. Furthermore, His outward life which the eye of man could see was surely spotless “fine linen.” This would remind us also that we, like Aaron’s sons, being priests, should seek to “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,” for holiness always becomes God’s house. If we fail, we should judge it at once, and particularly before we come into His presence as worshippers (1 Cor. 11:28).
G. H. Hayhoe