Aaron given to weak Moses as a type of Christ; the holy robe is Christ
Cyril: …‘Aaron your brother’ (Exodus 28:1), in another sense too, I think, since he knew that the matter is not without value for the benefit that comes through spiritual understanding. Consider what I mean. Moses was being sent to bring Israel out of their misery in Egypt. Then, seeing that the undertaking rose far above human power and beyond the measure of the strength and eloquence he had, he pleaded, saying: ‘Look, I have not been eloquent, neither yesterday nor the day before, nor since you began to speak to your servant; I am weak in voice and slow of tongue’ (Exodus 4:10). When God answered him, ‘Who gave man a mouth? Who made the deaf and the mute, the seeing and the blind? Was it not I, the Lord God? Now go, and I will open your mouth’ (Exodus 4:11–12), Moses, overcome by the greatness of the deeds to be achieved, was afraid again and said: ‘I beg you, Lord, appoint another who is able, whom you will send’ (Exodus 4:13). Then God at once appointed Aaron (Exodus 4:14–16), as a type of Christ, who knows how to accomplish all things with ease. And Israel was redeemed in no other way than by Christ being given, once again as in the image of Aaron, as a fellow worker to the halting speech and weakness of Moses. You will understand the present passage in the same way. For God, perfecting the weakness of the law in Christ, brought Aaron into the priesthood and joins him to good purpose with the blessed Moses. For the law would not suffice for redemption, nor would it be able to perfect the redeemed in sanctification. But Christ is redemption and sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30), with the saints working together with him; just as Moses then worked with Aaron in Egypt, and the sons worked with Aaron himself. So too the inspired disciples worked together, in the spiritual sense, with Christ, the high priest and leader of all. He has power to accomplish all things, and they did not assist him as one who was weak; they were called to serve and chosen as the best, and from him they gained strength for everything. The inspired Paul will bear witness to this when he says: ‘I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13).
Palladius: So Aaron and the rest were chosen and called by name to the sacred ministry.
Cyril: And besides this he ordained that splendid garments, fit for sacred service, should be made for them, saying: ‘And you shall make a holy robe for Aaron your brother, for honor and glory. And you, speak to all who are wise in understanding, whom I have filled with a spirit of perception, and they shall make the holy robe for Aaron for the sanctuary, in which he will serve me as priest’ (Exodus 28:2–3). Now the most wise Paul advises those who have been justified in faith that they must put on the robe that is truly holy and from heaven, writing: ‘Put on our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 13:14). This is what the prophet Isaiah cried out beforehand, speaking as in the person of the Church: ‘Let my soul rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation and a tunic of gladness’ (Isaiah 61:10). The garment, then, that is for
Greek
Ἀαρὼν τὸν ἀδελφόν σου, καὶ καθ' ἕτερον, οἶμαι, τρόπον, τὸ χρῆμα εἰδὼς οὐκ ἀσυντελὲς εἰς ὄνησιν τὴν ὡς ἐν νοήσει πνευματικῇ· σύνες δὲ ὃ φημί. Ἀπεστέλλετο μὲν γὰρ Μωσῆς, τῆς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ταλαιπωρίας ἐκκομίζων τὸν Ἰσραήλ. Εἶτα τὴν ἀνθρώπου δύναμιν ὑπερανεστηκὸς ἄγαν, καὶ πέρα δὴ μέτρων τῆς ἐνούσης ἰσχύος τε καὶ εὐγλωττίας αὐτῷ τὸ ἐγχείρημα βλέπων, ἐλιπάρει λέγων· «Ἰδοὺ οὐκ εὔλαλός εἰμι πρὸ τῆς χθὲς, οὐδὲ πρὸ τῆς τρίτης, οὐδὲ ἀφ' οὗ ἤρξω λαλεῖν τῷ θεράποντί σου, ἰσχνόφωνος καὶ βραδύγλωσσός εἰμι ἐγώ.» Θεοῦ δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα, «Τίς ἔδωκε στόμα ἀνθρώπῳ,» λέγοντος, «τίς ἐποίησε δύσκωφον καὶ κωφὸν, βλέποντα καὶ τυφλόν; οὐκ ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεός; καὶ νῦν πορεύου, καὶ ἐγὼ ἀνοίξω τὸ στόμα σου.» Τῆς τῶν κατορθωμάτων ὑπεροχῆς ἡττώμενος, ἐδεδίει πάλιν, καὶ δὴ ἔφασκε, «Δέομαι, Κύριε, προχείρισαι ἄλλον, τὸν δυνάμενον, ὃν ἀποστελεῖς.» Προεχειρίζετο δὲ τὸ τηνικάδε Θεὸς παραχρῆμα τὸν Ἀαρὼν, εἰς τύπον τοῦ πάντα εὐκόλως κατορθοῦν εἰδότος Χριστοῦ· λελύτρωται δὲ οὐχ ἑτέρως ὁ Ἰσραὴλ, εἰ μὴ δέδοται συνεργὸς τῇ Μωσέως ἰσχνομυθίᾳ καὶ ἀσθενείᾳ πάλιν, ὡς ἐν εἰκόνι τῇ Ἀαρὼν ὁ Χριστός· οὕτω κἀνθάδε νοήσεις. Τὸ γὰρ ἀσθενὲς τοῦ νόμου τελειῶν ἐν Χριστῷ, παρεκόμισεν εἰς ἱερωσύνην τὸν Ἀαρὼν, καὶ συνάπτει χρησίμως τῷ μακαρίῳ Μωσῇ. Οὔτε γὰρ εἰς λύτρωσιν ἀρκέσειεν ἂν ὁ νόμος, οὔτε μὴν εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι τελειοῦν εἰς ἁγιασμὸν τοὺς ἐκλελυτρωμένους. Λύτρωσις δὲ καὶ ἁγιασμὸς ὁ Χριστὸς, συνεργαζομένων ἁγίων· καθάπερ ἀμέλει Μωσῆς μὲν τῷ Ἀαρὼν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τότε, αὐτῷ γε μὴν τῷ Ἀαρὼν οἱ υἱοί. Τῷ δὲ δὴ πάντων ἀρχιερεῖ καὶ ἡγουμένῳ Χριστῷ συνειργάζοντο νοητῶς καὶ οἱ θεσπέσιοι μαθηταί. Πάντα μὲν ἰσχύοντι κατορθοῦν, καὶ οὐχ ὡς ἀσθενοῦντι συντρέχοντες, ἀλλ' ὡς κεκλημένοι πρὸς ὑπουργίαν καὶ ἀριστίνδην ἐπιλελεγμένοι, καὶ τὸ ἐφ' ἅπασιν εὐσθενὲς παρ' αὐτοῦ κερδαίνοντες. Καὶ μαρτυρήσει λέγων ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος· «Πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με Χριστῷ.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὐκοῦν ἀπόλεκτοι καὶ ὀνομαστὶ κέκληνται πρὸς ἱερουργίαν Ἀαρών τε καὶ οἱ λοιποί.
{ΚΥΡ.} Καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτοις λαμπρά τε καὶ ἱεροπρεπῆ τὰ ἐσθήματα κατασκευάζεσθαι αὐτοῖς ἐνομοθέτει λέγων· «Καὶ ποιήσεις στολὴν ἁγίαν Ἀαρὼν τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου εἰς τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν, καὶ σὺ λάλησον πᾶσι τοῖς σοφοῖς τῇ διανοίᾳ, οὓς ἐνέπλησα πνεῦμα αἰσθήσεως, καὶ ποιήσουσι τὴν στολὴν τὴν ἁγίαν Ἀαρὼν εἰς τὸ ἅγιον ἐν ᾗ ἱερατεύσει μοι.» Παῦλος μὲν οὖν ὁ σοφώτατος τοῖς ἐν πίστει δεδικαιωμένοις τὴν ἁγίαν ὄντως καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ στολὴν ἀνάπτεσθαι δεῖν συμβουλεύει γράφων· «Ἐνδύσασθε τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν.» Τοῦτο γάρτοι ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαΐας προανακεκράγει λέγων ὡς ἐκ προσώπου τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, «Ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ ψυχή μου ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἐνέδυσε γάρ με ἱμάτιον σωτηρίου καὶ χιτῶνα εὐφροσύνης.» Ἔσθημα δὴ οὖν τὸ εἰς