John Calvin Commentary Exodus 28:2

"And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty." — Exodus 28:2 (ASV)

And thou shalt make holy garments. These external ornaments indicated the lack of those which are true and spiritual; for if the priest had been absolutely and entirely perfect, these typical accessories would have been superfluous.

But God would show by this symbol the more than angelic brightness of all virtues which was to be exhibited in Christ.

Aaron was defiled by his own corruption and therefore unworthy to appear in the presence of God; so that he might then be a fit peacemaker between God and man, he put off his ordinary garments and stood forth as a new man. Hence the holy garments were, first of all, supposed to conceal his faults; and, secondly, to represent the incomparable adornment of all virtues.

The latter may indeed be in some measure applied to the pastors of the Church; nor will the comparison be absurd if we say that no others are worthy of so excellent an honor, except those in whom surpassing and extraordinary virtue brightly manifests itself. But we must chiefly recollect what I have said, namely, that in these garments the supreme purity and wondrous glory of Christ were represented, as if God were promising that the Mediator would be far more august than the human condition could produce. He therefore declares that they shall be for glory and for beauty.

We shall speak more fully later about what I will touch upon now concerning the wisdom of the artisans: namely, that all who from the foundation of the world have invented arts useful to the human race have been imbued with the Spirit of God, so that even pagan authors have been compelled to call them the inventions of the gods. But since in this divine work there was a need for rare and unusual skill, it is expressly spoken of as a peculiar gift of the Spirit.