Urim & Thummim
Objects & SymbolsThe mysterious means kept in the breastplate by which the high priest sought God’s guidance.
The Urim and Thummim (the names suggest “lights” and “perfections”) were sacred objects kept in the high priest’s breastplate “upon his heart, when he goeth in before the LORD.” Their exact form is unknown, but their function was clear: they were a God-appointed means of seeking divine guidance at crucial moments.
Through them the leaders of Israel could “ask counsel” of the LORD on questions a nation faced — whether to go to war, how to proceed. Joshua was told to stand before Eleazar the priest, “who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD.”
Tellingly, in Israel’s darkest seasons the answer fell silent: Saul, having forsaken God, “enquired of the LORD,” but “the LORD answered him not… by Urim, nor by prophets.” The Urim and Thummim stand for the gift of divine direction — available to a people walking with God, withdrawn from a heart that has turned away.