Bell

The bells first mentioned in Scripture are the small golden bells sewn alternately with pomegranates on the hem of the high priest's ephod (Exodus 28:33–35). Their sound served a specific purpose: when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, the bells signaled his presence and movement within the sanctuary, so that he would not die. This auditory signal connected the silent holy space with the waiting congregation outside. Zechariah 14:20 envisions the messianic age when even the bells of the horses will bear the inscription Holy to the LORD—the sacred inscription of the high priest's headplate applied to the most ordinary implements.