But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. (Samuel 2:18-19)
Looking closely at this passage, we see several important things. Primarily, we see Samuel was serving the Lord in the Temple at a very young age. Other passages about the life of Samuel tell us how Hannah prayed earnestly for him and vowed to give him back to the Lord if He would grant her a son. Samuel’s birth, training and life were the direct results of Hannah’s love for God and her faithfulness to that vow made several years before. Not only do we see Hannah’s love in training her son for that purpose, but we also see a further demonstration of a mother’s love in her yearly gift of a coat when she came to offer sacrifices with her husband at the feast.
Samuel wore an ephod, as did the priests with Ahimilech (1 Samuel 22:18). There is no question but that the ephod was at least closely associated with the priesthood. Apparently, it was not limited to the high priest. Later in Samuel’s life, he was a judge, a seer and a prophet, but not a priest at this age. However, as a descendant of Levi through Kohath (1 Chronicles 6:38), the same tribe through which Aaron was descended, Samuel was the priest’s helper (1 Chronicles 6:1-3; 1 Samuel 3:1). His father was an Ephrathite, because he lived in Mt. Ephraim, but not because he was descended from the tribe of Ephraim. Hannah may also have been of the tribe of Levi, but there is no record of it. In any case, Samuel wore the ephod, which shows it was not limited to the high priest or even to the priest. Samuel was a prophet just as David was a prophet (Acts 2:29-30), and therefore authorized as much as David to wear an ephod.
Concerning Samuel’s ancestry, see 1 Samuel 7:9. “And Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord: and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him.” We know that King Saul was condemned for offering a sacrifice, which only the priests and Levites were authorized to do. Samuel was at least a Levite (if not a priest) or he would have been condemned along with King Saul.
How and when did little Samuel wear the coat his mother made him? It is not generally known, but we may assume he used it to cover himself in cold weather or perhaps even in which to sleep at night. It may have been brightly colored like the coat Jacob made for Joseph, but we cannot say. Nevertheless, it was a gift of love from a mother who never forgot the child she could not redeem (Numbers 18:15) because of her vow. Her faithfulness in keeping her vow was paramount, but her faithfulness in showing love both to her God and to her son was never laid aside.