Exodus

Notes for Verse 15
Verse 15. Their anointing shall be an everlasting priesthood - A seal that their priesthood shall continue as long as the Jewish polity lasts. He signifies that this unction should be sufficient for all succeeding priests. None were afterwards anointed but the high priests.

Symbolism of the Tabernacle

Numerical Significance	Symbolism of Color
The Decimal      Seven      Four      Three      Two      One      The Cubit      Fractions	Black      White      Blue-Red      Purple      Crimson      Yellow      Color Chart            Typeology

External Aspects of Tabernacle Articles
Geometrical Forms

In the study of the book Exodus we have seen much that calls us to the attention of types of or similarities with our own lives and the being and life of Christ and His Church.

Upon concluding this book it will be the purpose of this writer to attempt to highlight some of these types.

Typeology

Symbolism of the Tabernacle

We approach this enticing part of our study with much caution, and only after we have prepared the way for it by a careful analysis of the facts and elements upon which a figurative application of the whole or any of its correlated parts should rest. We are moreover warned, by the extravagant and unseemly mystifications of most predecessors in this attempt, how liable a fertile fancy is to mislead even a well-stored head and a well-disposed heart in a field where so little is fixed by determinative bounds, whether historical, logical, philosophical or artistic. Much that has been given by former writers as symbol on this subject is merely metaphor or figure of speech instead of representation by object. The symbolism of the Tabernacle, as developed briefly by Josephus and Philo, is purely cosmical; and in this they are followed more at length by Bähr. The barrenness and coldness of such an exposition are sufficiently obvious. Later expositors have usually vibrated between this and the merely clerical idea of the Tabernacle symbolism, or else they have gone off on some tangential line suggested by their own subjective inclinations. Such whims can neither be proved nor disproved. The competent objection to them is their inadequacy and their triviality. They mistake accidental and partial coincidence for designed and sustained correspondence. Scriptural typology must be deduced by rigid exegesis and a broad view of the divine economy, especially in its soteriological relations. This is the core of revelation.


The legitimate tests of the symbolism of the Tabernacle, as of that of any Jewish or Christian institution, are natural congruity, spiritual suggestiveness, and biblical sanction. It is not enough to cover the requirements of a perfunctory ritualism, a stolid ecclesiasticism, or a conventional nationalism, much less to satisfy the most obvious demands of an outward naturalism; the deep value of a universal, sempiternal and soul-saving import must be reached. The Tabernacle was the visible hearthstone of the invisible Church, then first laid in a fixed though still (as ever on earth) migratory habitation. It was the type of that "house of God" which was designed to embrace the globe, to be the germ of heaven, and yet to dwell in the humblest heart. Its archetype, modelled in the conclave of the eternal Trinity, and for a brief season disclosed to Moses, still remains in the celestial sphere, to be unveiled at length to the full satisfaction of all the saints. There we shall forever admire the perfection of the symbol and its object.


The only safe guide, in our judgment, is direct scriptural warrant for the aesthetic analogies and spiritual symbols which this elaborate and elegant structure must have been intended to bring out.


This exposition of the true aim and inner moral of such a picture-lesson to the comparatively infantile mind of the Israelites must be sought either in the explicit statements of the sacred text (whether of the Old or the New Testament), or else in the inferences naturally growing out of them, and essential in order to maintain their coherence and symmetry. We, therefore, propose, not mainly to reject, nor polemically to dissect the occult and often microscopic resemblances which most writers on the subject have debated or fancied in these gorgeous emblems, ranging through earth, air, sea and sky; but to compare, combine and deduce what strikes us as a self-disclosed and tangible system of religious truth modelled into the coincidences and varieties of this remarkable piece of handicraft. We shall find that its doctrine, no less than its composition, is organic and harmonic, especially in its most peculiar features.


In a general way, we may remark, as a preliminary thought, that the Tabernacle, as a whole, being in fact but a tent, is occasionally referred to in the Scriptures as a type of a transient sojourn. Such it was among the nomadic Israelites in the desert, while on their journey to Canaan, which was a symbol of the passage of saints through the stage of mortal probation to their heavenly home. Such it was also to Jehovah, prior to His more permanent residence in the stone structure of the Temple on the permanent site of Jerusalem. In a more special sense, it may perhaps have prefigured the occupancy of a human body by the Messiah during His stay on earth (John 1:14, render "tabernacled" instead of "dwelt;" and compare Peter's language, Matthew 17:4). It is also an apt figure of the frail abode of every one of His followers on earth (2 Peter 1:13, 14).

Numerical Significance

The first thing that occurs at the very threshold of our attempts at reconstruction or survey is the principle of thorough proportion that reigns throughout the mechanical execution of the Tabernacle, extending to the smallest and most secret parts. Proportion is the principle that combines unity with variety, holding the universe together, and rendering man a miniature of Deity. It is the harmony of the spheres and the symmetry of the atom. It is the algebra of beauty and the mechanics of morals. It is the prime quality of object teaching, from the hornbook to the calculus; and very properly does it stand prominent in the frontispiece of the picture lessons of the Tabernacle. It is the ground idea of the whole structure. For the Architect of Nature works always by rule, and the products of His recreation are destined eventually to exhibit no less perfection. They are to be copies on a smaller scale of His infinite proportions. This proportion appears on the face of the plan and its accompaniments in the numbers and sizes given by the architects. We will take these in their arithmetical order, gradually contracting to the central identity. They all have a natural, rather than a metaphysical basis.

The Decimal

The simplest and earliest, as well as the most scientific and perfect measure of enumeration is the decimal one, which in modern metrology threatens to supersede all others in exact or even popular specification. The ten fingers evidently suggested the digits (their namesake), and men spontaneously count by their means. In the Tabernacle all the ground plans and elevations proceed by tens or a multiple or integral part of ten. Wherever this is practicable, it is maintained in the subdivisions of space and material. This is too obvious to need illustration.


The practical lesson from this basic distribution seems to be, that the entire edifice, with its court, its rooms, its walls, its pillars, its curtains and its fastenings, was meant to be a thing of convenience as well as of regularity. Also its economy, both in construction and in use, was to be a mathematical teacher to the unschooled but acute genius of the chosen people. Even to our own day, the lesson, that "order is heaven's first law," and that the most perfect conventional exponent in numerical proportion is essential for the purpose of expressing and maintaining this order, is by no means superfluous. Indeed, it is growingly appreciated and inculcated.


It is true that the duodecimal system, as in the multiplication table, is occasionally employed in the Tabernacle, and was suggested perhaps at first by the months of the year (although this is not strictly true of the Jewish calendar, and is itself but an artificial basis for calculation). In the present case it was emphasized by the number of the sons and tribes of Israel; but this is carried no further than those few particulars that directly memorialize the ancestral and territorial sections of the nation, and have no essential root in the great features of the Tabernacle and its cultus.

Seven

The next primary number, namely, the septenary, that runs throughout the dimensions, but less conspicuously, was obviously drawn from the days of the week, an Edenic distribution, for reasons which the most exact experience of modern times has vindicated as necessary for the human economy, both in the individual and in society. It comes in most opportunely to resolve the singular variation in the length of the inside curtains as compared with the roof canvas (7 x 4 = 28), and especially as a basis of the two factors four and three, which enter so largely into the other dimensions. It may have been intended to serve as a reminder of the Sabbath as well as of the sacredness of an oath.

Four

The quadruple distribution, as just observed, prevails in the square horizontal forms generally adopted in the Tabernacle, as well as in many of the upright ones (the number of the doorway posts for example, and the rings at the corners of the pieces of furniture). It has its own distinctive lesson as we will presently see.

Three

The triple arrangement, as the remainder of seven, has a very marked position as a factor in the Tabernacle economy, as already noticed. Some may think the allusion to the persons of the Deity here as premature as would be a reference to the mathematical proportions of the triangle. Yet the tripartite division of the terrestrial universe (land, sea and atmosphere), as well as of its associated elements (water, fire and air), would illustrate this. Even the great kingdoms (animal, vegetable and mineral), and the forms of life (beasts, birds and fishes), including the constituents of man himself (popularly called body, soul and spirit), cannot have been altogether accidental correspondences to this architectural fact, any more than they are to the aphorism that almost everything may be as readily and, usually, more logically divided into threes as into halves.

Two

The duplicate division, too obvious in the Tabernacle to need specification, is based upon the sexual distinction, no less than the grand distribution of "the earth and the heavens," the former again being divisible in the land and water. Its great lesson is the dualism that pervades not only nature (chiefly as opposites, e.g., heat and cold, light and darkness, but sometimes as allies, e.g., food and drink, light and heat), but still more significantly the moral realm (virtue and vice, God and Satan).

One

Finally, the single object, as the germ of all, most strikingly suggest the unity of all things, especially in God the universal Maker, Preserver and Judge, and the only being entitled to worship in any realm of existence (heaven, earth or hell).

The Cubit

The cubit itself, which is constantly the measure throughout the Tabernacle and its appurtenances, is a natural standard, being the normal length of the forearm, or the distance from the elbow to the wrist in a full-sized man (Deuteronomy 3:11). In the figurative idiom of the Hebrew its name is characteristically ammáh, which is merely a variation of the word êm, a mother, not so much (as the lexicons explain ) "because the forearm is the mother of the [entire] arm" (a metaphor not very obvious surely), but because the cubit (or ulna) is the "mother," as it were, of all dimensions whether in the human body or elsewhere.

Fractions

It deserves notice that no irregular multiples or fractions are employed in the measurements of the Tabernacle, nor, with the exception of the dimensions of the Table of Shewbread and of the Ark, which are a regular aliquot part, namely the half of five and three respectively, is any mixed number, consisting of a whole number and a fraction, either expressed or implied. In the number twelve the essential symbolism is sought, not in the months of the year (which among the Hebrews, being lunar, were often thirteen), much less in the signs of the zodiac (which are an astronomical refinement), but in the product of the only two subdivisions possible of the number seven. "Dozen" is a modern unit arithmetically, and even in the multiplication table the decimal limit would have been more natural, and probably more convenient. This number accordingly is only employed in Scripture conventionally, and derives its whole significance from that of the tribes of Israel, whence it was transferred to the apostles as representatives of the Christian Church. It is, therefore, purely national and ecclesiastical.


In like manner the number seven, while having no strictly natural type, was formally adopted as the sacred number from the institution of the Sabbath as a holy season, and accordingly it enters conspicuously into the symbolism of the Tabernacle as an element of dimension in the enigmatic curtains only, and in the deeply significant lamps of the candelabrum.


So again the numbers three and four, components of seven and twelve by addition and multiplication respectively, are not derived from any such abstract notions as (for the former) the three divisions of the universe (air, earth and sea), dimensions of space (length, breadth and thickness), or the Trinity, nor (for the latter) the four points of the compass, etc. Rather they are the basis of the only two perfect forms (besides the circle which is the type of unity), namely the square and the triangle, of which we treat elsewhere. Accordingly, they also appear only in the utilitarian details of the Tabernacle, unless we except the tripartite or quadruple colors (strictly quintuple) of the sacred textures.

Symbolism of Color

As the next element of symbolism we place color, for that is truly the basis of form, since the shape of objects is really determined by the variations of color or the degrees of shading at the edges. Outlines differ according to the point of view or the aspect, while the color, at however great distances (if the object be distinctively visible), remains constantly the same. Indeed without color, which is but a variation of light, any object is altogether invisible. We should note that all the colors of the Tabernacle were what are called "fast," i.e., permanent, or not liable to fade. Hence none of them is drawn from the vegetable kingdom, nor used in dyeing vegetable materials.


If it be true that "order is Heaven's first law," it is equally true that proportion is Order's first law, and that number is the basis of proportion. Form or figure is ultimately resolvable into the three constituents of the number, relative dimensions and proportion of the parts, the latter two of which are also expressible only in numbers. All these are in the department of mathematics, which applies two of the senses, touch and sight, to the mutual corroboration of absolute truth. Color, on the other hand, is an independent quality, recognizable only by the latter of these senses, and residing wholly in the surface of objects, which, likewise, is the field of the former sense, while their substance is comprehended under form and number. It is certain, however, that color itself is produced by the shape of the exterior particles of the matter of bodies, for it is refracted, diffracted and reflected according to this, and the hue of substances may be changed by merely polishing or powdering them, the superficial atoms acting as minute prisms in resolving the rays.


Color, therefore, is a purely accidental or artificial quality of the outside, while those attributes that have been hitherto considered are naive and inherent to the essence of the matter. For this reason we are prepared to expect that its symbolism will be conventional in the highest degree, and we shall, accordingly, find that it enters into the sensuous imagery of the Tabernacle to express covenant relations only, addressed solely to the eye of faith, and not belonging to the natural properties of things. The three remaining senses are in their turn presented each with their appropriate fields of symbolism in the concomitant of worship, the silver trumpets for the ear, the incense for the nose, the tithes for the palate. Modern science, however, has demonstrated that all the senses are affected by undulations or pulsations upon the nervous extremities of the appropriate organ, and that colors no less than sounds, and doubtless also smells, tastes and tactual perceptions, are differentiated by arithmetical ratios in the waves and strokes through the medium. The proportions of numbers, therefore, are constantly the index of order in nature, and this is at least a hint of the method of "grace upon grace" graduated after the lesson of the parable of the pounds or the talents.

Black

We begin, therefore, with black, which is, strictly speaking, the absence of all color, and therefore the emblem of secrecy, mourning, etc., as darkness is of death, sin, etc. In the Tabernacle, accordingly, where cheerfulness is the prevailing idea (for the worship of Jehovah, however awful, is not to be regarded in a forbidding aspect), there is but little occasion for using this color. Even then it is in a softened phase, namely, the dusky goats'-hair canvas. Here it is taken in the amiable or benign symbolism of protection or privacy, as the roof covers and screens the dwellers from exposure to the sun and the rain, and also from the public gaze or intrusion. For a similar reason there was no artificial light in the Most High Place, as this was the secret chamber of Jehovah, illuminated regularly by His own sun alone, and occasionally by His specially revealed Shekinah. Thus He "in whom [intrinsically] there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5), nevertheless, under the preparatory dispensation of Judaism, "would dwell in the thick darkness" (1 Kings 8:12), until the Light of Life, "the effulgence of His glory" (Hebrews 1:3), came forth from "the light that no man can approach unto" (1 Timothy 6:16), to open the secrets of His nature to man (John 1:18), and to dissipate the gloom of sinfulness and the grave (2 Timothy 1:10).

White

As the harmonious blending of all the prismatic colors, although not reckoned as a peculiar color at all, white continually reappears in the Tabernacle, the opposite of black and the emblem of innocence in the scriptural sense of justification, including pardon, purity and peace. It gleams in the silvery sockets, hooks, rods, etc., emblems of the attractive points of connection between the various stages in divine worship. It is untinged in the inviting exterior of the Court, and in the clean inner garments of the pontificate. It is tinted with softer hues in the entrance and side screens and in the more ornamental parts of the high priest's apparel. If, as we have conjectured, the fur of the inner skin-blanket of the walls were that of a grayish goat or antelope, it will correspond well with the unbleached material of the sacerdotal drawers (of flax), cap and shirt (either of flax or wool), worn next to the person. This was not so dazzling white as to show the slight discoloration of necessary wear, but yet white enough to betray any real soil or foreign substance. This may have hinted at the everyday hue of practical piety in this work-a-day world, not too nice for mortal touch, and yet not stained by actual sin; while the unsullied lustre of the bleached linen on the outmost enclosure, and on the body and head of the high priest, was a type of the immaculate pale of the true church of God, and of the spotless character of its true ministry—above all, of its sinless Head.

Blue-Red

Foremost among the true colors of the Tabernacle was what in common parlance may be called "blue," but was in reality a mixture of indigo-blue with deep-red. So also was the next color (they are always named in the same order), the difference being that in the former the blue predominated, in the latter the red. These two are the only instances of a compound color occurring in the whole description (except the implied brown and gray noticed above), and they serve to show that no scientific analysis of rays is regarded. Green, it will be noticed, is altogether excluded, notwithstanding its abundance in nature, and its pleasant effect upon the eye, especially in a verdureless desert. Perhaps because it is suggestive of the earth, and hence too worldly, and also because it is almost exclusively vegetable. Blue, however, especially of the warm violet shade, is eminently characteristic of heaven (the cerulean sky, with a reddish tinge prevalent in the Orient), and hence interpreters, as by common consent, have not failed to recognize the symbolism here. "Blue" was used alone, to indicate the unalloyed serenity of the celestial world, the topmost goal of human aspiration; or in alternate stripes (never co-mingled, except with the white light that underlies and transfigures it) of more gorgeous hues, to intimate the successive stages of terrestrial life and station, through which mortals must pass in order to attain it.

Purple

The Tyrian purple of antiquity was universally accepted as the emblem of royalty, which in some countries had the legal monopoly of it, as among the Mohammedans green is the exclusive badge of a lineal descendant of the prophet. It is, therefore, so appropriate to the mansion and servitors of the supreme King that we need not dwell upon it. It stands between the blue-red and the deep-red, as its shade naturally requires, and suggests that royalty, as yet unknown to the Hebrew polity, should eventually come as a mediator between God (in the azure heavens) and man (of the copper-colored flesh); —a human viceregent of divine authority, and a Victim with a twofold nature and dignity.

Crimson

The remaining shade of red, therefore, crimson (not "scarlet," which is too bright and flame-color to suit the shade and symbolism), or cochineal-red, can only point to blood, shading off from its arterial hue (that here especially denoted as freshly shed), through the purplish color of raw flesh, into the bluish cast of the veins, but everywhere in the Scriptures designating the life-principle of man and beast (Genesis 9:4-6), and the essential element of atonement (Hebrews 9:22). Here is a wide field for scientific and religious investigation, to which we forbear to do more than introduce the reader, leaving him to explore it with the copious aids easily available to him. Dr. H. Clay Trumbull, former editor of the Sunday School Times, has collected a mass of information on the widespread and deep relations of blood in the religious beliefs and customs of ancient and modern nations, in his interesting and valuable work, entitled, The Blood Covenant, which is in complete harmony with the pertinence of the symbol in this connection.

Yellow

The gold so lavishly bestowed upon the Tabernacle, both solid and laminated as well as in threads, and perhaps likewise, as we have surmised, in the silken stitches of the embroidery, yields the remaining color, yellow, which is obviously symbolical of the sun, as the great source of light (white) and heat (bright red as in flame). It may be observed that fire, which is a sort of orange, or mixture of red and yellow, is not represented here, perhaps on account of the dangerous tendency to its worship in the East. Through the metal, however, as the standard of coinage, it becomes the emblem of valuation.


We have seen that the three wool-colors, violet, purple and crimson, are always in the same order, and we have presumed that they were invariably thus placed on the door screens and elsewhere, reading, no doubt, after the Hebrew style, from right to left. Is it too great a stretch of fancy to suppose that this too is significant? Perhaps it symbolizes, first, the all-embracing and all-covering sky, for the horizon bounds every view laterally, and the zenith every one vertically. Second, that royalty is the next form or supremacy, the celestial Sovereign being above all. Third, that blood is the basis of unity in race and sympathy; and hence the universal Lord becomes incarnate for man. The background and overlay of gold intimates the price of human redemption, both as originally provided, and as eventually paid; and the ground color, white, points to the spiritual purity which is the origin and aim of the whole scheme of the Atonement. We may then translate the entire hieroglyph thus: Heaven's Royal Blood Purchases Purity. In the Hebrew idiomatic arrangement of words the significance would be equally apt and emphatic, and the form as precisely tallying in epigrammatic conciseness, for the five substances (or rather colors) are invariably named (when mentioned together in this connection) in the same order ("gold, and-violet-[wool], and-purple-[wool], and-crimson-[wool], and-bleached-[linen]"), so as to compose symbolically the ideogram, which we will endeavor to represent in English equivalents thus, Yiqnú hash-shamáyim mim-malke-hém be-dam-ó eth-tohorath-énu, literally, Will-buy the-heavens from-their-King by-his-blood our-cleansing, i.e., Heaven will procure of its King our purification with His own blood. The sacrifice of the God-man upon the cross is the only ransom of the human race from sin and its divinely pronounced penalty.


Expressed Hebraistically as a rebus, the elements will stand as in the following table. It may be observed that the three great realms of nature are all represented.

1. The mineral (as basic) by the first substance.

2. The animal (as most important) by the next and principal three (the sea, as being most populous, by two; and the air by one), and

3. The vegetable by the last: the hues begin with a faint one, and end with the mildest; while the intermediate ones are brilliant, in the order of the intensity of this strongest tint (red); the earth, with its (mixed but predominant) color green, as elsewhere noted, is studiously ignored in expression; but with its living tribes is everywhere supposed in fact.

The first, the middle and the last thought are abstract, the other two concrete (the second divine, the fourth human); each thus linked together: the initial purpose is redemption, the central one supremacy (of the God-man), the final one holiness. This central legend, emblazoned on every avenue to the divine Majesty, and also on the person of the pontifical mediator, silently proclaimed with celestial rays (Psalm 19:1-4), the grand secret of the one true faith, devised in the eternal counsels of the Almighty (Colossians 1:26, 27). It is the gospel of the Tabernacle, and a fit culmination of the symbolism of the entire edifice and its paraphernalia. It is the germinal idea at the core of this architectonic embodiment of the Levitical worship, the perpetual countersign of all real members of the universal Church, and the keynote in the everlasting song of the redeemed (Revelation 5:9, 10). It is the one essential doctrine both of Judaism and of Christianity, the cardinal fact foreshadowed in the former and realized in the latter. Like the prismatic bow of the first covenant with the second progenitor of our race (Genesis9:13), and like the mystic ladder of Israel's dream (Genesis 28:12), it bridges the void between heaven and earth. It may be reserved for modern science to descry in its variegated bands the spectrum that shall disclose something of the inner nature of that far-off world, where, in His glorified humanity, the divine Son is preparing the home of His saints.

As the width of the successive colored stripes is not given (they were doubtless co-equal in each piece of stuff), we have taken the liberty of varying them in this respect so as to suit the panels or spaces which they were intended to fill. It is a very remarkable coincidence that the violet falls exactly in the plain panel for the cherubim on the interior wall curtains. It is interesting to find, moreover, that in the arrangement of the folds the violet loops are always attached to the corners of the violet panels, as congruity requires. Moreover, every hanging begins and ends with violet—heaven being the source and aim of the Atonement. The white linen foundation speaks of the purity and strength that underlie the whole plan of redemption.


Even the color of the superimposed embroidery is in harmony with the above symbolism, for as yellow is the emblem of the sun, this orb, the fourth element in the cosmical system, fitly wanders over the face of the others, especially of the blue sky, not only calling into being the (vegetable) forms of beauty (vines, etc.) but also personifying the (animal) powers of nature (the cherubim).


It is noteworthy that as the temples and persons of the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments are figured all over with significant inscriptions, so the drapery of the Tabernacle and its high priest is thoroughly pictured with this central lesson of the redemptive plan.

External Aspects of Tabernacle Articles

The remaining element of objects in and about the Tabernacle, that strikes the sense of sight as well as that of touch, is figure, and this we will consider as it relates both to mathematical form and to general shape,—the one a conventional or utilitarian sort of distinction, and the other a popular and aesthetical one, yet both blended in actual occurrence.

Geometrical Forms

Angular figures are mostly artificial, and therefore predominate in the mechanism of the Tabernacle, especially the rectangle, and this chiefly as a square, for the triangle appears but occasionally, as the bisection or diagonal of the quadrilateral. This figure is evidently the symbol of regularity, and leads us back to the idea of perfect proportion, with which we set out in this part of our discussion. The cube or third multiple of the same dimension, however, is rarely if at all found, except in the "tabernacle" part of the Most Holy Place, perhaps because it is monotonous. The oblique parallelogram is altogether avoided, as being unshapely.


More difficult of construction (without the contrivance of the lathe), and yet more abundant in nature, is the round figure, whether plane or spherical. This is fairly frequent in the Tabernacle apparatus, although never explicitly stated. It is the type of symmetry, every point of the periphery being equidistant from the center. To make it symbolical of the planetary bodies would be to anticipate the Copernican system.


Of the three simplest figures, namely, the circle, the triangle, and the quadrangle, representing respectively the unit as an emblem of eternity, the triad is as an emblem of strength, and the parallelogram as an emblem of convenience. The first and the last appear in the symbolism of the Tabernacle as representatives of perfect form from opposite points of view suitable to their nature: namely, the one subjectively from within, as a type of self-poised independent completeness, in the pillars, the laver, and certain details of the apparatus; the other objectively from without, in the superficial arrangement of the apartments, and the shape of certain pieces of manufacture. Their respective solid forms, the sphere and the cube, are of rare occurrence. The former, which is the proper symbol of Deity, and therefore not to be graphically represented (according to the second commandment), scarcely appears at all (for even the pomegranates and the bells are imperfect models). The latter appears only in the inmost shrine, the very abode of Deity, and thus the appropriate type, not only of heaven itself (into which Christ has finally entered, and whither His redeemed shall follow Him), but also of the as yet invisible Church (whither under Christianity all the saints are even now admitted as priests each for himself).


The two altars are squares, but not cubes, as if denoting a minor degree of perfection. The offerings, whether external and physical (like animal victims) or internal and spiritual (like clouds or incense) are limited (at least on earth) by the natural infirmities of the saints. The individual planks of the walls, which may symbolize the "living stones" of the true Temple, are accordingly rectangular merely, as being finite components of the divine abode. The outer apartments (holy place, sanctuary as a whole, and entire court) are for the same reason emblematic of this earthly state of existence and worship, which will be dispensed with in the celestial Temple by the occupants of "houses not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Yet even the earthly fane was not absolutely perfect either for divine residence or worship, for it was surmounted by the prismatic peak, which pointed skyward to the superincumbent cloud as the place of the continual immanence of deity, rather than to the occasional Shekinah below. The outer room, of course, denoted a less degree of the divine presence, as to the unconsecrated or nominal worshiper, and the outer court even less, as to the lay or Gentile world. The former is still under the shade of the sacred vocation, and the latter only under the broad canopy of heaven's general covenant. The triangle is of infrequent occurrence, and its solid, the pyramid, seems to have been avoided as an Egyptian type of stability, both hybrid (for the base is not triangular) and inapposite (for the Tabernacle was neither stationary nor perpetual.


The most unique of the forms introduced among the accessories of the Tabernacle is that of the cherubim, and, although purely symbolical, they have accordingly been the greatest puzzle to interpreters, who have often taken the most unwarrantable liberties in guessing their significance. We venture to expound them as cosmical emblems of the divine attributes, or as modern science (somewhat atheistically, we fear) styles them, "the laws of nature." They are the creative and providential functions of God, exercised in behalf of His human subjects through the agency—not of angels (who are actual persons, i.e., free moral beings), as the Scriptures represent to be done in the supernatural relations of the world, but of special imaginary beings, invented for this sole purpose, in the national and ecclesiastical spheres. Accordingly, they are depicted as having a material form, and an animated existence; as invested with a human body, yet ruddy as polished copper, not feathered, except probably on the wings; nor hairy, except, of course, on the head, and possibly about the feet; as standing on the cloven feet and upright (pliable) legs of a ceremonially "clean" creature, to which free locomotion is secured if needed, or a firm position when at rest. They possess arms for convenient and efficient service, and likewise wings for independent transportation, the latter double for the purpose of a garment. (The consentaneous "wheels" of Ezekiel, to denote a support to the divine throne, with their felloes of eyes [in Revelation 4:6, 8, the eyes are many, and on the person], denoting vigilance in every direction, are a later device of the theophantic machinery.) The four faces (the countenance being the distinctive feature by which to recognize individuals) are the main index of their typical significance. The human denotes intelligence, the leonine strength, the bovine perseverance, and the aquiline rapidity.


Even the relative position of the four faces of the cherubim appears to be significant: the human, as is befitting the lord of creation, occupying the front; the leonine, as king of the lower orders, ranking next on the right; the bovine, as chief of the domestic animals, supporting on the left; and the aquiline, as prince of the air, bringing up the rear. As symbolical of the laws of nature, the fourfold aspect of the cherubim is neither arbitrary nor accidental, but points to every quarter of the earth (comp. Job 23:8, 9; Zechariah 6:1 -8), whither they are the vehicles of sovereign Providence, acting with the far-reaching aim of sagacity, the right hand of efficiency, the left of persistency, and the pinions of celerity; and with these essential attributes all their members correspond. Ever since the fall of man they forefend his access to the elixir of life by the sword of mortality brandished outward in the three directions of disease, accident and old age. They garrison the Church impregnably against all assaults (comp. Matthew 16:18), standing on guard at the portal of the King of kings, and presiding over the depositary of His statutes; they are specially subsidized in every ecclesiastical crisis (as in the book of Ezekiel), although they only appear to the inspired eye (comp. 2 Kings 6:17), and they will not cease their ministry till the close of time (Revelation 4:6-9, etc.).

This gives us a complete picture of an omniscient, omnipotent, uniform and ubiquitous maintenance and superintendence of the external fortunes and affairs of the body of true worshipers, i.e., the Church in all time.


It need occasion neither alarm nor surprise, if the early preconceptions of these singular forms have to be brushed aside by the rigid facts of prosaic analysis and cool exegesis, but the love of truth compels us to dismiss all such vague and chimerical ideas. We must ever bear in mind that the forms were intended not to amuse but to symbolize, to delight the spiritual apprehension rather than to fascinate the eye. All sensuous imagery would have savored of idolatry; and this the sacredness of the shrine most intensely abhorred. Furthermore, modern notions have largely confounded cherubim with angels, although in the Scriptures the two are widely different in character, function, and representation. The latter are properly embodiments of personal and moral agents, real beings; the former are merely exponents of ideal and natural qualities, configurations not only nonexistent but impossible in fact. The cherubim are undraped save by wings, in order to denote their original simplicity of sentiment and their nonconformity to artificial fashions.


Angels, on the contrary, in the Scriptures always have appeared in the ordinary costume of men, even if with a halo. In the passage usually cited in support of the winged form of angels (Daniel 9:21), Gabriel is explicitly called a "man," nor is there the slightest intimation of his otherwise than perfect human form. The phrase "being caused to fly swiftly," is a curious instance of alliteration, mûâph bîáph, which may be rendered literally, "made to fly with weariness," i.e., having suddenly arrived with the fatigue of a long journey. The former word is frequently used in the metaphorical sense of rapid motion, irrespective of wings, and the latter word has no connection with flying. Both words are evidently taken somewhat out of their ordinary meaning, for the sake of agreement in sound. Indeed the best Hebraists derive them both from the same word—and that the latter one, which is grammatically the more probable, both from its form and the idiom—and render the clause "utterly weary." Thus all trace of winged angels disappears from the Scriptures; for the locomotion in Revelation 8:13 and 14:6, was a special adaptation, as in 12:14. Other instances adduced (Judges 13:20; Psalm 104:4; Isaiah 6:2; Matthew 28:3) are not to the point.


As to the seemingly uncouth combination of animal and human elements in the cherubic figures, our prejudices must give way before the plain descriptions of the Bible, and the delineations of contemporary religions. The monuments of Egypt and Assyria frequently represent similar custodians of palaces, temples and sacred rites as having feathered wings and a bird's beak, and in other emblematic carvings in like cases a human face surmounts the body of a bull or a lion. Sometimes a more ignoble beast, or even a fish or a serpent is pressed into service. Pagan mythology is full of such hybrid forms. The sphinx is one of the most notable riddles of antiquity. Nobody imagines that such creatures actually existed. The scriptural cherubim are a great improvement upon even the classical models, and their very oddity renders their significance the more striking.


The substantially human form likewise of those occult figures, the Urim and Thummim, can scarcely be doubted after an examination of the passages where they are referred to, and especially upon a comparison with the teraphim of the Hebrews and the images of the Egyptian shrines. The reader, however, will observe that the genuine ones are never mentioned in the Mosaic account as objects of worship, but only as a sort of talisman for divination. At this focal point of the sacerdotal apparatus, therefore, we again meet with almost striking premonition of the atonement, which links earth to heaven, and allies God with man; not now, as in the sacred colors, which are an aspect of the vicarious sacrifice for man before God, but in the theanthropic shape, which bodies forth the Deity before man, as the other great design of the assumption of flesh by the Son of God. Jesus is not only the light (ûr) of the world (John 1:5, 9; 8:12), but the sole perfect (thûm) human being, who reveals the divine nature and purposes (John 1:18), not alone by His person, which is the express image of the Father, but also in His life, which is the effulgence of His glory,—not simply by His precepts, which are infallible truth, but likewise by His example, which is the complete pattern for all saints. If we are correct in supposing that the object in the pectoral pocket of the high priest was in fact single, although in name, for the sake of superlative emphasis, both double and plural, then this sole and peerless God-man, who once disclosed His innate splendor to the privileged three on the mount of transfiguration, and occasionally gave glimpses of His beatified glory, as to the protomartyr and to the preeminent apostle, is the real and apt antitype of this divining symbol as well as of the Shekinah between the cherubim. The same will be finally gazed upon, as the attraction of the true temple, and the unsetting sun of the new heavens, by all the devout there forever recognized as "kings and priests unto God." It was for worship that the Tabernacle itself was erected, in place of the casual, isolated and impromptu devotion of persons or families, with whatever rites or in whatever order each might see fit, whether borrowed from traditions or profane sources, or dictated by caprice or fashion. So essential is a meeting house that it has at length taken the name of a "church." So useful is a ritual that even non-liturgical communions have adopted some conventional order of service. If they succeed in retaining the divine supervision symbolized in the cherubic guards, they may promise themselves permanence and success in the earth. Nevertheless, it is only by preserving the spiritual baptism prefigured in the fire of the Cloud, the Altar and the Shekinah, that they can hope to fit the souls of their membership for the inward communion either here or hereafter.


The varied postures of the upper set of cherubic wings, to which we have previously called attention, remain to be expounded. On the wall drapery, where the figures are entirely stationary, we have conceived the wings as being folded nearly vertically (as described in Ezekiel 1:24, 25, "When they stood, they [not "and had"] let down their wings"). This seems to denote the quiescent attitude of the cherubim there as the fixed custodians of the holy apartments. On the Veil, however, where they are raised a cubit from the ground, in mid-air, so to speak, of course they would be represented as flying. Their wings are extended horizontally, in order to touch those of the adjoining cherub (as described again in Ezekiel 1:9, 11 [render "parted from as to upward," instead of "stretched upward," i.e., separated at the top outwardly from the body], 23, 24), like active sentinels, barring the passageway. Not now armed, as in Genesis 3:24, but allowing the high priest to enter, yet not without his raising the Veil, and thus for the moment displacing them.

Finally, over the Ark, on the lid on which they stand, and yet are raised as high from the ground as on the Veil, the cherubims are in the act of alighting. Therefore, they lift their wings somewhat higher, face one another, and bend their arms embracingly towards the Mercy Seat (Exodus 25:20), as if it were their nest. This central object of the whole economy of the Tabernacle affords a most signal example of the casual and inaccurate style current in the interpretation of the symbolism of the entire subject from the earliest time to the present day. The lid of the Ark has been made an emblem of divine reconciliation without the slightest foundation for the conceit. The prominence and universality of this error deserve a detailed refutation.


Philologically considered the Hebrew word kappóreth is a feminine participial noun from kaphár, which means to "cover," and, therefore, signifies merely a covering or "lid" to the box. It is used of this article only, because none of the other pieces of furniture or utensils had a movable cover. The Septuagint version translated it by the Greek term hilastérion, which means "propitiatory." The Latin Vulgate imitated the rendering by propitiatorium, and the later versions have heedlessly adopted the same idea, as in the Authorized English "mercy seat," which the Revised Version has retained. Hence a world of mistaken sentiment and false poetry has been freely constructed throughout Christendom by allusions to this supposed symbol, based upon a sheer blunder of translation. It is true, the verb, especially in the Piel or intensive conjugation, from which this word is immediately derived, often has the figurative sense of covering up or pardoning sin. This very rarely occurs, however, without express mention of guilt and a preposition to connect the object with the verb, and thus point out the figurative relation. The Most Holy Place is once (1 Chronicles 28:11) styled "the house of the kappóreth," but this was never a distinctive or prominent title of the building or the apartment. In David's time, However, it may naturally have been used for the home about to be prepared for the long houseless Ark itself, of which the kappóreth was so conspicuous a part. There is no sufficient linguistic reason for departing from the obvious literal meaning of the word here, as denoting a cover to the chest.

Exegetically regarded, nothing could be more inappropriate than the notion of any piacular or atoning quality or reference in the lid of the Ark or anything connected with it. True, it was the seat of the divine Shekinah, when present; but this was occasional only, accessible to the high priest solely, but once a year at that, and deterrent when it did occur (see 1 Kings 8:11). The cherubim that stood upon it were in like manner forbidding rather than inviting; for, as at the gate of Paradise, they were designed to warn off all intruders; and with a like intent the Ark itself was closed from all inspection by the cover in question. Privacy and severity were the regnant principles in the entire arrangement of this article most especially. There is not the slightest hint that clemency or pardon was signified, but, on the contrary, the most rigid seclusion and inexorable justice. The high priest himself was not allowed to approach it in his robes of office, but as a culprit doomed to degradation and death. Inaccessibility and sternness were its chief or only lessons. Such passages as Exodus 25:22, which speak of communication from that spot, have reference to Moses exclusively.


Authoritatively expounded, we are not at liberty to appeal to the apostle's allusion in the Epistle to the Hebrews 9:5, where the popular term hilastérion is employed, but without any special stress or interpretation. The context shows that the main purpose of the reference is to bring out a contrast in this respect between the Jewish "mercy seat" and the Christian, rather than to make the former symbolical of the latter. Thus, whether we consider the rent veil as the separation between this world and the other as regards the glorified Redeemer in heaven, or His justified believers on earth, it is emphatically true that Christians only are privileged to enter the sacred presence with assurance of welcome (Hebrews 10:19-22). The true and only propitiatorium is the person of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:25; compare Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). This cannot with any propriety be symbolized by the Ark, for although the sprinkling with blood occurred in connection with both, yet in the case of Jesus it was His own blood poured forth upon His own body, while the Ark had no blood of its own, and the victim's did not actually come in contact with it all (as we have shown above). The arguments adduced in favor of the popular view by a writer are insufficient to countervail these objections. The only sense in which the idea of a propitiatory could be entertained, consistently with sound Christian typology, would be the local one of a favored spot where Jehovah deigned to show Himself in token of special approbation of the worship rendered Him. For this thought the term "throne" would have been more appropriate, a meaning which cannot be extracted from kappóreth, although it is implied in the word yoshéb, sometimes used by the sacred writers in poetical passages alluding to the sanctuary (lit. "the [One] sitting between the cherubim," etc.). Among eminent Jewish and Christian scholars, some are still in favor of the rendering "mercy seat" (so Kalisch, Lange, Keil, Michaelis, Tholuck, and a few others); but the great majority of the best linguists and interpreters favor the simpler version "lid" (so De Wette, Gesenius, Fürst, Schott, Zunz, Knobel, Herxheimer, Leeser, Benisch, Sharpe, Delitzsch, Kuinöl, Winer, and many others); some are undecided (Rosenmüller, Ewald, Hengstenberg, etc.).

The cherubims' interest gradually deepens and intensifies in the sacred deposit entrusted to their care amid the darkness, the silence and the loneliness of the Holy of Holies, and at length they hover over it with the affection of foster parents. Throned within this triple line of mystical guards, the blazing symbol of the King of kings occasionally deigned to manifest itself to the favored but representative worshiper, in all that mortal eyes could bear of the divine glory (Exodus 33:18-23; 34:5-8), while overhead perpetually hung the milder token of Jehovah's presence before the public gaze, in the nimbus alternately white and glowing.

Its Preservation

In the sacred Ark, although designated by a different term from that of Noah, we may still recognize the common idea of preservation: in the present case as a depository of the divinely-given tables of the moral law; in the other as a temporary receptacle for such of the animal tribes of the vicinity as could not otherwise be readily reproduced. The significant manner in which an apostle alludes to the flood (2 Peter 2:5; 3:6) seems to have led the framers of the baptismal service in the English Prayer Book to regard Noah's ark as typical (for it is there associated with the passage of the Red Sea, as if likewise "prefiguring Holy Baptism"). Be that as it may, Noah's ark, as being the very first inhabited structure known to have been planned by the Almighty Architect, it might be presumed, however different its design, to offer some points of analogy to the Tabernacle at least, and possibly to the Ark under consideration. It is, therefore, worth our while to make a brief comparison.

Comparison of the Three Arks

The dimensions of the Noachian edifice (for such it was before being launched by the Deluge) are given likewise in cubits; namely, 300 long, 50 wide and 30 high (about the proportions of a large merchant ship of the present day), which (with the exception of the length, which in a sea vessel must always be relatively greater than that of a house—for the latter would not stand securely if so narrow) are not greatly out of ratio with those of the Tabernacle walls (30 x 10 x 10), nor with those of the Tabernacle Ark (2 ½ x 1 ½ x 1 ½). Noah's ark had three stories, the Tabernacle one and one half, and its Ark properly but one; showing a gradual reduction in this regard. As we are not informed what partitions, if any, were made in the successive floors of Noah's ark, we can not compare it in this regard with the Tabernacle or its Ark. We may presume, however, that there was a corresponding decrease in their number. Internal decorations, of course, are out of the question in the case of both the other arks. The contents, however, were in a certain sense germinal in all three; the first contained the vital seeds of a new population for the globe, the second the hero-nucleus of a fresh nation, and the third the essential principles of all morality.

It is in the architectural style of the three structures that we would naturally expect to find the greatest degree of conformity, as emanating from the same Mind. Thus we are not disappointed. All three were essentially a rectangular box (neglecting the tent-roof of the Tabernacle, which was properly no part of the wooden mishkán or "dwelling"). Plain, indeed, was this form for a ship, and not very artistic perhaps for a house. Yet it was admirably adapted, in fact, to all of these uses, the first to be floated, the second to be "pitched," and the third to be simply set down. The roof, which we have just laid out of the account, presents, nevertheless, some very curious points of resemblance. Although flat, of course, in the case of the Mercy Seat, it must have been more or less sloping in the Noachian ark, as in the Tabernacle, to carry off the rain. At the eaves, especially, we find recurring an arrangement remarkably similar, and yet characteristically different, for the purpose of shedding the drip. The bottom cubit of the roof material all around, which in the Tabernacle was turned down over the top of the walls, was here carried out as a cornice or projection, and left an opening of that width in the top of the side walls, for light and ventilation (Genesis 6:16). "A window [Hebrews tsóhar, a "light," used only of this object, and in the dual of noon; a different word is employed in Genesis 8:6] shalt thou make to the ark, and in [rather "to," lit. "toward"] a cubit shalt thou finish it [the ark, not the window, as the gender shows] above [rather "from the top downward," lit. "from as to upward," the identical expression applied to the same space in the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:14)]." This space, where the boarding-up of the sides was omitted, was protected from the rain by the over-jutting eaves. In this opening was set the lattice, which Noah first opened to let the raven and the dove out and in (Genesis 8:6), and through which, as it was situated at the ceiling of the top story, he could see the towering tops of the surrounding mountains (v. 5). It was only after the return of the dove with a fresh olive leaf in her mouth, which assured him that the ground was sufficiently dry to warrant him in doing so (v. 11), without danger of swamping his vessel in some valley, that he ventured to take off part of the side boarding itself, and then for the first time actually saw that the ground was thoroughly dry (v. 13). This explanation so fairly clears up this difficult passage, and at the same time so corroborates our view of the Tabernacle, that we trust the reader will pardon what otherwise might seem to be unnecessary digression. (See Figure 37.)


The ark of bulrushes (i.e., papyrus reeds), in which the infant Moses was placed by his mother (designated as we have seen above by the same word as the ark of Noah), is significant likewise of preservation, and has many other features of similarity. It was a wicker box of about the same proportions as the average noticed above, being shaped like a sarcophagus or mummy-case, coated too with bitumen inside and out (corresponding to the plating on

the boards of the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant), draped with the babe's clothing, and requiring for his breathing an opening around the top of the floating cradle of the future law giver similar to that of the Noachian ark, effected doubtless by the omission of some of the longitudinal courses of wattles. (See Figure 38.)

The Decalogue

In the tables of the Decalogue deposited within the sacred Ark we, at once, recognize the symbols of moral law, not now for the first time promulgated—for the sins against God and the crimes against man there prohibited have always been outlawed by the universal conscience. It was needful that these fundamental principles of ethics should be formally reestablished and authoritatively published to the newly-formed commonwealth of Israel. We perceive therefore that, while the ten commandments are specifically Jewish enactments, they are also cosmopolitan and perpetual statutes—"common law" as we now say. Nevertheless, in the theological sense no more a ground of salvation for fallen man—who has already broken, and unaided can never keep them—than the ceremonial code of the Pentateuch is. They emphasize indeed certain principles of legislation, notably monotheism and the Sabbath, because these had been—and alas still are—sadly neglected. In the main they simply reiterate the cardinal rules of civilized society. They are all negative in substance—as was the first command in Eden, and as criminal behests usually are; and yet they attach no specific penalty, implying the extreme one of ecclesiastical excision and physical death. They are personal in application ("thou shalt"), and unmistakable in import. Finally, as our Lord expounded them (Matthew 5:21, 22, 28), and as the enlightened Jew easily discovered (Romans 7:7-13), the meaning goes far deeper than the letter, and reaches to the spirit and intention of the soul (Hebrews 4:12).


The typical character of the stone tablets is finely brought out even by Old Testament writers (Proverbs 3:3; 7:3; Jeremiah 17:1; 31:33), but still more clearly by those of the New Testament (2 Corinthians 3:3, 7; Hebrews 8:10; 10:16), as contrasting with the tender receptivity of the heart. The breaking of those prepared by Jehovah Himself, as ominous of a covenant never fully renewed, is intimated in Moses' own premonitions of the frequent and final apostasy of his people (Deuteronomy 9:7-24; 31:16-27).


The remaining features of the structure of the Tabernacle and its paraphernalia, such as the variety in the colors and arrangement of the drapery, the swellings in the stem and arms of the Candelabrum, the jewels and additions to the pontifical robes, etc., although in a degree useful, were chiefly ornamental. In that light they symbolize the element of beauty as one of the important constituents in this lesson-picture of Jehovah to His infant people. The aesthetic is never neglected by the divine Architect, nor was it sacrificed to utility in the somewhat severe style of the Tabernacle, any more than it is in nature, where birds and flowers and graceful forms mingle in delightful harmony with the athletic forces and the rugged aspects of earnest existence. True science and chaste art are the legitimate twin offspring of genuine piety.

Symbolism of Tabernacle Materials

Having thus nearly exhausted the external aspects of the Tabernacle equipments, we may properly inquire whether the various materials used in its constitution and operation may not likewise have some symbolical meaning. They are, as we have seen, drawn from all three kingdoms of nature, the mineral, the vegetable and the animal. We will take them up as nearly as may be in the order of their occurrence.

Wood

The largest in quantity of these materials, and that most used in dwellings, especially those intended for transportation like this, because furnishing the greatest strength for the least weight, is wood. In this instance it was taken from the acacia tree, not merely because this was the most—almost the only one—accessible in sufficient quantities, nor yet simply because it was firm and durable, but also because by reason of its terrific "touch-me-not" thorns that tree was a fit emblem of the unapproachable majesty of Jehovah, and of all that pertained to Him. The tree is well described by Tristram:


There can be no question as to the identity of the shittáh with the acacia, the only timber tree of any size in the Arabian desert. The species of acacia found there is the acacia seyal, a gnarled and thorny tree, somewhat

Figure 39.—The Acacia Seyal (tree, branch, flower, and pod).

like a solitary hawthorn in its habit and manner of growth, but much larger. It flourishes in the driest situations, and is scattered more or less numerously over the whole of the Siniatic peninsula. The timber is very hard and close grained, of a fine orange brown color, with a darker heart, and admirably adapted for fine cabinet work. Its leaves are small and pinnate, and in spring it is covered with its round tufts of yellow blossom, which grow in clusters round the branches, like little balls of fiber, and have gained for its poetical epithet of the "yellow-haired acacia." It belongs to the natural order leguminosa, and its seed is a pod like that of the laburnum.


But it is best known for its commercial value as yielding the gum arabic of trade and medicine, which is exported in great quantities from the Red Sea. The gum exudes from the tree spontaneously, as I have often observed in hot weather, but is also obtained more systematically by making incisions in the bark; and the Arabs not only collect it for sale, but for food in times of scarcity. They also say that it allays thirst. The bark, which is a powerful astringent, is used by the Bedouin for tanning yellow leather, and the camels are fed on its thorny foliage.

The burning bush of Moses (Exodus 3:2), called seneh in Hebrew, was no doubt an acacia, the Egyptian name of which is the equivalent, sunt, while the Arabic is seyal. The species is the acacia nilotica, found also in the desert, and rather smaller than the true seyal.


There are several other species of acacia found in Palestine, but all similar in habit and appearance; as the acacia farnesiana on the coast, the a. serissa in some of the wadies, and a. tortilis in some of the southern wadies. These must not be confounded with the tree commonly called acacia in England, which is an American plant of a different genus, with white papilionaceous blossoms—the robinia pseudoacacia."

This was the symbolism likewise in the case of the burning bush that Moses saw in the same vicinity, which he was forbidden to approach (Exodus 3:5). May not the manna—that article of food so strange to the Hebrews that they had no name for it (Exodus 16:15), but which we know was a type of Christ as the Bread of Life (John 6:31 -35), may not this dew-like substance have been a preternatural exudation from this very tree? The strikingly similar and highly nutritive "gum arabic" of commerce is the natural one from at least one species of the same genus (with which they must have been well acquainted in Egypt).


The wood was employed in the Tabernacle chiefly for overlaying with metal, and was thus in a double sense a symbol of support, as it held up—whether naked or so covereds—the textile portions of the tent-like structure. So the Israelites themselves—and all their fellow creatures, but more especially saints—are upheld naturally as well as spiritually—by that tree of life, invisible since Eden, which emblematized the alimentive and curative power of God (Revelation 21:2).

Metals

First mentioned among the metallic substances of the Tabernacle was copper, employed most copiously, not merely on account of its comparative cheapness, but rather for its deep color, and especially because it is capable (by some art now lost) of being hardened like steel, and, therefore, the symbol of durability.


Next in order of dignity among metals, but used with much liberty in the Tabernacle, was silver, the obvious symbol of clearness, by its white lustre. Its employment for the trumpets is appropriate for the excellent tone thus produced, symbolical of the Gospel message (Ezekiel 33:3; 1 Corinthians 14:8; Revelation 8:6; 14:6).


The most costly metal, gold, was profusely employed about the Tabernacle, but wholly for inside work. As it is a universal standard, therefore, it is a symbol of value.

Cloth

Returning to the vegetable kingdom for the accessories of the Tabernacle structure and outfit, we find linen, or the product of the flax plant, most prominent for the hangings and clothing. It is a symbol of cleanliness, which, as the old proverb has it, is "next to godliness," and was a point of great concern in the sacred paraphernalia.


Next in importance for similar use was the wool of sheep, a ceremonially clean animal, evidently a symbol of warmth.


For canvas alone was the goats' hair (another "clean" animal) employed, which here seems to be a symbol of compactness, as the roof covering required that quality in an eminent degree.


The unshorn rams' skins, tinted for beauty, are a symbol of protection from weather.


The fur blankets were a symbol of softness. If they were of goats or antelopes, they likewise were from a "clean" animal. No further substance from the animal kingdom appears, except perhaps silk as an alternate for gold, and the red or crimson, likewise from a worm; finally, the two purples, from sea shells.


The rope, probably also of flaxen thread, used as stay cord, may be taken to represent strength, as linen twine is the least liable to break of any.

Stones

Finally, in this list of substances we set down, what are perhaps the most expensive of all for their size, the gems or precious stones, which, as they were to receive the engraving, may be regarded as a symbol of hardness.

Other Materials

Supplementary to the foregoing list, among elements employed in worship, we find water, as the symbol of regeneration; (perpetual) fire, as representing (quenchless) zeal; oil, as emblematic of richness; wine, of cheerfulness; salt, of wholesomeness; flesh, of substance; fat, of choice (as being the best part); blood, of life; meal, of vigor; and spice, of acceptability. Most of these are so frequent in the metaphors of the Bible that we need not dwell upon them in detail.

Relative Sanctity of Various Parts

A more noteworthy feature of the arrangement of the various parts of the Tabernacle, and one which we might have considered under the head of its relative proportions, but which we preferred to scrutinize a little more closely by itself, is the gradation of comparative or official sanctity manifested in the successive apartments and pieces of furniture.


In a general way it is obvious that the entire mansion and precincts are set forth as the residence of Jehovah in the style of an Oriental king, and that this was his special home among his chosen people. The successive door screens kept out all intruders, and the furniture was such as suited his royal state and convenience. In the courtyard were performed the culinary offices of the establishment, the food was cooked on the Brazen Altar, and the washing was done at the Laver. The Holy Place represented the reception room, where official business was transacted. Here the nightlong lamp denoted the ceaseless vigilance and activity of the Heavenly King. The Table of Shewbread was His board, furnished with the three principal articles of Oriental subsistence, bread, oil and wine. The Altar of Incense was the place appointed for the reception of homage and petitions from His subjects. The interior apartment was His secret chamber for His own private counsels and retirement.


After leaving the outside world of purely secular interests, we have first the large court accessible to all priests and Levites, but (except for individual privilege) to none others. The phrase, "door of the tent:" [not "tabernacle"], so often used of the rendezvous of the people [i.e., of their representative heads] (Lev. 8:3, 4, etc.; but not when spoken of the priests), was merely outside the front screen of the court doorway, for it is the same word (péthach, lit. an opening) that is likewise applied to that of the building itself, but never to the inmost Veil. The enclosure, therefore, symbolizes a sacred ministry in more than the usual sense of God's people. Within this, again, we find the Laver, which is emblematic of true piety (such as can only flow from a renewed heart, Titus 3:5), and is placed there as an indispensable prerequisite to any acceptable divine service, especially of the priestly representatives of the people (Hebrews 10:22). The Great Altar is a figure of the personal consecration which they are to make of their whole selves to holy duties.


In the next remove from secular life, the Holy Place, to which no Levite was ordinarily admitted, we see the exclusive tokens of a functional priesthood, which was necessary in the cumbrous and technical routine of sacrificial offerings, and was accordingly regarded as the only feasible medium of approach to the divine Majesty. Under the Gospel this whole system of human intervention is abolished, with the ritualistic system upon which it was founded, and every believer, whether old or young, male or female, becomes a king and a priest (for himself or herself only, however) before God (1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 1:6, etc.) The Candelabrum represents the intelligence with which such service must be undertaken, the Table of Shewbread (lit. "of the [divine] presence") the conscientiousness with which they must be discharged, and the Altar of Incense the prayerfulness with which they must be accompanied. Nor let it be supposed that these spiritual requirements were not understood by devout worshipers, whether clerical or laical, among the Hebrews (Luke 1:10).


Withdrawing now to the inmost chamber, the Most Holy Place, which was the immediate abode of Jehovah, and excluded to all but the incumbent of the high priesthood, we find nothing therein save the Ark and its Mercy Seat, to symbolize the invisible deity: the one by the writings deposited therein, as an explicit record of moral principles; and the other by the figures standing upon it, as a conventional type of natural laws. The high priest himself is the representative of his entire order, and through it of the laity. Since the one great Day of Atonement has passed, in which Jesus as the Christian's sole High Priest has entered into the actual and immediate presence of the celestial Glory, there is no need or room for any other mediator between the soul and God (Hebrews 9:11, 12, 24). The Veil is a type of His flesh (Hebrews 10:20), rent at the crucifixion (Matthew 27:51), so that all saints may now enter the Holiest boldly (Hebrews 10:19), clad in the regalia of Christ's own righteousness (Revelation 19:8).

The Crowning Glory of the Tabernacle

We conclude this part of our subject, remarking that the crowning glory of the Tabernacle and its service lay—and was universally understood as lying—in the gradual scheme of divine Matthew couched under the three modes of divine manifestation, which we have been considering. Let us dwell a little longer upon them in detail.


The Shekinah was intended merely to mark the divine abode and presence in some physical and visible manner, and conveyed no intimation of the divine purposes beyond what that simple fact implied. It manifested itself in two phases, each characteristic, and having two seemingly opposite traits: a brilliancy (significant of disclosure) and a smoke (indicative of concealment); in other words, the Matthew was yet but partial.

In the "pillar of a cloud by day and of fire by night," this contrast was by alternation; the exhibit, however, was constant in one phase or the other. The object here was simply guidance in the journey, and, therefore, it was an index of the locality where Jehovah preferred His tent to be pitched, and when He wished it to be removed to some other spot. Hence it began with the first march, and ceased when the Tabernacle reached its last resting place. At the passage of the Red Sea, it changed its position from the head of the marching column to the rear, in order to interpose a barrier between the Israelites and their pursuers (Exodus 14:19, 20, 24). During the giving of the Law, it stood upon the summit of Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:9, 16-20; 20:18-21; 24:15-18), whence it descended to the tent temporarily occupied as an office by Moses (Matthew 33:9, 10), returning to the summit of the mountain during the second interview there (Matthew 34:5). On the completion of the Tabernacle proper it took up its permanent station above the building, removing only during the march (Matthew 40:34-38). It is, therefore, the emblem of divine Matthew in its lowest or general aspect of social direction in the secular or semi-ethical crises of human affairs. The ordinary hazy appearance may be compared to the quiet approval of heaven upon national or personal conduct when right. The flashes of lightning, which at times frightened beholders, may be the vindictive warnings of Providence against wrongdoing (see also p. 12).


The occasional glow over the Mercy Seat was a token of a special condescension of Jehovah, less public, but still in view of some national or ecclesiastical act of devotion. It is an emblem of the grace that prompts and rewards such an expression of religious quickening. Forlorn indeed is that state or church or individual of whose conscious center it need be inquired, "Where [is the divine] glory?" (1 Samuel 4:21.)


A more specific form of divine communication by the Almighty respecting the secrets of His administration is found in the mysterious Urim and Thummim, which, however manipulated, were resorted to only on special emergencies, chiefly public, but yet having a private bearing. They seem to correspond to the monitions of conscience in the natural heart, and to those of the Holy Spirit upon the renewed one. The two are related like the eye and light to each other, as they involved quite distinctly the subjectivity of the recipient (high priest), who acted as a medium.


Finally, we have in the Decalogue, treasured in the archives of the sacred Ark, the clearest and fullest code of ethics ever divulged to humanity at large, and one which all later legislation or revelation, and all modern ingenuity or science, have not materially improved nor successfully impeached. Many illustrative applications and enforcements have been added, but the moral law as expressed in those ten commandments stands unrivalled and unrepealed in every dispensation and among all except barbarous people. Few are the evils of the heart or life which their strict observance according to their true intent and spirit would not prevent or relieve.


To borrow an illustration from a science generally regarded as furnishing the most commanding and irrefragable kind of proof, we may say that, as the coincidence of two arcs, figures or planes, in three points, especially if angular, is an absolute mark of equality or identity throughout, so the correspondence in our plan of the Tabernacle with its scriptural description in the three essential elements of metric outline, utilitarian adaptation, and dignified significance, is a conclusive attestation that the value of the hitherto unknown quantities has been truly ascertained.


In order to eliminate any suspicion that even such an equation is accidental, we may further point to the fact that each of these three confirmations is itself triplicate or even compoundly so.


1. The numerical statements or implications as to the ground-plan, the elevations, and the roof or wall coverings respectively, however separately and independently given or deduced, precisely tally in dimension.

2. The mechanical adjustment of the various parts, whether expressed—sometimes in full, sometimes laconically, sometimes merely hinted,—or understood, is at once systematic, simple and efficient.

3. The ideal import of the whole,—from the Levitical court (with its roasting flesh), through the priestly fane (with its aromatic fumes), into the pontifical shrine (with its celestial glow).

All of the details including the instructions for the construction of, and the actual use were consistent, necessary and reflective of redemptive truth. Note this: the physical elements (drawn from all the realms of nature), the corporeal organisms (animal victim, human agent, or cherubic phantasm), and the conventional tokens (perpetual fire in the outer court, continual light in the Holy Place, and constant shade in the Most Holy) and in the liturgical apparatus (whether sacrificial fixtures, or costly implements, or gorgeous paraphernalia). We submit that in every facet, this plan is admirably progressive, eminently instructive, and sublimely decorous. Nor is a single feature inconsistent, unnecessary or trivial in the entire category of details. A theory that so fully and fairly unites all the facts and principles must be sound; and in the nature of the case there can be no more convincing argument. The sacred record is the only testimony, its careful interpretation the best jurist, and common sense the highest tribunal. The ultimate verdict we are content to abide.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, which may seem to some of our readers to savor of overweening confidence, if not of consummate egotism, it is proper to add that we are well aware of the degree of assurance with which many of our predecessors on this subject have put forth their plans of adjustment. We are sure that a number of them at least must have had secret misgivings of their sufficiency, although few have had the candor to avow (as Brown frankly does, —he proceeds, it should be borne in mind, on the flat roof theory) their sense of inability to meet the requirements of the case. We have the hardihood to assert, and we are conscious of no vanity in doing so, that our only apprehension in the matter is lest our readers may hastily pass our explanations and reasons by, as ingenious and possibly plausible speculations, and may thus remain unconvinced for lack of real and thorough examination. We have no fear of their final assent (except, of course, that of the personally prejudiced, and especially of those already publicly committed to a different opinion), if they only will take the pains to verify our positions by a careful comparison with the scriptural statements and the mechanical and artistic demands of the case. To this the theme, if not the book, is fairly entitled.


Our difficult and somewhat venturesome task is now accomplished in as brief space as any one could reasonably demand. We think we have made out our case without any special pleading, and have, therefore, a right to subscribe, Q. E. D.







—Tabernacle of Israel

Typeology

(Exodus 16:14), having but the taste of "fresh oil" (Numbers 11:8), or "wafers with honey" (Exodus 16:31), it typifies Christ in humiliation as presented in Matthew, Mark, and Luke; "having no form nor comeliness; ... no beauty that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2). But as such He must be received by faith if we would be saved (John 6:53-58).

To meditate upon Christ as He went about among men, doing not His own will but the will of the Father (John 6. 38^io), is to feed on the manna. This is, of necessity, the spiritual food of young believers, and answers to "milk" (1 Corinthians 3:1, 2).

But Christ in glory, and the believer's present and eternal association with Him there, answers to "the old corn of the land" (Joshua 5:11), the "meat" of Hebrews 5:13, 14, or Christ as presented in the Epistles of Paul. Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:16.

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—Tabernacle of Israel