V ^^^^^^^"^ AUG 1 i 197? -"- -v.'^^f BSII% - w HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE SACRED TABERNACLE HEBREWS. BY EDWARD E. ATWATER. NEW YORK: DODD AND MEAD, PUBLISHERS, 762 Broadway. 1875- Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by EDWARD E. ATWATER, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. THIS VOLUME /S DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR TO HIS BELOVED AND VENERATED FATHER; WHO, HAVING LONG ENJOYED COMMUNION WITH GOD BY FAITH, IS WAITING, IN THE EIGHTY-NINTH YEAR OF HIS AGE, FOR ADMISSION WITHIN THE INNER SANCTUARY, WHERE WE SHALL SEE AS WE ARE SEEN, AND KNOW AS WE ARE KNOWN. PREFACE. An instructor called my attention to the Hebrew sanctuaries before I had completed the first year of theological study, and thereby determined my specialty. After thirty years of work in the ministry, I retired from the pulpit to give myself wholly to a sub- ject which a pastor can study only at intervals, and for the purpose of imparting rudimentary instruction. The preparation of this volume has been accompanied with delight by reason of new dis- coveries amid the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in the symbols of the tabernacle. Thanking God that my life and health have been spared to complete the work, I send it forth in the hope that my readers may in some degree share with me in my joy. Of the older writers on the tabernacle, Lund has rendered me much service by the thoroughness of his work. A person ac- quainted Avith his book on the Hebrew sanctuaries can easily believe that it was, as he says in the preface, the result of thirteen years of application. The specimen of his interpretation of the tabernacle, given in the second part of this volume, ought not to diminish our respect for the judgment and scholarship evinced in his historical investigations ; for in his day no other interpretation of Hebrew symbolism had been suggested than that of the wild, lawless typologists of the Cocceian school. VI PREFACE. Bahr was the first interpreter who attempted to apply to the subject the inductive method of investigation. From him more aid has been derived in writing tlie second part of tlie book than from all other sources ; but my readers who are familiar with his Sym- bolik will discover many deviations from the path he blazed through the previously pathless wilderness. As might be expected, the first explorer made some mistakes which his followers easily avoid. This would doubtless have been the case if Bahr had been per- fectly impartial in his interpretation ; but unfortunately he com- menced his work with a conviction that the commonly received view of the purpose of Christ's death is erroneous, — a conviction so strong that he had already given to the world a polemical book on the atonement. His prejudices led him astray, and compelled those who came after him to undertake new and independent ex- plorations. The first volume of a revised edition of his Symbolik has been issued since the following pages were written, but I have not yet seen it. Of writers later than Bahr to whom I am indebted, Kurtz de- serves to be here mentioned : for, in cases where he has expressed his opinion, I have not often found cause for dissenting ; and, in the numerous instances in which my judgment has coincided with his, I have not deemed it necessary to make specific acknowledgment excejDt when his language is adopted. The work which Bahr began can be completed only by a suc- cession of laborers, each of whom will doubtless make some mis- takes. Those who have preceded me have done so ; and I cannot expect that my inteqjretation will in all cases be satisfactory to later explorers. Confident that my studies have added to the knowledge of Hebrew symbolism, both in breadth and accuracy, I hope they may assist those who come after me to make additional discoveries. The illustrations have been gathered from different sources ; but PREFACE. vii those which exhibit the utensils of worship are generally taken from Neumann, who has studied the subject in the light of Assyri- ology. His conjectural figure of a Hebrew cherub has been given merely as a conjecture where conception can only approximate to the reality. The book is intended especially for clergymen ; but I have endeav- ored to write so that persons acquainted only with their vernacular English may find advantage and pleasure in its perusal. Perhaps I might have made myself more acceptable to Hebrew scholars by introducing more Hebrew words into the text ; but I hope that some of the many laymen who are interested in biblical studies will appreciate my determination to use English words in the text in all cases where they wQuld serve my purpose. New Haven, October, 1874, TABLE OF CONTENTS. — « — PAGE INTRODUCTION i BOOK I. HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. CHAPTER I. The Edifice of the Tabernacle 9 CHAPTER II. Its Furniture. . , 31 CHAPTER III. Its Erection 45 CHAPTER IV. Its Attendants 55 CHAPTER V. Its Sacrifices 66 CHAPTER VI. Its Lustrations . . .74 CHAPTER VIL Its Calendar 84 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PAGE Its Migrations loo CHAPTER IX. Its Expenses 113 BOOK II. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. CHAPTER I. Evidence that it was Significant 129 CHAPTER II. It symbolized the Truths of the Mosaic Revelation . 140 * CHAPTER III. It typified the Truths of Christianity 155 CHAPTER IV. Means of Interpretation 167 CHAPTER V, Symbolism of Number and Form 182 CHAPTER VI. Symbolism of Color 209 CHAPTER VII. Symbolism of Minerals 225 CHAPTER VIII. Symbolism of Vegetable Substances 233 CHAPTER IX. Symbolism of Animals and Composite Animal Forms . ' . 248 CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER X. Interpretation of the Edifice ""^g^ CHAPTER X:. Interpretation of the Furniture .... 280 CHAPTER XII. Interpretation of the Priesthood -j CHAPTER XIII. Interpretation of the Sacrifices 342 CHAPTER XIV. Interpretation of the Lustrations -gj CHAPTER XV. Interpretation of the Calendar CHAPTER XVI. Prophetic Symbols, or Types 399 CHAPTER XVII. Extent to which the Hebrews comprehended the Signifi- cance OF THE Tabernacle . 427 CHAPTER XVIII. Study of the Tabernacle important to Christians . . 435 ILLUSTRATIONS. Fig. 1. Front Elevation . Faces title-page. Faces Page 2. One of the Planks of the Frame 15 3. One of the Corner Planks 15 4. End of a Corner Plank 15 5. Side of a Socket 15 6. Top of Two Corner Sockets 15 7. The Two Equal Parts of " The Tabernacle," or Inner- most Curtain 20 8. The Two Parts of the Second Curtain 27 9. Ark of the Covenant according to Neumann . . .32 10. Ark of the Covenant with its Crown placed midway fror^ Top to Bottom 32 11. Table of Show-Bre.\d from the Arch of Titus . . .38 12. Table of Show-Bread according to Neumann . . .38 13. 14, 15. Assyrian Tables and Stool 39 16. Chandelier from the Arch of Titus 40 17. Chandelier 41 18. Altar of Incense 42 19. Altar of Burnt-Offering 43 20. Ground-Plan of the One Hundred Silver Sills . . -45 21. The Frame of Acacia-Wood 46 22. "The Tabernacle" OF Tapestry fastened UPON the Frame, 47 23. The Covering OF Goat's Hair laid OVER " The Tabernacle," 48 24. Ground-Plan of the Edifice, including the Court . . 49 25. Plan of the Encampment 54 xiv IL L US TRA TIONS. Faces IPagb 26. Eagle-headed Human Figure 257 27. Eagle-headed Lion 258 28. Winged Human-headed Lion 259 29. Andro-Sphinx 260 30. Cherub according to Neumann 261 31. Subordinate Priest in Costume 325 32. Sacerdotal Tunic 328 33. Loom for weaving Seamless Tunics 329 34. Tunic without Seam, woven in the Sixteenth Century . 330 35. Assyrian King 331 36. Hindostanee Turbans, indicating the Rank of the Wearers, 332 37. Robe of the Ephod 333 38. High-Priest in Robe of the Ephod 334 39. Ephod 335 40. Breastplate 336 41. Ephod with Breastplate attached 337 42. Turban of a Subordinate Priest 338 43. Turban of the High-Priest 338 44. Golden Crown 338 45. Head of an Assyrian King with a Crown on the Forehead, 338 46. High-Priest in his Ordinary Costume 339 47. High-Priest in Costume of the Day of Atonement . . 340 INTRODUCTION. If the art of photography had been known to the skil- ful artisans who constructed the Sacred Tabernacle of THE Hebrews, they would, doubtless, have endeavored to transmit to the generations to come a view of the edifice as it stood after its first erection in the midst of the vast encampment by which it was surrounded. In the absence of a contemporary picture, we are able, by means of the detailed description in the books of Moses, to reproduce in imagination the scene which was spread out at the base of Sinai on the first anniversary of the exodus from Egypt. The tents of two millions of people are pitched in four divisions around a hollow square ; each division containing three of the twelve tribes of Israel, and there- fore subdivided into three smaller encampments, sepa- rated by spaces broader than the numerous streets, which, crossing each other at right angles, divide tent from tent within the bounds of a tribe. Here this mul- titude of people have continued without change of place, — here their tents have remained pitched for three-fourths of a year. Yesterday the tabernacle was erected. It stands facing the east, in the centre of the hollow square ; and in the ample court surrounding it are to be seen the brazen laver for the ablutions of the priests, and the great 2 INTRODUCTION. altar of burnt-offering on which the fire is to be perpet- ually preserved. Immediately around this court are the tents of the tribe of Levi, the tribe set apart to the ser- vice of the tabernacle, and no longer numbered as one of the twelve ; Ephraim and Manasseh being counted as two tribes to perpetuate the original and symbolic num- ber, twelve. So vast a multitude of people has seldom been gath- ered in one encampment of tents. It is a grand specta- cle, probably not inferior in grandeur to that which afterward met the eye of Balaam, when, gazing from the summit of Peor, he exclaimed, " How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel ! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign-aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters." ^ Of this goodly picture, the tabernacle is the central feature. The habitations of the people are disposed around it ; their eyes turn toward it in the morning and at evening ; and their prayers ascend with the smoke of sacrifice which goes up from its altar. Not only in the morning and at evening, but at all hours of the day and night, it is the cynosure to many who stand observant of that visible manifestation of Jehovah, which rests over it as a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. WHAT, THEN, IS THIS EDIFICE } WHENCE CAME IT } FOR WHAT PURPOSE WAS IT ERECTED } Fifty days after the exodus from Egypt, Moses re- ceived on Sinai the two tables of stone, on which God 1 Num. xxiv. 2-6. INTRO D UC TION. 3 had inscribed the Ten Commandments. At the same time he received instructions to build a tabernacle, with minute specifications of the form, measure, and materials of its several parts. After forty days spent on the mountain, much of the time occupied in receiving from God instructions in regard to the edifice itself, its appur- tenances, its attendants, its services, and the import of the whole, he returned to the camp to communicate to the people the divine commands. With alacrity they responded to the proposal that they should contribute such materials as they might have in possession, suitable for use in constructing the sacred edifice. More than an ample supply of timber, of leather, of cloth, of metals, and of jewels, was soon brought to the persons appointed to receive it ; men and women, rich and poor, uniting in a common enthusiasm which sometimes required the sacrifice of personal orna- ments, and the relinquishment of the means of domestic embellishment. A corps of artisans skilful in various kinds of work was then selected, and placed under the superintendence of Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah, with Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan, next to him in authority. There were among them carpenters and carvers, goldsmiths, silver- smiths, and coppersmiths, moulders and founders, spin- ners, weavers, and embroiderers. Eminent in skill by natural aptitude and much practice in Egypt, they were assisted in their work by the Spirit of God imparted for this special service. These workmen were occupied about nine months with the task assigned. All things being then ready, the specified space was enclosed, the altar and laver were I 4 INTR OD UC TION. put in place, the tabernacle itself was erected, and the furniture of its two apartments was carried within. It was the fourteenth day of the first month of the year, when the Israelites fled from Egypt : it was the first day of the first month in the subsequent year, when the tabernacle was erected. Immediately the people who had so willingly under- taken to build a sanctuary for Jehovah, in which he might dwell among them, had evidence that their work and offerings were acceptable to him ; for, on the day when the tabernacle was erected, the shechinah, through which he manifested his friendly presence, rising from the tent temporarily used as a sanctuary, ^ removed, and rested on the new and beautiful edifice which had been so long in process of construction. There it remained as a column of cloud by day, and of fire by night, as long as He who was represented by it desired the en- campment to continue ; and, by express appointment, the rising of the shechinah from the tabernacle was hence- forth, during the long journey through the wilderness, the signal for removing to another station. " So it was always : the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night ; and when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed ; and in the place where the cloud abode, 1 It is evident from the Book of Exodus, that, before the erection of the Sina- itic tabernacle, a tent had been used as an appointed place of meeting between Jehovah and the people. There is, however, no record of its erection, or, if an ordinary tent was set apart for the purpose, of its consecration, unless the mention of it in connection with the sin of the golden calf is to be so imderstood. That narrative seems to read more naturally if one conceives of the temporary sanctuary as previously set apart to that use, and now removed out of the camp to testify Jehovah's displeasure with the Israelites on account of their idolatrj". INTRODUCTION. 5 there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel jour- neyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched : as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents." ^ The sanctuary, being thus completed and set up, is now to be dedicated with a series of ceremonies pro- tracted through twelve days ; each of the tribes occupy- ing one day in the presentation of gifts and the offering of sacrifices. Of this edifice the following pages are to treat. 1 Num. be. 16-18. PART I. HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. CHAPTER I. THE EDIFICE OF THE TABERNACLE. Moses received on Sinai not only a command to make the tabernacle, but plans and specifications according to which the work was to be executed. A pattern, or model, was shown him, to which he was required to con- form not only in general, but in all particulars. This pattern, so far as we can judge from the distinctive meaning of the word, was something more than a repre- sentation on a perspective plane. Perhaps he was made to see an exact exemplar of the edifice he was to con- struct. Besides this pattern which was shown him, he received very minute descriptions of the several parts of the building, with directions as to the materials of which they were to be made, their forms, and their measures. With the aid of these descriptions, which have been transmitted to us, we are able to reproduce the structure almost exactly as it stood. Its ground-plan was a parallelogram forty-five feet in 9 lo HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. length, and jEifteen feet in width.^ The parts required by the specifications having been severally fabricated, and made ready to be put together, the next thing to be done would be to set up around three sides of this par- allelogram a wooden frame, or wall, such as we now proceed to describe. The material was of shiitim, a species of acacia, the timber of which has a rich black color, like ebony, and is eminently light, solid, strong, and smooth. This spe- cies of acacia is still found in the regions traversed by the Israelites in their passage from Egypt to Canaan. Stanley speaks of it as a spreading tree with gay foliage and blue blossoms, which he saw in Egypt and after- ward in the desert. ^ Robinson, in his journey from Jerusalem to Gaza, passed through a valley called Wady es-Sumt, taking its name from the abundance of these trees.^ The frame of the tabernacle consisted of forty-eight pieces of this acacia-wood standing on end. Eight of them were at the rear of the edifice, and twenty on each 1 After some hesitation, the author has decided to use English measures in this part of his work, hoping thereby to give the reader a more definite conception than by the transfer of the Hebrew names. In so doing, he is obliged to express his opinion of the length of the Hebrew cubit. In representing it as equivalent, or nearly equivalent, to eighteen English inches, he would not be understood as ignor-, ing the difficulties which oppose such a conclusion, or the decision of eminent scholars against it. There is no reason to doubt that the ammak of the Hebrews was, as the name indicates, the measure of a man's arm from the elbow to the hand ; but there is some uncertainty whether the measure beginning at the elbow was to include the hand to the end of the middle finger, or to stop at the wrist. The reader who is particularly curious on this point may consult the article "Weights and Measures," in Smith's Bible Dictionary. It will be necessary, in that part of tl»e work which relates to symbolism, to recur to the Hebrew measures. 2 Sinai and Palestine. New York, 1857. Pp. 21, 69. 3 Biblical Researches in Palestine. Boston, 1841. Vol. ii. p. 349. Stoitisthe Arabic name of the acacia. THE EDIFICE OF THE TABERNACLE. ii of its sides ; the front being left open to be covered with a curtain. They were each fifteen feet long, and, unless the two outside pieces on the rear end were exceptions, twenty-seven inches wide. It is remarkable that, while the width of the other forty-six pieces is specified, we have no means of ascertaining with certainty the width of these two corner-pieces. This is the more to be regretted, as the thickness of the frame is a problem which we could easily solve, if we knew the width of the edifice measured on the outside. The Scriptures giving no information in regard to the thickness, it is not easy to decide between contradicting witnesses and opposing arguments. It must have been certainly too great to justify the use of the word " boards" as descriptive of the forty-eight pieces of acacia-wood of which the frame of the tabernacle consisted. The Hebrew word comes from a root which signifies to cut, and is as applicable to planks as to boards. Several inches of thickness would be required to give strength and straightness to a frame constructed of pieces of wood twenty-seven inches wide. The Jewish rabbles say that they were one cubit thick, and Lund attempts to confirm their testimony by argu- ment. His reasoning, briefly stated, is, that, in the absence of information to the contrary, we should believe that the corner-pieces were of the same width as the others ; in which case, the eight timbers at the end would give an outside width to the edifice of eighteen feet ; and, the inside width being fifteen feet, the walls must be each eighteen inches thick in order to give a meas- urement of eighteen feet on the outside. It must be confessed that such measurements would construct a very symmetrical and substantial frame; but when we 12 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. remember that the tabernacle was a portable edifice, to be many times erected and ta}cen down in the removals of a nomadic people, it seems incredible that the frame should be eighteen inches thick. Even if the acacia far exceeded all other species of wood in lightness, such tim- bers would be individually too heavy to be easily handled, and in the aggregate both too heavy and too bulky for transportation. With the exception of a few articles of its furniture which were carried by hand, the tabernacle, with all its appurtenances, was loaded upon six wagons, and drawn by six yoke of oxen. Indeed, all the wood- work of the frame, together with the silver sill under- neath it, and the sixty pillars on which the curtain enclosing the outer court was hung, were carried on four wagons, and drawn by four yoke of oxen. So many tim- bers, each fifteen feet long, twenty-seven inches wide, and eighteen inches thick, to say nothing of the silver sill and the pillars around the court, could not possibly have been piled on four wagons. This difficulty is not sufficiently diminished, if, with Lightfoot, we reduce the thickness to nine inches ; but, if we suppose it to have been four inches and a half, we can ascertain by computation that we have arrived with- in the bounds not only of possibility, but of credibility. This would make the width of the corner-boards just one-half the width of the others ; thus answering the demands of symmetry nearly and perhaps quite as well, and accounting for the separate mention of them in dis- tinction from the other six on the west end of the build- ing. Such a supposition accords nearly with the state- ment of Josephus, that the pillars of which the walls of the tabernacle consisted were four fingers thick, and, THE EDIFICE OF THE TABERNACLE. 13 again, that they were the third part of a span in thick- ness ; ^ though it is true, as Lund alleges, that his testi- mony is of little value, as he is evidently careless in his statements, and not always consistent with himself. These timbers of the frame are termed pillars both by Josephus and the Septuagint translators ; but, to distin- guish them easily from the pillars which stood in rows across the edifice to support its transverse curtains, or veils, we shall designate them hereafter ^iS planks. The hypothesis that the planks were four inches and a half thick, makes the corner-planks half as wide as the others, but offers no suggestion as to their shape. The description of the corner-planks is obscure, but favors the opinion that each consisted of two pieces fastened to- gether at a right angle ; so that it was a corner-plank not merely because it stood at the corner, but because it formed an angle. The direction, " they shall be twinned," - seems to imply that the two pieces of each corner-plank were of equal width. The objection to this shape is, that it gives the edifice a length of more than thirty cubits ; and the answer to the objection is, that inside measures are always to be understood, and that, if the corner- planks added nine inches to the length, this addition was needed to give ten cubits in the clear to the innermost, and twenty cubits in the clear to the outermost apart- ment ; nine inches being so much occupied by the two rows of pillars which traversed the building, as to be left out of account in the measurement of length. On the lower end of each of the planks, two tenons were wrought, to correspond with mortises in the sills on which it was to stand. Possibly there were also tenons 1 Antiquities, book iii. ch. vi. §3. 2 Exod. xxvi. 24 : marginal reading. 14 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. and mortises on the edges where the planks came to- gether ; but of this we have no certain knowledge. Such a connection of one plank with another, by tenon and mortise, would give greater strength to the frame, but might not be necessary in addition to the horizontal bars which bound the planks together. There were five such bars on each side, and five on the rear, made of acacia-wood, and overlaid with gold. In regard to the arrangement of them, there are different opinions. The specifications require that the bar midway from top to bottom shall reach from end to end. Keil infers that the other four were shorter. He conjectures that they were only half as long as the middle bar,. and that, the rings being arranged to form but three horizontal rows, two of these shorter bars filled the rings of the upper row, and the other two the rings of the lower row. In the absence of definite information, this conjectural arrangement of the rings and bars is as free from objec- tion as any other, and more so than the old hypothesis that a passage was bored, for the middle bar, through the planks themselves. The thought of such a passage through the planks was suggested by the words, " the midst of," in the sentence, " The middle bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end." ^ But the expression refers to the position of the bar as midway from top to bottom, and not as within the planks. Whatever may be the specific gravity of acacia-wood as compared with other kinds of timber, planks of such size, even if we reduce the thickness to four inches and a half, must have been heavy ; and we are therefore dis- posed to infer, when we read that they were overlaid 1 Exod. xxvi. 28. Fic. 2. ONE OF THE PLANKS Fig. 4. [END OF A CORNER PLANK. Fig. 5. SIDE OF A SOCKET. a. n Fig. 3. ONE OF THE Fig. 6. TOP OF TWO OF THE FRAME. CORNER PLANKS. CORNER SOCKETS. THE EDIFICE OF THE TABERNACLE. 15 with gold, that the precious metal which covered them was not thick. Modern art could make a single ounce of gold suffice to cover one thousand four hundred and sixty-six square feet. Great progress has been made, however, in gold-beating within two centuries ; and it is probable, from the specimens found in Egypt, that the ancient goldsmiths of that country were on a level with those of Europe at the beginning of the seventeenth century.^ These gilded planks of acacia-wood, when erected, stood on a base, or sill, of silver, which extended perhaps a little way both outward and inward, from the wall formed by the planks, and was divided into twice as many pieces as there were planks ; so that each of the latter stood on two separate pieces of the base, one of its two tenons being inserted into a corresponding cavity in each division of the base. Besides the planks which formed the wall of the tab- ernacle, there were four pillars, so called with greater strictness of propriety, to support a curtain across the interior of the building, dividing it into two apartments ; and five pillars to support another curtain over the entrance at the east end of the edifice. The four pillars for the partition-curtain stood on sills, or socket- pieces of silver, and the five for the entrance-curtain on sills of copper.^ It is worthy of notice, that, while almost every thing used in the construction of the tab- 1 Wilkinson : Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians. London, 1841. Vol. iii. p. 235. 2 There is reason to believe that the Hebrews were unacquainted with the com- position of copper and zinc, now known by the name of brass. Copper may have been sometimes alloyed with tin ; but the word rendered in our version '■'■brass'''' signifies, of itself, copper. See the article " Brass " in Smith's Bible Dictionary. 1 6 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. ernacle is specified as given by voluntary contribution, the silver sills, numbering just one hundred, were made from the avails of a poll-tax of a half shekel levied upon all males from twenty years old upward ; so that, there being a talent of silver in each sill, it required the poll- tax of three thousand men to make it. But of this we shall have occasion to speak again in another chapter. The wooden frame of the tabernacle, as above de- scribed, having been prepared, it was necessary to cover it with suitable hangings, or curtains. Of these there were four layers ; the innermost so far excelling the others in importance, that it was sometimes denominated THE TABERNACLE, as if all clsc appertaining to the edifice were subsidiary to this. It is more natural for us, who dwell in houses which are not portable, to think of the wall of acacia-wood as the most essential part of the edifice ; but an attentive study of the directions given to Moses, and of the report he makes of the work as it proceeded, leads to the conclusion that the frame was chiefly designed to give support to the beautiful drapery with which it was covered. In the conception of a Hebrew travelling through the wilderness from Sinai to Canaan, the tabernacle where Jehovah dwelt was of cloth, as was his own habitation. It was, indeed, of a more beautiful fabric than the other tents of the encampment, which were doubtless of goat's hair, like those of the nomadic inhabitants of the same region at the present day, while the tabernacle of God was of fine linen variegated with brilliant colors. The cloth here spoken of as linen was the most beau- tiful and costly product of the loom known among the ancients. Luther renders the word as equivalent to silk ; THE EDIFICE OF THE TABERNACLE. 17 and our English translators, perhaps misled by him, have admitted the word ''silk'' into the margin of the passage which relates how Pharaoh honored Joseph with the apparel and other appurtenances of royalty.^ If the Septuagint is right in applying the Greek word bussos to this cloth, it was the same as that which is spoken of as fine linen in the parable of the* rich man and Lazarus,^ and also in some of the last chapters of the New Testa- ment.^ There is reason to believe that this shesJi, as the Hebrews called it, excelled other fabrics, not only in the fineness of its fibre, but in the purity of whiteness to which it might be bleached ; for the name is derived from a word which signifies white ; and, in the account we have of John's vision of the marriage of the Lamb, it is said that to his wife was granted that she should be arrayed in this fine linen, clean and white.* Not only was the fibre of this vegetable naturally small, but care was taken in spinning it to produce a small and at the same time a strong thread ; it having been specified in the directions that the curtains should be made of shesh that was fine-twisted.^ The spinning of this fine white thread, of which the 1 Gen. xli. 42. 2 Luke xvi. 19. 3 The writer of the Apocal)fpse employs the cognate word jSvaaLVOi instead of fivcrao^. IntheTextus Receptus, however, /3ii(tf, {to wrap around), and ni^3Jp, from |'pj {to be high, (Specially -with a round form). From the cognate verb ^03 having exactly the same meaning, J^313 {a helmet) is derived. THE ATTENDANTS OF THE TABERNACLE 63 over the top of the mitre to the back of the head, tied together, brought forward each to an aperture in the end of the crown, and, after being passed through this aper- ture, were returned to the knot at the back of the head, where the ends were made fast. Such was the magnificent costume to be worn by the high-priest in his ordinary ministrations. But on the day of expiation he was habited not in these " garments of gold," but in pure white Hnen, as he entered the holy of holies to make expiation, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. With this exception, the costumes we have described as appertaining to the high-priest and his subordinates were always worn by them when performing official functions. When they were not on duty, their apparel was similar to that of other Hebrews. The investment of Aaron and his sons with these garments was one of the ceremonies with which they were consecrated to the priesthood. The candidates were conducted to the door of the tabernacle, where, having washed their hands and feet, they were publicly clothed with these insignia of office. The next cere- mony was to anoint Aaron with the holy oil by pouring it on his head so that it ran down on his beard, and dropped on his garments. Finally sacrifices were offered ; first, a bullock as a sin- offering ; next, a ram as a whole burnt-offering ; and, thirdly, another ram as a consecration offering. With the blood of this last sacrifice, the candidates were touched on the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot. Besides, some of it mixed with the sacred oil of unction was sprinkled on their persons, and on their garments. 64 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. By means of these ceremonies repeated daily for seven days, Aaron and his sons were duly consecrated to the priesthood, and not only they, but their descend- ants as well ; for it does not appear that their posterity were set apart with any similar rites, save only that the son of the high-priest, when he succeeded to his father's ofifice, was invested with its insignia, and anointed with the holy oil. What, now, was the peculiar duty required of this family thus set apart, not only to the service of the tab- ernacle, but to higher ministrations than those of the common Levites ? They were to watch over the holy fire miraculously kindled at first, and keep it ever burn- ing; to feed and trim the seven lamps in the Jioly place ; to change the loaves of show-bread ; to offer morning and evening the sacrifices on the altar of burnt-offering, and the incense on the golden altar in the Jioly place. These were constant and regular duties ; but, in addition, they must be ready to officiate in the occasional services re- quired by the law when individual worshippers came to present their offerings. What these were, we need not now inquire, as it will be necessary to enumerate them in the next chapter. But not all who were descended from Aaron could perform these sacerdotal duties. A young man of unquestionable genealogy was entitled to share in the perquisites of the priesthood, but could not approach the altar if he had any bodily defect or blemish.^ 1 In later times every youthful candidate for the priesthood appeared before the Sanhedrim for a formal examination, first of his genealogy, and then of his physique. Lightfoot says (Temple Service, ch. vi.), "The manner of their instalment and admission to the service was this : The great Sanhednm sat daily in the room Gazith, to judge concerning the priests that came to age, to enter into THE ATTENDANTS OF THE TABERNACLE. 65 It appears, from the difference between the prescribed duty of the priests and of the Levites, that the attend- ants of the tabernacle were divided into two classes, or castes ; one being like sons in the house, and the other like servants. The priests were partakers with the altar, consuming parts of the same offering, and were per- mitted to enter not merely the court, but the private apartments of the Holy One to whom the habitation belonged ; while the Levites performed menial service, but had no access to the presence-chamber of the king whom they served. the service, to see whether they were of the priest's line rightly descended, or no ; and,* if they proved so, then to see whether they were without blemish ; if they proved not truly and completely priests born, they were clothed in black, and veiled in black, and so turned away, and no more to do with them ; but if he proved of the priest's line rightly begotten, and there were any blemish in him of the one hundred and forty blemishes {for so many they number), then he was set to the worming of the wood, of which we have spoken in the description of the court of the women. But if he proved rightly descended, and without any blemish, then was he clothed in white, and enrolled among the rest of the priests, and he went in, and served at the altar as the others did ; and to these customs that speech alludeth in Rev. iii. 5 : ' He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment ; and I win not blot out his name out of the book of life.' " 6* CHAPTER V. THE SACRIFICES OF THE TABERNACLE, The tabernacle having been erected in the midst of a people separated from the rest of mankind to be the recipients and mediators of a revelation which Jehovah would make of himself to the world, a constant worship was maintained by the priests in the name of the holy nation. But, before we proceed to inspect the ritual of the sanctuary as it was daily celebrated, it may be advisable to acquaint ourselves with its different species of sacri- fices ; for, with no knowledge of the difference between a sin-offering and a burnt-offering, one could poorly comprehend what he saw, even if standing in full view of the smoking altar. It would be premature, however, to inquire at present either concerning the general signifi- cance of sacrifices, or the special import of the different kinds ; so that our present task is to distinguish one vari- ety from another by their outward and visible differences, taking into view their disparity of meaning only so far as it may instantly appear. We find enumerated among the oblations offered on the great altar in the court of the tabernacle, — sin-offerings, meat-offerings, trespass-offerings, drink-offerings, burnt-offerings, peace-offerings. 66 THE SACRIFICES OF THE TABERNACLE. 67 Of sin-offerings, the Scriptures make no mention as existing before the time of Moses. Other kinds of sac- rifice he found in existence ; but this species seems to have been instituted simultaneously with the law of Sinai, as a relief for consciences burdened with sin in conse- quence of the multiplied requirements and prohibitions of that law. For one who wilfully and presumptuously transgressed, no sacrifice was appointed : he must be punished without the possibility of pardon.^ But, if any one had violated any precept through inadvertence, he might bring a sin-offering ; and when it had been slain, and its blood sprinkled on certain parts of the tabernacle prescribed by the law, his sin was expiated, and he was forgiven. Expiation, an element in the idea of all sacri- fice, was the special and leading element in this particu- lar species. The ceremonial of a sin-offering was as follows : The victim must be an animal not younger than eight days, nor older than one year ; a female kid or lamb for a private person, a male kid for a ruler, and a bullock for a priest. In all cases it must be without defect. The sacrificer laid his hand on the head of the victim, making oral confession of sin, and praying that this sacrifice might be his expiation. The animal was then slain ; and, if the offerer was either a private person or a ruler, some of the blood was sprinkled on the horns of the sacrificial altar, and the remainder poured out at its base. But, if the sacrifice was offered in behalf of a sinning priest, the blood was sprinkled, not on the horns of the great altar in the court, but first on the horns of the altar of incense in the Jioly place, then seven times within the same apart- 1 Heb. X. 26-28. 68 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. ment toward the mercy-seat, which stood behind the veil, and afterward what remained was poured out at the base of the great altar. The fat, as the choicest part of the flesh, having been consumed on the altar, the remainder of the victim, if the offering had been brought by a private person or a ruler, was eaten by the priests within the court of the tabernacle, their families not being allowed to share with them. In the case of a sin-offering for a priest or for the whole congregation, the flesh, after the fat had been burned on the altar, was carried outside of the camp and burned to ashes in an undefiled place. The sin-offerings prescribed for the annual day of expiation were a bullock for the high-priest, and a goat for the people ; and in both cases the ritual differed from those described above in the application of the blood, which- was first sprinkled on the mercy-seat within the holy of holies, afterward within the Jioly place, and thirdly on the altar in the court. They differed also from the offerings prescribed for individual laymen, as they resem- bled those for individual priests, in the mode in which the flesh of the victims was disposed of ; for, after the fat had been offered on the altar, the remainder, both of the bullock and the goat, was carried out of the camp, and burned in an undefiled place. The difference both in the application of the blood and in the disposal of the flesh cannot fail to awaken, in' the attentive observer, the suspicion that some variation in the import of the transaction was intended by it. It does not consist, however, with our plan, to scrutinize at present the significance either of the sin-offering itself, or of these variations in it as presented for different THE SACRIFICES OF THE TABERNACLE. 69 classes of sinners. At this stage- of our investigation we have to do only with the facts. The trespass-offering was almost, but not exactly, the same in principle as the sin-offering. The violations of theocratic law, for which trespass-offerings in distinc- tion from sin-offerings must be presented, were such as infringed upon the rights of property. Accordingly, where reparation was possible, it must accompany the presentation of the sacrifice. For example : If one had trespassed in holy things by inadvertently retaining something which was due to Jehovah, he might bring a trespass - offering accompanied with an equivalent of what had been withheld, increased by the addition of one-fifth, under the assurance that the priest should make an atonement for him, and it should be forgiven him.^ In like manner, if one had robbed his brother by any fraud or suppression of the truth, in a business trans- action, he might bring a trespass-offering accompanied with restoration of the principal with one -fifth part added thereto, which he must " give unto him to whom it appertaineth in the day of his trespass-offering." He was then authorized to believe that the sin he had com- mitted against Jehovah was pardoned.^ A Nazarite who, before the expiration of his vow, accidentally became defiled, must bring a trespass-offering, and begin anew to count the days of his separation, which, by his own gift, belonged to God. In this last case, there is compensa- tion, but without the addition of a fifth part.'^ 1 Lev. V. 15-19. " Lev. vi. 1-6. 3 There are five specifications in the books of Moses requiring the presenta- tion of the trespass-offering, three of which have been mentioned in the text. 70 HISTORY OF THE T IBERNACLE. The animal brought for a trespass-offering was always a ram ; no difference being made, as in the sin-offering, between a private person, a ruler, and a priest. A gradation was marked, however, in the importance of the trespass, by the provision, in certain cases, that the animal should be a young ram, a lamb of the first year,^ while in other cases the age was not prescribed, but the priest was empowered to decide how valuable an offering must be brought.^ The ceremonial of the sacrifice was the same as of the sin-offering ; with the exception that the blood was sprinkled on two diagonally opposite corners of the altar, so as to touch all its four sides, and never as in any of the three grades of sin-offering. The burnt-offering, or holocaust, was an institution existent before the law of Sinai, by which it was adopted as a feature of the tabernacle service. The name itself is applied to the offering of animals upon the altar by Noah when he came out of the ark ; and the sacrifice of Abel, though mentioned under a more generic appella- tion, seems to have been coincident in its import with that of a burnt-offering under the law of Moses. As expiation was the chief element in the idea of a sin- offering, so was self-dedication in the idea of a holocaust. But, as the choicest part of a sin-offering was given to The other two do not illustrate the peculiarity of this kind of sacrifice, and do not, at first view, even seem consistent with what we have alleged to be its peculiar princi- ple. A critical study of them, however, will, it is believed, prove that they come under the class of sins which trespass upon rights of property. The subject is well treated in the article, " Opfercultus," by Oehler, in Herzog's Real-Encyklo- padie. 1 Lev. xiv. 12; Num. vi. 12. 2 Lev. V. 15-18 ; Ibid vi. 6, THE SACRIFICES OF THE TABERNACLE. 71 the fire to express the seli-consecration of the pardoned sinner, so the burnt-offering was not representative of dedication to the exclusion of atonement ; for some of the blood of the victim was sprinkled for expiation. Provision was made by the law for both stated and occasional burnt-offerings, the latter being brought by some individual " of his own voluntary will." For the former class, the law of course prescribed what animals must be offered, and for the latter class permitted the offerer to bring a bullock, a lamb, or a kid ; but it must be of the male sex, and unblemished. The offerer placed his hand on the head of the victim, which he then slew with his own hand. The priest having sprinkled it's blood, cut up the body and placed it on the altar, reserv- ing only the skin as his perquisite. One might even bring a dove or a pigeon as a freewill holocaust,^ nor is there any intimation in the law that this was a provision for the poor ; though, from the nature of the case, those who were not poor would, in making a freewill oblation, bring a more costly sacrifice. Meat-offerings are next to be considered. We must at the beginning disinthrall ourselves from the mistake that meat is the synonyme of flesh ; for the material of sacrifices of this class was from the vegetable kingdom exclusively. As the word meat is now wsQd, food-offer- ing would better represent what the English version terms a meat-offering. It was prepared from wheat, and might be presented in different forms. The statute mentions first, fine flour ; secondly, cakes of four kinds ; and thirdly, wheat in the grain, which had been roasted 1 Lev. i. 14. 72 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. in the green ears, and rubbed out with the hands. In all this variety the food was, in one mode or another, short- ened with oHve-oil, and seasoned with salt. In whatever form the food-offering was brought, it must be accom- panied with frankincense. A small portion of the food, and all the frankincense, was to be burned on the altar : the remaining food belonged to the priests.^ The idea involved is evidently a consecration to God of the fruits of the earth, of which the food-offering was a representative part. This species of oblation was ordinarily an appendage to a holocaust. Drink-offerings were of wine. When one was pre- sented, it was an accompaniment of a food-offering ; and the two offerings, though two in name, were identical in principle, since the wine, as a product of the earth, had the same meaning as the flour. Peace-offerings were sacrifices of animals by persons who, having obtained the forgiveness of sins, and dedi- cated themselves to Jehovah, were at peace with him. Accordingly, while friendship with God was the principal idea represented, expiation and dedication were com- bined with it ; for the blood of the victim was sprinkled on' the altar, and portions of the flesh were burned in the fire. They were of three species ; namely, thank-offer- ings, votive offerings, and freewill offerings. In the first species, the sacrificer expressed gratitude for favors conferred by the spontaneous grace of God ; in the second, he fulfilled a promise previously made to offer such a sacrifice if he received a certain favor ; in the 1 Lev. ii. 1-3. THE SACRIFICES OF THE TABERNACLE. 73 third, he supplicated a favor, as had been done anticipa- tively in the second, but chose to make his sacrifice unconditionally and immediately, rather than to vow. The offerer might select his peace-offerings from his herd or his flock ; and they might be either male or female at his pleasure. When he had placed his hand on the head of the victim, he slew it ; and the priest sprinkled its blood on the four sides of the altar as in trespass-offerings and burnt-offerings. The flesh being then cut into parts, the breast was waved with a horizon- tal motion in token of its consecration, and became the property of the priests in common, which they might carry away from the sanctuary to eat at home with their families ; and the right hind-leg,^ being heaved with a vertical motion, became the perquisite of the individual priest who officiated. The remainder of the flesh be- longed to the worshipper, who was at liberty to carry it away from the sanctuary, and place it on a festal board for the entertainment of his friends. Such a feast ac- quired, however, from this flesh which had been offered in sacrifice, an element of sacredness and worship ; so that to eat of it was to partake at the table of Jehovah.^ 1 The English version, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and Luther's translation, have shoulder ; but there is no satisfactory evidence that the Hebrew word was applied to the fore-leg. It is derived from a verb signifying io rim, and is used to denote the human thigh. Gesenius and Ewakl agree that when used to desig- nate the part of a peace-offering which was heaved, it signified a t/ii^/i or hind-leg. The breast and tlie hind-legs being the best of the flesh, the portion of the priests was apparently for that reason taken from those parts. - This idea that a sacrificial feast implied that the guests joined in the worship of the Deity to whom the sacrifice was offered, naturally raised the question whether it was lawful to eat flesh which had been offered in sacrifice to an idol. The question is discussed in i Cor. viii. i ct scq. It would seem from i Cor. x. 16-iS, that the writer regarded the Lord's Sup- per as a feast at wliich the communicants partake of the great archetypal sacrifice in like manner as, under the Mosaic dispensation, they who ate the flesh of a peace- offering were partakers of the altar. CHAPTER VI. THE LUSTRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. As the tribe of Levi were separated from their breth- ren, to be attendants of the tabernacle, so the whole Hebrew people were set apart from the rest of mankind, as " a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." ^ Indeed, the consecration of the whole community preceded both the appointment of the tribe of Levi to the service of the sanctuary, and the calling of Aaron to the priesthood, as a brief history of the transaction will evince. Immediately after the fugitives from Egypt had arrived at Sinai, and before they had received any intimation that they were to build a sanctuary, Jehovah proposed that they should enter into a covenant with him, the conditions of which were at that time only summarily mentioned.^ When they had expressed their willingness to do so, the stipulations of the covenant were recited at length, and accepted ; the people answering with one voice, " All the words which Jehovah hath said will we do." ^ Moses then committed to writing the require- ments and promises of God, which had been before orally communicated, and read them in the audience of the people assembled for a formal and solemn ratification of the mutual engagement. The audible response of the Hebrews, accepting the covenant as it had been read, and promising fidelity to its obligations, was followed by a 1 Exod. xix. 6. 2 Exod. xix. 4-6. 3 Exod. xxiv. 3. 74 THE LUSTRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. 75 sacramental ceremony, representing the fellowship of the two parties, and their union in this transaction. Moses, having sprinkled on the altar one-half of the blood of the sacrifices offered in connection with this solemnity, sprinkled the other half on the people, to signify their participation with the altar and the God whom it repre- sented. They were thus consecrated, or sealed, as a holy nation, distinguished from other nations by being in covenant with God. " Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah hath made with you con- cerning all these words." ^ The Hebrews, having thus been brought into covenant with Jehovah, were required to build a habitation for him, in which he might dwell among them. When it had been erected, he came in the pillar of cloud, and took visible possession of it as his future dwelling-place. Obviously his presence in their encampment obliged them to remove from it whatever he might stigmatize as offensive. Every thing must be arranged and con- ducted in deference to the wishes of one who had right- ful authority, and was clothed with power to maintain it. As he was holy, they must be holy, or awaken his dis- pleasure. As sensuality, injustice, or idolatry, was to him an abomination, they must be sober, righteous, and monotheistic. Even the defects of those who, so far from surrendering themselves to the dominion of sin, were endeavoring to keep his commandments, needed to be covered from the eye which can look with satisfaction only on what is absolutely without blemish. By their consecration as the people of the covenant, the Hebrews were formally holy, and qualified to main- 1 Exod. xxiv. 8. 76 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. tain the worship of the tabernacle ; but they must also be holy in spirit and in truth, obeying all the command- ments of Jehovah. Such an obligation to universal and constant obedience would, of course, frequently awaken the consciousness of sin ; and therefore provision was made for assuring those who endeavored to do right, but were accused by conscience of some specific neglect or violation of law, that they were forgiven, and still re- garded as members of the holy nation. When the law of Sinai, with its greater extent and particularity of requirement, superseded the more general legislation of former ages, it established a sacrifice especially signifi- cant of forgiveness ; that, while the people of the cove- nant were educated to greater strictness of life, they might have corresponding encouragement in the conflict with evil. Every transgression of law which was not wilful and presumptuous might be purged away by means of a sin-offering ; and such lustration assured the person who brought the sacrifice that he retained his standing in the holy nation, and was still counted among the peo- ple of God. When an individual became conscious that he had violated any law of Jehovah^ he must bring a sin-offering to the altar, that the priest, having made an expiation for him, might pronounce him absolved from his guilt. There was provision that, whenever it had become known that the nation had transgressed the law, similar rites of lustration should be performed in behalf of the community, to signify that the sin was cancelled. Besides these ceremonies of purification provided for sins of which the people had become aware, there were periodical lustrations appointed in recognition of possible THE LUSTRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. 77 offences that might have vanished from the memory, and even escaped notice at the time of commission. On the first day of each month, a sacrifice for sin was presented in the name of the whole people ; and on the first day of the seventh month it was duplicated. The tenth of the same month was always observed as a day of atonement, when with great solemnity the priests and the people were lustrated anew. The ritual of the day of pente- cost, and of the whole week of the festival of taber- nacles, demanded also sacrifices for sin in the name of the community. But the presence of their God in the midst of their encampment required of the Hebrews care not merely to avoid immorality, but to exhibit such outward tokens of reverence as were in vogue, and in accordance with the prevalent style of civilization. Oriental usage prescribed to inferiors and dependents, in addition to a very demon- strative exhibition of reverence toward those that were in power, by means of attitudes and gestures, a scrupu- lous attention to personal cleanliness when admitted to their presence. Such a requirement may have origi- nated in the necessities of the climate ; neglect of clean- liness being sooner evident, and more offensive, than in colder countries. Whatever its origin, such a law of etiquette was, in the time of Moses, fixed in the civiliza- tion not only of the people among whom he had been educated, but of other nations. The non-observance of it by inferiors would have been esteemed an insult to those entitled to deference ; and the non-enforcement of it by those in authority would have subverted the structure of society. 7* 78 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. The purification of the person, as a preliminary to ad- mission into the presence of royalty, being enjoined, the regulation was easily extended so as to include the re- moval of conventional as well as real uncleanness ; con- tact with certain things proscribed as offensive being regarded as a pollution to be in all cases ceremonially removed, even when there was no real defilement. Bearing in mind these laws of Oriental etiquette, we shall not think it strange that the people, in the midst of whose encampment Jehovah dwelt, must carefully avoid every defilement of the person, real or conventional. In view of their constant nearness to his habitation, their representative participation in its services, and their occasional presentation of themselves at the entrance or even within the court, we might expect to find that rules had been prescribed for them in regard to ceremonial defilement and ceremonial purification. Such regula- tions were not omitted from the code of Sinai. The demonstrations of reverence demanded by monarchs, and accorded by their subjects, were not to be withholden by the Hebrews from the invisible Being who dwelt among them as their King and their God. A system of conventional cleanness and defilement was established, which obliged every individual to bear constantly in mind the presence of Jehovah, under pen- alty of temporary excision from the privilege of being represented in the worship of the sanctuary, of eating- the flesh of peace-offerings sanctified through presenta- tion at the altar, of coming to join in the worship at the door of the court, and of bringing a sacrifice within the sacred enclosure. Whoever, forgetting the presence of Jehovah, and the ceremonial purity due to his presence, THE LUSTRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. 79 should merely touch any thing offensive, became defiled, and suffered such temporary excision. He could not even representatively approach the Holy One of Israel. In some cases of exceeding offensiveness, the unclean person was not allowed within the bounds of the encampment. Ritual defilement did not, however, necessarily imply blame. Sometimes it was involuntary ; as, for example, when a person was rendered unclean by disease. A leper was unclean, even if not responsible for his lep- rosy;, he must live apart, and give notice, when ap- proached, of his condition, by crying, " Unclean, un- clean ! " Sometimes it was incurred in the discharge of duty ; as, for instance, in the burial of the dead, and in the performance of certain services incidental to the fulfilment of the law, such as the burning of the heifer to prepare water of separation,^ the sprinkling of the water of separation on those who were defiled by contact with the dead,2 the leading away of the scape-goat on the day of atonement,^ and the burning of the two sin-offer- ings on the same anniversary.* As there could be no blame in the performance of these requirements of the ritual, and none, in some cases, at least, of disease, it fol- lows that ritual defilement did not directly imply fault. It was simply a disqualification for entering the habita- tion of God. But though ritual uncleanness was different from sin, and might be contracted without any immediate fault, the mere lapse of time was no more effectual to remove it than to take away guilt. Rites of lustration were as necessary to show that an unclean person was cleansed from his defilement, and entitled to his former privileges, 1 Num. xix. 7, 8. 2 Num. xix. 21. 3 Lev. xvi. 26. 4 Lev. xvi, 28, So HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. as ihey were to set forth that a transgressor of law was forgiven, and retained in favor. The ceremonies differed in the two representations so as to correspond with the pecuUarities of each case; but sin and uncleanness equally required lustration. Ritual defilement was not, in all instances, of equal du- ration. In many cases it could be terminated, the same day in which it was acquired, by washing either the person or the clothes, or by washing both the person and the clothes. In some kinds of uncleanness, the interdict con- tinued for an indefinite period, till, the reason for it having ceased, the ban itself was removed with solemnities appointed for that particular species of defilement. For example, one who had been afflicted with leprosy might, when restored to health, be also restored to all the privi- leges of the theocracy by the prescribed rites of a week of purification, ending with a- sin-offering and a holocaust. It is a natural inference, that the defilement soonest and with least difficulty eliminated was esteemed less offen- sive than one which could be removed only after a longer exclusion, and with more solemn rites of lustration. Defilement by excretion from the organs of reproduc- tion was of the lowest grade, requiring for its removal in ordinary cases simply the application of water. But, if occasioned by disease, sacrifices of expiation and dedica- tion must be offered. The uncleanness of a woman in childbirth extended through forty days if her child was" a son, and through a period twice as long if she had given birth to a daughter ; her purification commencing, in the first case, with the circumcision of the boy, and continu- ing sixty-six days. When the days of her purification were accomplished, she might be restored to the privi- THE LUSTRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. 8i leges of the sanctuary by presenting a dove as a sin- offering, and a lamb as a burnt-offering. If poor, she might present a second dove instead of a lamb, as did the Virgin Mary at the birth of our Lord. Defilement by contact with the carcass of an animal which had died otherwise than by the hand of man, required for its removal that both the person and the clothes should be washed. " The uncleanness commu- nicated by a human corpse, whether after a violent or a natural death, was much more intense in its character. Every tent or house in which there was a corpse, as well as all the people in it, and all the vessels that were standing about, were rendered unclean for seven days, during which time the people themselves were to remain outside the camp. Contact with a corpse found in the open country defiled for the same period ; also contact with graves, and the ashes of the dead. This un- cleanness also passed from the persons affected by it to every thing they touched ; but in this case it only lasted till the evening. The uncleanness which pro- ceeded directly from the corpse itself to persons and things, could only be removed by sprinkling-water (water of separation) prepared expressly for the pur- pose. And, in the case of persons, a subsequent bathing of the body, and washing of the clothes, were also required. To obtain this sprinkling-water, a spotless red heifer that had never borne a yoke was slain as a sin- offering outside the camp. The son or presumptive successor to the high-priest ofBciated on the occasion, and sprinkled some of the blood seven times towards the sanctuary. The cow was then burnt along with the skin, the flesh, the bones, the blood, and the dung ; and 82 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. cedar-wood, coccus-wool, and hyssop, were also thrown into the fire. All the persons who officiated at this ceremony became unclean till the evening, and were required to wash their bodies and their clothes. When- ever a death occurred, a clean man put some of these ashes into a vessel, poured fresh water upon them, dipped a bundle of hyssop into the water, and sprinkled the persons or things to be cleansed on the third day, and again on the seventh. He also became unclean in consequence, and had to wash himself and his clothes." ^ The uncleanness of leprosy excluded not only from the sanctuary, but from the camp ; and lustration from it, as it involved a twofold restoration, was performed in two stages. It being ascertained that the disease was healed, the unclean person was first so far relieved from his disabilities that he might enter the camp. This was done with the following rites, namely : the officiating priest took two birds, "alive and clean," and, having killed one of them over a vessel containing living water, dipped the other bird along with cedar-wood, coccus- wool, and hyssop, in the mixture of blood and water, sprinkled the unclean person seven times with the same mixture, and set at liberty the bird he had dipped. The leper then washed his clothes, shaved all the hair from his body, bathed himself, and, having done so, was at liberty to go into the camp, but not into the court of the tabernacle. A week later he was restored to the privi-" leges of the sanctuary by a second act in the ceremo- nies of lustration, commencing, as the first act had ended, with shaving off all his hair, washing his clothes, 1 Kurtz : Sacrificial Worsliip of the Old Testament. Edinburgh, 1863. P. 422, et seq. THE LUSTRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. 83 and bathing his person. This took place on the seventh day of the ceremonial. On the eighth day, or just one week after the lustration was commenced, it was com- pleted with three sacrifices ; a male lamb for a trespass- offering, a female lamb for a sin-offering, and a male lamb for a burnt-offering, together with a food-offering of flour and oil. If the leper was poor, two doves might be accepted in place of the two Iambs for the sin-offer- ing and the burnt-offering; but the trespass-offering was so important to the ceremony that no abatement of that part might be allowed. The ceremonial was as fol- lows, namely : the priest waved the lamb of the trespass- offering together with the oil of the food-offering, slaughtered the lamb, and smeared some of its blood on the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot, of the leper. He then poured some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, dipped his finger, and sprinkled seven times toward the sanctuary ; afterward he applied the remainder of the oil to the body of him who was to be restored, smearing first the parts which had been smeared with blood, and then pouring on the head. The ceremonial concluded with the presentation of the sin-offering and the burnt-offer- ing: in the usual manner. CHAPTER VII. THE CALENDAR OF THE TABERNACLE. Specifications were communicated to Moses not only for building the tabernacle, but for instituting with- in it ceremonies of divine service, both regular and occasional. Our studies in regard to its construction, its equipment, its erection, its attendants, its lustrations, and its sacrifices, have been necessary preliminaries to an examination of its calendar of worship. Of the daily service as conducted in the temple in later years, Lightfoot has compiled out of the Jewish traditions a circumstantial description. From a com- parison of these traditions concerning the service in the temple at Jerusalem, with the accounts of it contained in the inspired Scriptures, we may learn how to supply the omissions of the Pentateuch concerning the details of the daily service of the sanctuary in the wilderness. For the ritual of worship was substantially the same in the tabernacle as in the edifice of stone which succeeded' it, — substantially the same ; for no doubt the difference in the edifices required some change in the details, and the ritual was not so unalterably fixed that no additions could be made to the service as the nation increased in numbers, and advanced in literary and assthetic culture. 84 THE CALENDAR OF THE TABERNACLE. 85 When King David brought the ark, whicli had been a long time separated from the tabernacle, into Jerusalem, he established in connection with it a daily service of praise, in \yhich psalms were chanted with accompani- ments of cymbals, harps, and psalteries in the hands of jLevites skilled in music, in addition to the silver trum- Ipets blown by priests. During the remainder of his reign, as well as for a short period after the accession of Solo- mon, this service of song and instruments before the tent which contained the ark was continued; while the tabernacle, which had been brought from Sinai, was yet standing in another place, with its sacrificial altar, on which alone the appointed daily sacrifices could be pre- sented. Accordingly the worship of the nation was for the time divided, and remained so till, the temple being completed, the services which had been performed in the Sinaitic tabernacle at Gibeon, and the service of praise which had been established in Jerusalem, were united. Henceforth music was an important part of the morn- ing and evening worship, whereas at first there had been music only on the first day of the several months, and some other eminent days ; when two silver trumpets were blown by priests at the time of the morning and evening sacrifices. But this consecration of poetry and music, highly appropriate as it was when the nation had made so great progress in these arts, and the monarch himself was a poet and a musician, was an addition to, rather than an alteration of, the ritual of former years ; which remained hereafter, as it had continued hitherto, sub- stantially the same as when established at Sinai. In our survey of the services of the tabernacle as they were performed from day to day throughout the 86 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. year, it will be in order to speak only of those which being established at Sinai were essential and unalterable features of the institution, leaving out of view such as were afterward appended. , The daily service was performed in the following order. Every thing having been made ready, as far as possible, the preceding evening, the priests who were to officiate were called at a very early hour by the Levites on duty as watchmen. The priests, having washed their hands and feet at the laver in the court, proceeded to prepare the sacrificial altar, removing the ashes, piling on fresh fuel, and carefully replacing any remnants of the evening sacrifice not yet consumed. This prepara- tion of the altar ordinarily began at the dawn of day. but on occasions of uncommon solemnity at a still earlier hour. A lamb which had been previously in- spected, and pronounced free from blemish, was then brought to the north side of the altar, and slain. The blood having been received into a dish sacred to that use, some of it was thrown upon two diagonally opposite corners of the altar in such a manner that all the sides of the altar were sprinkled with it, and the remainder was poured out upon the ground at the base of the altar. The body was then flayed, divided into pieces, and sprinkled with salt. Simultaneously with these pro- ceedings, another priest prepared the altar of incense, - and the lamps, in the Jioly place ; removing the ashes from the former, and replenishing the latter with wicks and oil. The next thing in order was the burning of incense, which in later times, at least, was done upon a signal given by the presiding priest on the outside; THE CALENDAR OF THE TABERNACLE. 87 and, when the signal was given, at the same moment ascended the cloud of incense from the golden altar within, and the prayers of those waiting without. After an interval, the priest who had officiated at the altar of incense came out of the tabernacle, and, lifting his hands, pronounced upon the people the prescribed form of benediction : " The Lord bless thee, and keep thee : the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee : the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." ^ Then the parts of the lamb which had been slain were laid upon the fire; the pre- scribed accompaniment of flour mingled with oil called the meat-offering was brought ; a handful of it was thrown upon the fire (the remainder being a perquisite of the priests) ; and the drink-offering of wine was poured out at the base of the altar. The presentation of the drink-offering closed the service as originally instituted ; but, in the ritual of the temple, it was the signal for the musicians to commence chanting the psalm appointed for the day. The service at evening was nearly a repetition of that in the morning ; and the purposes of our inquiry do not oblige us to specify the few and unimportant particulars in which they differed. The seventh day of the week, or the sabbath, was signalized by the offering of two lambs instead of one, both in the morning and in the evening, with a corre- sponding increase in the quantity of the accompanying meat-offerings and drink-offerings. The show-bread on the table in the holy place was also renewed. 1 Num. vi. 24-26. 88 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. The change of the moon (or, as the Hebrew months coincided with the period of the moon's revolution around the earth, the first day of every month) was celebrated with a burnt-offering of seven lambs, one ram, and two bullocks, in addition to the daily sacrifice ; the accompanying meat-offering and drink-offering being proportionately augmented, and the ceremony being enlivened by the sound of trumpets even in the early times before music was added to the daily sacrifice. The day was still further solemnized by the offering of a young goat as a sacrifice for sin. The month in which the flight from Egypt took place was thenceforth reckoned as the first month of the year ; and, as the fugitives commenced their march in the night of the full-moon, the paschal supper which commemorated their departure was celebrated in the middle of that month. The paschal lamb must be slain in the evening fol- lowing the fourteenth day. At the institution of the festival in Egypt, it was required that the lamb should be selected on the tenth of the month, and kept in re- serve for its holy destination four days ; but the statutes for the perpetual observance of the passover make no provision for the selection of the animal four days in advance, and there is no evidence that such was the cus- tom in Canaan. Like all animals intended for sacrifice, it must be without blemish. If more convenient, a kid might be used instead of a lamb. The animal must be roasted whole, and eaten with bitter vegetables and unleavened bread. If families were too small to consume each a lamb, two or more united in the supper. If any THE CALENDAR OF THE TABERNACLE. 89 of the flesh was not eaten at the supper, it must be immediately burned. The celebrants were to eat hastily, and to come to the table equipped for travel, being girt, shod, and furnished with staves. During the seven days commencing with the evening of the paschal supper, namely, from the end of the four- teenth to the end of the twenty-first day of the month, no leavened bread might be eaten, or even kept in the house ; and, on account of this prohibition, the week was sometimes called " the days of unleavened bread." The first and seventh of these were celebrated by abstinence from labor, and a holy convocation, being two of the seven such days which occurred during the year in addition to the weekly sabbaths. On the first of these paschal sabbaths, all male Hebrews were required to pre- sent themselves before the tabernacle, and join in the worship. It was expected also that they would bring voluntary sacrifice of thanksgiving to be slain as peace- offerings, and then remanded to the offerer, that with them he might spread a festal table for himself and his friends. The sixteenth of the month, or the day immedi- ately subsequent to the first of these holy convocations, was the appointed time for the presentation to Jehovah of the first cereal fruits, and is worthy of particular notice as the starting-point from which to count fifty days to the festival of harvest, or pentecost as it was called from the number of days intervening. At the time of the paschal festival, the barley was so far advanced toward maturity, that some of the earliest spikes could be gathered, and carried to the tabernacle as an offering ; and at pentecost the grain of every kind had been har- 90 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. vested. The people were required not to eat bread, or parched grain, or green ears, till this offering of the first fruits had been rendered. The direction was that it should be offered on the morrow after the first holy convocation of the paschal week ; for such, undoubtedly, is the application of the word " sabbath " in the passage enjoining the presentation of the sheaf of first-fruits.^ This sheaf was not, as some have supposed, the private offering of individuals. It was one representative sheaf, brought in the name of the whole people, with a lamb for a burnt-offering, and formally presented to Jeho- vah by the officiating priest. The food-offering which accompanied the lamb consisted of twice the usual quan- tity of flour ; that is, of two om£rs instead of one. The days of unleavened bread intervening between the second and the seventh were marked only by the sin-offering and the holocaust prescribed for each day of the festival; both of which were of the same descrip- tion as on the new-moons. Pentecost was the second festival, in the order of time, which required the presence of all male Hebrews at the tabernacle. It was the festival of weeks, because seven weeks had elapsed since the presentation of the sheaf on the sixteenth day of the first month. It was called pentecost because it was the fiftieth day from the same epoch. It was the festival of the first-fruits, because, the cereal harvest having now been gathered, two loaves of bread made of new wheat were presented to Jehovah by waving them toward the sanctuary. It lasted but one day, which, like the first and seventh of the paschal week, 1 Lev. xxiii. ii. THE CALENDAR OF THE TABERNACLE. 91 was a day of holy convocation in which no servile labor might be performed. The burnt-offering appointed for the day was the same as at the appearance of a new- moon, and during the paschal week, as was also the sin-offering ; but the presentation of the wave-loaves occa- sioned a series of sacrifices in addition to those which distinguished the day as a festival without indicating its peculiar character. The burnt-offering of the festival, consisting of two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs, was additional to " the continual burnt-offering ; " and the holo- caust of one bullock, one ram, and seven lambs, which accompanied and formed a basis for the waving of the loaves, was still additional to the daily sacrifice increased by that which belonged to the day as an annual festival. The special ceremonies connected with the waving, included also a second sin-offering, consisting of one goat, and a peace-offering of two lambs, which were waved with the loaves. On the first day of the seventh month occurred another day of holy convocation, known as the festival of trumpets ; and as it was a lunar festival distinguishing with special observances the seventh or sabbath moon of the year because it was the seventh, its occasional sacri- fices were additional to those of other new-moons. They consisted of one bullock, one ram, and seven lambs for a holocaust, and a goat for a sin-offering. This was very nearly but not quite a reduplication of the sacrifices regularly offered at the change of the moon, the difference being that only one bullock was added to the two previously required. As this festival was not one of the three which required the presence of the 92 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. people at the tabernacle, they remained at their homes ; and those who lived nearest to the place which God had chosen for his habitation, as they heard the sound of trumpets from the sanctuary, transmitted it to those more remote, till the land was filled with rejoicing. The silver trumpets with which the priests commenced the music were also made to emit a longer and louder sound than at the comn^encement of other months.^ The Hebrew tradition that this was the anniversary of the creation of the world has no confirmation in their inspired Scriptures, and might easily have its origin from the sabbatical character imparted to the month by the ceremonial with which it commenced. Another holy convocation, the fifth of the year, oc- curred on the tenth of the same month. It was the day of expiation, or atonement, when the sanctuary itself, its attendants, and the people in whose name its worship was offered, were purified anew. Only the high -priest, or, in case of his incapacity through illness or defilement, one chosen as his representative, could officiate.^ Clad in his garments of gold, he first performed the usual rites of morning worship, including the sacrifice of the lamb, the burning of the incense, and the trimming of the lamps, and afterward offered the additional sacrifices prescribed for this particular morning, consisting of one 1 The blowing of the trumpets on the seventh new-moon differed from the blow- ing on other new-moons, as the signal for a caravan to commence a journey differed from the signal for an assembly. — Num. x. 7, compared with the directions for blowing on the new-moons. 2 A Jewish tradition says that it was never necessary that a substitute should officiate till the time of Herod the Great, when the high-priest, Matthias, being incapacitated, Joseph, his kinsman, took his place. THE CALENDAR OF THE TABERNACLE. 93 bullock, one ram, and seven lambs for a burnt-offering, and a goat for a sin-offering. Then, disrobing himself, he put on the pure white linen garments prescribed for the special service which characterized the day, and brought to the side of the altar a bullock for a sin- offering, and a ram for a holocaust, in behalf of himself and his associates in the priesthood. Two goats, as nearly alike as possible, were then brought and placed before him ; one to be slain as a sin-offering for the people, and the other to be sent into the wilderness to bear away their sins. Also a ram was formally pre- sented to and accepted by him, to be offered as a holo- caust in behalf of the nation, at the end of the special services of the day. He next cast lots to determine which of the two goats should be slain, and which should be the scape-goat. Having sacrificed the sin- offering which he had brought for himself, he gave to an assistant the dish containing its blood, to be cared for while he went into the innermost and holiest apartment of the tabernacle. Carrying with him a handful of incense, and a golden censer of burning coals taken from the sacrificial altar, he placed the censer before the ark, threw the incense upon the coals, and thus pro- duced a fragrant cloud which enveloped the mercy-seat. Coming out into the court, he took the blood of his own sin-offering, and, again entering the innermost apartment, sprinkled some of it upon the mercy-seat, and seven | times in front of it. Returning to the court, he killed that one of the two goats which the lot had determined to death, and, carrying the blood of it into the taber-/ nacle, purified first the innermost apartment by sprink-' ling upon and before the ark exactly as he had done 91- HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. with the blood of his own sin-offering, afterward the lioly place, and finally the altar of sacrifice in the court. The sanctuary being now cleansed from whatever taint of uncleanness it might otherwise have acquired from the sins of the people, the other goat was brought ; and the high-priest, laying his hands upon its head, made confession of sin over it in behalf of the whole people. Having thus put their iniquities, transgressions, and sins upon the head of the goat, he sent it away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, " to bear upon it all their iniquities unto a land of separation." ^ He then brought out the censer he had left smoking in the Jioly of holies, and thus put an end to the only ceremonies pertaining to this apartment of the tabernacle which the ritual required or permitted during the year. The ceremonial of the sin-offering being now com- pleted, the high-priest put off the linen garments peculiar to the day, washed himself, and put on the " garments of gold " which were the insignia of his office, and offered at the altar in the court his own burnt-offering, and that of the people. The bodies of the two animals which had been slain as sin-offerings, namely, of the bullock for the priests and the goat for the people, were carried beyond the limits of the camp, and burned to ashes, the fat being first removed from them, and consumed upon the altar. The person who burned the flesh, and the person who led away the goat into the wilderness, were both unclean for the remainder of the day. The usual tabernacle ser- vice of the evening was performed by the high-priest in person, who at its conclusion retired to his home and his 1 Lev. xvi. 20—22 ,' marginal reading. THE CALEXDAR OF THE TABERNACLE. 95 family, from whom he had lived apart during the preced- ing week to be secure from ritual defilement. The festival of tabernacles commenced five days after these solemnities of expiation ; and its two days of holy convocation, namely, the fifteenth and twenty-third, added to those occurring on the first and tenth, made four such days during this month, and filled up the com- plement of seven for the year. This was the most joyous of the annual celebrations. It was one of the three which, though established by a law given in the wilderness, had prospective reference to Canaan, and re- quired all male Hebrews to be present at the tabernacle. It was called also the festival of ingathering, because now not only the grain, but the produce of the vine and the olive-tree, had been secured. It was sometimes spoken of as continuing for seven days, and sometimes for eight days, according as the holy convocation day with which the festivities ended was reckoned as a con- stituent part of the festival, or as an appendix. For the first seven days the people were to dwell in booths formed of boughs of trees, still green with the thick foliage which had covered them during summer. The burnt-offerings of this festival were far more numerous than of any other. On each of the first seven days there were offered two rams and fourteen lambs, together with bullocks, the number of which, beginning with thirteen on the first day, was diminished by one every day to the seventh, when seven bullocks were a part of the occasional burnt-offering. Thus there were presented, during the seven days when the people dwelt in booths, seventy bullocks, or five times as many as dur- 96 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. ing the seven days of unleavened bread ; and the sacri- fices of lower grade, compared with those of the paschal week, were as two to one. On the eighth day the burnt- offering was diminished to one bullock, one ram, and seven lambs. The sin-offering was the same throughout the eight days, namely, one goat. Every seventh year the Law was publicly read to the people during this fes- tival,^ a portion every day. Although this was doubtless instituted as a festival of thanksgiving for the fruits of the ground which had been gathered, it was designed also to remind the people of the life their fathers led in the wilderness. It was with this in view that they were required to dwell in booths as their fathers had lived in tents. It was also in reference to this, probably, that other usages not enjoined by Moses obtained at least in times later than the taber- nacle ; among which were the pouring of water drawn from the Pool of Siloam upon the altar as a drink-offer- ing in connection with the daily burnt-offerings, and in the evening an illumination of the court of the women, where the people assembled, and remained far into the night, rejoicing with songs and dances. This drawing and pouring of water took place both morning and evening every day during the first seven days of the festival ; and the evenings were devoted, excepting those which preceded the two sabbaths, one annual and one weekly, to such exuberant hilarity that it was said, " He that never saw the rejoicing at the drawing of water never saw rejoicing in all his life." ^ There can be no doubt that our Lord had in mind 1 Deut. xxxi. 10-13. 2 Lightfoot's Works. London, 1684. Vol. i. p. 977. THE CALENDAR OF THE TABERNACLE. 97 these scenes of mirth when, on the last day of the festi- val, he publicly and loudly called the attention of the people to himself as the fountain from which might be obtained water to quench the thirst of the spirit, and proclaimed that he was the light of the world destined to irradiate it as the lamps of gold illuminated the court of the temple. But as these utterances were made on " the last great day " of the feast, when the pouring and illuminating had come to an end, it was the absence of these demonstrations after they had been exhibited for a week, and not their presence at the moment, which gave peculiar force to these appeals. The festival of tabernacles, or of ingathering, was probably of seven days' duration ; and the eighth day was called atzeretJi} or conclusion, because it closed the cycle of annual festivals. But, as the atzereth followed immediately after the seven days in which the people lived in booths, it naturally was included with them in thought and speech ; and the more easily because the sabbath, with which the festival of tabernacles would normally have closed, was by appointment celebrated on the atzereth, and not on the seventh day of the festival. This union of the atzereth with the festival of tabernacles accounts for the occasional mention of the latter as con- tinuing eight days, while the time appointed for dwelling 1 From li'i') ^^ ^^^^'^ "/> ^^ close. In the Niphal it sometimes means to be flW^w2iJ/e«f; and our translators have rendered the noun r*yi^'_ a solemn assembly. But the eighth day from the commencement of the festival was already appointed as " a day of holy convocation " according to the formula used in all other cases for sabbaths, both annual and weekly ; so that in the passage, " On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall offer an offering made by fire to Jehovah ; it is a solemn assembly, and ye shall do no servile work therein," the original would be more accurately rendered if the words '■'■the conclusions^ were substituted for " a solemn assembly.''^ 9 95 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. in tabernacles was one day less. That the at::;ercth did not belong to the festival as the other seven days did, is evident from the sacrifices appointed for it, which are not only greatly reduced from those of the preceding week, but are even less than on the day of a new-moon, and from the desertion of the booths at the end of the seventh day. We have now surveyed the regularly occurring rites of the tabernacle ; namely, those which were performed daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly by the consecrated attendants of the edifice as representatives of the nation. These services were acts of worship rendered, in the name of the whole community, to Jehovah as their God dwelling among them in this holy habitation. They were offered to him by his own appointment, and there- fore in mutual recognition of the covenant by which he and they were bound together. But in addition to the ritual which the priests cele- brated statedly, and in the name of the whole commu- nity, other sacrifices were continually offered in behalf of persons who brought them of their own free will, or in accordance with some requirement of the law. The removal of ritual defilement was a frequent occasion of such sacrifices. Sin-offerings were also brought by indi- viduals when conscious of inadvertent transgression, or of failure to fulfil a rash vow. The trespass-offering was in all cases a special and individual sacrifice, presented' only when a person was accused in his own conscience of wronging another in matters of property. Burnt- offerings, though presented daily on the altar in behalf of the commonwealth, were required of individuals in THE CALENDAR OF THE TABERNACLE. 99 various contingences, and, being at any time permitted as free-will sacrifices, were frequently added to the morn- ing and evening oblation. Peace-offerings, or sacrifices of thanksgiving, were also of frequent occurrence, and, with the exception of one offered annually on the day of pentecost, were always brought by individuals. These private sacrifices, of whatever kind they might be, were attended to by the priests either in the morning or evening in connection with the daily service. After the arrival in Canaan, and' the dispersion of the tribes to occupy their several inheritances, such private sacrifices were greatly multiplied during the three festivals which required the whole male population to visit the national sanctuary ; since these occasions were naturally improved by persons residing at a distance for the presentation of whatever expiatory, dedicatory, or eucharistic offerings might have been prompted by their religious experience since the last visit to the place of sacrifice. CHAPTER VIII. THE MIGRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. The tabernacle, with its attendants and services, had now become an estabUshed institution. It appears as if the Israehtes had been detained at Sinai chiefly to give time for the construction of this edifice, and the appointment of its services ; for not long after its con- secration the signal was given, by the lifting of the shechinah, to break up the encampment. The taber- nacle was accordingly taken down by its attendants, and prepared for transportation. First, the priests carefully covered the sacred articles of furniture ; and the Kohathites, being then admitted, carried them out on their shoulders to bear them in this manner to the next place of encampment. The Ger- shonites, now removing and folding the various hangings and curtains of the court and of the edifice,^ piled them, with their cords, studs, and other fixtures, on the two wagons assigned to this use. The Merarites then loaded upon the four other wagons belonging to the sacred service, the planks and pillars of the tabernacle, with their bars and silver sockets ; the pillars of the court, 1 The hanging in front of the ark was an exception to the rule that all the drapery was under the charge of the sons of Gershon, being used by the priests as the first of several coverings put over the ark when it was to be removed. 100 THE MIGRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. loi with their sockets of copper, their cords, pins, and other fixtures. Meanwhile, preparations had been going on in all parts of the camp ; so that, when the Levites were ready to take their assigned place, the procession was already formed in the order in which it was to march, with spaces left for them and their charge. At the head of the procession might be seen the standard of the grand division, which, when the caravan was at rest, encamped on the east, or front of the taber- nacle. Under this standard marched the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon. Then followed the Ger- shonites and the Merarites with their wagons, occupying a position near the head of the procession, in order that they might reach the place of the next encamp- ment, and set up the tabernacle, before the arrival of their brethren the Kohathites. By this arrangement the ark, the altar of incense, the chandelier, and the table, no sooner came up than they were carried within the edifice, and deposited in the places where they sever- ally belonged. Next after the wagons, came the second grand division under its standard, compris'ing the tribes whose camp had been on the south of the sanctuary ; namely, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. In the middle of the column were the Kohathites, bearing, by means of staves reaching from shoulder to shoulder, things so holy that they might neither see nor touch them on penalty of death. After the Kohathites, the other six tribes, in two divisions, each with its standard, brought up the rear of the long procession. Such was the prescribed order for taking down, trans- porting, and re-erecting the sanctuary. This description I02 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. will serve not only for the day of departure from Sinai, but for all subsequent days of travel. Whenever the shechinah gave the signal for removal, the tabernacle was thus carried from place to place, and set up anew for the evening worship. Of the first place of encampment after leaving Sinai, there is no record ; and only three stations are men- tioned by name before the arrival at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran, near the southern border of the promised land. Probably about two months had been spent on the road from Sinai to this station, as it was "the time of the first ripe grapes"^ when spies were sent into Canaan to obtain information concerning the country and its inhabitants. ' From Kadesh the tabernacle would have been carried directly into the promised land, but for the unbelief and cowardice of the Israelites ; who, when the spies returned with the report that the land was inhabited by a warlike people of more than ordinary stature and strength, rebelled against their divine Leader, and refused to undertake the conquest of the country. So provoking to Jehovah was this distrust of him, that the whole adult community were sentenced to die in the wilderness ; and the entrance into the promised land was postponed forty years. Of the migrations of the tabernacle for nearly thirty- eight of these years, we have almost no knowledge.. Pi^obably it remained stationary for long periods, while the people scattered themselves in its vicinity, seeking , pasturage for their flocks and herds. When the supply 1 Num. xiii. 20. THE MIGRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. 103 was exhausted, and better grazing could be found else- where, they seem to have removed to a new station, without reference to the ultimate goal of their journey. At all events, we find the camp, after a long period, again pitched in Kadesh. It was probably during the first visit to Kadesh, or soon afterward, that the rebellion of Korah occurred, evincing a wide dissatisfaction with that appointment by which Aaron and his family were separated from the rest of the people to the sacerdotal office. The dissatisfac- tion must have been widely spread ; for not less than " two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown," ^ appeared in open mutiny, demanding that they, and all who desired it, might be admitted to an equal participation with Aaron and his sons in performing the services of the tabernacle. It seems to have had its origin in jealousy of the priests as invested with the honor of entering the habitation of God while their brethren must stand without, and to have founded its demand on the declaration of Jehovah that the whole people should be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The feeling pervaded not only the lay tribes, but extended into the tribe of Levi ; for Korah was a Levite of the family of Kohath, and Moses, in his address to the mutineers, administers a special rebuke to other Levites associated with him in his crime, but not mentioned by name. The question thus raised was submitted to the de- cision of Jehovah. At the instance of Moses, the two hundred and fifty men who had claimed the right to act as priests took censers in their hands, and attempted to 1 Num. xvi. 2. I04 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. burn incense, but were immediately slain by a judgment of God while in the very act of sacrilege. At the same time the earth opened, and swallowed up many, if not all, who were in sympathy with them. The two hundred and fifty copper censers used by these rebels were ham- mered into plates, and fastened on the great altar in the court of the tabernacle, as a memorial of this event, and a warning in all coming time that no other person than such as had been called to the priesthood should attempt to burn incense before Jehovah. In further manifestation of the will of God that the religious services of the tabernacle should be performed only by Aaron and his descendants, the tribes were required to bring each a rod with the name of its chief officer written on it, to be laid up in the tabernacle till one of the rods should blossom, and thus indicate that Jehovah had chosen the person whom it represented. The day after the rods thus inscribed had been deposited, Moses brought them out again to the people ; and " be- hold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds." ^ This rod, long preserved in the innermost apartment of the tabernacle, was the seal of Aaron's call and separation to the priesthood. After the rebellion of Korah, we have only incidental mention of the tabernacle as it occurs here and there in the narrative of the journey from Kadesh to the Jordan. In the passage of this river, the ark of the covenant, whose regular place was midway in the line of march, was placed by Joshua, the successor of Moses, at the 1 Num. xvii. 8. THE MIGRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. 105 head of the procession, with directions to its bearers to stand still when in the middle of the river till the whole caravan had passed over. Accordingly the ark was car- ried into the river ; and, as soon as the feet of the priests who bore it — for on this occasion the priests had taken the place of the Kohathites as bearers — were dipped in the stream, the water which descended from above ceased to flow past the ark, piling itself as if arrested by an invisible wall, and swelling the volume of the river for many miles above to an unusual width and height. At the same time the water flowed off from that portion of the river which was below the ark into the Dead Sea. The whole host of the Israelites then hastily passed over ; forty thousand armed men from the tribes which had chosen to have their inheritance assigned them on tl^e east side of the Jordan marching in the van. Twelve men appointed for the purpose, each the representative of a tribe, followed the main column, bearing twelve stones, which were set up in Gilgal, the place of the evening encampment, as a memorial to future generations of this miraculous passage of the Jordan. When all had reached the western bank, the priests, at the command of Joshua, brought out the ark ; and, as soon as their feet touched the shore, the water which had been driven back up the stream began to flow downward again as in the morning, and soon covered its ancient bed. The passage of the Jordan occurred on the tenth day of the first month, four days previous to the anniversary of the exodus from Egypt ; and, as the Hebrews had now arrived within the promised land, the formal ob- servance of that anniversary was by law obligatory. Accordingly the passover was kept at Gilgal ; the rite of io6 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. circumcision, which for many years had been neglected, being first performed upon all the uncircumcised young men and boys in the camp. The tabernacle remained for several years in this its first station after the passage of the Jordan, while Joshua with his fellow-soldiers was engaged in the conquest of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country. From time to time military expeditions went out from, and returned to, Gilgal ; but the tabernacle remained station- ary in the midst of a large population including the priests and Levites, the women and children, the sick and the aged, with a sufficient garrison of soldiers. When the enemy had been driven from the field, and held only some fortified cities, the headquarters of the Hebrews were removed from Gilgal to Shiloh, more cen- trally situated in their newly acquired territory. Here the tabernacle was set up ; and here it remained, with its attendant priests and Levites, after the country had been divided by lot, and the tribes had departed to take pos- session of their respective portions. We find it still here three centuries later : for it was in Shiloh that Hophni and Phinehas, the profligate sons of Eli, pro- faned the sanctuary with their rapacity and lewdness ; and it was from Shiloh that the ark of the covenant was carried into battle when it was captured by the Philis- tines, and its sacrilegious attendants, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. The captured ark was conveyed by the Philistines from the field of their victory to Ashdod, thence to Gath, and thence to Ekron ; but in all these cities it was found to be an occasion of calamity to the captors, so that after seven months they were more than willing to restore it to the Hebrews. THE MIGRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. 107 The inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, near the border of PhiHstia, were engaged in harvesting wheat when the cart approached them on which the PhiHstines had placed the ark ; and " they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it." ^ Their joy, however, was not tempered with due reverence ; for they dared to open and look into the ark, and were smitten with death, in consequence, to the number of seventy men.^ Tlie survivors, overcome with fear, were now as desirous that the ark should leave Beth-shemesh as they had been glad to receive it, and sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim to come and carry it home to their vil- lage, a few miles farther from the Philistine border. Why it was not conveyed at once to Shiloh, and deposited in the holy of holies, we cannot learn. Perhaps the tab- ernacle had already been removed from Shiloh to Nob, as a place of greater security ; but even then the ques- tion remains, Why was not the ark restored to its ancient seat within the sanctuary .-* Strange as it appears to us, the ark was carried to Kirjath-jearim, and remained there apart from the taber- nacle for half a century. Its captivity had perhaps dimin- ished the pride and confidence with which the people had regarded it, for it was much neglected during the days of Samuel and Saul. For the first twenty years especially, there seems to have been a great decline in religion as well as in military power and material pros- perity. Victory was on the side of the Philistines, who 1 I Sam. vi. 13. 2 The most conservative critics allow that there is some error in the Hebrew text in respect to the number of persons who were smitten with death at Beth- shemesh for profaning the ark. The error is older than the Septuagint version, which agrees with the Hebrew. io8 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. devastated some parts of the country, and held other parts with mihtary occupation. The Hebrews, instead of resorting with repentance to Jehovah, sought help from the vanities of the heathen. In this state of things, an effort was made by Samuel, when the ark had been about twenty years in the house of Abinadab at Kirjath- jearim, to recall the people from the idolatry into which they had fallen to the exclusive worship of Jehovah. The effort was partially successful, but not to the extent of reinstating the ark in the high place it had formerly held in popular esteem. When King David had captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites, and chosen it as the seat of his government, he desired to make it also the resting-place of the ark. Accordingly, having first consulted with his captains of thousands and hundreds, he said to all the congregation of Israel, " Let us bring again the ark of our God to us ; for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul." ^ Gladly the people responded to the proposal of the king, and assembled in great numbers " to bring the ark of God from Kirjath-jearim." ^ With singing and with harps, with psalteries and with timbrels, with cymbals and with trumpets, the procession moved toward the new seat of government and religion, when suddenly the joy was turned to mourning by the instant death of Uzza, a young man belonging to the family in whose house the ark had so long had its abode. They were conveying the ark on a cart drawn by oxen, instead of transporting it on the shoulders of Levites by means of staves ; and when the oxen stumbled, and Uzza, in violation of the law, touched the sacred oracle to save it from a fall, he 1 I C'hion. xiii. 3. 2 i Chron. xiii. 5. THE MIGRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. 109 suffered death as the punishment of his presumption. This sad event put an end not only to the music and rejoicing which accompanied the procession, but to the journey itself ; and the ark was left in the house of Obed-edom, near the place where Uzza died. Three months later King David, who had meanwhile more than once consulted the oracle, came to convey it, in the legitimate and proper method of its transportation, to Jerusalem, where he had prepared for it a tent. Again the procession moved toward Zion, accompanied with vocal and instrumental music ; the ark being this time borne on the shoulders of Levites clothed, as were also the musicians, in garments of white. The king, wearing a white linen ephod, led the procession ; and, much to the scandal of Michal his wife, indulged in the liveliest expressions of joy as the venerable relic which connected Zion with Sinai, and himself with Moses, passed through the streets of the city to the place pre- pared for its rest. Several psalms prepared by him for the occasion have been preserved to us. Besides those mentioned in the Book of Chronicles, there is internal evidence that the following was composed for this occasion : ^ — " Jehovah, remember David And all his afflictions : How he sware unto Jehovah, And vowed unto the mighty One of Jacob, — Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, Nor go up into my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes, Or slumber to my eyelids, Until I find out a place for Jehovah, 1 Ps. cxxxii. no HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. A habitation for the mighty One of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah ; We found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacles ; We will worship at his footstool. Arise, Jehovah, into thy rest. Thou, and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness. And let thy saints shout for joy. On account of David thy servant {grant these requests/) Turn not away the face of thy Anointed. For Jehovah hath sworn in truth unto David, — He will not turn from it, — ' Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne : If thy sons keep my covenant. And my testimony which I shall teach them, Their sons also forever Shall sit upon thy throne.' For Jehovah hath chosen Zion ; He hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever ; Here will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision ; I will satisfy her poor with bread ; I will also clothe her priests with salvation ; And her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to grow ; I have ordained light for my Anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame ; But, as for him, his crown shall flourish." The ark was thus established in Jerusalem, its final resting-place ; but the tabernacle remained in Gibeon, whither it had been conveyed from Nob before this removal of the ark. It is not easy to believe that David would have allowed this separation to continue without some intimation that such was the will of God. Inex- THE MIGRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. iii plicable before, this continued separation of the ark from the tabernacle and its services, becomes still more mys- terious now when the Philistines have been driven from the land, the tribes have been united under a popular and powerful monarch, and the ark has been established in the city of this great king, with a retinue of attendants and a daily service of worship ; for it must not be forgot- ten, that from the time of the arrival of the ark in Jeru- salem there was, as has been mentioned in a previous chapter, a daily service of praise before it, accompanied sometimes with free-will burnt-offerings and peace- offerings. At the same time the daily, weekly, monthly, annual, and special services of the tabernacle, as appointed by Moses, were held at Gibeon, where " Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests," ^ resided in order to oflfi- ciate. Here the people assembled thrice every year to celebrate the passover, the day of pentecost, and the completion of harvest. Here Solomon came to sacrifice at the beginning of his reign ; for it was at Gibeon ^ (where was the tabernacle " which Moses the servant of Jehovah had made in the wilderness," and the brazen altar that Bezaleel had made), that, being invited to ask of God whatever he most desired to receive, he made choice of wisdom and knowledge, rather than of riches, wealth, and honor. Gibeon continued to be the seat of the national sacri- fices till the completion of Solomon's temple, when " they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the con- gregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the taber- nacle," ^ with great ceremony, and deposited them within 1 I Chron. xvi. 39. 2 2 Chxon. i. 3. 3 2 Chron. v. 5. 112 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. the walls of that edifice. The language of the inspired narrative does not perhaps forbid the supposition that the tent which David had pitched in Jerusalem is here intended rather than the sanctuary at Gibeon ; but the Jewish tradition is, that the tabernacle erected by Moses was thus laid away in the temple as a sacred relic of the past. Josephus says expressly, " So they carried the ark, and the tabernacle which Moses had pitched, and all the vessels that were for ministration to the sacrifices of God, and removed them to the temple." ^ We hear nothing of this edifice afterward, or of the parts into which it was now resolved, but may conjecture that its pillars, its bars, and its sockets, were stored in some of the chambers of the temple till they were con- sumed or lost at the destruction of the city by Nebu- chadnezzar. 1 Antiq. book viii. ch. 4. CHAPTER IX. THE EXPENSES OF THE TABERNACLE, We have acquainted ourselves with the tabernacle sufficiently to know that it must have been costly in its original construction, and also in its subsequent mainte- nance. The edifice, though small, was expensive both in its materials, and by the expenditure of much labor and eminent skill in its fabrication. Its services required not only a daily supply of animals for sacrifice, but of flour, wine, oil, and perfumes, all of the finest quality. Its numerous attendants, as they were separated to its exclusive service, must receive for themselves and their families a sufficient sustenance. These expenses must, of course, be levied in some way on the whole people among whom Jehovah dwelt in this his holy habitation. By what system, then, was a revenue collected sufficient for the expenses of the sanctuary ? Its construction was provided lor, as we have already had occasion to observe, by voluntary donations ; and the enthusiasm of the people was such, that the invita- tion to contribute was shortly followed by a public notification that the gifts already brought in fully equalled the requirements. It is, however, noteworthy, thnt, of the materials used in the construction, one item ) 114 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. is an exception to the rule that they were provided by voluntary donation. The silver was the product of a poll-tax of half a shekel laid on all male Israelites from twenty years old upward, and amounted to (lOo) one hundred talents, and (1,775) ^^^ thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels. Of the silver thus obtained, one hundred bases of solid metal were made for the planks and pillars of the edifice, each weighing one talent ; and the remaining fraction of a talent was used for plating the capitals of the pillars around the court, for the rods extending from pillar to pillar, and for the hooks by which the curtains were suspended.^ The current expenses of the tabernacle were defrayed by taxes of different kinds ; the laws by which these taxes were imposed being framed with reference to the settlement of the people in the promised land, and their operation being modified by their nomadic life while in the wilderness.^ 1 Bush, in Notes on Exodus, ch. xxxviii. 24, gives the following estimate of the cost of the tabernacle : " The gold weighed 29 talents and 730 shekels, if we allow 3,000 shekels to the talent of 125 lbs. ; and this at £4 the ounce would be equal to. ^£175, 000, or nearly $875,000. The silver was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, being a half-shekel from all the males above t^venty years of age when they came out of Egypt, whose number was 603,550 ; the whole value of this would, at 55-. the ounce, be .£39,721, or nearly $198,605. The brass, or rather copper, was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels ; which, if valued at \s. 2d. the pound avoirdupois, would be worth ^138, or $690. The amount of these several sums would not be less than £213,320, or $1,066,600. But this amount does not include the curtains of the enclosure, the coverings of the tabernacle, the dress of the high-priest and its jewels, the dresses of the common priests, or the value of the skill and labor employed in the work ; the whole of which may be fairly taken to have raised its value to the immense sum of £250,000, or $1,250,000." 2 There are inherent evidences in the laws enacted at Sinai that they were there enacted and committed to writing. One such is the assumption that the Hebrews were shortly to be in possession of Canaan. The laws are THE EXPENSES OF THE TABERNACLE. 115 First of all was the annual poll-tax of a half-shekel, which, for the year of sojourn at Sinai, was put to the account of construction, but afterward was used to pay for animals sacrificed, for the show-bread, for wood for the altar, and for any other items properly chargeable to the common treasury. It was expressly enacted, that, in the collection of this tax, no distinction should be made between rich and poor.^ Every male of twenty years old upward must pay his half-shekel as a tax, not on his inheritance or his income, but on himself. If he was poor, this was the seal that in the sight of Jehovah he was equal to the richest of his brethren ; if he was rich, this was to remind him that the poorest of his neighbors had an equal right with himself in the daily sacrifice, and in all the privileges of the sanctuary. It might seem, at first thought, as if so small a tax as a half-shekel would not yield a sufficient amount for the framed as if the 600,000 armed men now encamped before the " terrible mount" were to march directly and immediately into the land promised to Abraham their father. Such was the expectation of Moses at that time ; and such would have been the reality but for the unbelief and cowardice of the people. Such an assumption is fatal to the hypothesis that these laws were not written till many centuries after the death of Moses, and ought to be received as evidence that they were written out at Sinai, as a water-mark in paper establishes the place and date of its manufactiu-e. Yet Ewald saw this '■'■■water-mark,'''' and judges that it was put in designedly by a writer in the time of Solomon, but not with intention to deceive. "The author never makes any pretence of being taken for Moses himself : indeed, we should do great wrong to the simple narrator, were we to suppose this ; for he even describes equally innocently, and on the same plan, the rise of legal institutions under Joshua, and closes his work with the erection of the Temple of Solomon ; and where a precept is inserted for the connection's sake, which is to be applied only in the Holy Land, not in the wilderness, the author sometimes makes Moses himself announce it, only by way of prophecy, with the addition, ' when ye come into the Holy Land.' " (Geschichte des Volkes Israel. English trans- lation, London, 1869, vol. i. p. 90.) The highest degree in scholarship cannot justify confidence in the conclusions of a man capable of such absurdity. 1 Exod. XXX. 15. Il6 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. purposes speciiied; but a second thought will correct such an impression. There were at Sinai more than (600,000) six hundred thousand persons who paid this tax ; so that, reckoning the half-shekel at three dimes, the tax yielded more than {$ 1 80,000) one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. The amount in subsequent years was, probably, never much less, and after the settle- ment in Canaan must have been much larger than at the exodus.i Such a sum must have been amply suffi- cient, when we remember that no part of it went for the support of the priests and Levites ; who were provided for by other taxes, of which we have yet to speak. Lightfoot gives an account of the collection and stor- age of this half-shekel tax, in the time of the temple, of which the following is an abstract : — "There were thirteen treasure-chests at the temple, commonly called sJiopherotJi from their trumpet-like shape. Two of these chests were for the half-shekel that every Israelite was to pay ; the one chest for the payment of the last year if he had missed to pay at the due time, and the other for the half-shekel for the year present. On the first day of Adar, which answers in part to our February, general notice was given throughout the country that they should provide to pay their half -shekel ; and on the fifteenth day of that month the collectors sat in every city to gather it, and they had two chests before them, as were at the temple ; and they demanded payment calmly, and used no roughness or compulsion. 1 The number of men able to bear arms, as enrolled in the census at Sinai, was 603,550 ; and a similar enrolment on the plains of Moab nearly fort}' years aftei- wjurd enumerated 601,730. Some of the tribes had largely increased, and others had suffered loss ; but the aggregate was not much changed. THE EXPENSES OF THE TABERNACLE. 117 " On the five and twentieth day of the month, the col- lectors began to sit in the temple, and then they forced men to pay ; and, if any one had not wherewith to pay, they took his pawn, and sometimes would take his very raiment perforce. They had a table before them to count and change the money upon, and two chests be- fore them to put into. When a man brought a shekel to change, and must have half a shekel again, the collector was to have some profit upon the change ; and that addi- tion, or profit, was called kolbon. Nay, if two came together, and paid a shekel for them both, so that there needed no change, yet the receiver was to have some profit from them both. It was this exaction within the courts of the temple which caused our Saviour to over- throw the tables of these kolbonistsr ^ Passing from the consideration of the treasure-chests to that of treasure-chambers, he continues, " There was the chamber, or treasury, of the half-shekel poll-money, into which the two chests that have been spoken of were emptied when they were full, and the chamber locked and sealed up. Now, at three set times of the year they took the money out of this chamber again. The Talmud, and Maimonides in the treatise Shekalim, do give the story, and the manner of that action, thus : at three times of the year they emptied this chamber ; namely, fifteen days before the passover, fifteen days before pentecost, and fifteen days before the festival of tabernacles. " He that went in to fetch out the money must not go in in any garment in which it was possible to hide money, nor in his shoes or sandals, no, nor with his phy- 1 Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 1095. Ii8 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. lacteries on ; because it was possible to hide money under them. When he went in, a watch stood at the door without ; and all the time he was within they talked to him, and he again to them, so that he might be pre- vented from putting any money into his mouth. The money that was in the chamber was put up, when it was first brought in, into three great chests containing nine seahs, or three bushels, apiece ; and, if there were more brought in than would go into these three chests, it was laid by somewhere in the chamber. He that went in took three chests of three seaJis apiece, or every one containing a bushel, and he filled them out of the great chests within. Thus having filled these three at one time, they were brought out, and the money bestowed to buy the daily sacrifices and other things necessary for the service ; and thus they laid out the money as long as those three bushels would run ; and at the next appointed time he went into the chamber again, and did the like." ^ These Jewish accounts of the collection and storage of the half-shekel tax, if not directly applicable to the time of the tabernacle, will at least serve to show that the tax was levied annually, and not, as one might per- haps infer from the letter of the law, ^ at intervals of many years. Such being the provision of treasure for the purchase of whatever was necessary for the service of the sanctuary, we pass on to consider other taxes levied for the support " of the priests and Levites. To the priests, then, belonged the first-born of animals and of men, the first-fruits of all produce of the earth, 1 Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 1097. - Exod. xxx. 12-16. THE EXPENSES OF THE TABERNACLE. 119 one-tenth of the tithes or one per cent of all the cattle and produce remaining after the firstlings and first-fruits had been rendered, certain prescribed parts of the sacri- fices, and some perquisites irregular in their occurrence and quite diverse in amount. To the Levites belonged the tithes, subject to the deduction of one-tenth for the priests. We will review the sources of income to the priest- hood enumerated above, offering such remarks as may be necessary in explanation of each. To the priests, then, belonged all the first-born both of man and beast. The law was, indeed, differently inter- preted in the two cases ; with sole reference to the dam in the case of domestic animals, but with reference to marriage and the family when applied to the offspring of a woman. By the first-born in a family, this law intended the first issue of a woman by her first husband, the child being a male, and the first-born of its father. Every such first-born son was holy to Jehovah, and must be redeemed with five shekels, to be paid into the com- mon treasury of the priests.^ Every firstling animal also 1 Ignorance of the interpretation put upon this law occasioned one of the difficulties experienced by Colenso. He could not understand how there could be so few first-born males at the time of theexodus as (22,273) twenty-two thousand, two hundred and seventy-three ; assuming evidently that this enumeration included every male who was the first-born of a woman. But the difficulty disappears when we have reduced the number of families which would be taxable for the birth of a firstling by excluding those in which the first-born was a female, those in which the wife had borne children by a former husband, and those in which the husband was already a father. For example : if in the family of King David the first-bom child had been a female, he would have been exempt from this tax ; and, if his first child had been a son by Abigail, he would have been exempt if she had borne a child, either male or female, to her former husband. Having paid five shekels for the redemption of Amnon, his first-born by Ahinoam, he was ever after exempt, though he had many a wife whose first child was a son. See Lund, Die alten Judischen Heiligthiimer. Hamburg, 1738. P. 703. I20 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. belonged to Jehovah, and was by him given to the priests ; so that every such birth must be accounted for, either by the dehvery of the animal itself, or by an equivalent. If suitable for food, it could not be represented by a sub- stitute ; but its blood must be sprinkled on the altar, and its fat offered to Jehovah in the fire. After these rites of sacrifice had been performed, the flesh belonged to the priests. If unclean, the animal must be redeemed ; as, for example, a lamb was the appointed substitute for the firstling of an ass. To the priests belonged the first-fruits of all produce of the earth. The law did not, indeed, prescribe how large a portion should be thus consecrated : but custom fixed one-sixtieth as the minimum of this tax ; while the liberal gave more, and the very liberal one-fortieth, or even one- thirtieth. The householder might not eat of any kind of the produce of his fields till he had separated a portion of it as an offering of first-fruits ; and, when he had so divided, must not appropriate to his own use the least part of what he had consecrated. The law of first-fruits applied not only to all grains and fruits, but to wine, oil, honey, and wool.^ To the priests belonged, in addition to the firstlings 1 It is important to keep in mind the difference between the national presenta- tion of first-fruits as a religious ceremony performed at the three festivals of pass- over, pentecost, and tabernacles, and this oblation by individuals for the support of the priests. Lund thinks that there were two presentations of first-fruits by indi- viduals : one of specimens earliest ripe, but only in small quantity, and chiefly as a rite of religious acknowledgment and thanksgiving, though after being pre- sented as a thank-offering they belonged to the priests ; the other such as is described above. He distinguishes them by the names Biccurim and Trumah. If the distinction is well founded, which some deny, it is not necessary to remem- ber it in treating of the income of the priests, since in either case every thing consecrated as first-fruits belonged to them. THE EXPENSES OF THE TABERNACLE. 12 1 and first-fruits, one per cent of the increase of all cattle and of all produce of the earth, remaining after the first- lings and first-fruits had been deducted. This item of their income came to them through the Levites ; who received tithes from the other tribes, but were obliged to pay to the priests one-tenth of what they received. To the priests belonged the skin of every animal whose flesh was laid on the altar, the skin being con- sumed with the flesh only in the few cases where the victim was burned outside of the camp. More or less of the flesh of all sacrificial animals except burnt-offerings was also assigned by the law to the priests. Of a sin- offering they had all that was eatable except when the sacrifice was for the sin of a priest, or of the whole con- gregation ; in which case the victim was carried outside of the camp, and burned. The flesh of a trespass-offer- ing was also their property, to be eaten, like the sin- offering, by them only. Of peace-offerings the breast belonged to the priests in common, while the right hind- leg was the perquisite of the individual who officiated at the sacrifice ; and these parts of a peace-offering might be carried out of the sanctuary, and sold, or eaten at home. Of meat-offerings, both cooked and uncooked, almost the whole went to the priest, a small portion being first consumed on the altar. To these regular and constant sources of income we must add occasional perquisites of irregular occurrence. When the Hebrews conquered Midian, the priests had a definite portion of the spoils assigned to them; and, though we find no similar instance recorded, the law which assigned a portion to the priests, and another to the Levites, appears to be intended to cover all subse- 122 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. quent cases as well as that which occasioned its pro- mulgation ; so that the priests probably had a share in all the spoils of war captured by the army. To these we must add every thing consecrated by vows condi- tional and unconditional, every reparation for a trespass "in holy things," and every reparation for a trespass against a neighbor when the person against whom the trespass was committed could not be found. The above enumeration includes nearly but perhaps not quite all the sources from which the priests derived their income. But they had, in addition, houses and lands more than sufficient to furnish their families with homes ; for thirteen cities with suburbs were assigned to them in the division of the territory by Joshua. To the Levites belonged, as we have already had occasion to observe, the tithes of all the cattle and produce remaining after the firstlings and first-fruits had been taken out ; subject, however, to a deduction of one- tenth, which they, as well as Israelites of other tribes, must pay for the support of the priesthood. With the exception of a share in the spoils of war, and the cities with their suburbs assigned them in all parts of the country, the Levites had no other means of support than these tithes. The law of tithes, as it referred to domestic animals, required, that, after the firstlings had been counted out for the priests, every tenth animal of each kind should be marked for the Levites, and either delivered identically to the officer who had custody of the tithes, or redeemed with money. There could be no change of animal for animal to please the taste or covetousness of the owner. As they passed out from a pen, every tenth animal was THE EXPENSES OF THE TABERNACLE. 123 marked, and was no longer the property of the person who owned the remaining nine-tenths. The law was so interpreted, that, if a householder had less than ten of any one kind of animals after the firstlings were taken out, he was exempt from the tithing of that part of his property ; and probably a similar rule obtained in regard to any fraction of ten remaining at the end of a count. The law of tithes, as it referred to produce, required that, after the first-fruits had been taken out, the house- holder should separate one-tenth of the remainder for the Levites before any thing had been eaten by his own family. In addition to the provision made for the support of the services and attendants of the tabernacle, a tax was levied on all Israelites for the proper celebration of the festivals. This was a second tithe, which must also be sub- tracted before any part of the harvest could be used by the family for home consumption. But this second tithe, though in one sense a tax, belonged still to the householder, and served, in some degree at least, for the sustenance of himself and family ; for the law required that he should carry this tithe, either in kind, or in money at a fair valuation, to the place where the taber- nacle was standing at the time, and there feast upon it with his family and friends. Naturally this requisition was fulfilled at the festivals, and especially at the festi- val of tabernacles, when the harvest had been recently gathered.^ 1 It is not necessary to our principal design to inquire furtiier concerning tithes ; but it may not be amiss to state, that in addition to the first and second tithes, mentioned above, there was a third tithe, payable twice during the period between 124 HISTORY OF THE TABERNACLE. When we take all these sources of revenue into con- sideration, it appears as if there could have been no deficiency of means for the support of the tabernacle. Its services, its attendants, and its festivals, must have been abundantly provided for, if these requisitions of the law were carried into execution. But as the law made no inquisition respecting the amount which an individual should pay, but left it to himself to decide, only promising that God would increase the substance of those who were faithful, and withhold his blessing from those who robbed him, it is probable that there were always some who paid less than they ought, and that, at periods when religion had comparatively little hold on the conscience or on the hopes and fears of the people, there was a disposition widely prevalent to evade the taxes required for its maintenance. This disposition would naturally affect the income of the attendants of the tabernacle to a greater extent than it did the provision for the expenses of worship, or the contributions for the celebration of festivities in which the contributors personally participated. Of these latter items of expense, one was met by a small poll-tax which could not easily be evaded, and the other appealed to the love of good cheer and social hilarity. But whoever would estimate aright the income of the priests and Levites should make a large discount from the amount due them according to law. The tribe of Levi was less in number than one-twentieth of the two sabbatical y ears ; namely, in the third and sixth years. This was called the " alms-tithe," and was given to the poor. After an Israelite had paid this tithe, he was to make a solemn declaration that he had been faithful, and had withholden nothing ; appealing to Jehovah for his blessing accordingly. See Deut. xxvi. 12-15, THE EXPENSES OF THE TABERNACLE. 12$ whole population, so that a tenth of the increase of a year would enrich them beyond the average wealth of their brethren of other tribes ; but there are indications in the Old Testament that there was sometimes desti- tution among both priests and Levites such as can be accounted for only on the supposition that great num- bers of the people were unfaithful in the payment of tithes and offerings. Probably the attendants of the tabernacle did not, even in those periods when the sense of religious obligation was most deeply and widely felt, receive a larger portion than would have fallen to them . from an equal distribution of the increase of the land from year to year. II* PART II. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. CHAPTER I. EVIDENCE THAT THE TABERNACLE WAS SIGNIFICANT. A PAGAN traveller entering a Christian church, and there beholding the celebration of the Lord's Supper, would have a very inadequate conception of the signifi- cance of the rite. To one who has been instructed in Christianity, the eucharistic bread and wine are symbols representing the body and blood of Christ, and excite his mind to activity in a higher sphere of thought and feeling than that to which an ordinary table relates ; but to the pagan utterly uninstructed in Christianity, the spectacle would convey little if any religious significance. In like manner, and to an equal extent, might a person who saw in the tabernacle erected by Moses at Sinai nothing more than a house of worship, and outward ordi- nances of di\dne service, come short of comprehending its import. Indeed, the higher meaning of the institu- tion.s established by Moses was not only hidden from those who were entirely uninstructed, but neglected and forgotten to a great extent even by the Hebrews. As Christians sometimes content themselves with an out- ward observance of the eucharist, not discerning the Lord's body therein ; so there was a tendency among Israelites, greater perhaps by reason of the sensuousness of the age than among Christians, to rest in the observ- 129 130 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. ance of outward rites, and live in f orgetf nines s of the truths which they symbolized. But though forgotten by the ungodly Israelite, and hidden from the untutored Gentile, there were represented, in the visible objects and transactions of the tabernacle, things invisible and eternal. Having, in the first part of this work, attempted to describe the edifice as it appeared to the outward sense, we now propose to inquire what it imported in the mind of Him who first conceived it, and showed to Moses its pattern in the mount. Of course, in such an inquiry, we must fall far short of our aim, as we do in all our studies of the thoughts of God. The tabernacle imported more to the infinite mind which invented and patterned it than even Moses was capable of comprehending ; and yet, in some respects at least, Moses had better opportu- nities to study the correspondence between the outward institutions he was the instrument of establishing, and the spiritual truths they represented, than any other man, either Jew or Gentile. But though we cannot attain to a complete mastery of the significance of the tabernacle, or even to such knowledge of it as was imparted to Moses, we may to some extent learn to read its symbols. The aim of the present chapter is to prove the position we have taken, that the tabernacle had a symbolic signifi- cance, — that the edifice, with its equipments, its attend- ants, and its services, as it appeared to the senses, represented a system of truth in the higher sphere of the' invisible and eternal. If we compare the time in which Moses lived with the present, we find that symbolic language was charac- THE TABERNACLE WAS SIGNIFICANT. 131 teristic of his age, as written language is of ours. Al- phabetic writing is the product of a comparatively high civilization. As a child is interested in the work of the engraver earlier than in the letter-press of the com- positor ; so a nation, in its progress from stupidity and ignorance to intellectual activity and culture, comes to the use of symbols sooner than to the invention of an alphabet. The aboriginal inhabitants of New England knew no letters ; but, when the sachem of the Narragan- setts wished to menace the colonists at Plymouth with war, he did it by sending a bundle of arrows tied with a snake-skin, and understood the reply when they returned his snake-skin filled with powder and ball. The Hebrew alphabet was unquestionably in existence before the time of Moses. Even Ewald, though main- taining that the art of writing was but little used till afterward, is constrained to admit that Moses was ac- quainted with the characters of the Hebrew alphabet, and used them in writing the Decalogue, and some other fragments of the books which pass under his name. But though Moses could understand the significance of the alphabetic characters, and could by means of them com- mit his thoughts to writing, it does not follow that a large number of the Israelites could even read alphabetic writing. It is still more improbable that they could read it with fluency. It is easy to believe that, among a peo- ple so long and so much oppressed as they had been in Egypt, literary culture was not widely diffused ; and that a large majority, if not all of them, could be more instructed and impressed through symbols than by means of books. But the use of symbols accords not only with the 132 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. degree of culture which obtained among the people whom Moses led out of Egypt, but with the usage of the age. The Egyptians, for example, were accustomed to convey their thoughts not only by means of phonetic characters, but by means of symbolic pictures. In this kind of hieroglyphics, eternity was expressed by a ser- pent with its tail folded and concealed under a part of its body, so that it seemed to have no end ; knowledge was indicated by a picture of the heavens shedding down dew, which suggested, that as dew is diffused over all plants, and makes soft and pliable only those which arfe capable of being softened, but exerts no influence upon those which in their own nature are hard, so knowledge is diffused among men, but only those who are born with a happy genius seize and imbibe it, while those who are destitute of genius are uninfluenced ; impudence was denoted by a fly, because this insect, when driven away, persists in returning ; an impossibility was denoted by the feet of a man walking on the water, or by a man walking without a head ; strength was denoted by the fore-parts of a lion. It is still more to our purpose, however, that the Egyptians made use of symbolic institutions as well as of symbolic writing. Their temples were so constructed and furnished, the rites performed in them were so ordained, the priests were so -habited, as to express to the senses the doctrines of their religion. This being indis- putable, and universally conceded, it seems probable that the sanctuary of the Hebrews, with its equipments and services, also had some symbolic significance ; for they had been long resident where this mode of representing ide^s obtained, and Moses especially was learned in all THE TABERNACLE WAS SIGNIFICANT. 133 the wisdom of the Egyptians. Moreover, though the rehgion of the Egyptians was the very opposite of that of the Hebrews in idea, recognizing no unity in the divine nature except as it was impersonal, and no per- sonaHty except as resolved into infinite multiplicity, while that of the Hebrews had for its first principle the unity, personality, and holiness of the Being whom they worshipped under the name of Jehovah, there were points of similitude in their outward forms ; for the Egyptians not only used symbols, but, in many cases, symbols having close resemblance to Hebrew usages. In view of this resemblance, one is still more inclined to believe that the forms of the Hebrew religion had a symbolic significance ; that, if circumcision among the Egyptians was an outward sign with a spiritual meaning, so was it among the Hebrews ; that, if the white raiment and frequent ablutions of the Egyptian priests had a significance additional to that of physical cleanliness, so were the official garments and ceremonial washings prescribed for Aaron likewise symbolic. Such a belief would not imply the least degree of mistrust that the younger institution had borrowed any of the ideas symbolized in the older, or even that it had any in common with it, except so far as two systems of religion may have some ideas in common, though diverse in their fundamental principles. It is said that the press once employed in printing the malignant and scurrilous productions of Thomas Paine has since been used for the dissemination of Christian literature. Whether this is true, or not, it would at least be possible to use not only the same press, but the same font of types, for such different and opposite purposes. The types which once 134 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. served the purpose of the enemy of Christ might be put into new combinations, and serve equally well the pur- pose of his friends. So some of the symbols employed in the religion of Egypt may have been used by Moses in the representation of the very different ideas which Jehovah through him communicated to the Hebrews. The resemblance between the forms of the two religions will appear from a comparison of the sacred arks of the Egyptians with the ark of testimony constructed for the tabernacle. When carried in procession, they were borne on the shoulders of the priests by means of staves, which were not drawn out, but remained in place, when the ark was at rest. They were sometimes surmounted by winged figures similar to the cherubs which over- shadowed the sacred shrine of the Hebrews. They differed, at least in many instances, from the ark of Jehovah in having a boat beneath, and a canopy above. With such resemblance in mind between the forms of the two religions, the probability seems very great, that if, in the religion of the Egyptians, these forms were symbols representing severally single ideas, and in com- bination a system of ideas, so were they also in that of the Hebrews who had so long resided in Egypt. If any thing could increase this probability, it would be to find a similar use of symbols among other nations ' of remote antiquity ; so that when we learn that the eagle- headed human figures, and the human-headed figures of lions and bulls, found at Nineveh, were emblematic of ideas in the religious system of the Assyrians, — a system as old, and, as Layard claims, older, than that of Egypt,^ — we cannot doubt that such a mode of repre- 1 Nineveh and its Remains. New York, 1849. Vol. ii. p. 333. THE TABERNACLE WAS SIGNIFICANT. 135 senting religious ideas was characteristic of the age of Moses, and that he made use of it as naturally as a religious teacher in our day uses the printing-press for the inculcation of his sentiments. But, if the Mosaic institutions were symbolically sig- nificant, we should expect to find in the Jewish writings, both inspired and uninspired, some tokens that they were so regarded. Such evidence is not wanting, and we propose to produce it in confirmation of the argu- ment derived from the usage of the age. The evidence is more direct and positive in writings of a later date than in the Old Testament ; and the reason doubtless is that, in the centuries preceding the advent of Christ, symbolic representations spoke for themselves, and in a language which every one could understand. There was no more need for Moses to say, " This tabernacle, with its equipments, its priesthood, and its services, repre- sents invisible things," than for Landseer to put a label under one of his paintings to inform the beholder that it was designed to be a picture of a horse. We may believe that Moses, learned as he was in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, could of himself have represented, in this the language of his age, the truths he was commis- sioned to convey, so as to be understood by those who were acquainted with the language. But he was not left to do it of himself : the symbols themselves, as well as the truths they exhibited, were communicated to him on Sinai ; so that infinite wisdom is responsible not only for the truth inculcated, but for the perfect use of the vehicle with which it was conveyed. The tabernacle being, then, in itself a revelation of religious ideas in the 136 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. language in which such ideas were usually communi- cated, it is not to be expected that the revelation would be accompanied with the declaration of itself in another kind of language. As a man who speaks to another viva voce does not waste his time in saying, " I am speaking to you ; " so it is not necessary for the author of a symbolic representation to inform those who are skilled in the language of symbols that he is now employing that language.^ In looking to Jewish authors for evidence that the Mosaic institutions were regarded as symbolic, it may be advisable to begin with such as have written since the Christian era. These would be more likely to speak directly to the point than those who lived while symbolic representation was still in vogue. We find, then, that the commentators of the Talmud agree in regarding the tabernacle, and all connected with it, as a system of symbols ; and, whatever absurdities they may be guilty of in their attempts to interpret, their testimony is not without value ; for, though they had lost the true inter- pretation, they had retained the tradition that there was a mystery, a deeper meaning than appeared to the senses, in the now abrogated ceremonial of their fathers, Josephus and Philo, writers of an earlier date, also tes- tify that the tabernacle was a symbol both in its integrity 1 From the same stand-point, one may see also why Moses says so little in pho- netic language of the great truths symbolically conveyed in the institutions he established. Having made his choice between the two languages, or, to speak more correctly, having been directed to employ the symbolic as the more impress- ive and the more easily understood, he did not translate into the other, because, so far as the people of his day were concerned, it would have been useless. They were but children, and could understand the pictvu-e much better than the state- ment of the truth by means of characters or sounds with which it has no natural conespondence • THE TABERNACLE WAS SIGNIFICANT. 137 and in its parts ; Philo being, so far as is known, the father of that interpretation which makes the tabernacle a microcosm, and Josephus being in this respect his disciple. Passing now into the centuries before the Christian era, and questioning the canonical and apocryphal writers of the Old Testament, we find, as has been already observed, that they do not testify so directly to the point as Philo, Josephus, and the rabbies of the Gemara, but that circumstantial evidence is, neverthe- less, to be found in their writings of the truth of our position. We postpone the exhibition of this in detail till there is occasion to use the Old Testament for the purpose of interpretation ; only observing at present, to illustrate what kind of evidence is intended, that forms of expression are transferred from the rites of the taber- nacle to religious experience, as if there were such a correspondence between the outward and the inward that the language of the former might be unconsciously used by one who had in mind only spiritual transactions with God. For example : David says, " Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean," ^ as if hyssop were a symbol of purification. Again he says, " Thou desirest not sacrifice ; else would I give it : thou delightest not in burnt-offering: the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise," ^ as if a sacrifice signified contrition, and would be a mockery without it. We pass over, for the present, all other evidence from the Old Testament, to examine, last of all, the New Testament on the question at issue. 1 Ps. li. 7. 2 ps. li. 16-17. 138 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. It appears that in the time of Christ the language of symbols had not entirely passed out of use, since it was largely employed in revealing to one of his twelve apos- tles " things which must shortly come to pass." The visions of the Apocalypse are scenic representations which had one meaning when literally understood, and another when regarded as figures of the real things they represented. We see evidence, however, in the Book itself, that symbolic writing was becoming obsolete ; for here and there hints are given to assist the persecuted church in the interpretation of the visions, but not enough to open them to the comprehension of its ene- mies. As the Apocalypse of John needed such accom- panying hints to point toward its true interpretation, because the symbolic had been to a great extent super- seded by the phonetic, and had become almost a dead language, so for the same reason there was occasion for direct testimony in the New Testament to the figurative significance of the Mosaic institutions. When the books of the Old Testament were written, it was not necessary that one who used the language of symbols should give notice that he was doing so, or become his own interpre- ter ; but in the time of the apostles there might be many who without help would not only be unable to interpret the Mosaic institutions, but even fail to apprehend that a figurative meaning was concealed within the outward shell. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, therefore. when, with the design of confirming Israelites who had become Christians in their new faith, he had occasion to compare it with Mosaism, expressly declares that the outward institutions of the latter were symbols setting THE TABERNACLE WAS SIGNIFICANT. 139 forth to the eye of sense ideas which had now been ful- filled in Christianity ; and shows at considerable length how the two systems correspond one with the other. In presence of such proof, a Christian can no more hesitate to believe that the tabernacle had a symbolic significance, than if he were familiar with the language in which it inculcated the truths common to Mosaism and Chris- tianity. The language of symbols furnishes to one who is acquainted with it convincing proof that the tabernacle was designed to inculcate religious truth in that lan- guage. This was the evidence which the contemporaries of Moses had to such an extent that they needed no other. A perfect mastery of the language is now impos- sible : it may be, however, so far acquired and read in the Mosaic institutions, that one can have no more doubt that they were designed to communicate the ideas he receives from them than if he were perusing printed pages. If the reader is not already convinced, there is hope that he may become so when he sees how symbols of single ideas are here articulated into a complete and symmetrical body of truth, as the letters of the alphabet are put together to form the syllables, words, and sen- tences of a book. y CHAPTER II. THE TABERNilCLE SYMBOLIZED THE TRUTHS OF THE MOSAIC REVELATION. If the tabernacle was designed to represent, and incul- cate upon the Israelites, a system of religious ideas, it is natural to infer that it represented the system commu- nicated through Moses. It is scarcely possible that a system of ideas, and a system of symbols, communi- cated from the same source, to the same people, through the same mediator, at the same time, should not corre- spond one with the other. What, then, were the truths revealed through Moses, and represented in the tabernacle and its appurtenances .'' We have the means, outside of the symbolic institutions, of acquainting ourselves with the principal features of the Mosaic system, and, in doing so, of establishing a line of interpretation with which we must keep parallel in all attempts to fix the meaning of particular symbols. If, for example, it were suggested that the two cherubs on the ark of the covenant should be interpreted accord- ing to Egyptian ideas, as symbols of two deities, one male and the other female, the Decalogue instantly extinguishes the suggestion as inconsistent with its first and second requirements. The truths which God taught through Moses in 140 FHE TABERNACLE SYMBOLIZED MOSAISM. 141 regard to himself are characteristic features of the revela- tion made at Sinai, and, as they are specially important for the end we have in view, should be held in remem- brance as we search for the significance either of the tabernacle as a whole, or of its particular parts. Foremost of these truths was the luiity of God. Monotheism, though not then first made known to the Hebrews, was distinctly proclaim.ed as a fundamental article of their religion. They had received it from Abraham, who, as a witness for it, went out from his country, and his father's family, to spend his life among strangers, and leave to his posterity no landed inherit- ance save " the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees which were in the field," ^ purchased as a burying-place for himself and his family. But they had so long lived among the idolatrous Egyptians that a new affirmation of the unity of God was needed to keep alive their ancestral faith, and deepen it in their convictions and affections beyond the possibility of eradi- cation. Accordingly God commences his communication to the Hebrews at Sinai with a requirement that he shall be the only object of their worship. " I am," he says, " Jehovah thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods in my presence." ^ Afterward, when they were soon to enter the promised land, Moses was directed to remind them that " Jehovah is God, and there is none else beside him," ^ and to proclaim, " Hear, O Israel : Jehovah our God is one Jehovah." * 1 Gen. xxiii. 17. 2 Exod. xx. 2, 3. 3 Deut. iv : 35. 4 Deut. vi. 4. This was one of the passages which the Jews were accustomed to write on the door-posts of their houses. See Thomson, The Land and the Book. New York, 1859. Vol. i. p. 141. 142 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Another important truth which the Mosaic system taught concerning God was his personality. Even among the heathen, the more thoughtful and learned conceived of something superior to their numerous deities ; of one, or else of two antagonistic powers, by which all things were controlled. But those who believed in one supreme power conceived of it as inca- pable of intelligence, of emotion, of will, of self-respect, of sympathy and fellowship with others. It was an important peculiarity, therefore, of the religion of the Hebrews, that it attributed to the only object of their worship, personality. Jehovah was in their conception the living God, a Spirit, " the God of the spirits of all flesh." 1 The word " Jehovah " was a proper name, the name of a person. It was not only a proper nama, but it had a meaning which of itself asserted personality. It was implied, in the very name / am, that what it rep- resented was capable of speaking in the first person, and by consequence possessed of all the attributes of a spirit. These attributes are everywhere implied in what is affirmed of Jehovah. He is represented as not only powerful, but intelligent; as susceptible of love and hatred, of jealousy and compassion ; as having plans, and a determination to execute them ; as entering into cove- nant and fellowship with men. " The idea of God in the Jewish Church was the very reverse of a negation or an abstraction." ^ They thought of him as a living^ Being who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, with a high hand and an outstretched arm ; whose eyes were ever upon them. 1 Num. xxvii. i6. 2 Stanley, Jewish Church. New York, 1867. Vol. i. p. 169. THE TABERNACLE SYMBOLIZED MOSAISM. 143 Still another of this group of ideas was the Jioliness of God. The heathen conceived of their deities as devi- ating more or less frequently from the line of rectitude. No such dishonor could be imputed to the God of the Hebrews. He gloried in his freedom from it, and required that they should in this respect resemble him. " Speak," he said, " to all the congregation of the chil- dren of Israel, and say unto them. Ye shall be holy, for I Jehovah, your God, am holy." ^ They also gloried in this distinctive attribute of their deity, and sang, " Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah, among the gods } Who is like thee, glorious in holiness .'' " ^ This attribute was something more, however, than mere freedom from the defilement of actual wrong : it was an intense love of right, and hatred of wrong, evincing itself in law and government, reward and penalty. Next after these annunciations in regard to God, one may mention, as a prominent and characteristic feature of the Mosaic system, that covenant between Jehovah and the Hebrews, which, through the mediation of Moses, was not only revealed as an idea, but established as a fact. He who thus united in himself the eternity and omnipotence from which all existence originated, — the intelligence, emotions, and will of personality, — and the most intense partisanship in favor of right as against wrong, brought Israel out of Egypt to Sinai, and there entered into special relations with them, involving mutual engagements. By an examination of the covenant, we discover that God's choice of the Hebrews was at its foundation. This election had been manifested, indeed, centuries 1 Lev. xix. 2. 2 Exod. xv. 11, 144 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. before, in the time of Abraham their ancestor, with whom he entered into a covenant, promising to be a God to him and to liis seed ; and engaging him to be a witness for the unity of God against the prevalent hea- thenism. That election was now manifested anew in the calling of the children of Abraham out of Egypt to receive at Sinai the revelations, institutions, and laws which he gave them by the hand of Moses. The covenant established with the Hebrews at Sinai was substantially the same in its terms as that which God made with Abraham. Jehovah promised to be their God, and put them under engagement to be his people. This agreement involved several particulars on either side. The people on their part covenanted to be holy. They promised to keep the commands written on the two tables of testimony, and to observe the positive institu- tions with which they were accompanied. Their consent to become the covenant people of Jehovah bound them to obedience as respects not only duties which are of universal and eternal obligation, but all required observ- ances. The holiness demanded was absolute freedom from transgression, designed or undesigned, conscious or unconscious. Their covenant God on his part engaged to be their deliverer. He had already broken the yoke of their ser- vitude, and now engaged to be their guide through the perils of the wilderness, till he should bring them to the land promised to their fathers, — a good land flowing with milk and honey, — and establish them in the possession of it. He introduces the requirements which he makes of them as his people with the annunciation of himself THE TABERNACLE SYMBOLIZED MOSAISM. 145 as their deliverer.^ " I am Jehovah, thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." ^ By this declaration he invites their confidence in his ability and readiness to deliver when- ever and in whatever respect deliverance might be needed. He engaged to forgive their sins. He was holy, but nevertheless gracious. He would by no means clear those whom he was under obligation to punish ; but he was disposed to pardon whenever pardon was consistent with right. He proclaimed himself " merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving ini- quity, transgression, and sin ; and that will by no means clear the guilty ; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation." ^ These prorpinent ideas of the Mosaic revelation establish a line with which we must keep parallel in all attempts to interpret its symbolic institutions. The tabernacle represented Mosaism in distinction from hea- thenism on the one hand, and Christianity on the other. If the Hebrew religion differed from that of Egypt, the significance of the tabernacle is to be found in the doc- trines of the former, and not of the latter. So also, if the system of Moses was not identical with that of Christ, the symbolic institutions established at Sinai represent the Mosaic, in distinction from the Christian system. 1 Ewald regards the idea of God as a deliverer as the fundamental idea of the Hebrew religion. Geschichte des Volkes Israel. Translation. Vol. ii. p. 109. 2 Exod. XX. 2, 3. 3 Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. 146 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. That the Hebrew rehgion was radically different from any other prevalent at the time of the exodus, instantly appears to one who, being already acquainted with the Egyptian and other ancient systems, turns his eye even for a single glance at the prominent features of the Mosaic revelation. The nations of antiquity had each its religious system, and represented it in symbol ; but until Jehovah revealed himself on Sinai, and showed to Moses the pattern of the tabernacle, all S3^mbolic institu- tions, however different in themselves and in the ideas they represented, certainly were polytheistic. As such they belonged to one family, and were all radically dif- ferent from those of the Hebrews, which could not have inculcated a multiplicity of deities because the Hebrew idea of the unity of God is utterly intolerant of such teaching. It will serve our purpose if we take the religion of Egypt as a representative of ancient heathenism, and show that its ideas were so adverse to those of Mosaism as to involve the certainty that the tabernacle did not stand for the same or even for similar ideas as the symbolic institutions of Egypt. Egypt will sufifice : for however its religion differed from that of Assyria or other ancient nations, it belonged, as has been said, to the same class ; and it will best serve our purpose because of the close connection between the Egyptians and the Hebrews when the two nations dwelt together on the same soil. This close connection naturally suggests the supposi- tion, that as both nations made use of symbols in the utterance of religious thought, and, to some extent at least, of similar forms of symbolization, there may have THE TABERNACLE SYMBOLIZED MOSAISM. 147 been some resemblance in the ideas inculcated by the two systems respectively. The fact that Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, gives addi- tional plausibility to the supposition that he adopted substantially the views of his teachers. That there was a resemblance between the two reli- gions, in some of their symbols, is undeniable. Some instances of it have been given in the preceding chapter. But this does not necessarily imply a similarity of ideas. As the same words may be employed by writers of oppo- site sentiments, so the same symbols may be used in different and adverse systems. To show that the Hebrew religion had no affinity with that of Egypt, it will be sufficient to compare two or three prominent features of the latter with the former, as already sketched. The Hebrew conceived of God as a spirit, separate from, and superior to, the universe he had created out of nothing, and was governing by his power. The educated Egyptian was a pantheist, identifying God with nature, and thus leaving out of his conception whatever belongs to personality. The power everywhere manifest in nature, he thought of as inherent in nature itself, and incapable of consciousness and will. The God of the Hebrews would allow no rivals. It was not sufficient that his people should acknowledge him as a deity : they must have no other gods. He claimed that he was the only living God, and required that they who worshipped him should worship him as such. But the impersonal power which the Egyptian conceived of as above and behind all things could have no such jealousy ; and so the Egyptian system had a multitude of inferior deities representing perhaps, origi- 148 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. nally, particular powers of nature, but conceived of by the common people in obedience to a demand of their spir- itual nature as spirits. These inferior deities divided among themselves the dominion of the country; each having his particular city or district where was the chief seat of his worship, but not to the exclusion of the others, for in the most fraternal spirit he admitted his fellow gods and goddesses to a participation with him in his temple, and in the regard of his people. The God of the Hebrews would allow no images of himself. But every Egyptian deity who had a temple was represented in it by an image which usually com- bined parts of the human body, and of one or more animals. Occupying the principal place of honor in the temple, it was surrounded by many similar represen- tations of other deities. These images were originally regarded, and perhaps always by those who were learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians, as symbols ; but the people in general failed to grasp the meaning of the sym- bol, and conceived of a god having an outward shape like that which they saw. We need not further delineate the two systems. The antagonism between them is already so apparent as to forbid the supposition that Moses intended to inculcate in the symbolic institutions he established substantially the same ideas as were represented in the symbolic lan- guage and institutions of the country in which he was born and reared. He followed the custom of his time in employing symbols for the purpose of communicating ideas ; but the ideas he was charged to communicate were essentially different from those of ancient hea- thenism in general, and of the Egyptian religion in THE TABERNACLE SYMBOLIZED MOSAISM. 149 particular, and not only different, but as antagonistic as light is to darkness. But if Mosaism is to be distinguished, on the one side, from the heathenism which preceded and was contem- porary with it, so must it be, on the other side, from the dispensation which it prepared the way for, and ushered in. There is, indeed, no contrariety between the ideas of Moses and those of Christ ; for they received their commissions from the same source, and were both faith- ful — the former as a servant, and the latter as a son — to Him who sent them. There is no difference between the Old and New Testaments in principle, but only in the stage of development at which they present the divine plan of redemption. As there is a difference not to be overlooked between a mature man and the same person as he was when an infant, or between an infant and the same being as he was when an embryo; so there is a difference of development between Christianity and Mosaism, which must not be forgotten in the interpre- tation of the tabernacle. It was the true religion in distinction from heathenism which was symbolized in the edifice, the furniture, the priesthood, the services, and the calendar of the tab- ernacle ; but it was truth from the stand-point of Moses, and not of Christ. The outward ordinances of the Hebrew religion were for the benefit of that nation from the time of Moses onward to the advent of Christ ; after which time they were inappropriate, as not rightly representing the true religion in its recent stage of development. Revealed truth, having passed beyond its period of immaturity, rejected these institutions of its earlier years as a person puts away childish things when 13* 150 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. he becomes a man. They passed away, however, not because they were symbols, but because they were sym- bols of a stage of revelation which had given place to a later and brighter exhibition of the glory of God in the salvation of men. The writers of the New Testament had no objection to the use of symbolic language. The Apocalypse is partly written in that dialect; and the symbols of the Old Testament are often referred to as illustrative of the truths of Christianity. The two dispensations of the same religion had so much in com- mon that the later could use the language of the earlier, but only because it had some of the same ideas to express. The symbolic institutions of Moses belonged primarily to the Mosaic, and not to the Christian dispensation, and can be used by the latter only because it is the same religion in a later stage of development. This view is different from that which has been gen- erally entertained ; the reference of the tabernacle to an existing dispensation having been overlooked by Chris- tian expositors searching for a prophetic significance in the Hebrew institutions. The Mosaic symbols were undoubtedly prophetic of the truths of Christianity, but only as they were symbols of the truths of an existing dispensation confessedly incomplete. They were secon- darily types or prophetic symbols, but only as they were primarily symbols. No Christian writer has denied that the old dispensa- tion contained types of the new : but there has been a , wide difference of opinion as to the extent of such typical connection ; some confining it to such points as are expressly mentioned in the New Testament, and others finding types wherever any resemblance could THE TABERNACLE SYMBOLIZED MOSAISM. 151 be seen or imagined between the two dispensations. Believing that the tabernacle was secondarily typical, but only as it was first symbolic, it is our intention to devote the next chapter to its typical significance ; but at present we leave out of view the reference which it really had to Christianity, in order to maintain that primarily it referred to the system of Moses, and not of Christ. This is evident from the custom of the age in which Moses lived. The Egyptians represented and inculcated the ideas of their religion in outward forms and transac- tions. So did the Assyrians. It is reasonable to infer that Moses wished to teach, by means of the ritual he established, not only his own system in distinction from those of heathenism, but his own system as it then was in distinction from what it was to become by subsequent progress. It is natural to believe that what he taught symbolically, corresponded with what he taught phoneti- cally. We can discover no reason for leaving unuttered, or unwritten, that which was represented to the eye. He had a system of religious truth to communicate to the Hebrews, containing all that their spiritual necessi- ties required ; revealing the nature and character of God, the fact of a covenant relation between God and them, with provision for the pardon and restoration of the penitent transgressor, and for the excision of the wilfully and persistently disobedient. Did he not, when teaching by word of mouth, communicate to them substantially the same system which was pictured in the edifice, the furniture, the priesthood, the services, and the calendar of their worship ? We need not, as Christians, be jealous of admitting 152 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. this : we can find place afterward for the truths of Christianity in a secondary significance of the taber- nacle,— a significance well established on its primary meaning as a foundation. To ignore or deny the pri- mary reference of it to the system of Moses, would attribute to him a departure from the prevalent custom of inculcating upon men, by means of symbols, the religious system under which they were to live. The primary reference of the tabernacle to the Mosaic, in distinction from the Christian dispensation, is further evident from the spiritual condition of the Hebrews. There was then so little spirituality in the world, so little receptivity for the truths of the gospel, that a people must be separated from the rest of mankind, brought under severe and protracted training, and thus educated till they should become capable of apprehending the glad tidings of salvation by Christ. The chosen people, when brought out of Egypt, could receive only the rudi- ments of the gospel. Their religious thought and experience were in so low a plane, that they would not have been able to understand or improve the larger revelations afterward made. They needed to receive the truths of Christianity by degrees, beginning with so much as was revealed through Moses at Sinai. Such being the spiritual condition of the Hebrews, did they not need aid in the study of the dispensation under which they lived, and in the reception of its truths into their religious life, similar to that which their contemporaries found in the outward representations provided for them by their religious instructors .'* There is abundant evidence, in the history of the Hebrews during the forty years in the wilderness, that they found the THE TABERNACLE SYMBOLIZED MOSAISM. 153 religion taught by Moses somewhat too spiritual, and that they easily revolted from their holy and invisible God to vv^orship the idols of the nations around them. Is it not improbable that such a people would be left to study, and digest into spiritual nutriment, the revelation made to them of truths so high and remote from the ordinary course of their thoughts, without the customary aids to religious meditation and worship ? Is it not still more improbable that they would be left without such help in the use of their own system, and at the same time burdened with a ritual which prefigured a system even more difficult of comprehension than their own ? Does it not seem that the tabernacle, as an exponent of Christianity, would be useless to the contemporaries of Moses ; but, as a scenic representation of the truths revealed through him, would be well adapted to fix them in the mind, and render them influential upon the life ? The primary reference of the tabernacle to the truths revealed through Moses, in distinction from those after- ward to be made known, is still further evident from the design of Mosaism as a preparatory dispensation. The Hebrew Scriptures speak of a new covenant to be estab- lished in the future ; and the apostle, referring to that ancient promise, argues that, if the first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for the second.^ The Mosaic dispensation was established not as a permanent arrangement, but as a preparation for Christianity, — a schoolmaster to bring the Hebrews to Christ. The chosen people were not only to be educated to the capability of receiving a better system than that 1 Heb. viii, 7. 154 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. of Moses, but his system was itself designed to be a means of that education. Such being its design, we might reasonably infer that it would not attempt to teach the whole truth in its outward ordinances, but only some rudiments, the mastery of which might enable its pupils to go on to perfection. The preparatory dispensation must be more simple, and more easy of comprehension, than that to which it is ancillary. Such it was, if its out- ward ordinances had primary reference to the kingdom of God in that stage of development to which it had then arrived ; but such it was not, if they had no other design than to prefigure the work of Christ, and its results, as they are patent in our day. CHAPTER III. THE TABERNACLE TYPIFIED THE TRUTHS OF CHRISTIANITY. In maintaining that the tabernacle symbohzed pri- marily the truths revealed through Moses, we have not denied that it had also some designed reference to Christ and Christianity. On the contrary, we have been seeking a good foundation on which to build an argument for its typical significance. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews so clearly affirms that the verities of the new, are foreshadowed in the outward ordinances of the old dispensation, that no one can gainsay it without impeaching the authority of the New Testament ; but, as has already been intimated, there is a wide difference of opinion respecting the extent to which this typical relation reaches, or can be known to reach. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, theolo- gians were disposed to regard as a type every thing in the old dispensation which seemed to resemble, however slightly, something in the new. By this mode of inter- pretation, types were multiplied till every person, event, and institution, antecedent to Christ, had its counterpart in him ; the luxuriant fancy of successive typologists adding to the catalogue, till at. length the resemblances 156 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. were so far-fetched as scarcely to justify one in speak- ing of the earher thing as an allegory of the later, much less in believing that God intended the first simply as a representation or picture for our instruction in regard to the second. The easiest and probably the most effectual method of illustrating this style of interpretation is to give an example of it. This we propose to do by transferring to these pages, from the treatise of Lund, a part of his interpretation of the furniture of the tabernacle. This writer is selected not on account of any unusual exuberance of fancy, but because the scholarship and common-sense evinced in his work show that the style of typology we wish to illustrate was not confined to men deficient in learning, or in good judgment in regard to other matters. Commencing with the ark of the covenant, he explains minutely how every article in the tabernacle and its court prefigured Christ. For the sake of brevity, we shall follow him only through' the holy of Jiolies^ and shall omit from his statement all that is superfluous.^ Of the ark of the covenant, he says, " that as it was made of wood, and covered with gold, thus consisting of two materials, one ordinary and the other exceed- ingly precious, so Christ has two natures, the human and the divine, the former represented by. the wood, and the latter by the gold ; which two natures, however, make only one Christ, as the wood and the gold, one ark. The acacia was a very durable wood, not liable to decay like other species of timber, and was in this respect a type of the body of Christ, which, though laid in the 1 Book I. ch. xxii. THE TAB2 RiVACLE TYPIFIED CHRISTIANITY. 157 grave, was not suffered to see corruption. The ark had a border of gold around its lid : so Christ was crowned with glory and honor. Within the ark were the two tablets of the law ; and Christ says, ' I delight to do thy will, O my God ; yea, thy law is within my heart.' Over the ark was its lid, covering the tablets : so Christ covers all our sins which we have committed against the law. This lid was called the mercy-seat, because God was here enthroned above his covered law as a God of mercy ; but Christ is the true mercy-seat, since it is through him that God is reconciling the world to hini- self, not imputing to them their sins. From the mercy- seat God communed with Moses : through Christ he communes with us. The ark, with the mercy-seat which covered it, was the place where God dwelt : in Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead. Over the ark were two cherubs, turning their faces toward the mercy- seat as if in wonder and delight : so the angels are said to study with interest the work of Christ in the redemp- tion of men. The ark had four rings, one on each of its corners, by means of which it was carried from place to place as the people journeyed in the wilderness : so Christ through the preaching of his gospel is carried into the four quarters of the world. When the ark was borne around the city of Jericho, the walls fell down, and the city was destroyed : Christ appeared, and is carried around the world, through the preaching of the gospel, that he may destroy the works of the Devil. The ark was captured by the Philistines, and came into the hands of the Gentiles : so Christ was captured in Gethsemane, and delivered to the Gentile Pilate. The ark was not recaptured by the children of Israel, but left in the 14 153 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. hands of the PhiHstines : so his disciples left Christ in the power of his enemies ; they forsook him, and fled. Although the ark was captured, yet such great signs and wonders were wrought by it that the Philistines were forced to confess that the God of the Israelites was more mighty than their Dagon : so Christ, though surrounded, captured, and bound by his enemies, still gave tokens of the almighty power which inhered in him, striking to the earth by the mere declaration ' I am he,' those who came to arrest him ; replacing instantly the ear of Malchus, which the over-hasty Peter had cut off ; shaking the earth, and darkening the heavens, as he expired on the cross, till the heathen centurion was forced to exclaim, ' Truly this man was the Son of God.' Although the ark was sometime in captivity, the Philistines could not hold it, but were obliged against their will to let it go, and to send it back with presents : so the powers of evil, having taken Christ, and wrought their will upon him even to crucifixion and burial, could not hold him in the grave ; for against their will he has risen from the dead, broken their bands, and triumphed over them by means of the very cross on which they caused him to be hung. Toward the ark, or toward the place where the ark was, must those turn themselves who wished to be heard in prayer ; in like manner must we, if we wish to offer acceptable supplication, turn toward the heavenly ark of the covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ, and in his name present our petitions. " Not only was the ark of the covenant itself a type of Christ, but there were two additional types in the manna, and the rod of Aaron, laid up near it for preservation. "Concerning the first of these, our Saviour himself THE TABERNACLE TYPIFIED CHRISTIANITY. 159 testified, when the Jews mentioned the manna which their fathers ate in the wilderness, that he was the true bread from heaven. As the manna came down from heaven to earth, so the only-begotten Son of God became man. As God gave the manna to the Israelites when they murmured and rebelled, so he gave his Son to die for us while we were sinners. The manna fell at night : so our Lord was born in the night. The manna was the food of the children of Israel, wherewith they were fed in the wilderness till they arrived in the promised land : Christ is the food of his people in the wilderness of this world, till they pass the Jordan, and arrive in the heavenly Canaan. The manna was white, glistening, and in its roundness of a perfect form : so Christ is white, that is, innocent and entirely perfect. As the manna was much bruised in mortars and mills, so Christ was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. The manna was sweet beyond meas- ure, and of such universal adaptation that no one needed any other food : so Christ to believers is sweeter than honey, and suited to the wants of all in all circumstances. When the children of Israel first saw manna, they did not know what it was, and needed to be taught how to use it : so by nature man is ignorant of Christ, and needs to be instructed by the Spirit how to feed upon him. The manna was measured out to the Hebrews, an omer for each person : so faith in Christ is given according as God deals to every man the measure of faith. The manna was given daily without interruption : so Christ is with his people always. The manna was laid up for a memorial near the ark of the covenant : so Christ has directed that we should eat of his body, and i6o SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. drink of his blood, in the memorial supper. Six days in the week they must gather the manna, but on the sabbath they might not gather it ; but it was already gathered, God having given them a double portion on the preceding day : so must we here in this world seek the Lord Jesus Christ with diligence ; but in the sabbath of a blessed eternity we need not seek him any more, for we shall have him without painstaking, according to the promise, ' To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna.' " That Aaron's rod was a type of Christ, is evident from the mode in which the prophecy, ' There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots,' was fulfilled ; the royal house of David having declined so much in fortune that Joseph and Mary were in a very humble condition when unex- pectedly the promised Son of David appeared like the leaves, ^ blossoms, and fruit on the rod of Aaron. As the typical rod became green not by virtue of any inward, hidden, natural moisture, nor through the co-operation of the sun and the earth, but by the mere fiat of the Almighty; so the eternal Son of God became man not through ordinary generation, but by the immediate intervention of the divine power. No man can under- stand how the rod of Aaron sprouted and grew ; neither can one comprehend the mystery of the birth of Christ, born as he was of a virgin. The miracle of the blos- soming rod was wrought in the night ; and in the night occurred the miraculous birth of Christ. There were three things on the rod of Aaron, after the miracle, which 1 The English version, in representing the rod as bringing forth buds, falls short of the Hebrew. Leaves would also be more congruous with the fruit. THE TABERNACLE TYPIFIED CHRISTIANITY. i6i were not there before, — leaves, blossoms, and nuts, whereby is prefigured the threefold work of Christ ; the fruit typifying his prophetic, the blossoms his sacerdotal, and the leaves his kingly office. For, as the leaves of a tree afford grateful shade to those who take refuge under it, so Christ is the protector of them who acknowledge him as king ; as the flowers of the almond-tree are of a whitish red or a reddish white, combining two colors, so is also Jesus Christ our high-priest white in respect to his innocence, and red in respect to his blood that was poured out for our sins ; and, as the exquisite kernel of the almond lies hidden under its bitter rind and hard shell, so the doctrine of Christ, to the flesh bitter and harsh, and by many regarded as a hard saying, is to a spiritual man, who penetrates to the kernel of the nut, very sweet and pleasant. When the rod of Aaron had been sufficiently seen by the children of Israel, it was again laid up in the Jioly of holies before the Lord : so Christ its antitype, having been changed by his resurrec- tion from the dryness of death into the vigor and beauty of life, was seen by his disciples for a sufficient time, and then received up into heaven to appear in the pres- ence of God for us." We are confident that the condensed statement here given of the typology of this author does not exaggerate or even fully exhibit the excursiveness of his fancy. In the abridgment of his paragraphs to sentences, some plumes have fallen from the wings of his imagination. His interpretation of the significance of the furniture of the holy of holies is presented as a sample of the lawless typology not of this writer only, but of theo- logians generally, in the seventeenth and eighteenth 14* 1 62 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. centuries. Wherever they found any point of resem- blance between something in the old and something in the new dispensation, they called one a type, and the other its antitype, even when the resemblance was so far removed from the ordinary paths of thought as to excite surprise, and move to laughter. A reaction necessarily resulted from the excesses of this school of interpretation. The resemblances to which it called attention were in many cases so recon- dite and so odd as to forbid the supposition that God in his wisdom had established them as a means of repre- senting the truths of his gospel. They seemed to furnish a better basis for riddles and conundrums than for divinely appointed types. Popular opinion in its reaction from error often goes to the opposite extreme ; and so in this case it oscillated from an excessive typology, to the disposition to ignore all types not expressly recognized as such by the inspired writers, and even to maintain that the old dis- pensation did not prefigure the new, further than its typical relation had been expressly declared and unfolded in the New Testament. This reaction has not yet spent itself; for in the theo- logical literature of the nineteenth century there is almost no mention of any other types than those alluded to above as indorsed by the pen of inspiration ; and many eminent theologians not only ignore all others, but maintain that it was never intended that there should be prefigurative significance in the old dispensation beyond what is particularly indicated and interpreted in the Scriptures. There is reason, however, to expect another turn in THE TABERNACLE TYPIFIED CHRISTIANITY. 163 the movement of public opinion, if, indeed, the change has not already begun. Let it be granted that the tabernacle symbolized Mosaism, and it follows, as a necessary consequence, that it prefigured Christianity ; for Christianity was so infolded in Mosaism, that the symbols of the earlier were also types of the later dispensation. The nineteenth century rightly rejects the redundance and lawlessness of the typology it found in vogue, but has been wrong in requiring a biblical warrant for every particular type. The writers of the New Testament did not undertake to make an exhaustive catalogue of things in the old dis- pensation which by divine appointment foreshadowed the work of Christ, but selected whatever they had occasion to make use of, and introduced it into their discourses and epistles, not for the sake of informing us what were types, and what were not, but with the intent of exhibiting more clearly, by means of pictures divinely prepared for the purpose, the truth as it is in Jesus. They saw that the system of Moses was iden- tical with Christianity in its root, and different only in the degree of development : consequently they regarded the symbols of the earlier as also prophetic symbols of the later and more glorious dispensation they were commissioned to announce and promulgate. Truth dwells neither in the childish fancies of the ancient typologists, nor in the scepticism and infidelity of later times, but in a rational typology founded in nature, and regulated by laws almost as definite, inflexi- ble, and ascertainable as the laws of language. The tabernacle is significant of the truths of Christianity, but yields its import not to that faculty of the mind 1 64 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. which discovers a human profile in the ragged edge of a distant precipice, but to Ihat other and more prosaic fac- ulty which climbs the mountain, and by close inspection and tactual examination learns to conceive of it just as it is in reality. The " Old Man of the Mountain " is a fiction of the fancy ; but there is nevertheless a true " testimony of the rocks," which sober science may decipher. The outward institutions of Moses were throughout typical of Christianity, because they were symbols of an existing religious system which infolded in itself that of Christ as the sapling contains the tree, and as " the child is father of the man." That the institutions established by Moses were sym- bols of the ideas he was commissioned to communicate, is, we think, already evident from the considerations advanced in the last chapter ; so that it only remains to show that Christianity is essentially the same with Mosaism, differing merely in the further development of ideas common to both. We have already seen that Jehovah revealed himself to the Hebrews in his unity, personality, and holiness. Are not the teachings of the New Testament, in regard to God, coincident with those of the Old.'' He has, indeed, revealed more of his glory under the new than under the old dispensation. There was gradual progress from Moses to Malachi ; but, at the advent of the long- promised Messiah, the germ unfolded itself as the bud of a century-plant bursts into a flower. It is the same God who spoke to the Hebrews by Moses, and to all men by his Son Jesus Christ. It is the same idea of ,God which we find in the teachings of Moses, and in the pages of the New Testament. THE TABERNACLE TYPIFIED CHRISTIANITY. 165 One of the principal features of the religion which Moses gave to the Hebrews was the covenant between them and their God. It was, as has been already men- tioned, essentially the same as the covenant which God made wifh Abraham ; differing from it mainly in the addition of the ceremonial law, which, as the Apostle Paul declares, was added " because of transgressions," that is, for the discipline of the people into more exact- ness of life, and sensitiveness of conscience. The Abra- hamic covenant did not become void at the institution of the ceremonial law at Sinai, nor yet at the advent of Christ, but is still in force, as the apostle just mentioned argues in his Epistle to the Galatians. The covenant, though modified in its forms by the settlement of the Hebrews in the promised land, and afterward by the establishment of the promised Seed of Abraham on his throne of universal and eternal dominion, is essentially one and the same in all ages. Canaan was promised to Abraham, but not Canaan alone : he looked for another, a better, even a heavenly country. He desired to see the day of his illustrious descendant : he saw it, and was glad. The New Testament is preferable to the Law given by Moses, because unencumbered with a burden- some ritual ; nevertheless, along with that burdensome ritual, yes, and by means of it, the gospel of forgiveness was preached. Both proclaim that without shedding of blood there is no remission ; and each provides its sacri- fice for sin. The conditions of forgiveness are also the same, propitiation being provided only for the contrite. Mosaism and Christianity being, then, one and the same in their fundamental ideas, it follows that any system of institutions which would fitly symbolize / 1 65 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. one would be appropriate to the other. Where the two dispensations differed, the symbols would doubtless con- form to that which was already in existence ; but even so, ideas which are especially characteristic of the later dispensation might be represented, being contained rudi- mentally in the earlier, as there are rudiments in the lower animals of organs which in their perfect develop- ment are peculiar to higher families. The tabernacle, being constructed to symbolize pri- marily the ideas of the Mosaic system, also typified Christianity so far as the two were identical in their teachings ; and, in addition, typified much that is pecu- I liar to Christianity, by means of the hints of good things to come, involved in the ideas represented. It symbol- ized the forgiveness of sins ; it typified the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. I CHAPTER IV. MEANS OF INTERPRETATION. At the beginning of the present century, the hiero- glyphics of Egypt were known to be significant, but no living man was able to read them. The discover}* of the Rosetta stone, with its polyglot inscription, excited hope that it might prove a key to the records of a people of remote antiquity, intimately connected with the nation which transmitted to us the knowledge of the true God. That hope was fulfilled. The glyphs in a cartouch, sup- posed to correspond with the name of Ptolemy in the Greek translation, were found to be identical with those which represented a name in another inscription dis- covered about the. same time, and accompanied by a Greek translation. Fortunately, in this last case, the name of Cleopatra followed that of Ptolemy ; so that, by a comparison of the letters common to both, the correct- ness of the conclusions already reached was confirmed, and further progress was made toward an alphabet. By degrees, other means of interpretation were found ; and these ancient records became again intelligible. Having reason to believe that the tabernacle was designed to symbolize the truths which Moses was com- missioned to teach, may we not hope to find some key which shall unlock its significance .'' If its true import 167 1 68 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. has given place to false interpretations, is it not possible to re-establish the truth ? Happily, there are means of interpretation by the aid of which one may decipher the symbols of the Hebrews as correctly as Champollion deciphered the hieroglyphics of Egypt ; and the purpose of • the present chapter is to point out and tabulate them for future use. I. First in the table may be placed the parallelism between the Mosaic system, as otherwise ascertained, and its symbolic representation. The tabernacle symbolized the truths which Moses was directed to inculcate on the Israelites. Some of them, doubtless, were communicated solely by means of symbols ; but many are recorded in the Pentateuch in language which we can read and understand. The writ- ings of Moses, therefore, like the Greek translation of the Rosetta stone, give a clew to the meaning of what otherwise might be illegible. The other books of the Old Testament also record in written language many of the ideas represented in the symbolic institutions ; so that the whole volume of the Hebrew Scriptures offers help to the interpreter. By means of this parallelism we learn that the taber- nacle as a whole exhibited spiritual transactions between the Hebrews and their covenant God. It represented his habitation among them, his presence as a defence, his reception of their persons and gifts so long as they were observant of his ordinances and obedient to his commands, his readiness to forgive the penitent sinner, and his utter rejection of the persistently disobedient. It being granted that such a parallelism exists, we can MEANS OF INTERPRETATION. \ -169 ascertain by means of it not only the general signifi- cance of the whole system of symbols, but the meaning of many particular parts. For example : when we look at the ritual of the sin-offering, — when we see an animal brought into the court of the tabernacle, the person who brings.it laying his hand on its head, and then slaying it, the priest taking some of its blood with his finger, putting it on the horns of the altar, pouring out the remainder at the base of the altar, burning the fat as a sweet savor to Jehovah, and with his companions in the consecrated priesthood eating the flesh of the sacrifice within the precincts of the holy edifice, — we are not left wholly to the spectacle itself for its interpretation. The Hebrew Scriptures as a whole, and especially the writ- ings of Moses, afford assistance to one who wishes to know the meaning of such a transaction. The verbal definition itself to some extent explains it. It is a sin- offering, a sacrifice for sin. This brief and summary explanation may be amplified by collecting the passages of Scripture which relate either to the sin-offering itself, or to sin as a transgression of law. The establishment in the mind of one point of coin- cidence between the scenic and the written revelation leads on to the determination of a second. For example : when one has well studied the sin-offering, and learned its significance, he is better prepared to appreciate the part which the priest acts in the presentation of it. He receives the idea of mediation as represented in the scene he has been witnessing, and, having received it, finds many passages in the various books of the Old Testament which throw additional light upon the office of the priesthood. 15 I70- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. As one discovers more and more points of resem- blance, in a good portrait, to the pei son whom it portrays, so may he in the symbols of the Hebrews find more and more of what is written in their Scriptures. Being at last well convinced that a portrait is true to its original, one may learn to trust it in respect to features, which have faded from his memory ; likewise, by diligent study of the institutions of Moses, one may acquire some ideas not verbally presented either by him or by subsequent writers of the Old Testament, or at least not noticed till the student had found them in the revelation by symbols. But all such interpretation must proceed in accordance with the rule that the institutions of Moses are parallel with what he has communicated with his pen, and must find in the pictorial revelation either the same ideas as in the verbal, or else such as are accordant and complementary. II. Another key of interpretation is found in the Scriptural explanation of symbols. Moses himself has attached to his pictm^es no exegetical clavis : he doubtless regarded them as suf- ficiently intelligible without such an affix. He did not call the sin-offering by that appellation in order to explain the symbol, but made use of the word incidentally in prescribing the ceremonies in which the symbol was to consist. There was no need in his day to translate the language of signs into written discourse ; for the former was more easily understood than the latter. But, as we have heretofore had occasion to remark, there was need, in the time of the New-Testament writers, that symbolic language should sometimes be accompanied with expla- nation ; and accordingly they have in a few instances MEANS OF INTERPRETATION. 171 attached definitions to symbols. If, as there is no reason to doubt, these definitions are vahd for the Old Testament, as well as for the New, every one of them is a key to some part of the edifice we would explore. For example : incense is explained in the Apocalypse as symbolizing the prayers of the holy.^ With less clearness the same meaning is suggested in the Gospel of Luke, where the people are said to have been engaged in prayer while Zacharias was burning incense within the temple, ^ and even in the Book of Psalms, where David says, " Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense." ^ With this definition of incense we discover the signifi- cance of the sweet odors daily ascending from both altars of the tabernacle, and sometimes carried even into the Jioly of holies, as well as of the censers and the golden altar. For another example : the fine linen of which the innermost curtain of the tabernacle, and the robes of the priests, were made, is explained in the Apocalypse as meaning, when used for garments, that those thus arrayed were holy. " The fine linen is the righteous- ness of saints." ^ We are thus guided to the conclusion that the fine linen which the Hebrews called sliesh was significant of purity ; or, rather, we are confirmed in the opinion to which we might perhaps have been brought independently of such guidance by the suggestions of a symbolism founded in nature, and everywhere prevalent. III. The design of the tabernacle as declared in the directions for its construction, equipment, and services, is a key to its significance. 1 Rev. V. 8, viii. 3. 2 Luke i. 10. 8 Ps. cxli. 2. * Rev. xix. 8. 172 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. After specifying the materials of which it was to be made, Jehovah said, " Let them make me a sanctuary ; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it." ^ If the edifice was a symbol, it signified that Jehovah dwelt among the Israelites. This sanctuary constructed for the purpose, and according to his own directions, was his habitation to which the people might resort, entering the court in person, and admitted, through their representatives the priests, within the habitation itself. Here he dwelt among them as their God who had brought them out of Egypt, and by so doing given pledge of whatever further deliverance and help they might need. Here was the appointed place of meeting between him and them, where he would answer those who came to make inquiries, receive the offerings of those who brought gifts, and bestow tokens of recon- ciliation on those whose consciences accused them of transgression or neglect. It was his habitation, and yet not in the same sense in which a man's house is his home ; for the Hebrews well knew that Jehovah was an invisible and omnipresent spirit, who could not be con- fined to any one place. Says Solomon at the dedication of the temple, " Will God in vejy deed dwell with men on the earth } Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ; how much less this house which I have built ! " ^ The tabernacle was not in very deed, but only in symbol, the dwelling-place of Jehovah. It represented his true habitation, wherever and of whatever nature it may be, and the spiritual intercourse 1 Exod. XXV. 8, 9. 2 2 Chron. vi. 18. MEANS OF interpretation: 173 subsisting between him and those who worship him in spirit and in truth. Constructed to serve as a habitation for their covenant God in the midst of the Hebrews, it was equipped in such a manner as to provide for ministrations expressive if not naturally, certainly by general usage, of atone- ment, restoration to favor, assurance of reconciliation and acceptable service ; and was thus both a sign and a seal of the covenant relation, and of the presence of Jehovah in the midst of his people The design of the tabernacle comes still more dis- tinctly to view as one proceeds from the consideration of the directions for its construction and equipment, to the ordinances concerning its ritual. Its ministrations, as established by the divine command, speak a natural language, which in its general significance is easily understood, whatever difficulties may gather around particular parts, resulting from the difference of manners and customs between our age and that of Moses. In view of the constancy and variety of significant cere- monies required, whatever their significance may be, it appears that God did not dwell among them in idleness, but was at all times observant and active. The taber- nacle was not only literally " in the midst of the camp," but was figuratively the centre of activity, the source of authority, the throne to which allegiance was ren- dered. It being, then, assumed that the tabernacle was the habitation in which Jehovah dwelt among the Hebrews as their God, to interchange in symbol such communica- tions as are appropriate between God and man, many of these transactions exhibit their significance immediately 15* 174 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. even to one who looks at them from the stand-point cf the present age and the modern civilization, and, by thus bringing into more distinct view the import of the whole symbolic apparatus to which they appertained, assist in the interpretation of those parts which are more obscure. IV. The Scriptural appellations of the tabernacle are a means of interpretation. The name of a thing is often expressive of its nature ; and this was true to a greater extent among the Hebrews than with us, because in that early age the meaning had not fallen out of words so much as now, neither had they imported so many foreign words into their language. Something may doubtless be learned of the significance of the symbolic edifice erected at Sinai from a critical examination of such Hebrew words as are translated tabernacle, tent, Jioitse, tabernacle of the testimony, tent of the congregation, sanctuary, and holy place. The word mishcan, rendered tabernacle, for example, is derived from shacan, to dwell ; so that its etymology points, concurrently with the declaration of the design of the edifice, to the idea of a dwelling-place, or habitation. V. The symbolism of nature is an important means of interpretation. That there is a correspondence more or less extensive between the visible world and the realm of ideas, has occurred, doubtless, to every one, though it more distinctly and extensively reveals itself to persons of deepest intuition. The universe is not an aimless product of power, but a revelation of the Creator. It is a commu- nication of his thought as writing, painting, and sculpture are of the thoughts of men ; so that, if we could but MEANS OF INTERPRETATION. 175 interpret its import, every thing he has made would be suggestive of ideas which, being already in God's mind, he would impart to us. The Hebrews in the time of Moses were at that stage of development w^hen men most appreciate this symbol- ism of nature. In modern society, the reasoning faculty is much more used than the intuitive ; and, in the adult, the former has generally outgrown and overgrown the latter. It is only the few, like Shakspeare, Bunyan, Wordsworth, or the poet that puts into the mouth of an angel the suggestion, — "What if earth Be but the shadow of heaven and things therein, Each to other like, more than on earth is thought," — who are able to any great extent to see in nature the supernatural to which it corresponds ; the majority having so put asunder, in their habits of thought, what God in his eternal purpose has joined together, that they see only an inanimate form in that which has spirit and life. In consequence of this divorce between the natural and the supernatural in the minds of men, it results that processes of thought are carried on and concluded without any association of the ideas which have occupied the mind with their corresponding images in the under world of sense. The scholar is ambitious to be inde- pendent of the signs of ideas, that they may not mislead him, and to deal with the ideas themselves. At last he disconnects not only his thoughts from the physical world, but his feelings as well, forbearing outward expres- sion, and becoming habitually and characteristically undemonstrative. 176 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. But in childhood, whether it be of the race or of an individual, the faculty of insight is relatively stronger than at a later stage of growth, and the exercise of it in connecting correspondent things in the two worlds with which man is conversant, each with its like, affords great pleasure. *' Heaven lies about us in our infancy ! Shades of the prison-house begin to close Upon the growing boy ; But he beholds the hght, and whence it flows ; He sees it in his joy. The youth, who daily farther from the east Must travel, still is Nature's priest, And by the vision splendid Is on his way attended." The child takes delight in seeing whatever ideas pertaining to the world of spirit he may have floating indistinctly before his mind's eye reduced to shape, and invested with bodies, so as to appeal to his senses like the phenomena of the world of matter with which he is familiar ; and, on the other hand, is pleased to discover that nature points to something higher than itself. The Hebrews, living in the childhood of humanity, were in that stage of development when men most delight in the symbolism of nature. We find them making much use of it, not only at the time of the exodus, but during the whole period of their history,, from the calling of Abraham to the advent of our Lord. They were as eager to clothe all truths in physical drapery as a modern philosopher is to see them in their metaphysical nakedness. When they would assert the MEANS OF INTERPRETATION. 177 omnipresence of God, they did so in the words, " The eyes of the Lord are in every place ; " if they presented a prayer, they commenced by saying, " Bow down thine ear ; " when they meant that he had exerted his power, they spoke of the stretching-out of his arm. They were as well aware as any modern theologian that Jehovah had no eyes, ears, or arms ; but called these natural symbols to aid in conceiving of God. This symbolism, being founded in nature, is intelligible in some measure to all men. We can comprehend it when used by the Hebrews, even if our intellectual bent is, both by inheritance and education, in a different direction. So far as it has been employed in the taber- nacle, it yields its import either instantly and easily, or certainly, as the reward of investigation. White, for example, is a natural symbol of purity, the correspond- ence between the real and the ideal being, in this case, so evident that every one sees it as soon as proposed ; while a like proposal to represent purity of heart or of life by black or red, would be as speedily and as unanimously rejected. Consequently, even without the explanation given in the Apocalypse of the significance of the garments of byssos, or as the Hebrews called it, shesJi, we should at once suspect that wherever this fine linen is found, whether in curtains or in garments, it is a symbol of holiness. So far as the symbolism of the tabernacle is founded in nature, we can with painstaking ascertain its import, even though we are not able to see it so quickly as they for whose immediate benefit the institution was designed. VI. Another means of interpretation is the artificial symbolism of the ancients. 178 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. It would not be surprising if a people fond of symbols should enlarge its vocabulary (if that appellation may be applied to this kind of language) by going beyond the domain of nature into that of art. The transition is easy from the representation of ideas by signs instinctively and universally understood, to the employment of signs whose significance depends on wide though not universal usage, on conventional in distinction from natural corre- spondence. Kings wear crowns, and sit on thrones ; and so crowns and thrones indicate royalty by a symbolism founded not in nature, but in the customs of society. Among the ancients, purple was worn by those in authority, and so became the badge of power and dis- tinction. The diligent student of etymology will find that this kind of symbolism has deeply tinged the thoughts of men in all past ages, and left its marks on the language we every day make use of ; marks unseen by the careless, and sometimes undiscovered even by the astute. But the same disposition which has moved poets and orators to represent ideas by material things conventionally connected with them, led to the use, among the ancients, of symbols of the same class for the purpose of religious instruction and inculcation. Indeed, their mode of representing ideas of religion wholly by tableaux, had stronger inducements to the multiplication of images than those felt by the poet and the orator ; and consequently symbolism among the ancients extended itself further, beyond the domain of nature. To the system of repre- sentation in which there is a natural correspondence between the real and the ideal, or at least a connection established by extensive usage, there were added repre- MEANS OF INTERPRETATION. 179 sentative signs whose connection with their constituents is obscure, and in many cases seems to the uninitiated to have been arbitrarily instituted. Doubtless there was, however, in every case, to the mind of the person who first brought into use any representative sign, some connection apparent between it and the thing signified, even though it cannot now be discovered. Artificial symbolism, resembling that of the Hebrews, was in use among all the principal nations of antiquity. The temples of the Hindoos, the Chinese, the Chal- deans, and the Egyptians, were built with an adherence to certain forms, proportions, and repetitions, which leaves no room for doubt that their sacred architecture was significant, and that with some difference in the ideas expressed, and some variety in the mode of expressing the same ideas, they employed the relations of geometry and arithmetic to represent the objects of their religious thought. Color also was employed for the same purpose. In the worship of the Egyptians, red, white, and black, appear as emblems ; ^ and, in the astrological religion of the Chaldeans, each of the seven planets had its repre- sentative color.2 The three kingdoms of nature — the animal, the vege- table, and the mineral — were also made to subserve this artificial symbolism. The animal forms most frequently occurring were those of the ox, the eagle, the lion, and man. These were sometimes combined in one to represent the union 1 Plutarch : De Iside, 22, 33, Wilkinson : Second Series of Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians. Vol. i. p. 340. 2 Philip Smith : History of the World. New York, 1865. Vol. i. p. 200. Layard: Nineveh and its Remains. Vol. ii. p. 212. i8o SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. of qualities for which each animal was severally distin- guished. The Hebrews had, for example, what are called in the Old Testament cherubs, and in the Apoca- lypse living creatures, or in the English version, most unfortunately, beasts, — composite forms made by uniting parts of the four animals mentioned above ; the Egyp- tians produced such compositions as the sphinx ; the Chaldeans sculptured on their temples winged lions and bulls ; and the Hindoos abounded in most fantastic combinations. Of plants, the lotus-flower was the representative of life and immortality both among the Hindoos and the Egyptians. A wreath of green was everywhere in ancient times, as it is even now, a recognized symbol. Its significance is, however, so evident, and so generally discovered at once by those who have not been initiated into artificial systems, that it must be regarded as belonging to the realm of natural, rather than of arbitrary symbolism. From the mineral kingdom, the ancients adopted the metals as representatives of some of the most important ideas to be expressed in their symbolic institutions. Gold, as the most precious, was chiefly used in the rendition of honor to kings and gods, not being coined as money till after the time of Moses. Silver and copper also had their place, as more expressive of some qualities than gold. To interpret this artificial symboli-sm, it will be neces- sary to know the significance of numbers, forms, colors, vegetable and mineral substances, animals, and figures of animals, so far as these things were employed by Moses to represent ideas. As a preliminary, therefore. MEANS OF interpretation: l8l to the interpretation of the tabernacle, we shall devote the next chapter to an examination of its symbolism of number and form, and in subsequent pages consider the significance of color. Afterward we must take up its catalogue of representative objects from the realm of nature, and inquire, in regard to each of them, what it was intended to represent. A few symbols of minor importance, or of less evident meaning, will be passed by in this preliminary work, to be interpreted when seen in their connection with, and relation to, more prominent and more picturesque members of the system. i6 CHAPTER V. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. The symbolic use of number has left marks on the customs or literature of almost all the nations of antiquity, A Roman poet sings, — " Around his waxen image first I wind Three woollen fillets of three colors joined, Thrice bind about his thrice devoted head, Which round the sacred altar thrice is led : Unequal numbers please the gods." ^ Another Roman, commenting on this passage, says, " The power of almost all the gods is shown by a triplex sign ; as, the three-forked lightning of Jupiter, the tri- dent of Neptune, and the three-headed dog of Pluto." ^ A Greek philosopher declares, " All things are in triads, and the triad is in every thing ; for, as the Pythagoreans also say, the all and all things are bounded by three," and proceeds, " Wherefore, receiving from Nature her laws, we use this number also for the sacred rites of the gods." 3 Plutarch testifies that the Egyptians represented 1 Dryden's Virgil, Eclogue viii. The lines in the original are, — " Tema tibi haec primum triplici diversa colore Licia circumdo, terque haec altaria circum Effigiem duco : nuraero deus impare gaudet. 2 Servius' Commentary on Virgil at the place cited. 8 Aristotle: De Coelo, i. i. 182 I SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 183 the all by the most perfect triangle which could be drawn, unquestionably using the all in the same panthe- istic sense in which Aristotle and Pythagoras employed it as equivalent to the Deity. We shall not attempt to trace this usage in countries lying farther toward the east. It is certain that the Assyrians, the Hindoos, and the Chinese employed a symbolism of number ; and it is probable that they use* substantially the same system as obtained among the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans. It is to be expected that, in the advancement of learning, light will be reflected upon the symbolism of the Bible from the recently discovered monuments of Assyria ; and it may be that by the study of arrow-heads and wedges the knowledge of numerical symbolism among the Hebrews will be greatly advanced.^ At present, however, we must find our way as well as we can by means of a comparison of Hebrew usage with that of the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans. The symbolism of the three nations last mentioned had so much in common that we may regard it as one system derived from the Egyptians by the Greeks and Romans, as it was also by the Hebrews if they did not bring it with them into Egypt as an inheritance from their Chaldean ancestor. Difference of religion may have occasioned a more frequent symbolic use of a particular number in one nation than in another, and may even have modified its significance as it also some- times changes the meaning of words ; but in these three nations there was a general coincidence in the 1 Rawlinson : TheFive Great Monarchies. New York, 1871. Vol. i. p. 116; vol. iiL p. 31. 1 84 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. meaning of numbers, and in the selection of those which, being used in the service of religion, were therefore called sacred. It is thought by some that these sacred numbers were consecrated because they were found occurring in the visible universe, and might therefore be regarded as favorites of the gods. Seven, for example, being the sum total of the planets, and twelve corresponding with the divisions of the zodiac, these numbers must be peculiarly agreeable to the Being who had thus stamped them upon his creation. But this theory neither accounts for the use of seven and twelve in the particular meanings we find them carrying, nor furnishes any reason at all for the sacredness of three, four, and ten. Besides, the sun and the moon must be counted in with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, to make seven ; which, so far from being a necessary mode of conceiving of the planets, seems like an attempt to produce the number seven as something already esteemed and desired ; while the division of the zodiac into twelve parts is by no means unavoidable, and may have been determined by those who already regarded twelve as holy. It is more probable that the symbolism of number had its origin in the philosophy which, discovering every- where the reign of exact and universal law, identified it with the law of arithmetical relations. Nothing is more exact than arithmetic ; and the ancients thought that they had found in it the rule by which the worlds were made. Under this conviction, they speculated on number, and then sought in nature for phenomena corresponding with the results of their speculation. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 185 Having conceived a predilection for seven planets, rather than five, they arrived at the favorite number by adding the sun and the moon, to the five moving stars then known which might, with equal propriety, have been set in a family by themselves. Among systems of ancient philosophy, assuming that the law governing relations of number was identical with the law which pervades the visible universe, the system of Pythagoras is eminently illustrative of the sub- ject in hand. Its " fundamental doctrines are, that the essences of all things rest upon numerical relations ; that numbers are the principle of all that exists ; and that the world subsists by the rhythmical order of its different elements. Everywhere in nature appear the two elements of the finite and the infinite, which give rise to the elementary opposites of the universe ; the odd and even, one and many, right and left, male and female, fixed and moved, straight and curved, light and darkness, square and oblong, good and bad. The essence of number is unity, which is at once odd and even, and contains in itself in germ all the universe. It is at once the form and substance of all things, and identical with the Deity. Proceeding from itself, it begets duality ; and, returning upon itself, it begets trinity. Added to itself, it produces the line ; a third point placed on the other two gives the surface ; and a fourth point placed on the other three gives the pyramid or solid. The quadrate, or tetractys, and the decade, are, like unity, sacred numbers and first principles." ^ In the coronation of number as the reigning principle, 1 New American Cyclopedia. New York, 1863. Art. " Pythagoras." 16* l86 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. ■Pythagoras did but go beyond his countrymen and contemporaries ; for the opinion generally prevailed in his day, as it had for centuries, that the same laws which determined numerical relations were impressed on the universe and were discoverable in many if not in all things. Extravagant stories have been related by the admirers of Pythagoras of the extent of his travels, and personal contact with the learned men of foreign countries ; but it is admitted by the most critical historians that he visited Egypt, and that his philosophy may be an offshoot from that which was taught on the banks of the Nile. But, if he studied the symbolism of number in the schools where Moses had previously become learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, it is to be expected that his speculations, and those of his disciples, will reflect light on the use of numbers in matters of religion not only in Greece and Rome, but by the Egyptians and the Hebrews. ^ We thus connect the Hebrews with the Egyptians in our expectation of aid from the philosophy of Egypt, because there is no reason why Moses, renouncing the symbolism he learned as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, should institute a new system in its place ; and because there is too close a resemblance between that which we 1 Wilkinson says of the older Greek philosophers, in comparison with writers of the Alexandrian school, " The works of Plato, and other more ancient writers, evidently contain much that owes its origin to the knowledge they acquired from the Egyptians ; and Pythagoras imitated many notions of his instructors with scrupulous precision. Such authorities are of the greatest use in the examination of the dogmas of this people ; and they had the advantage of studying them at a time and place in which religion was not exposed to fanciful innovations." — Sec- ond Series of the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 227. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 187 find in his institutions, and that which he must have learned in Egypt, to permit such a supposition. Says Wilkinson, speaking of the seventy days of mourning for the dead, appointed among the Egyptians, "This arbitrary period cannot fail to call to mind the frequent occurrence of the numbers seven and seventy, which are observed in so many instances both among the Egyp- tians and the Jews." ^ We may recur to the brief resume of the system of Pythagoras, which we have copied, for illustrations of the mode in which aid is to be derived from the speculations of ancient philosophy in the interpretation of numerical symbolism. In his doctrine that the two elements of the finite and the infinite give origin to the distinction of odd and even, we find the key to the fact that the ancients apply only odd numbers to whatever relates to the gods, that is, to the infinite. Also, when we hear him speaking of unity as at once odd and even, we learn why three was regarded as the first of the odd numbers, and therefore pre-eminently significant of divine things. The numbers symbolically used in the tabernacle are three, four, five, seven, ten, and twelve ; and we propose to inquire, in reference to each of them, what there is in the speculations of philosophy to determine its symbolic meaning among the heathen, and then what was peculiar in the use of it by the Hebrews. III. Of three, the philosophers said that it was the first in the series of numbers of which we could speak as all ; two things when put together being mentioned as both, but 1 Wilkinson, Second Series, vol. ii. p. 459. l88 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. not as all. Several passages of Greek literature charac- terize three as including the beginning, middle, and end of a thing, and so its totality, or completeness.^ Aristotle argues that " a body is a complete magnitude, because, while a line is divisible in one way, and a superficies in two ways, a body is divisible in three ways ; and three are all, and thrice includes every thing. There is no other magnitude than a body or solid from the division of which a solid would result." ^ They found in nature many confirmations of the signi- ficance which their speculations had thus assigned to three. According to their conception, the material uni- I verse consisted of heaven, earth, and hades ; and duration was complete in the past, the present, and the future. Receiving, then, from Nature, as they believed, her laws, they applied the number three to the gods and whatever appertained to them, in testimony of the completeness of their being.^ It categorized them as immortal, infinite, and divine, in distinction from mortal, finite, and human. Three was an appropriate signature for the highest personality, as a result not only of speculation, but of the conception which they entertained of the origin of per- 1 Dionysius Halicamassensis, Antiq. Rom. iii. 12 : 'Y^-Rvrri&ziojaTOv yup eivai. Tov 6e rbv upidfiov elg iinaaav ufKpiajSTjTovfjfvov npuy/xarog dcaipeaiv upxyv TE Kot fiiaa, Kal TcTiEVTjjv exovra ev kavrC). Plutarch, Conviv. ix. 3 : Kat firiv 6 ■KavTuv upcdiiuv TrpiJTog teTiewq, t] filv Tpiag, ug u.pxvv koI fieaov exovaa Koi TE/lof. Johannes Laurentius Lydus, De Mensibus, iv. 44 : T^ yup 6vu6i awETi-Bovarig /xovadog npuTOi; upid/xdg etex^t/, bg KaXEiTCU vif eviov riTiEwg, on iTpu'Tog Tu nuvra arj^aivEi ual npuTog edsi^ev upxrjv, ftsaa, TE^og. 2 DeCoelo, i. i. 3 Plato (De Legibus iv. 716) applies the same language to the Deity as Diony- sius in the place above cited, applies to three, viz : 'O [mev dij i9e6f, ibanEp Kal 6 naTuitbg Tt^oyog, upx^jv te kuI teTievttjv koI fiiaa tuv ovtuv dndvTuv lx<^v. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 189 sonal gods. The impersonal all, energizing, produced the first personality. Here are three ideas, — first, the unknown god ; second, its action ; third, the product of its evolution. Not content, however, with this one triad, they made another by conceiving of three gods of the highest rank, called, in the mythology of Greece and Rome, Jupiter who ruled the air, Neptune the god of the sea, and Pluto who reigned in the under-world. The Egyptians divided their whole pantheon into groups of three, each triad having a local dominion, and a temple in which it was jointly worshipped.^ In the artificial symbolism of the ancients, form, as well as number, had significance ; and the triangle was among forms what three was among numbers. As three is the earliest number which restores the unity lost in duality, and the earliest to which we can apply the word all, so the triangle is the simplest of forms, being included by the fewest lines which could delineate a figure. It was employed, therefore, as a symbol, to convey by its form the same significance which was conveyed by the number of its sides considered as a number. That most beautiful triangle of which Plutarch speaks as being, among the Egyptians, the signature of " the all" was, as he informs us, rectangular, and of such proportions that, if three be taken as the length of the perpendicular, four will be the measure of the base, and five of the hypothenuse : in which scheme the perpen- 1 Wilkinson : Second Series of The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyp- tians, vol. i. p. 185. See on p. 343 of the same volume, an illustrative instance of the symbolism of three in the account given of the triple symbol, representing the perfection of the generative power of Osiris. 190 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. dicular is designed to represent the masculine nature, the base, the feminine, and the hypothenuse, the off- spring of both ; and accordingly the first will apply to Osiris the prime cause, the second to Isis the receptive power, and the last to Orus the effect of the other two.^ Mosaism was so antagonistic to all the systems of heathenism, in respect to the ideas inculcated, that it could not possibly use the triangle as an emblem of the one God whom it revealed. It prohibited altogether the use of symbols of Jehovah made with hands, and furnished in the shechinah a supernatural signature which might not be displaced by any other. But though there was no three-sided figure in the tabernacle, or in any thing connected with it, there are indications that the use of three as the number sug- gesting inherent completeness, and, by consequence, the divine Being, was retained by the Hebrews. Such indi- cations are discernible not only in the institutions established through the instrumentality of Moses, but in the national literature in subsequent generations till the time of the New Testament Apocalypse. For example : three limited the period which the peo- ple were required to spend in solemn waiting^ before Jehovah revealed his presence by lightning and thunder from the summit of Sinai to enter into a formal cove- nant with them according to previous arrangement. They had not only time for preparation, but a reminder, in the number of days thus spent, that the Being whom they expected was infinite and divine. 1 Plutarch : De Iside et Osiride, 56. See Wilkinson. Second Series, vol. i. p. 192. 2 Exod. xix. II, 16. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 191 Again : a person defiled by contact with the dead was required to be sprinkled with the water of separation on the third, and again on the seventh day; and was expressly declared not to be lustrated unless sprinkled on the third day, as well as on the seventh.^ As seven, the numerical sign of the covenant, results from the addition of three and four, the nvmibers representing the infinite and the finite, respectively, and thus marks the covenant as a transaction in which the two parties are engaged, the requirement of the two sprinklings, the first on the third day of the ceremonial, and the second after an interval of four days, must have been an impressive seal of restoration to the privileges of the covenant. The formula in which the officiating priest was to bless the people at the close of worship was a triplet of clauses containing the name of Jehovah in each ; and the law which prescribed the formula declares that to pronounce it was to put that sacred name upon the children of Israel.^ ' By their traditions the priests intensified the significance of three in this formula, accompanying the utterance of the triplet with a three- fold division of the fingers when their hands were stretched forth in the attitude of benediction.^ A similar threefold repetition is found in the vision of the throne of God vouchsafed to Isaiah. Two seraphs stood above the throne, and cried one to another, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." * However it may be with the uninitiated, one who has acquainted himself with the numerical symbolism of the ancient heathen nations, and compared with it the 1 Num. xix. 12. 2 Num. vi. 23, et seq. 8 Lund, Book III. ch. xlviii, n. 18. ^ Isa. vi. 1-3. 192 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Hebrew use of numbers, will not be likely to disbelieve that the triplicity of this ascription was determined by a law requiring for the countrymen and contemporaries of the prophet, three, rather than two or four, as the number representing that which is infinite and divine. Passing onward to the New Testament, we find Paul, who styles himself a Hebrew of the Hebrews, using in respect to the God of his fathers the triplex assertion, " Of him, and through him, and to him are all things ;" ^ and the writer of the Apocalypse declaring that he also had seen in vision the throne of God, and that symbolic beings around and before it were continually exclaiming as in the vision of Isaiah, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come," ^ thus designating the object of their reverence by three several appellations, affirming in the trisagion the per- fection of his holiness, and in the concluding ternary clause the eternity, independence, and indestructibility of his existence. There are, indeed, in the Hebrew Scriptures two or three instances where a word or phrase which has no reference to the infinite and divine is thrice used, so that such a reference in the cases above cited cannot be established by an appeal to universal usage ; but these exceptions to one rule fall under another which is more generic, namely, that triplicity implies inherent com- pleteness. The repetition is for the sake of saying the thing exhaustively ; as, for example, " The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, are these," ^ and " O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Jehovah." * There is either a law of nature, or a law 1 Rom. xL 36. 2 Rev. iv. 2-8. s jer. vii, 4. 4 jer. xxii. 29. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 193 if usage which, being already established in the time of tlic prophets, still remains, and affects us as if it were a law of nature, by which a threefold utterance is more forcible than a mere repetition, and gains nothing by further iteration. These instances, therefore, go to show that with the Hebrews three was the numerical sign of that which is in itself complete. But the heathen applied it to that which is divine for this very reason ; and Moses was so well acquainted with their usage, that he could not connect this number with the mention of God without being conscious that he was employing a symbol in common use in other nations, to represent that which is divine because inherently complete. If triplicity, as thus used, had been displeasing to him. he certainly would have devised some way of giving emphasis to his language without using the offensive symbol in immediate connection with the mention of Jehovah. But why should he reject the language of symbolism because it had been subjected to the service of a false religion, more than other language which had suffered a similar misuse .'' Why should he not employ the very symbol under consideration to inculcate the inherent perfection of the God whom he served } Further illustration of the symbolic use of three by the Hebrews may be found in the Apocalypse of the New Testament. The whole book seems to have been composed with a reference in the mind of the author to the significance of numbers ; but the conspicuous role of three is worthy of notice even if we do not wait to inquire what it signified. Stuart says, " With scarcely an exception, it is so arranged that either the number three, or else seven, four, ten, twelve, and (if parallelism 13 194 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. DC counted) two, control its modes of development ; i.e., the arrangement of its parts greater and smaller, the grouping of its objects, the assignment of attributes to them, the epexegetical clauses, and the order of action main and subordinate. Above all, the number three stands conspicuous in the whole plan, and in all its parts considerable and minute. Next to this stands the so-called sacred number seven, then four, then twelve, and lastly ten." ^ It is said that the Book of Job also exhibits in its divisions a similar reference in the mind of the author to three as a significant number.^ IV. The ancients, reserving three for things invisible and infinite, assigned to four the office of representing material substances, and found in it a special aptitude for this use, because if unity, or one, represents a point, a second point extends it to a line ; a third being added at right angles to the line extends it to a superficies ; and a fourth being superimposed extends the superficies to a solid. ^ In the symmetrical composition of this number out of the two factors which produce it both by addition and multiplication, they found a reason for representing 1 Commentary on the Apocalypse. Andover, 1845. Vol. i. p. 130. 2 Ibid, vol. i. p. 142. 8 Philo : De Mundi Opificio. Upurj] yup avrrj (sc. TETpaq) ttjv tov OTEpeov ipvaiv eSei^e tuv npo avTTJc; upc&/iuv Tolq uaufiaroic uvaKEt/xsvuv kuto. /xev yap TO iv TaTTETai to 2,£y6/j.Evov hv yEUfZETpia elvai crjfXElov (point)- Kara 6e to. dvo, , ypafinTj (line)- ypa/ifLTj 6e ectl /i?jkoc unTiaTEC nTiurov^ ds irpoayET'OfZEVOv yivETat inupavEia, tj TETanTat k-otu Tpiada- ETTKpavEia 6e npoc Tfjji tov CTEpEov (pvacv, kvbg SstTai TOV (Scfdovc o npooEdiv Tpu'idi, ylvETat TETpug- 6-&EV «at niya XPW^ avn(iifij]KEV eIi'm tov upc-dfibv tovtov, of ek ttiq aaoi/iinov koI vor)T7jg ovaiaQ fjyayEV Tj/xag elg hvoiav Tpixy SiaoTaTov cunaTog t?j (pvaei npuTov (uadrjToii. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 195 by it not only matter, but the universe of matter in its orderly arrangement, and therefore employed it as a signature of the cosmos.^ They accordingly found this number everywhere in the universe around them.^ There were four elements, four winds, and four seasons of the year ; the earth had four ends and four corners, and so had the heavens. In availing himself of that numerical symbolism which he had learned in Egypt, Moses was constrained to modify the meaning of four. Heathenism conceived of the material universe as the only revelation of the Being who created it ; but Moses knew that the visible world, beautiful and glorious as it appeared in itself, and as a manifestation of the Creator, was subsidiary to man, and to God's purposes in regard to him. Heathenism pointed only to the power and wisdom of God as evident in the orderly disposition of matter ; but through Moses a revelation was made of God's moral nature, as well as of his natural attributes. In Mosaism, as in Christianity, nature, though not unim- portant, was inferior to the supernatural. The material universe was regarded as subsidiary to a race of beings made in the likeness of God, in whose history the Creator would reveal his glory more fully than he had done in the earth beneath, or in the firmament above. All things were created to the intent that the wisdom of God (which the Egyptians discovered in the constitution 1 " Clemens mentions the custom of carrying four golden figures in the festivals of the gods. They were two dogs, a hawk, and an ibis, which, like the number four, had a mysterious meaning. The dogs represented the hemispheres, tlie Jiawk the sun, and the ibis the moon." Wilkinson, Second Series of Manners and Customs, vol. ii. p. 302. See also Philo, ibid ; and Plutarch, De Iside, 76. 2 Philo : De Plantationje Noe. 196 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. of things according to the laws of arithmetic and geometry,) might be made known even to principalities and powers in heavenly places by means of a people whom God had chosen for that end. In Mosaism, therefore, four represented, as in hea- thenism, that in which God dwelt, and revealed himself ; but it represented his church rather than the material universe, the people of Israel rather than the rest of manlcind, because, according to the idea of Mosaism, Israel was his dwelling-place. In the purpose of God, all other nations were ultimately to be included with the Hebrews as his people ; but this purpose, though obscurely hinted at in the communications which Jehovah made from time to time to the Hebrews, was not fully revealed till the advent of Christ. It was to the Hebrews, in distinction from other nations, that Jehovah promised to come and dwell among them, to be their God, and have them for his people. If, then, we find four occurring in the tabernacle, we must think of the Hebrew theocracy, the chosen people of God organized into a community of which he was the ruler, rather than of the cosmos. ^ Four had not ceased to signify in Hebrew symbolism the visible world, and the revelation it makes of the Creator; but in this symbolic institution it is to be referred to the spiritual kingdom of God in the world, and not to the world itself. As four represented in heathenism not only the cosmos, but its revelation of the wisdom and power. 1 Bahr, though endeavoring to guard against the cosmical views of heathenism, nevertheless refers the quadrangle, so often occurring in the tabernacle, to the material universe as the habitation of God. The view presented in the text accords with that advocated by Kurtz in Studien und Kritiken, 1844, p. 342 et seq. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 197 employed in its production, so in Mosaism this number referred not merely to the Hebrew church, but to the revelation of himself which Jehovah was making in and by means of it. It was the signature of the whole collective body of God's redeemed people, employed to represent them in the revelations and visions by means of which God made himself known, showing itself not only in the quadrangular ground-plan of the tabernacle and of the temple at Jerusalem, but in the ideal temple exhibited to the prophet Ezekiel, in the New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse, and in the symbols of redeemed humanity which Ezekiel saw in vision beneath the sapphire throne of Jehovah. The number four is so conspicuous, in the last instance, that it may be instructive to notice how fre- quently it has been introduced. Out of the midst of the cloud which was the first scene of the vision, appeared four living creatures, every one having four faces and four wings ; the four faces of each were faces of four different animals. The four symbolic beings supported a throne, which they carried with equal ease toward any one of the four points of the compass. There were four wheels animated and moved by these living creatures. As a triangle was coincident in meaning with three, we might expect that a figure bounded by four sides would have the same significance as four. Not only does coincidence between form and number in the first case excite expectation of it in the other ; but, anteriorly to the knowledge of such coincidence, there is, in the laws which regulate all expression of thought, ground of expectation that there will be such accord between number and form in their symbolism that a superficial 17* 198 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. figure shall not in its significance traverse, but har- monize with, the number of lines which constitute its boundary. Accordingly we find that, as four was the numerical signature of the theocracy, the tabernacle was four-sided, and the court of corresponding shape, as was also in after times the temple at Jerusalem, The temple seen in vision by Ezekiel, and the New Jerusalem described in the Apocalypse, were also four-sided. The reason why some of the figures exhibited by a horizon- tal section of these symbolic edifices were square, and others oblong, will appear hereafter : it is sufficient for the present purpose that they were all quadrilateral, as if, in the symbolism of form, only a four- sided figure could represent the thought conveyed by the numeral four in the symbolism of number. Various meanings were attached to five by the Pythagoreans, springing out of its relation to other numbers ; but the Hebrews appear to have used it only in its relation to ten. What it signified when thus used, may be inferred from explanations found in Greek literature ; of which we will specify two. A disciple of Pythagoras speaks of this number as " half divine, not only because it is the half of ten, but also because it occupies the middle or half-way place in the line of numbers." ^ Another writer says, " Five receiving four, which is the signature of matter, increases it, and carries it on toward the completeness which results from 1 Quoted by Bahr, vol. i. p. 186. Kat 'H/iti?eof, ov yibvov bn tov Sena, -deiov ovTog, Tjn'caeia eanv, iMu /cat qtc ev tw Wtw dia-ypufifian ev ry Kara ^leaov heTaKTO. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 199 growth ; for five is the divider of ten, and, as it were, an image of the perfection belonging to it." ^ The conclu- sion is, that five, in its relation to ten, denoted the incomplete, or, if used with mathematical precision, the dimidiate, condition of that which would be finished in ten. VII. Of all numbers conveying significance in matters of religion, seven was most frequently employed by the Hebrews. It was also in use among other ancient nations, particularly the Chaldeans, the Arabs, the Persians, and the Egyptians.^ Traces of it are found in the literature ^ and mythology of Greece ; but they are less frequent and less deep than those left by other numbers, especially by three and four. The usual sources of interpretation, therefore, fail to a corre- sponding extent. The symbol of Pan and his pipe of seven reeds was probably designed to represent the harmony of the universe, and the delight in it of the intelligent but not personal source from which it was evolved ; seven referring to the number of the planets, and to " the music of the spheres." The earliest explanation given in Greek literature of the significance of this number on speculative grounds is that given by Philo, who praises it at great length as the most honorable of all the numbers within the first 1 Johannes Laurentius Lydus : De Mensibus, ii. 9. 'H yilp ttevto.^ irapaka^ovaa TTjv TETpada i/lr/f Xoyov ixovaav . . . ifi^rjae Teavrijv kol npoTj-yayev km ttjv unh TTjQ av^TjaeuQ aluviov uvanvKkriaiV fieiiopuov yap TTjg deaado^, koI wf av elduTiov £071 TTjq K01V7/C TeTieiOTTjTOg TJ ■KEVTO.g. 2 Gesenius, Lex. Heb. J?5^- Wilkinson : Second Series, vdI. ii. p. 459. 8 Gesenius, ibid. p2\i/. 200 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. decade ; being formed by the union of three and four, the signatures, respectively, of incorporeal and corporeal things ; containing in itself all arithmetical, geometrical, and musical proportions ; dividing the seventy years of human life, according to Solon, into periods of ten, and, according to Hippocrates, into seven periods, each consisting of seven or a multiple of seven. The Pythagoreans, he says, assimilate it to the Ruler of the universe, because it is so unique among the numbers.^ If the Pythagoreans, and the Egyptian priests from whom Pythagoras learned the significance of numbers, applied seven to the Ruler of the universe, it was probably with reference to the union between the primal all and the all which had been evolved. That they so applied it, rests for the present on the testimony of Philo confirmed by the common interpretation of the myth in regard to Pan. The study of Egyptology may confirm or refute this testimony. Meantime it suggests a probable explanation of the religious usage of seven both by pantheistic and monotheistic nations. With diversity of meaning, incident to diversity of religion, it signified alike in the two opposite systems the union of the infinite and the finite. In heathenism, seven was the signature of the Ruler of the universe, present in, and acting on the universe. In monotheism, it signified the presence of the one living and true God in communion with his intelligent creation. Moses had been instructed, doubtless, in respect to the use of seven in the philosophy of Egypt, and was probably acquainted also with its different and yet similar use in the religion of his ancestor who emigrated from ^ De Mundi Opificio. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 201 Chaldea. For there is evidence that Abraham, as well as the pantheistic patrons of Egyptian idolatry, attached symbolic significance to this number. In the language he learned in his native Mesopotamia and transmitted to his descendants, seven, and the appeal to God made in an oath, were expressed by the same word, so that one might literally translate a portion of the record of his covenant with the king of Gerar, " Wherefore he called that place the Well of the Oath, because there they sware both of them ; " or, the Well of Seven, because there they both were sevened. It is worthy of notice, also, that Abraham gave to Abimelech seven ewe-lambs as a witness or seal of the covenant by the terms of which the well was confirmed to Abraham as his property.^ Balaam, who resided ^ not far from the original home of Abraham, seems to have attached a similar value to the number seven. Retained by the king of Moab to pronounce an inspired curse on the Hebrews, he directed that seven altars should be built, and offered thereon seven bullocks and seven rams. Failing to procure the desired oracle against Israel, Balak conducted the prophet to another eminence, where he again required that seven altars should be erected, and again sacrificed seven bull- ocks and seven rams, in hope of receiving a message from God of different import. Disappointed a second time, the king brought him to a third high place, where he once more repeated his requirement of seven altars, and his sacrifice of seven bullocks and seven rams. In this attempt of Balaam to obtain an oracle, there was, as in the oath of Abraham, an appeal to God ; and probably the number seven indicated in both cases a 1 Gen. xxi. 25-31. 2 Deut. xxiii. 4 ; Num. wiii. 7. 202 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. transaction between God and man. It signified spiritual communion between the Creator and his intelligent creature, as in pantheism it signified the union of the infinite and the finite. We need not here catalogue the instances in which seven occurs in the tabernacle. When we come to the work of interpretation, the key, furnished by the two examples just given of the use of seven by monotheists outside of Mosaism, will be applied to the symbolic insti- tutions of the Hebrews, in the expectation that it will so effectually accomplish its office as to prove itself the true key. X. In all nations which use the decimal system of compu- tation, ten has a significance derived from its place between the first and second decades. The Egyptians and the Pythagoreans regarded it as the beginning of the second, rather than the close of the first division of numbers ; their natural progression being as far as nine, after which their retrogression takes place, ten becoming once more the monad. There being no elementary number beyond nine, the Pythagoreans called it ocean and the horizon ; but ten was called heaven, being the most perfect boundary of number.^ They discovered a mystic similarity between ten and four, founded in the fact that the sum of the first four digits is equal to ten ; and, as they conceived of the tetractys as the numericg.! sign of body or the visible world, so ten represented the world in its finished and perfected condition. Four symbolized the world with such order and beauty as it 1 Wilkinson : Second Series, vol. i. p. 197. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 203 now possesses ; but ten suggested a cosmos in which no defects should be apparent.^ Ten also represented as a perfect boundary of number, the totahty of the world, and of worldly things. The stars were numbered in clusters of ten ; armies were enrolled by the same rule ; property, consisting at first almost exclusively of flocks and herds, was reckoned by tens. Doubtless from this mode of reckoning property, resulted the rule of giving one-tenth, rather than some other fraction, as an acknowledgment that a person's whole property ^ is from God ; and the univer- sality of this rule is one of many proofs that, notwith- standing the diversity of speech in the ancient world, the language of number was ecumenical. Ten is of frequent occurrence in the Hebrew institutions and writings. Both Jewish and Christian commentators ^ have noticed that, during the six days of God's work of creation, there were ten successive fiats by which the world was made, and that after the record of the tenth follows the declaration, " Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." They discover, in this mode of narration, an intended 1 Philo, De Miindi Opificio : "H & earlv atria, 61 Tjv nporepa fiev k(i7iuaTi}0E Kol kx^or)(j>6priaev tj yrj, 6 6' ovpavoc SieKoafielro av&ijQ kv upLd/Ltu TeXeiu, TerpaSr j]v dcKudog rf/i; navreT^ovg ovk uv dia/xuproL rlr elvai Tiiycjv acpopfiriv re Kai nTjyjjv. 5 yap evteXexcio. deKug, tovto Terpug, ug toiKE 6vvd/j.Ef el ovv ol lino /lovadog uxpc TETpudog E^T/g crvvTEdEiEv upp')/xol,6sKdda yEvv7]aovaiv,TjTLg opog rfjg anEipiag t€)v upi&/j.(I)v Earl, wEpl bv ug KafiizTTjpa siTiOvvTai Kal avaKciixnTovct. 2 Spencer (De Legibus Hebraeorum, Liber III. Dis. i. cap. x.) recognizes in tithes a symbolic meaning of ten, but erroneously interprets ien as signifying the perfection of God. Three signified inherent completeness, and te7i the complete- ness resulting from addition or growth. The tenth in tithes symbolized, therefore, the whole property, and not the perfection of Him to whom the tenth was dedicated. 3 Maimonides : Pirke Aboth v. i. Delitzsch : Genesis. Leipzig, 1853. P. 20- 204 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. correspondence with the progress of number from one to ten, where the first decade is finished by the com- mencement of the second ; the tenth fiat of the Almighty representing the completeness of the work, as the seventh day signified its end. They discover the law of number not only in the thought and speech of the narrator, but even in the work of creation itself ; ten, which is the natural sign of complete organization, being thus stamped upon the world which God had organized and finished, as well as brought into existence. The author of the Book of Genesis, having recorded the ten successive fiats of creation, proceeds to build upon this record his history of the world, and in ten divisions, each commencing with the words, " These are the generations," he completes it to his own time. Such an arrangement of his history was doubtless intended to signify that it was not a fragment, or a mere aggregation of independent fragments, but an organized whole. " The number ten stamps upon the entire book, or rather upon the early history of Israel recorded in the book, the character of completeness." ^ The seal of ten was impressed not only on the creation, but on the covenant between Jehovah and the Hebrews, of which the ten commandments were the foundation and witness. The summary of the law consisted of " ten words," ^ corresponding in number to the ten words by means of which all things were created. To one who knows only modern habits of thought, it may seem that there was no designed reference to the number ten in the construction of the decalogue ; but no 1 Keil : Comm. on Pentateuch. Edinburgh, 1869. Vol. i. p. 36. 2 Exod. xxxiv. 28 ; Deut. x. 4, margin. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 205 ancient nation would have failed to discover significance in the fact that the commandments were no more and no less than ten. Tithes, though common to all the nations anterior to the time of Moses, were expressly enjoined in the theocracy. The armies of Israel were arranged in decades ; so that there were captains of tens, of hundreds, and of thousands. When there was occasion to speak of any composite unit made up of elementary units, ten was the number employed to represent it ; as, for example, the ten horns in the Book of Daniel and in the Apocalypse. The conclusion of the whole matter is, that the Hebrews, in common with other ancient nations, asso- ciated with ten the idea of the wholeness of any object which consisted of parts, and employed it particularly as the signature of the world in its entirety. What we mean when we say the whole world, they intended when they stamped upon what they said, concerning the world, the number ten. * XII. Twelve was so evidently used by Moses as the signature of the Hebrew people, that we need not dwell long on the proof. When the covenant between Jehovah and the people was ratified at Sinai, twelve pillars represented the twelve tribes of Israel.^ The breast- plate of the high-priest contained twelve gems, each inscribed with the name of one of the twelve sons of Jacob.2 Twelve loaves of bread were placed on the table in the holy place every sabbath day.^ 1 Exod. xxiv. 4. 2 Exod. xxviii. 21. 8 Lev. xxiv. 5. iS 2o6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. But, while there can be no disagreement respecting the symboHsm of twelve, there is room for difference of opinion in regard to the ground of its significance. At first thought, one is ready to believe that its election to be the numerical symbol of the covenant people resulted from the accident that there were no more and no less than twelve sons in the family of Jacob. But when we consider that the number is constantly and carefully adhered to, the two half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh being reckoned as two tribes in any computation in which Levi cannot properly appear, and as one tribe when Levi is counted,^ we shall perhaps conclude, that if Jacob had begotten eleven or thirteen sons, instead of twelve, the tribal arrangement would nevertheless have been made according to the number twelve. When we remember that the New Testament shows the same careful adherence to twelve in the number of the apostles, one being added to the eleven after the apostasy of Judas, and twelve being always the signature of the college of 1 In the enrolment at Sinai, and also in that made in the plains of Moab, of men liable to military duty, Ephraim and Manasseh were counted as two tribes ; the tribe of I-evi being exempt on account of their duty to the sanctuary. Stanley (Jewish Church, Second Series, p. 450 et scq.) has graphically shown that, though not enrolled, they sometimes rendered efficient service as volunteers. In the encampment, Ephraim and Manasseh were also reckoned as two tribes ; Levi occu- pying the ground immediately contiguous to the tabernacle enclosure, and therefore not available as one of the twelve which in four triads must form the square within which Jehovah dwelt and reigned. But in the dying benediction of Moses (Deut. xxxiii.), as in that of Jacob (Gen. xlix.), Levi occupies his place as one of the twelve, while the name of Joseph appears instead of Ephraim and Manasseh. So in Ezekiel (xlviii.), Ephraim and Blanasseh are counted as two tribes when the division of the restored Canaan is the theme, but are reckoned as only one when in the same chapter the twelve gates of the restored Jerusalem are mentioned. In the Apocalypse also (vii. 5-8) the twelve is carefully adliered to by the mention of Levi and Joseph as representatives of tribes in the enumeration of those who were sealed. SYMBOLISM OF NUMBER AND FORM. 207 apostles, even when by the calling of Paul it consisted of thirteen, the weight of evidence is augmented. The fact that twelve is associated with the promise that Ishmael should become a nation,^ and again with the record that the promise was fulfilled,^ adds something more to the proof. It is alleged in addition that heathen nations originally divided their territory, if not their population, into twelve parts to correspond to the divis- ions of the zodiac.^ Even the model republic of Plato was conformed in its equal segments to the ideal twelve.'* If, then, twelve was the ecumenical signature of a nation, so that Jacob's family must be conformed to it by addition or subtraction in case his sons had been more or less than this number, the question respecting the ground of this significance remains unanswered. There is still room for difference of opinion : some deriving the usage from the custom among the heathen of conforming their institutions to the features of nature, according to which they divided a country, as they believed the heavens were divided, into twelve parts ; and others from numerical speculations similar to those by which we have endeavored to explain the significance of other numbers. We have already intimated our belief that these speculations are older than the divisions of the zodiac ; and for this reason, as well as on account of the very decided antagonism evident in Mosaism to any remnant of an astronomical religion,^ accept the theory 1 Gen. xvii. 20. 2 Gen. xxv. 16. 3 Balir : Symbolik, vol i. p. 203 et seq. 4 Plato : De Legibus, vi. 758. 5 Probably the only allusion in the Old Testament to the twelve signs of the zodiac is in the account of the reformation of religion by King Josiah, who put down the idolatrous priests that burned incense " to the sun, and to the moon, and to the twelve signs, and to all the host of heaven " (2 Kings xxiii. 5, marginal reading). 2o8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. which traces the significance of twelve to philosophical speculation. What were the particular processes of thought which determined the significance of twelve, it may be impossible to learn ; but it does not seem incredi- ble that in the time of the patriarchs men should have reasoned as fancifully as Augustine did, who thought that the number of the tribes of Israel and of the apostles was significant because the parts of seven — that is, three and four — multiplied together produce twelve.^ But, in whatever way twelve acquired its symbolic power, there is reason to believe that, where the estab- lished religion was a cosmical pantheism, this number was the symbol of a country spread out toward the four points of the compass, and enjoying the favor of the gods, and that in Mosaism it symbolized the Hebrew people as a nation divinely organized and governed.^ 1 De Civitate Dei, xv. 20. See also Sermo III. on Ps. cxiii 2 Readers who are especially interested in the symbolism of number are referred to monographs by Kurtz (Die symbolische Dignitat der Zahlen an der Stiftshiitte) in Studien und Kritiken, 1844; by Kliefoth (Die Zahlensymbolik der heiligen Schrift) in Theologische Zeitschrift, Schwerin, 1S62 ; by Leyrer (Zahlen bei den Hebraem, in Hertzog's Real-Encyklopadie ; and by Hadley (The Number Seven) in the New Englander, 1S58, and reprinted in Essays Philological and Critical, New York, 1873, CHAPTER VI. SYMBOLISM OF COLOR. The symbolism of color in the tabernacle was confined to the curtains of the edifice and the garments of its priesthood, both of which were of fine-twined linen, blue, purple, and crimson. The four colors here indi- cated all inhered in the same material subjected to different processes of manufacture ; the fine thread of the byssus being in one process bleached to the greatest possible whiteness, and in the other three dyed with blue, purple, and crimson. That white linen was employed as a symbol, appears from many passages of the New Testament where its significance is declared and explained. It was a repre- sentative of light, resembling it somewhat in color, ^ but more in brightness^ and purity.^ In the realm of spiritual ideas, it was the synonyme of light itself employed as a symbol. For example : the garment of white in which the Ancient of Days was clothed when Daniel saw him in vision, * seated on his throne of fire, was equivalent to the verbal metaphor, God is light, l Matt. xvii. 2. 2 Luke ix. 29, xxiv. 4 ; Mark ix. 3. 3 Rev. xix. 8, 14 ; xv. 6. * Dan. vii. 9. 18* 209 210 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. whatever that may signify. No other interpretation of the white garment will, in this case, be consistent with the remaining imagery of the vision. The passage which speaks of it is, as the English translators believed, parallel with one in the Book of Psalms, in which Jehovah is said to cover himself with light as with a garment.^ "The garments of the transfigured Christ are said by Matthew to have been " white as the light ; " ^ and Mark declares that they " became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them." ^ But light, as well as whiteness, is both splendid and' pure. Either symbol may represent either idea as its chief, but not as its only meaning. The light in which God clothes himself is splendid, but it is also pure. He is holy, but he is also glorious. The light symbolizes him as glorious in his holiness, or as pure in his unapproachable and dazzling splendor, whichever idea may for the time be most prominent. White raiment is mentioned in the Scriptures as a symbol appropriate not only to God and the angels, but to holy men ;^ in which case the leading and prominent idea is necessarily that of ethical purity, though the element of splendor is not wanting ; for there is in all true holiness, however devoid of position and power, a glory which dazzles or rejoices the beholder according as he is himself a child of darkness, or of light. The writer of the Apocalypse, in his description of the marriage of the Lamb, defines the significance of the. white robes in which the bride was attired. He says in so many words, " The fine linen is the righteousness of saints." ^ Holiness is in this case the principal idea, as 1 Ps. civ. 2. 2 Matt. xvii. 2. 3 Mark ix. 3. 4 Rev. xix. 8, vii. 14. 5 Rev. xix. S. SYMBOLISM OF COLOR. 2il it always is an idea inseparable from white raiment employed as a religious symbol. Holiness, then, is signified by white linen, wherever found in the tabernacle. Whether it relates to God or to man, the symbol repre- sents purity, and its accompanying splendor ; the latter so great in the holiness of the Holy One of Israel, as to be an important element in the composite idea, but less conspicuous in the derived holiness of his covenant people. Moses himself informed us what the fine-twined linen denoted, when he termed the white apparel, in which the high-priest officiated at the annual expiation, " the holy garments." ^ The Hebrew word rendered bhie is primarily the name of a shell-fish, and derivatively of the dye yielded by it. As the word is nowhere in the Old Testament affixed to any of the hues of nature, we look in vain to the Hebrew Scriptures for aid in determining whether it is correctly rendered " blue," and, if so, what shade of that color it represents. Its equivalent in the Septua- gint is a word applied by the ancients to the clear firmament and the deep sea. Philo and Josephus agree with the Septuagint in the selection of a Greek equiva- lent, and testify that the color intended is that of the sky.2 We are to understand, however, a darker sky than that of New England or Old England ; for in the lands of the Bible the atmosphere is clearer,^ and the firma- ment .consequently deeper and darker, than in moister climates. There are days when even in northern lati- 1 Lev. xvi. 4, 32. 2 Philo : De Vita Mosis, liber III. Josephus : Antiq,, liber III. c. vu § 4. 3 Thomson : The Land and the Book, vol. i. p. 1 7. 212 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. tudes the transparency of the sky seems to extend to an infinite depth, as if it were " No domain For fickle, short-lived clouds to occupy Or to pass through ; but rather an abyss In which the everlasting stars abide, And whose soft gloom and boundless depth might tempt The curious eye to look for them by day." The fact that the ancients attributed the same hue both to the firmament and to the sea, also indicates that, when speaking of the heavens as blue, they had in mind a very dark shade of that color, such as is reflected from the peculiarly saline waters of the Mediterranean.^ The color, then, being a deep cerulean, or marine, it is said that the Egyptians painted or clothed with it the images of those gods who ruled in the firmament, or controlled the sea.^ There is no reason to believe that the blue found in the Mosaic institutions ever referred to water, or that Moses had any occasion to symbolize that element. It is, however, to be presumed that, in the pictorial repre- sentation of the system of truth he was commissioned to teach, he would need something to suggest the idea of heaven as a place where God reveals himself more fully than on earth ; and, if so, what would he more natu- rally employ than the color of heaven as visible from the earth.-* — this being a sign whose symbolism was founded in nature, and established in usage. 1 Nejy American Cyclopedia, art. Mediterranean. See also in Andrews' Latin Lex., Caeruleus. 2 Eusebius : Praeperatio Evangelica, iii. ii ; Creuzer, iv. 595 ; and Jer. x. 9. SYMBOLISM OF COLOR. 213 If he would represent that Jehovah, whose dwelHiig is in heaven, had come down to earth to dwell with his covenant people, how could he do it better than by employing in the habitation made with hands the azure hue of the visible heaven ? If he wished to teach that the priests, and the sacrifices they offered, were an " example and shadow of heavenly things," ^ how perti- nent would it be to weave into their official attire threads of that cerulean tint, which in his day communicated such thoughts to the eye as are now conveyed to the ear by the audible pronunciation of the word heaven ! We find in the Scriptures, outside of the symbolic institutions established by Moses, and even outside of all representations given through human instrumentality, some instances in which God made symbolic use of the color under consideration ; and in these instances its correspondence with heaven as the object symbolized is, if possible, even more evident than when employed by Moses. When the covenant was ratified at Sinai, Moses, Aaron, and seventy of the elders of Israel, by divine direction ascended the mountain, and, apart from the mass of their brethren, were favored with a vision of Jehovah. " They saw the God of Israel : and there was under his feet as it were a work of clear ^ sapphire, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness," ^ The word sapphire is the same in the original Hebrew as in English, so that there is no reason to doubt that these 1 Heb. viii. 5. 2 Gesenius defines the word which the Enghsh version renders paved as equiva- lent io clear: T\\jl, from HJ^V) (^/^fl^w^w, and not from nJ5'» a baick. 8 Exod. xxiv. icw 2 14 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. chosen representatives of the covenant nation saw in their vision a blue color under the feet of Jehovah like that of the gem still called, as it was then, sapphire — a color still further described by Moses as similar to the body of heaven in its clearness. That this gem was selected purposely, and with discrimination, to illustrate the glory which accompanied the God of Israel in his descent from heaven, is evident from its recurrence in a parallel instance of later date. In the vision which opens the Book of Ezekiel, the sapphire is again employed to represent the heavenly glory of Jehovah ; but it is not, as in Exodus, a floor of this translucent blue under his feet that is seen, but a throne of sapphire on which he sits exalted over four cherubic symbols of his redeemed creation.! What can the blue gem employed in these two tableaux indicate, but that the God who thus revealed himself on Sinai and by the River Chebar, was an inhabitant and a king in heaven, as distinguished from earth, that he lived and reigned in the beautiful expanse which glows like sapphire over our heads .-* If this be the symbolic significance of the gem, its meaning must be due to its color ; and the same color must have the same meaning when produced by the art of the dyer as when found in nature. We conclude, then, that blue in the tabernacle is the chromatic signature of heaven, or of heavenliness, and that symbols tinged with this color represent things which in their origin or nature are heavenly. Cloth of purple was much prized by the Greeks and Romans, who included under this appellation a wide 1- Ezek. i. 26, X. i. SYMBOLISM OF COLOR. 215 range of color, extending from red slightly tinged with blue to shades in which the blue was predominant ; the dye being in all cases derived from shell-fish. From this habit of comprising under purple all shades that can be produced by mixing red and blue, it resulted, in the first place, that this appellation was given to fabrics closely resembling in color the cerulean of the clear firmament ; and, in the second place, that this cerulean blue was confounded by some modern scholars with purples containing a large admixture of red.^ Many shades of purple having been produced by the art of the dyer in the stage of advancement it had reached at the time of the Roman emperors, there was perhaps as much diversity in the value as in the color of the cloths manufactured. All purples of the sea, as those derived from shell-fish began to be called after counterfeit purples from vegetable dyes had made their appearance, were esteemed, but some much more than others by reason of their peculiar gorgeousness, espe- cially those changeable fabrics which with every move- ment of the cloth reflected a new style of splendor. Some fashions were much costlier than others for the reason that the liquid in which they were dyed was obtained from a species of shell-fish yielding it in very minute quantities, while others could be produced from a different species affording a much larger supply. Several cities on or near the eastern shores of the Mediterranean were celebrated for the manufacture of cloth of purple, each having its specialty. Of these. Tyre and Thyatira should be here mentioned ; the latter because allusion is made in the New Testament to its 1 For a disentanglement of the confusion, see Bahr : Symbolik, vol. i. p. 305. 2l6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. trade in purple,^ and the former because its fabric is so frequently mentioned in Latin literature, and with so high commendation of its beauty.^ In the earlier days of Rome, purple had been worn only by magistrates as a badge of office ; but the progress of wealth and luxury was afterward so great, that the first of the emperors thought it necessary to put restriction on the use of it in order to preserve the significance of the ancient symbol.^ Still more stringent decrees were issued by emperors of later date, till certain fabrics of this color, including those held in highest estimation, were entirely interdicted to the Roman citizen, and reserved for the exclusive use of the imperial household.* In the employment of purple as a mark of official distinction, the Romans followed the custom of some, if not all older nations. The king of Ithaca, if we may believe Homer, wore a mantle of this color at the siege of Troy ; ^ the kings of Midian were clothed in purple raiment when slain by the Hebrews under Gideon.^ The Chaldean king, Belshazzar, offered to any one who would interpret for him the fearful writing on the wall, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom, and wear purple and gold as appropriate insignia of his high position.''' Not only kings, emperors, and their subordinates in civil authority, wore this color, but sometimes priests, as a mark of honor to their office and the deities whom 1 Acts xvi. 14. 2 Andrew's Latin Lex., Tyrius. 3 Suetonius, Cjes. 43. 4 Dion Cassius Cocceianus, xlix. i5, Ivii. 13. Suetonius, Nero, 32. Gibbon, Decline and Fall. ch. xl. § iii. 5 Odyssey, xix. 225. 6 Judg. viii. 26. T Dan. v. 7, margin. SYMBOLISM OF COLOR. 217 they served.^ Even the images of the gods were adorned with raiment of purple.^ What, now, can we learn from these customs of other ancient nations respecting the import of purple among the Hebrews ? It must have been with them, as with their contem- poraries and neighbors, a mark of distinction suggesting the idea of royal majesty and authority. Its appearance in the curtains of the tabernacle marked that central edifice as the habitation of the Ruler of the encampment. The purple in the garments of the priests indicated that they belonged to the royal household, and were officers of the King. The two Hebrew words which taken together are rendered " scarlet " in the authorized version, denote a color derived from an insect called by naturalists coccus ilicis, found in large quantities on certain species of the oak. The Arabic name of the insect is kernies, the root of our word crimson. The dye was therefore a crimson, rather than a scarlet, red.^ The only natural object to which the tint is applied in the Old Testament is the lips.* Philo says it is " similar to fire because each is red ; " ^ Josephus speaks of it as a natural emblem of fire ; ^ and Pliny describes it as a gay, lively, bright red, approaching the color of fire.'' 1 Braun : Vestitus Sacerdotum Hebraeorum, lib. I. p. 216. 2 Jer. X. 9 ; Baruch vi. 12, 71. 8 A scarlet dye is now procured from the coccus cacti, or cochineal of commerce (which is similar to, and has superseded the coccus ilicis) by adding to it a solution of tin in muriatic acid. But this modification of the natural tint is a modem discovery. See Beckmann's History of Inventions. 4 Song of Solomon iv. 3. 6 De Vita Mosis. 6 Antiq. III. vii. § 7. T Hist. Nat. ix. 65 and xxi. 22. 19 2i8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. In Hebrew usage, the specific name which the color derived from the insect is, with few exceptions, apphed only to thread or cloth. If there be no other, there is at least one exception, namely, in the passage, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool,"^ where the prophet divides the two words which ordinarily denote the insect dye, using one in the first, and the other in the second clause. Commonly the Hebrews employ the more generic adavi to signify red ; but that the name of the insect dye when applied to cloth was synonymous with adam, is evident from the passage quoted above from Isaiah, where sins are characterized as red like crimson. It being settled that the fourth sacred color of Mo- saism was crimson, we are prepared to seek for its significance by a comparison of cases in which it was used as a symbol or figure. We will first examine instances where the peculiar tint of the coccus is specified, and afterward some in which red is mentioned without specification. The earliest mention of the coccus is in the record of the birth of Zarah and Pharez, twin sons of Judah, born in Canaan before the Israelites went down to Egypt. A thread of crimson was used to mark the elder of the twins.^ In the ritual prescribed by Moses for the cleansing of the leper, two birds alive and clean, cedar-wood, crimson of the coccus, and hyssop, having been provided, one of the birds was killed over living water ; and the living bird, the cedar-wood, the crimson, and the hyssop 1 Isa. i. 18. 2 Gen. xxxviii. 28. SYMBOLISM OF COLOR. 219 having been dipped in the blood of the bird slain over living water, the living bird was set at liberty, and the leper was sprinkled seven times with the mixture of blood and water in which these symbols had been dipped.^ When the water of separation was prepared, by means of which persons defiled by contact with a dead body might be purified of their uncleanness, and restored to fellowship with Jehovah and the covenant people, the crimson of the coccus was an ingredient joined with cedar-wood and hyssop, as in the lustration of the leper.^ A line of crimson thread was given by the spies of Joshua to Rahab, with directions to suspend it from the window of her house over the city-wall, as their pledge that, in the destruction of Jericho, she should be preserved alive.^ From this comparison of cases, it seems probable that the crimson of the coccus was a symbol of life. In the case of the twins, the thread marked the first-born, and proved his right of primogeniture. In the ritual for cleansing a leper, the " two birds alive and clean " were natural emblems of the restoration of one who as a leper had been unclean, and excluded from personal and from representative participation in the services of the sanctuary. The blood of the slain bird was a symbol of the blood or life of a man, which he had forfeited, and paid by his substitute ; * and the release of the other represented, even to an inexperienced eye, the restor- ation of the leper to the freedom and fellowship of the people of God ; or, in other words, to life in the sense of membership in the holy community over which Jehovah 1 Lev. xiv. 4-7. 2 Num. xix. 6. 3 Josh. ii. 18. 4 Lev. xvii. 11. 220 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. reigned. The dipping of the live bird in the blood of the other could signify nothing else than the lustration of its principal by the vicarious sacrifice of the life which had been taken : the addition of pure water and hyssop, both well-established symbols of purification, added emphasis to the ceremony. What, then, was the import of the two remaining symbols, — the cedar-wood and the crimson .'' Cedar, as oi^e of the most durable of woods, was a fit emblem of the continuance of life : crimson, by its resemblance to the color of health and vital energy, was equally appropriate as a symbol of life in its fulness and vigor. Such must be its meaning when, in the Song of Solomon, the lips of the bride are said to be like a thread of crimson. The significance of this color, as an ingredient in the water of separation, was doubtless the same as in the lustration of a leper. The application of it to a person who, by contact with a corpse, had been brought into rapport with death, was a sign that he was now restored to fellowship with the living and life-giving Jehovah. The line of crimson thread suspended from the window of Rahab was to her, and to the investing host of Hebrews, a symbol, as well as a pledge, of life. We are not unmindful that the examples here pre- sented to illustrate the symbolic meaning of crimson prove, if they prove any thing, that it symbolized life in different senses. In the first and last of the instances cited, the crimson had reference to natural life, and in the others to that figurative life which was equivalent to participation in the kingdom of God. But, if life was used in these two different senses, that which stood for it in one would naturally and appropriately SYMBOLISM OF COLOR. 2«I Stand for it in the other plane of thought. Indeed, the two senses are so graded one into another in Mosaism, that, in most cases where hfe is spoken of as forfeited, it makes but little difference whether one understands natural or theocratic life ; since, if either were forfeited, the forfeiture of the other would be involved as a neces- sary consequence. We proceed now to the examination of cases in which a red color other than that of the coccus, or not specifically described as such, appears to represent life. An example of this is found in the Book of Lamenta- tions, where Jeremiah speaks of the princes of Jerusalem as "whiter than milk, and more ruddy in body than rubies." ^ Another is in the Song of Solomon, where the bridegroom is described as white and ruddy.^ In the same book, the bride is said to have not only lips like a thread of crimson, but cheeks like pieces of pomegran- ate.^ The fruit here mentioned is round and rosy; so that not only "the crimson lips, but the cheeks, which could be likened to segments of pomegranate, were tokens of life in the fulness of its vigor. The Hebrew word adani, the proper name of tjie first man, and the common name of all men, was, according to Gesenius, derived from the verb adajji, to be red. According to the same authority, doin, signifying blood, is also from the verb adain. Such a relationship of words indicates a tendency in the Hebrew mind to conceive of man in his normal or ideal state as red, and to attribute this redness of his complexion to the blood 1 Lam. iv, 7. The word which the English translators rendered Nazarites, is probably equivalent in this place to princes. See Gesenius' Lex. 2 Song of Solomon v. 10. 8 ibid. iv. 3. 19* 2 22 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. as the vital force. It is not necessary to our purpose to inquire in what sense they regarded the blood as equiva-^ lent to the life ; whether as identical with it, or as its vehicle, and visible representative.^ The blood was certainly the soul, or life in such a sense that they might not with propriety eat it, and were accordingly forbidden to do so.^ This prohibition, moreover, was not peculiar to Mosaism, but had been in force from the time of Noah ; ^ and the physiological theory on which the prohibition rested was not held by the Hebrews alone, for the opinion prevailed extensively, if not universally throughout the ancient world, that the blood of an animal is its life.^ Such views of the blood would naturally, in any system of symbolization, occasion the use of it as a visible representative of life, and might even lead to the employment of the red color as its synonyme. Accord- ingly, the Mosaic code speaks of the blood of animals presented on the altar as atoning for the soul, or life of the offerer (which of course it could do only representa- tively or symbolically, for it is not possible that the blood. of bullocks and of goats should really take away sin) ; and, when it gives the specifications of an animal to be used in the lustration of a person defiled by contact with death, it requires that the victim shall be not only without spot or blemish, as all sacrifices must be, but of the female or life-producing sex, of vital power undiminished by subjection to the yoke, and of a red 1 This question is discussed at length in Delitzsch's Biblical Psychology. Edin* burgh, 1849. P. 281 et scq. 2 Lev. xvii. 10. 3 Gen. ix, 4. * Virgil's iEneid, ix. 349 : Purpiu-eam vomit ille animam. SYMBOLISM OF COLOR. 223 color, as an outward reflex of the red life within. " Just as in man the vital energy of the blood is manifested in the red cheeks and lips, and in the flesh-colored redness of the skin, so in the red cow the blood was regarded as possessing such vigor that it manifested itself outwardly in the corresponding color. The red hue of the cow was a characteristic sign of its fulness of life, and fitted it to become an antidote of the power of death." 1 To this interpretation of red, the passage, " Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool," ^ appears, at first sight, strongly opposed. It has been customary to understand the scarlet and the crimson, here mentioned, as chromatic emblems, and to use this text for a key to the interpretation of red as a symbol of guilt. Usage has now well established such a relation, at least as respects blood-guiltiness ; but there is nothing in the literature of the Hebrews to indicate that they regarded redness as a symbol of murder, or of guilt in general, unless found in the place under consideration. But this passage, when critically examined, affords no evidence that the red color in general, or the coccus crimson in particular, is the sign of sin ; for another meaning is possible, which satisfies all the requirements of the context, and is not inconsistent with the symbolic significance of the color as determined by other passages. The crimson of the coccus was a very deep, bright color ; so that it may have been the difficulty of effacing 1 Kurtz : Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament, p. 427. See also Keil : Comm. on Num. xix. 2-10. 2 Isa. i. 18. 224 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. it, rather than the color itself, which gave emphasis to the language Jehovah employed to characterize the sins of his people. We conclude, then, that the fourth of the sacred colors of Mosaism represented life ; deriving this significance from blood, which was itself the vehicle and represen- tative of the vital force. CHAPTER VII. SYMBOLISM OF MINERALS. We have now to learn the significance of various substances from the realm of nature found in the symbolism of the tabernacle. We take up first those which belong to the mineral kingdom. The list includes salt, gold, silver, copper, and twelve different kinds of gems. Salt was in ancient times, and is even now in the Orient, a pledge of fidelity in friendship, so that " to eat bread and salt together is an expression for a league of mutual amity ; and, on the other hand, the Persian term for traitor is nemekharain, faithless to salt." ^ Hence " covenant of salt " is equivalent to inviolable engage- ment in the passage where God says to Aaron, "■ All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute forever : it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee;"^ and also in the passage, where the king of Judah says to Jeroboam and his adherents, " Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt .'' " ^ 1 Smith's Bible Dictionary, art. Salt. 2 Num. xviii. ig. 3 2 Chron. xiii. 5. 225 226 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. This idea of fidelity proceeds from the preservative quaUties of the symbol, which caused it to signify incor- ruptibleness, or imchangeableness, on the higher plane of the spirit, as well as on the lower level of earthly things ; and it was, doubtless, as a sign of faithful adherence to an engagement that both the Hebrews ^ and the heathen ^ added salt to every sacrifice, whether of animal or vegetable substances, that was offered on their altars. Gold, silver, and jewels, have in all ages and in all countries been regarded as significant of wealth, rank, and power. The use of the precious metals for money has, however, rendered it impossible that they should exert in modern times as much influence on the imagi- nation as when used only as insignia. It is quite certain that in the time of Moses gold had not been coined, and was not often used, even by weight, as a medium of exchange. It always had been, and still was, reserved, as jewels are now, to adorn the persons and dwellings of the wealthy, and furnish badges of distinction for persons of rank. When Joseph was elevated to a place of honor and power inferior only to that of the monarch, Pharaoh arrayed him in vestures of fine byssus, and put a gold chain about his neck. When, in later times, another Hebrew slave rose to high rank in a Gentile nation, becoming the third ruler in the kingdom of the Chaldeans, the servants of Belshazzar, at his command, clothed Daniel in purple,^ and " put a chain of gold about his neck," uniting the two symbols to illustrate the high position to which he was advanced. It was a golden sceptre which the king of Persia extended to the 1 Lev. ii. 13. 2 Pliny xxxi. 41. S Dan. v. 7, margin. SYMBOUSM OF MINERALS. 227 trembling queen who had forfeited her life by intruding uncalled into his presence, as a pledge that the power of life and death represented by the sceptre should be exerted in her behalf. Gold was also used by the heathen in the manufacture of images of their principal gods ; inferior deities being represented by less precious materials, as silver, copper, iron, wood, and stone.^ In many cases where the surface of the idol was of gold, the metal was only a thin sheet laid over a shape of wood.^ Sometimes, however, images of even colossal height were wholly of gold, the plate being so thick as to need no wood for its support. Diodorus Siculus mentions three statues of beaten gold in the temple of Belus at Babylon, the smallest of which, weighing eight hundred Babylonian talents, contained at least twice as much gold as was deemed sufficient for the Hebrew tabernacle and all the golden vessels of its ministry. The same precious metal served also to gild the walls of heathen temples, and furnished the material for tables, bowls, cups, and other sacred utensils. There is a warrant in nature, as well as in the universal custom of antiquity, for this employment of the most splendid of the metals to illustrate the highest possible dignity and glory ; for it never fails to excite in the mind of the beholder feelings of admiration and awe. Even in modern times, though it has to some extent lost by excessi\'e use its power of symbolization, gold suggests wealth and power. Much more impressive must it have been in the early ages, when it had not been used as money, and in countries where very few were able to possess the smallest ornaments of so rare material 1 Dan. V. 4. 2 isa. xl. 19 ; Jer. x. 4 ; Hab. ii. 19. 228 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Hence, as an emblem, it was among metals what purple was among colors, and found its most appropriate place on the persons and in the habitations of kings and gods. The dedication of a large amount of gold to the service of religion was, therefore, not peculiar to the Hebrews. It was the universal custom of the age thus to do homage to the objects of worship. But, as Mosaism allowed no images of Jehovah, the symbolism of gold must be con- fined to his habitation and its furniture. It is worthy of observation, then, that the God of the Hebrews dwelt in a golden house. If, as we believe, the innermost curtain hung down on the outside of the wooden frame, the interior of the dwelling reflected everywhere from its walls the splendor of gold to represent that the highest honor was due, and was rendered, to the occupant. The furniture of the holy habitation was also, without excep- tion, golden. In some articles there was wood beneath an exterior plate of metal, to give adequate strength without excessive weight ; but otherwise all utensils within the sanctuary, even to the snuffers and snuff- dishes for trimming the lamp-wicks, were wholly of pure gold, to symbolize as emphatically as possible the majesty of Jehovah. If the tabernacle of Jehovah was splendid by contrast between it and the ordinary tents of the surrounding encampment, it seems to have been designedly rendered still more splendid by the ordained distinction between the tabernacle and its court. For while the walls of the dwelling, and all its utensils, were of gold, so that with the exception of the sill (of which we shall have occa- sion to speak hereafter) no other metal was visible within, the furniture of the court must, according to the SYMBOLISM OF MINERALS. 229 specifications furnished to Moses, be of copper. The only exception to this requirement was founded in a reason which allowed wood beneath the gold in the ark of the covenant, the altar of incense, and the table of show-bread. The altar of the court, so far as relates to its appearance and symbolism, was of metal ; but, that it might not be too heavy for transportation, the copper was laid on in thin sheets over wood. The significance of copper seems to depend chiefly on its rank among the metals, being more esteemed than iron, and less so than silver and gold.^ As a metal of honor and beauty, it was an appropriate material for the utensils of divine service, and by its inferiority to gold furnished a background on which the latter seemed more splendid by contrast. Its resemblance to gold deepened the symbolic significance conveyed by the exclusive use of one of the metals in the court, and of the other within the habitation. Between the copper outside and the gold inside of the house, silver was the mediating metal ; being found both in the sill of the sanctuary, and on the caps of the pil- 'lars around the sacred enclosure, to indicate by another sign that the house was higher in honor than the area in front, — so much higher that its sill was of the same material as the crowning ornament of the court. Silver was at that time in common use as money ; if not in the shape of coin, certainly of bullion, which, when weighed, was current with the merchant.^ Now, this silver which had been wrought partly into the sill of the tabernacle, and partly into the caps of the pillars around the court, had been used as money. Indeed, it came 1 Dan. V. 4; Isa. Ix. 17. 2 Gen. xxiii. 16. 230 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. into the possession of Moses in half-shekels which the people had paid as " atonement money," " every man a ransom for his soul." ^ There is a record of free-will offerings of silver, but none of the use of any other silver in the construction of the edifice than the ransom-money ; and the amount of this being given with exactness, and the several sums used for the sill-pieces and for the pillars of the court with their hooks and connect- ing rod, when added, corresponding in amount with the aggregate yield of the tax, one is shut up to the conclu- sion that, however the silver of the free-will offerings was used, it did not enter into the construction of the edifice.^ It is evident that the silver which thus medi- ated between the copper of the court and the gold of the edifice, consisted wholly of the money paid by the males of the congregation from twenty years old upward for their ransom. The services of the court culminated in redemption ; and not till they were redeemed could the people, even representatively, enter the sanctuary. The shining silver on the top of the pillars of the enclosure was " a memorial to the children of Israel before Jehovah to make an atonement for their souls," ^* i.e., a permanent reminder that their sins were expi- ated ; and the sill of the sanctuary, into which the greater part of the ransom-money had been molten, was a token that in consequence of their redemption God 1 Exod. XXX. 12, 16. 2 The only utensils of silver mentioned are twelve chargers and twelve bowls, which were a special offering at the dedication, and two silver trumpets. So far as appears, the silver contributed at the commencement of the work, be it more or less, was not used in the construction of the edifice, or its furniture. Of course the artisans who gave their time and skill to the work must have been paid out of the public treasury, and it is not improbable that they were paid in silver. 3 Exod. XXX. 16. SYMBOLISM OF MINERALS. 231 dwelt among them, and received them to his fellowship. The silver, " as an expiation for souls, pointed to the unholiness of Israel's nature, and reminded the people continually that by nature it was alienated from God, and could only remain in covenant with the Lord, and live in his kingdom, on the ground of his grace which covered its sin." ^ May not the apostle have had this ransom-money in mind when he said to the people of the new covenant, " Ye were not redeemed with corrupt- ible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ"? 2 The precious stones, as well as the precious metals, have always been employed as badges of distinction. As in modern Europe the crown-jewels are insignia of supreme rank and power ; so, in the despotisms of antiquity, costly gems of different kinds were worn by the monarch, either habitually or on special occasions, as expressive signs of his supremacy. Twelve different species of gems were employed in the symbolism of the tabernacle to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. . It is reasonable to infer from the particularity with which the specifications not only require that the stones should be of twelve different kinds and should be engraven each with the name of a tribe, but determine what kinds were to be used and in what order they were to be arranged, that each had some special significance appropriate to the tribe whose name it bore ; but, if so, this correspondence between the several tribes and their respective symbols cannot now be discovered. The sacred text does not definitely 1 Keil, Comm. on Pentateuch, vol. ii. p. 212. 2 i Peter, i. 18, 19. 232 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. determine how the names of the tribes are to be placed so that they may correspond with the arrangement of the stones. They are sometimes mentioned in the order in which they marched and encamped; at other times there is reference to the different mothers of the sons of Jacob, those of the same mother being brought together ; and, according to a third method, the names stand in the order in which the twelve patriarchs were born. As the latter mode is specified for the names with which the two onyx-stones on the shoulders of the high-priest were to be engraven, it is highly probable that the same rule governed the collocation of the names which the same official bore on his heart. But, even if this were established beyond question, the difficulty remains that some of the stones cannot be identified with certainty by their Hebrew names. We must content ourselves with learning the significance of these gems taken collectively. The most natural inter- pretation, in view of the universal usage of antiquity continued in some degree even to our own time, is that they denote regal rank. At present, we can only allege that this is the meaning of jewels by the common consent of the world. In the sequel, we shall find that such an interpretation justifies itself by the harmonious and complemental relation with other symbols which it attributes to jewels in the only place in which they occur, namely, in the insignia of the high-priest. CHAPTER VIII. SYMBOLISM OF VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. The symbols of the tabertiacle derived from the vegetable kingdom are acacia, cedar, hyssop, flour, wine, oil, spices of different kinds, pomegranates, and almonds. Of the two sorts of timber which stand at the head of this list, the latter was used only in rites of purifica- tion, and therefore in small quantity. We have already explained it as being by its comparative incorruptibility a signature of life.^ When the Hebrews, many generations later in their history, erected a stationary and permanent sanctuary at Jerusalem, cedar was used to cover the walls of the edifice on the interior surface, fulfilling thus the same office as the acacia in the tabernacle. Both having extraordinary durability, either might be employed to represent that idea; and, as they were equally beautiful, the question which of the two should be elected might be determined by considerations of convenience. Acacia, easily procured in the vicinity of Sinai, was by its small specific gravity preferable to cedar for the portable sanctuary of the wilderness : on the other hand, cedar could be conveniently obtained by Solomon from the Phoenicians in exchange for the productions of Palestine, and was as little liable to decay as acacia. The substi- 1 p. 220. 20* 233 234 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. tution of cedar for acacia, because more conveniently obtained, goes to show that they were both significant by reason of the durability which belonged to them in common ; and the most natural interpretation of this capacity to resist corruption would make it indicate the idea of life. The justness of this interpretation is confirmed when we refer to the two cases where cedar-wood is used in the strictly Mosaic institutions ; namely, in the lustra- tion of lepers, and of persons defiled by contact with a dead body. In both these instances, the ceremonial evidently represents the restoration of a man to life, who, as respects the theocracy, was once alive, but is now dead. The kingdom of God among the Hebrews was a kingdom of life, from which the leper, and the person defiled by contact with a dead body, were cut off. Having been thus excluded from the privileges of the kingdom as if dead to it, they were restored to partici- pation in them by the prescribed lustration. The bit of cedar-wood, added to the other symbols by which such a revivification was represented, must be of concurrent and cumulative significance. It must have been designed to hold up to view one element in life, as the crimson of the coccus represented another. Hyssop, an aromatic shrub ^ used in applying the liquid prescribed for the removal of impurity, scarcely needs explanation. It was with the Hebrews, and per- haps with other ancient nations, an emblem of purifica- tion. This office may have been assigned it on account 1 Probably a species of origanum or marjoram. See the article " Hyssop " in Smith's Bible Dictionary. SYMBOLISM OF VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 235 of its agreeable aroma, so antagonistic to the offensive odor proceeding from disease and death. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews understood that Moses used this shrub, when the covenant was ratified at Sinai, in sprinkling the people and the manuscript copy of the mutual engagement ; though hyssop is not mentioned in the original record of the transaction. It was specifi- cally prescribed as a necessary item in the ceremonial for cleansing lepers, and those who had touched a dead body. It was employed by King David in a penitential psalm,^ as a symbol deeply laden with the idea of purgation. Corn and wine, being associated in their symbolic use and significance, need not be separately interpreted. Agriculture, including grazing and tillage, having been appointed as the principal business of the Hebrews in the land of Canaan, symbols derived from both branches were woven into that system of outward signs, of which the tabernacle was the theatre. In the next chapter we shall have occasion to speak of flocks and herds ; but at present we have to do only with the products of tillage. Corn and wine were the principal fruits of this department of industry. Acquired by the sweat of his brow, in that calling which God had appointed as the chief business of his life, these results of the husbandman's diligence stood for the results of the entire work of his life, as a part may stand for the whole. Other fruits of tillage might perhaps have been added for the expression of this idea, but for one peculiarity which renders corn and wine eminently expressive. These substances, as 1 Ps. u. 7. 236 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. employed in the symbolism of sacrifice, were not merely products of agriculture ; for, after the earth had brought the corn and the grapes to maturity, much additional labor had been expended in the manufacture of the wheat into bread, and of the grapes into wine. The symbols chosen were not fruits of spontaneous growth, nor raw products of husbandry, but articles manufactured with skill and industry out of the fruits of the earth, and for that reason more apt for representing the results of human labor. Proceeding a step further in the examination of these substances, we find that, if cattle are left out of account, corn and wine were to be not only the principal fruits of Hebrew industry, but also the staple articles of food. This fact suggests the possibility that they may have been selected as symbols to be offered on the altar, with the intention that they should represent the results of labor in the form of enjoyment as well as of property. The Hebrew not only possessed but enjoyed the corn and wine for which he had wrought ; and the offering of them on the altar was an expression of desire to receive his covenant God into fellowship with himself in the enjoyment of that which the corn and wine symbolized. What, then, would the Hebrews naturally understand these results of labor to represent in the sphere of reli- gious thought .'' Their earthly vocation was to produce corn and wine ; but they had a higher calling as the people of the covenant, namely, to bring forth in their lives the fruits of righteousness. Such results of labor in the field of their high calling would enrich them with durable riches, and " put gladness in their hearts more than in the time that their corn and their wine was SYMBOLISM OF VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 237 increased." ^ The diligent and successful laborer would have greater enjoyment in these fruits of holiness than the husbandman in the edible produce of the earth. Moreover, these results of the work of life in the field of ethics, when laid on the altar of God, would give joy to him, as well as to those who had wrought to procure them. " With such sacrifices God is well pleased." ^ The symbols which represented them he speaks of as " my bread ;"'^ and the holiness of the joriests is illustrated by the repeated mention of them in the law as " offering the bread of their God." ^ This bread of God was partly consumed on the altar, and partly eaten by the priests within the enclosure of the sanctuary ; the fellowship between Jehovah and the priestly nation appearing in this joint participation which symbolized the pleasure both experienced in the holiness of the peculiar people. Even a priest who by reason of bodily defect could not come nigh to offer the bread of his God was admitted to this participation. " He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy : only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar." ^ It ought not to be offensive, that according to this interpretation the fruits of sanctification are conceived of as the bread of God, since he himself has sanctioned that method of speaking of the symbols ; and, if it is not too anthropomorphic to speak of the corn and wine offered on the altar as the bread of God, certainly it is not irreverent to apply to the true bread of which they were the figure the same appellation, or to conceive of it 1 Ps. iv. 7. 2 Heb. xiii. 16. 8 Num. xxviii. 2. 4 Lev. xxi. 6, 8, 17, 21. 6 Levi. xxi. 22, 23. 238 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. as in some sense the food of Jehovah. Besides, it is the enjoyment, rather than the nutrition, ministered by- food, which is shadowed forth by the symbols. They represent the results of sanctification, the joy a man experiences in that measure of improvement of which he is conscious. Now, if services of worship, and works of charity, are sacrifices with which God is well pleased, they are as truly means of enjoyment to him as to those who render them, and may without impropriety be termed the bread of God in the same figurative sense in which they are called, in reference to man, the bread of life. Accordant with this interpretation is the discourse of our Lord recorded by John, in which he says, " Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." ^ Work, he means, not for corn and wine, but for holiness. And he counsels them, when they inquired how they should direct their efforts, to believe in him ; since he, and he alone, could impart to them this bread, being the only source from which men could receive sanctification. Olive-oil, another important product of Palestine, is found in the symbolism of the tabernacle. In domestic life, it answered three different purposes. It was to the Hebrews, as butter is to us, a palatable ingredient or accompaniment of bread ; it illuminated their dwellings with its flame ; it supplied what an arid climate rendered very desirable, an agreeable and salubrious unguent for the skin. In correspondence with these three methods of secular 1 John vi. 27. SYMBOLISM OF VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 239 use, the oil of the olive served as a religious symbol, being applied, when mixed with certain spices, as a chrism both to persons and things ; furnishing fuel for the lamps of the holy place ; and accompanying, or enter- ing as an ingredient into, every offering of bread which was laid on the altar. This threefold use suggests, at first thought, three separate sources of symbolic signifi- cance ; but a longer study discloses a common root from which the three symbolic uses of the same substance have originated. Oil of unction must have derived its significance as a religious symbol from the effect it produced on the body when used in common life. Rendering the skin soft, smooth, and shining, its influence was not merely superficial, but invigorating to the whole system, pene- trating even to the bones. ^ It diminished the evaporation of the fluids of the body, from which those who dwell in hot and dry countries, and wear but little clothing, are liable to suffer.^ It rendered the joints more supple, and the muscles more responsive to the vital force, and thus imparted new strength for the duties of life. Such, at least, was and still is the opinion of the Orientals, who are better qualified to judge of the effect of such an application of oil to the skin, in a region where the heat is sometimes intense and protracted, than the inhabitants of more northern regions. This use of oil was, however, by no means confined to the hottest season of the year. Custom rendered it so agreeable, that the Hebrews practised it daily, and omitted it only in times of mourning. 1 Ps. cix. 18. 2 K. Niebuhr's Description of Arabia, quoted in Kitto's Cyclopsedia in the article, Anointing. Livingstone's Travels in South Africa. New York, 1S70. P. 122. 240 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Anointing, as a symbolic transaction, may signify, then, that the person to whom the oil is applied is refreshed and strengthened by some spiritual gift imparted to him; and this meaning agrees with the context, and meets all the exigencies of the case when- ever one is inducted into an office by means of this ceremony. To anoint a priest or a king was to convey to him sacramentally the help of the Spirit of God for the discharge of his official duty. The official designation of the person whom the Hebrews expected to come, and unite in himself the threefold function of prophet, priest, and king, was The Anointed. The prophet declares the nature of this anointing when he puts into the mouth of the expected Messiah the words, " The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because Jehovah hath anointed me;"^ and Jesus himself, when in the syna- gogue at Nazareth he appropriated the words as his own utterance anticipatively reported by Isaiah, did by that very act claim not only to be The Anointed, but to be anointed with the Holy Spirit.^ The New Testament, moreover, affirms in so many words tjjiat " God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power." ^ The application of the anointing oil to the tabernacle and its furniture does not militate against such an interpretation ; for the ceremony signified that, as God imparted his Spirit to persons that they might be strong for the work to which he called them, so to these institutions that they might be efficient to accomplish the end for which they were established. The ceremony was not without meaning when applied to things as well 1 Isa. Ixi. I. 2 Luke iv. i8. 8 Acts x. 38. SYMBOLISM OF VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 241 as persons, though its significance was secondary, and was derived from the custom of anointing the body to render it a more efficient instrument of the will. Anointing oil being, then, a symbol of the Holy Spirit received from God, and penetrating the whole man to refresh and invigorate him for work, the question arises, whether oil used otherwise than for anointing had, so far as the oil itself is concerned, the same significance, and differed from the oil of unction only as it was differently employed. There seems to be no reason for disbelieving that oil for illumination had the same symbolic power as anoint- ing oil. The lamps in the tabernacle when supplied with it gave a permanent and sufficient light, but without such supply could do nothing to dissipate the darkness : so the people of God shine as lights in the world only by reason of the constant influence upon them of his Spirit. At first thought, it may seem as if a different meaning must be given to oil mingled with or poured upon food- offerings from that which we have attributed to it when used for anointing or for burning. Some have contended that, being one of the food-products of the soil, it had exactly the same significance as corn and wine, concur- ring with them to represent the fruits of holiness produced by the diligence of God's people. But if the oil was an accompaniment, rather than an integral part of the food-offering, it is more natural to adhere to that interpretation which has already been justified in refer- ence to two out of the three methods in which oil was symbolically employed. The reasons for believing that the oil was a significant accompaniment, rather than an essential element of the food-offering, will be given when 242 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE, we come to the interpretation of sacrifices : at present only one is alleged, namely, that such a hypothesis enables us to give a uniform significance to oil through- out the Mosaic institutions. If, then, corn and wine without oil might represent food, what was the significance of the oil added to these substances to make them more palatable when presented as the bread of God ? It must mean, if interpreted as in the other methods of using it, that the only bread which would be acceptable to God, or could be offered on his altar, must be produced with the aid of his Spirit. In whatever way the oil was added, whether kneaded into the flour, or poured on the cakes after they were cooked, the addition of it signified that the grace of God must unite with the labor of man in the work of sancti- fication, and that it was the joint product of these two spiritual forces which the worshipper laid on the altar as the bread of God. Perfumes were much esteemed by the Hebrews, as well as by other Orientals, both ancient and modern. Being composed chiefly of spices, we include the con- sideration of them in this chapter, although one of the four ingredients of the perfume prepared for fumigating the holy place was derived from the animal kingdom. With this exception, the perfumes mentioned in Scrip- ture consist of vegetable substances. They were used both for fumigation, and, when mixed with oil, for unction. The preparation of them was a special profession,^ requiring instruction and experience for the attainment of skill ; and sometimes the materials employed were 1 Exod. X.XX. 25, 35 ; Eccl. x. i. SYMBOLISM OF VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 243 such as could be procured only in small quantities, and must be brought from remote countries. The best perfumes, consequently, were expensive ; a small package, which might be spent in a single application to one person, costing sometimes nearly or quite fifty dollars.^ Both these species of perfume were employed not only in the luxury of private life, but in the symbolism of religion. The fragrance of four precious spices was imparted to the oil with which the tabernacle and its priests were consecrated, distinguishing it from the pure oil used in anointing a person recovered from leprosy. The incense burned in the holy place was a compound prepared by adding three other odorous substances, two of them vegetable, and the third the operculum of a shell-fish, to the raw frankincense offered in the court. The eight different substances thus employed need not be separately named and studied, since it does not appear that the fragrance they produced differed in its signifi- cance from other equally pleasant odors. The holy oil of unction derived from the four spices with which it was compounded the power of diffusing an aroma not to be excelled in sweetness, and was there- fore fit to represent the joy produced by the Holy Spirit both in him who is anointed with it, and in those who surround him. That perfumed oil was a sign of joy, appears further from the custom of omitting unction on fast-days, and during the customary period of mourning for the dead ;2 from the manner in which the Book of Isaiah mentions the oil of joy, contrasting it with mourn- ing ; * from the mode in which the psalmist employs the figure of sacerdotal oil to illustrate the pleasantness of 1 Mark xiv. 5. "^ 2 Sam. xiv. 2; Dan. x. 3; Matt. vi. 17. 3 isa. L\i. 3. 2 44 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. brotherly concord, ^ and especially from the congratula- tory address to the king, " Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever : the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness : there- fore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." ^ There can be no doubt that perfumed oil, in distinc- tion from that which was pure, was conceived of in this address to the king ; for the psalmist continues, " All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad." But the same evidence which proves it to have been perfumed shows also that it was not identical in its composition with the precious ointment of the sanctuary which, when poured on the head of Aaron, ran down on his beard, and went down to the skirts of his garments. Two of the spices mentioned as perfuming the raiment of the king were ingredients, and constituted two-thirds of the whole weight of spicery in the chrism with which the priests and the tabernacle were anointed ; showing a close similarity between the two compounds, ^ as close, perhaps, as was consistent with the law forbidding the use and the manufacture for other purposes of any per- fume after the recipe by which the holy anointing oil of the tabernacle was prepared. But the mention of the smell of aloes, in this oil of gladness with which the king had been anointed, sufficiently proves, if the absence of the other ingredients did not, that it differed from the sacerdotal oil. It was a perfumed chrism resembling in its composition, and yet different from, that prepared for the sanctuary. Perhaps when the Hebrews changed the 1 Ps. cxxxiii. 1, 2. 2 ps. xlv. 6, 7. 3 Compare Exod. xxx. 23, 24 with Ps. xlv. 8. SYMBOLISM OF VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 245 form of their government to a monarchy, and desired a ceremonial for establishing the king in his regal office, a recipe was furnished for this as for the sacerdotal chrism, and purposely made similar because both com- pounds should be of the choicest materials, and yet different so as to maintain the separation of the older recipe to its original use. With the moderns, sight takes precedence of the other senses in distinguishing between the agreeable and the disagreeable, so that there is a tendency to characterize as beautiful, things which please otherwise than through the eye ; but, with the Hebrews, the sense of smell had the pre-eminence, and an agreeable object was "a savor of a sweet smell," not only when its pleasantness was appreciated by the olfactory organs, but in cases where there could be an odor only in a figurative sense. A good name was as ointment poured forth, and diffusing its agreeable perfume. To be dis- liked, on the contrary, was to be a stench in the nostrils ; and so fixed had this idiom become that the English translators sometimes took the liberty of rendering it by "to be abhorred,"^ or " to be had in abomination," " or "to be odious."^ One case especially deserves notice on account of the evidence furnished in the passage itself that the figure had been used till its origin and literal meaning were ignored. The officers of the Hebrews said to Moses and Aaron, " Jehovah look upon you, and judge, because ye have made our savor to be a stench in the eyes of Pharaoh." * Now, if the pleasant aroma of spices when mixed with oil added to the significance of the latter the idea of 1 Exod. V. 21. 2 I Sam. xiii. 4. ^ \ Chron. xix. 6. ■* Exod v. 21, 246 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. gladness accompanying the work of the Spirit, we may safely infer that perfumes, whenever and wherever used as symbols, stood for something agreeable. If, as ingre- dients in the chrism with which Aaron was consecrated, they signified that his priesthood would be diffusive of joy among those for whom he officiated, doubtless when burned on the altar of Jehovah they represented a spiritual offering of something with which he was well pleased. It would be fair to infer thus much in regard to the burning of perfumes as an act of worship ; we have, however, more than inferential proof that the sweet odor arising from the altar symbolized the agreeableness of a spiritual sacrifice, for incense is explained in the Scriptures as being the prayers of the holy.^ Prayer in its broadest meaning, including praise, thanksgiving, confession of sin, supplication, and intercession, is pleasing to God. He loves to listen to the intelligent declaration of his power, wisdom, and righteousness, the contrite acknowledgment of conscious imperfection, and the confiding appeals to his parental love of those who in behalf of themselves or of others present some request. He enjoys such utterances from the lips of his people as an Oriental monarch delights in the fragrant perfumes wafted to him on wings of fire. The burning of odorous substances on the altar of God was accordingly appointed to be the symbol of prayer, but of prayer in the broad sense of worship. Such a significance of incense was not peculiar to 1 Luke i. 10 ; Rev. v. 8 ; viii. 3, 4. In one of these texts, the vessels containing the incense are said to be the prayers, but doubtless for the reason that they contained the incense. We must not follow the letter so closely as to lose the spirit of the text. SYMBOLISM OF VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 247 Mosaism, but obtained also in heathenism. When the Hebrews fell away from Jehovah to serve other gods, they worshipped the idols of the neighboring nations by burning incense. ^ • The Egyptians honored all their numerous deities with these odorous oblations ; ^ and in Latin literature are many allusions to a similar custom among the Romans.^ Examination of the import of pomegranates and almonds is postponed till, in the progress of our work, a more eligible time shall arrive for interpreting these symbols, which, as they are less transparent than some others, are also inferior in importance. 1 2 Chron. xxxiv. 25 ; Jer. xi. 12, 17. 2 Wilkinson : Second Series, vol. ii. p. 338. 8 Horace: Odes, I. xxx. i ; III. viL 2; IV. i. 52. CHAPTER IX. SYMBOLISM OF ANIMALS AND COMPOSITE ANIMAL FORMS. The animals which might be offered in sacrifice within the precincts of the tabernacle were oxen, goats, sheep, and pigeons. Of these as symbols, and of the composite animal forms called cherubs, the present chapter is to treat. We have shown in the preceding chapter how corn and wine represented the life-work of the Hebrews, whose normal occupation was agriculture ; intimating at the same time that the symbolism was incomplete till flocks and herds, the products of another branch of husbandry, were included with those of tillage in this representation. The Hebrew was required to offer on the altar of his God not only bread and wine, but some of the domestic animals which he spent so large a portion of his time and labor in rearing ; and there was resemblance in the import of the sacrifices, whether they were fruits of tillage or of grazing. Bread and wine, however, as products not only of agriculture, but of skill and industry superadded to the labor expended on the soil, are particularly apt for symbolizing what a man has acquired by his labor ; while, if it be necessary to symbolize the man himself, it is more natural to do it by means of his calf, kid, or 248 SYMBOLISM OF ANIMALS. 249 lamb, which by the possession of animal life are better adapted to represent the vital power of their owner. Sacrifices being symbols of spiritual oblations, an animal was more expressive of self-surrender, as the vegetable offering was of the consecration of labor. Both were the property of the worshipper, products of diligence in his normal life-work, and staple articles of food. Pre- sented together, they symbolized the consecration to God which the Hebrew made of his person and of his toil in the field of ethics ; and the burning of them on the altar by the mediating priest signified that Jehovah accepted and delighted in the spiritual offering which they symbolized, as the worshipper enjoyed flesh, bread, and wine, when placed on his own domestic table. Such being in general the significance of sacrifices, we must look more particularly at the points of corre- spondence between an animal brought to the altar, and that for which it stood in the spiritual transaction repre- sented. In the first place, then, the animal was the property of the worshipper. A man who would represent the giving of himself, i.e., of his faculties as a person, as well as of his life-work, must bring something which was truly his own. That in which he had no property could not symbolize a gift. When David wished to offer a sacrifice on the threshing-floor of one of his wealthy subjects, who with princely liberality offered to furnish gratuitously whatever materials were at hand, including the oxen and the wheat, the king refused to accept the gift, saying, " Nay ; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price : neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto Jehovah, my God, of that which doth cost me nothing," ^ The 1 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. 250 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. element of ownership must inhere even in vegetable offerings ; but, where the giving of the very person of the worshipper was to be acted, there was, if possible, a still more stringent necessity to include in the material of the sacrifice the idea of property. Two things may be alleged against this position ; namely, that the ram which Abraham sacrificed instead of his own son was not his property, and that the first victims brought to the altar after the Babylonian captivity were provided by the generosity of Cyrus.^ But these were exceptional cases : the first (to say nothing of its being pre-mosaic) so singular and extraordinary as to furnish no aid in the study of normal cases ; and the other only showing that the returning exiles, being unable in their extreme poverty to re-establish their ancestral worship with their own resources, availed themselves temporarily of the assistance of a foreign prince. What- ever weight of evidence might be allowed to this accept- ance of aid, to prove that ownership was not an element in the idea of sacrifice, is more than counterbalanced by the early care of the colonists to make ordinances, charging themselves with all necessary expenses for the service of the house of God.^ Secondly, the material for a sacrifice must be edible property. The law required payments, and encouraged gifts to Jehovah for the maintenance of his sanctuary and its attendants, out of other portions of the substance which the Hebrew had acquired ; but sacrifices on the altar must consist only of food. Things which it was impossible to eat, as well as every thing that by reason of its uncleanness ought not to be eaten, were excluded 1 Ezra vi. 9. 2 Neh. x. 32. SYMBOLISM OF ANIMALS. 251 from this class of holy offerings. The reason of this is to be found in the analogy between man's enjoyment of his food, and the delight God has in that which the transaction at the altar pictured. Jehovah was pleased with the dedication to a life of holy obedience, which the pious Israelite there.made of himself and his power to work. To him it was delicious food to see his people keep his covenant, and remember his commandments to do them. The fruits of holiness in the lives of his people, represented by the products of labor in their earthly vocation, being thus pleasing to God, it was necessary that altar-gifts should consist of food, so that the worshipper might be assisted, by his own experience of the pleasures of the table, to appreciate the delight with which Jehovah received the sacrifices of righteous- ness. Thirdly, the gift brought to the altar must be, in relation to the worshipper, something for which, and by means of which, he lived. The normal vocation of the Hebrew was agriculture, in its two departments of grazing and tillage ; and the ceremonial of religion assumed that every sacrificer was a husbandman. Those who followed some other pursuit could fulfil the requirement of law by purchasing the sacrifices they presented ; but the nature of the required material presupposed that the rearing of flocks and herds, and the production of corn and wine, were the chief occupation of the Hebrew. These products of his labor thus appointed to be the material of sacrifice were, moreover, his staple articles of food. His life was spent in providing them, and they were the means by which his life was sustained. So, in the higher plane of spiritual things, obedience to God 252 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACIE. was the end sought by the true Israelite, and the means of sustaining Hfe. He labored in the field of ethics for the fruits of holiness, and lived by means of them. He gave his attention to the commandments of Jehovah as the husbandman does to his vineyards, his cornfields, and his cattle ; and lived by every word that proceed- eth out of the mouth of God, as in the lower plane of physical things he supported life by means of flesh, bread, and wine : hence the necessity that the gift brought to the altar should be in rapport with the worshipper, both as an object of constant pursuit, and as a means of sustenance. He intends to say through his symbol, " Lo, I come : I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart :"^ the symbol, therefore, should be something for which he labors, and by which he subsists. To obey is, indeed, better than sacrifice, as the substance of a thing is better than its shadow ; but the sacrifice could be a shadow of obedi- ence only as \\. stood to the worshipper in this double relation, consisting of that for which, and by means of which, he lived. Thus far, the points of correspondence between the animal brought to the priest for sacrifice, and that for which it stood in the spiritual transaction reflected, have been such as were common to an animal and a vegetable offering. In regard to both, it was necessary that the material should be the property of the worshipper, the property of such kind as he could use for food, and the food such as the people generally spent their lives in producing, and commonly used for sustenance. But the points of correspondence between the animal and the 1 Ps. xl. 7, 8. SYMBOLISM OF ANIMALS. 253 spiritual offering, which remain to be mentioned, are such that corn and wine would be incompetent to take the place of the bleeding victim, and act its part in the representation. To the three already mentioned we add, fourthly, the sacrificial animal when presented to God had a psychical life. The Old Testament comprehends the whole animal world, including man, in the phrase, " all flesh in which is the breath of life." Animals are thus distinguished from plants, in which, though there is life, there is no breath. Breathing, according to the psychology of the Hebrews, was the effect and manifestation of a vital force which they believed to reside in the blood, and called soul. They regarded every thing which had breath and blood as possessing, or to speak more accurately as being, a living soul. They acknowledged, indeed, a distinction between the merely animal, and the human, creation, believing that man was endowed with the attributes of personality, being self-conscious, self-determining, and consequently capable of holiness or its opposite ; whereas the ox, the goat, and the sheep, had no power of introspection or self-determination, and therefore no responsibility for their actions. But, while recognizing the image of God in man, they held that he had, in common with all flesh in which is the breath of life, that power which they believed to reside in the blood of every breathing creature, and called soul. Accordingly, a living animal, by virtue of this common basis of life, might represent a man, especially in any matter where life was concerned. Its owner might substitute it in place of himself in a dramatic exhibition of religious truth. Its blood, which, as we had occasion 254 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. to show in the chapter on color, was the recognized symbol of its hfe, might by substitution become the sym- bol of the life of its owner. When the Hebrew brought a lamb to the priest, and laid his hand on its head, he by that sign dedicated the animal to be his substi- tute, and die in his stead. He did so in accordance with an express appointment of Jehovah, as is evident from the Mosaic statute prohibiting the use of blood as food. The reason for such a prohibition is given in the words, " For the life of the flesh is in the blood : and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atone- ment for your souls : for it is the blood that maketh atonement with the soul." ^ ' The translation is that of the received English version, with the exception of the last preposition ; which we render with, instead of for, to indicate a difference both in form and in meaning between the last clause of the verse, and the similar clause which precedes.^ Even without this amendment of the translation, the reason alleged for the prohibition testifies that the blood of a sacrificial animal, when put upon the altar, made an atonement for the soul of the worshipper, and repeats the testimony in the last clause of the verse. A proper distinction between two Hebrew prepositions gives, however, greater strength and clearness to the testimony by bringing out its declaration 1 Lev. xvii. ii. 2 Nordheimer, in his Hebrew grammar, vol. ii. p. 232, says of the preposition 1, " It is employed to point out the means with or by which the action is performed ; e. g., ' They shall smear it with pitch ' (Gen. vi. 14), ' Lest he smite us with pestilence or with the sword ' (Exod. v. 3), ' Ye shall buy meal with money ' (Deut. ii. 6), ' Write with a man's pen ' ( Isa. viii. i ), ' With thy wisdom and with thy understanding thou hast procured thyself riches' (Ezek. xxviii. 4, 5)." Gesenius also speaks of it as sometimes placed before the instrument. SYMBOLISM OF ANIMALS. 255 that the atonement is made with the soul, or Hfe, of the victim. One point of correspondence, then, between the bleeding sacrifice and that which it represented, wherein it differed from corn and wine, was that it had a psychical life, enabling it to represent its owner as a living being, and give up its life for him in any situation in which he was liable to die. Hence, in a sin-offering or a trespass- offering there was no presentation of corn and wine, as these would be without meaning where the ceremonial represented merely the expiation, or covering of sin : a bleeding animal was the essential and only material suitable for a sin-offering. Its blood made an atonement for, or covered, as the Hebrew word literally signifies, the soul of its owner with its own soul. In a holocaust, the principal idea being that of dedication, the material was both animal and vegetable ; but the fact that the blood of the animal was sprinkled on the altar as in the sin-offering, shows that the expiation of sin symbol- ized by that transaction entered as an element into the idea of a burnt-offering. Indeed, in the statute fixing the ceremonial of the holocaust, it is expressly declared that the sacrificer shall " put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him." ^ He could be permitted to represent the surrender of himself and his works, only on condition that such a gift should be immediately preceded by rites of expiation. The sprinkling of blood on the altar when peace-offerings were presented, is evidence that expiation for the soul of the worshipper with the soul of the victim, was an element in this species of 1 Lev. i. 4. 256 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. sacrifice also. In all cases, therefore, where life was taken at the altar, there was represented a substitution of the animal for its owner, he having by his sin become liable to die, and the victim making expiation for him, life for life. Fifthly, the sacrificial ammal must be free from blemish. This requirement was founded on the appoint- ment of the animal as a medium of expiation. Bodily injuries and defects are in the sphere of physics what sins are in the domain of ethics. A sinful being evidently cannot come in between another sinner and God to be a cover of sin. His life, being forfeited for his own crime, is not receivable as an expiation for one whom he might attempt to represent. This being true, a sacrificial animal must be free from injury or natural defect in order to symbolize the sinlessness of the substitute who comes in between God and the trans- gressor to cover the sin of the latter. The symbol must be physically whole to represent the innocence of that which is substituted for guilt. Sixthly, the sacrificial animal must be of an age which indicates vigor of life. Animals could not be offered in sacrifice till they were eight days old, and, according to tradition, the limit at the other extreme was three years : in most cases, one year was the age prescribed. In addition to this symbolism of animals, the Hebrews employed also, in the representation of their religious thought, composite animal figures. In this they followed neighboring nations older than themselves ; for example, the Egyptians and the Assyrians. The remainder of this chapter is to treat of these figures and their Fig. 26. EAGLE HEADED HUMAN FIGURE. SYMBOLISM OF ANIMALS. 257 significance. It may be useful to glance first at the similar usage of the heathen. Says Layard, " On the earliest Assyrian monuments, one of the most prominent sacred types is the eagle- headed human figure. Not only is it found in colossal proportions on the walls, or guarding the portals of the chambers, but it is also constantly represented amongst the groups on the embroidered robes. When thus introduced, it is generally seen contending with other mythic animals such as the human-headed lion or bull ; and in these contests it appears to be always the conqueror. It may hence be inferred that it was a type of the supreme deity, or of one of his principal attributes." ^ The same author also informs us that the head of an eagle is sometimes found added to the body of a lion ; the resultant figure thus resembling the griffin of the Greek mythology, avowedly an Eastern symbol, and connected with Apollo, or the sun, of which the Assyrian form was probably an emblem. This composite figure, like the eagle-headed man, is the conqueror in combats with other symbolic figures. He proceeds to say, " The winged human-headed lions and bulls, those magnificent forms which guarded the portals of the Assyrian temples, next deserve notice. Not only are they found as separate sculptures, but, like the eagle-headed figures, are constantly introduced into the groups embroidered on the robes. It is worthy of observation that whenever they are represented in contest either with man, or with the eagle-headed figure, they appear to be vanquished." ^ 1 Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 34S. 2 ibid. vol. ii. p. 349. 22* 258 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Various other composite forms are found in the Assyrian sculptures, such as the winged horse, the dragon with the eagle's head, and the human figure with the head of a lion, — all emblematic of religious ideas. Among the Egyptians, a hawk-headed human figure represented the king. The hawk being the symbol of the sun, which they worshipped under the name Re, implied either identity with that deity, or similarity of position and attributes. The Egyptian sphinx, combin- ing the body of the lion with the head of some other animal, also represented the king ; the lion symbolizing strength ; the human head, intelligence ; the hawk's head, far-reaching and comprehensive vision ; and the ram's head, combativeness. A degree of resemblance is at once evident in the composite animal figures employed by these two nations ; the eagle-headed man of the Assyrians being similar to the hawk-headed man of the Egyptians, and the human-headed lions and bulls recently uncovered at Nineveh reminding one of the colossal andro-sphinx at Gizeh which has so long been one of the wonders of the world. The general resemblance is, however, invariably accompanied by a difference of detail in the figures of the two nations. The Assyrian sculptor never used the hawk as a symbol, nor the Egyptian the eagle. The Assyrian sphinx has either the body of a lion or of an ox ; but the sphinx of Egypt, so far as its hinder-parts are concerned, employs only the form of the^ lion. There is still greater diversity in the meaning attached to such symbols by the two nations ; for, as Layard says, " Although the andro-sphinx of the Egyp- tians was the type of the monarch, we can scarcely I Fig. 27. EAGLE-HEADED LION. Fig. 28. WINGED HU^L•\N HEADED LION. SYMBOLISM OF ANIMALS. 259 believe it to have been so among the Assyrians ; for in the sculptures we find even the eagle-headed figure, the vanquisher of the human-headed lion and bull, minis- tering to the king." ^ We come now to the consideration of the composite animal figures found in the tabernacle, commonly called cherubs, or, if we retain the Hebrew form of the plural, cherubim. Two such figures in statuary of gold stood on the ark of the covenant, one at each end of the mercy-seat ; and such figures were woven into the tap- estry with which the edifice was covered, and divided into its two apartments. The etymology of the word cherub being lost, the name renders us no assistance in the interpretation of the symbol. It is noteworthy, however, that Ezekiel applies to similar composite figures the appellation, ''living creatures ; " and the Apostle John, a similar desig- nation, unfortunately rendered in the common English version " beasts!' Following the clew here given, we inquire if there is any thing in the composite form itself to carry us onward in this line of interpretation. The cherubs of the tabernacle are not described in the speci- fications, but mentioned as if the form were already so well known as to need no delineation for the sake of the general reader. Doubtless the artists were furnished with minute directions. The living creatures seen by Ezekiel are described by him with considerable amplification.^ They were com- pounded of four animals, — the ox, the lion, the eagle, and man, — each excelling in some one life-power. The com- bination suggests a being, real or ideal, uniting in himself 1 Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 349. 2 Ezek. L 5-25. 26o SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. the qualities in which these four different manifestations of life are severally eminent. The human form is the groundwork of the composition.; ^ and the additions to it are suggestive of an improvement on man by adding to his faculties those in which other animals are his superiors ; as, for example, the power of vision and motion peculiar to the eagle, the strength of the lion, and the submission of the ox.^ The cherubs seen by the Apostle John in the Apoca- lypse were different in appearance from those described by Ezekiel, each having for its ground-form one of the four animals already mentioned ; but the recurrence of these four, notwithstanding this diversity, confirms the deductions already stated. The idealization of earthly creatural life by the com- bination of its highest, manifestations was projected into shape as a composite animal figure, not constant in form, but varying as one element or another prevailed in the ideal conception. The presence of all these four animal forms in the visions both of Ezekiel and of John, ren- ders it probable that the four were wholly, or in part, contained in the cherubic figures of the tabernacle. Was, then, this idealization of life designed to repre- sent beings actually existing in this high grade of life, ^ Ezek. i. 5. 2 Layard (Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 350) says of the emblematic figures of the Assyrians, " Power was probably typified indiscriminately by the body of the lion and the bull." It does not appear, however, that these two animals have been found combined in one composition in the sculptures of Assyria. Where united in one representation, as in the cherub of Ezekiel, they doubtless represent different ideas ; and as the lion was frequently in Hebrew usage a symbol of strength, as appears from many passages of Scripture, it seems probable that the ox is designed to portray the willingness with which the ideal being employs liis erninent facidties in the service of Jehovah. Fig. 29. ANDRO-SPHINX. SYMBOLISM OF ANIMALS. 261 or did it point backward to what man was before the fall, and forward to what he is to be in the restored paradise ? There is no passage of Scripture which indisputably teaches the actual existence of beings represented by these composite animal figures. In most cases, cherubs appear in scenes which are plainly sym- bolic or poetic ; and the only passage appealed to in proof that they do not stand for what is purely ideal, is in the narrative of the expulsion of our first parents from paradise, where it is said that the Lord God " drove out the man, and placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life." ^ But why not interpret the word here in accordance with the common, and if this passage is not an excep- tion, the uniform usage of Scripture, as designating symbolic forms visible to man in his expulsion, and understood by him to represent his own nature as it was before the fall, and as it might again become .'' The flaming sword now guarded the tree of life from his approach ; but the symbols of man restored to the life he had lost, still occupied the garden as a pledge of his restoration. Is it alleged that the office of the cherubs was to keep the way of the tree of life ? The passage has, indeed, been commonly understood to affirm this of the cherubs as well as of the sword, but without sufficient ground ; for the demands of syntax are fully met by referring the custody of the tree to the sword. The passage thus understood affirms of the cherubs only that they were placed in the east of the garden, or near its entrance ; 1 Gen. iii. 24. 262 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. for doubtless Eden, like the tabernacle in the wilderness, fronted the rising sun. The inference is that they were placed there to have the same significance as they had in the tabernacle, in the temple, and in the Apoca- lyptic vision of heaven. If, under the Mosaic and Chris- tian dispensations, these composite figures symbolized humanity redeemed, sanctified, and glorified, probably they had a parallel meaning when employed in the symbolism of earlier times.-^ What they signified in the tabernacle and in the tem- ple being the very point to be illuminated, we pass at once from the first scene in the history of redemption where they appear, to the vision of heaven in which a Christian Hebrew beheld these symbolic beings before and around the throne of God. They there join in the song to the Lamb, saying, as the angels do not say, " Thou art worthy to take the book, and to ofen the seals thereof ; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; and hast made us unto our God kings' and priests : and we shall reign on the earth." ^ What clearer evidence than this do we need that the composite animal figures of Hebrew symbolism repre- sented humanity raised from its death in Adam to fulness of life in Christ .'' They were " living ones " 1 The writer, believing firmly in the truth of the Mosaic account of the probation and fall of Adam, believes also that Moses has given it to us in the language of symbolism, and that we are no more justified in interpreting it literally than in a parallel exegesis of John's description of the New Jerusalem. Those, however, who insist that the description of Eden is literal, and understand that the garden remained enclosed after the fall, attach symbolic meaning to the cherubim placed in the east of it ; so that it is sufficient for his present purpose if these symbols are correctly interpreted, whatever view may be taken of the remainder of the picture. 2 Rev. v. 9, 10. SYMBOLISM OF ANIMALS. 263 oecause Christ having died for them, and risen again, had made them partakers of his Hfe. They belonged to every kindred and tongue, and people and nation, and had been redeemed with the blood of the Lamb of God. CHAPTER X. INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE OF THE TABERNACLE. In surveying the resources of the interpreter, it seemed necessary to anticipate the work of interpretation so far as to argue from the directions given to Moses for the preparation of the tabernacle, and for the conduct of its ministrations, that it was designed to represent the presence of Jehovah with the Hebrews as their covenant God. Accepting the result of the argument, we do not propose to repeat the steps by which it was reached ; but to commence, at the position thus gained, that interpretation of the symbols of the institution for which the previous chapters have prepared the way. But, before proceeding to a more specific inquiry into the significance of the tabernacle, let us notice how the descriptive terms applied to it by its divine projector confirm the deduction thus drawn from the plan of the edifice, from the manifest adaptation of its furniture, and from the natural symbolism of portions of its ritual. The Hebrew word mishcan, translated tabernacle, is derived from the verb shacan, to dwell ; and is therefore equivalent etymologically to dwelling-house, or habitation, which, among a nomadic people, would naturally be conceived of not as implying solid masonry, but as portable like their own habitations. Apart, then, from 264 INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE. 265 the indications in its plan and appointments, there is, in the application to the edifice of the word mishcan, reason for the conjecture that it was designed to be in some sense the habitation of God ; and the suggestion becomes more and more worthy of regard, as one observes the frequency with which this appellation is employed. But if the name by which the Hebrew mentioned his own portable dwelling when applied to the sacred tabernacle in the midst of the encampment, sug- gested to his mind that the latter was the home of Jehovah, he must have entertained the idea in a sense consistent with the invisibility and omnipresence ascribed to the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. That this edifice was the habitation of Jehovah, could mean only that it was the place where he manifested, by sym- bolic representation, what he was in his own nature and in his attitude Jioward his people, and where he commu- nicated with them by accepting their offerings, and imparting instruction, counsel, and consolation. This conception of the edifice as a place where God dwelt for the purpose of revealing himself to his people, and communicating with them, appears also in the more specific terms ohel haaduth, tent of the testimony, and ohel moadth, inaccurately rendered, in the common English version, tent of the congregation, but signifying tent of meeting. As a tent of testimony, the tabernacle added to the revelation which the material universe makes of the intelligence and power of God, a declaration of his spiritual nature. The witness thus borne by the whole institution was especially distinct and emphatic in the ark of the testimony, whose symbolism, as we shall presently discover, represented that the Holy One of 23 266 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Israel required holiness in his covenant people, and was at the same time ready to restore to his fellowship and his house, penitent trangressors whose sin had been expiated. As a tent of meeting, it had a two-sided adap- tation : on one side to the spiritual wants of which the people might become conscious ; and on the other to the divine purpose in their election, being the appointed place where the people were to come when they desired to transact with their God, and where he summoned them to receive the communications he wished to convey. By whichever party an interview was sought, this was the house where Jehovah met his people, and where they might be sure always to find him. The tabernacle being therefore the habitation of God, we proceed to examine in detail the symbols it presents in its edifice, its furniture, its priesthood, its lustrations, its sacrifices, and its calendar. The conception of the tabernacle as an edifice includes its court ; though sometimes the word is applied in a more restricted sense to the house, as distinguished from the open area in which it stood. The court was the only part of the edifice in which the people could personally appear, and transact with Jehovah. Here he met them at the altar of burnt-offering to accept the self-surrender symbolized by their sacrifice, and give his blessing in return. Here they came whenever burdened with the consciousness of sin, as well as on anniversary days appointed by divine authority, to make confession, and to receive the seal of re-establishment in the favor of God. The court, then, was the outer part of Jehovah's habitation, where he received those who were INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE. 267 not allowed to enter the palace itself; and represents that first stage in the establishment of the kingdom of God where he makes provision for the expiation of sin, and establishes friendly relations with men. The Hebrews, though elected by Jehovah as his peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation, were not yet permitted to come to him in the exercise of priestly functions. They themselves were conscious, when first informed of their election, that they were unfit to deal directly with so holy a God, and, though accepting the terms of the covenant, requested that they might be excused from speaking with Jehovah directly, and receive communications from him through Moses. In accordance, therefore, with a necessity recognized by both parties to the covenant, the court of the tabernacle was the place where, through appointed representatives of himself, God met those who sought the forgiveness of sin, offered themselves to him in self- surrender, and presented the fruits of consecrated lives, but had not received the filial spirit which would enable them to enjoy a closer intimacy. The distinction between those who were admitted only to the court, and those who might come within the tabernacle, strictly so called, was, that the former, being not yet qualified to draw nigh to God, needed mediators, while the latter might come to him directly. Hence, in the court, though it was truly a place where God met his people, all transactions with them were carried on through the intervention of the priesthood ; but in the house, all who were admitted being themselves priests, no third party came between them and the master of the house. 268 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. The house, as distinguished from the court, represented the kingdom of God in a higher stage of advancement, where men trusting him as their Saviour desire to have direct intercourse with him, and are permitted to do so. Those who here transacted with God were a privileged class, chosen out of Israel as Israel was chosen from among the nations. When Jehovah made known to the Hebrews their election, he gave them to understand that all the earth was his, but that they were his peculiar treasure, a holy nation, and a kingdom of priests.-^ Afterward, when Korah and his companions rebelled against the restriction of priestly functions to the family of Aaron, and claimed that all the covenant people were holy, and might officiate at the altar, founding their claim perhaps on the announcement at Sinai, Moses characterized Aaron with the same specifications of difference from the rest of the congre- gation with which the original announcement to the covenant people of their election had distinguished them from the heathen. " To-morrow," said he, " Jehovah will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near unto him." ^ Those whom he would allow to officiate in the symbolic worship of the taber- nacle were chosen, were holy, were his in distinction from other Hebrews, as the whole Hebrew people were chosen, were holy, were his peculiar treasure above all other nations. But, though the Levitical priests were in the symbolic worship a privileged class, their official prerogative was conferred on them for the sake of showing forth the high position to which all Israel were called, of being priests in that kingdom of 1 ExoA xix. 5, 6. 2 Num. xvi. 5. INTERPRETATIOiY OF THE EDIFICE. 269 God of which the tabernacle was the shadow. As the court represented that kingdom before any real expiation had been made for sin, and inculcated the need of such expiation, so the interior of Jehovah's house, where only the priests might appear in his pres- ence, represented the same kingdom in a later stage of development, when the need expressed in the symbols of the court had been supplied, and its people being truly, in distinction from symbolically, made clean, might draw near to their God. But there was still within the house itself a division into two chambers, and a difference between the two in the degree of their sanctity, corresponding with that between the court and the house. As the common people were forbidden to pass from the court into the outer apartment, so the priests of ordinary rank were prohibited from entering within the veil which, as they ministered in the holy place, concealed from them the visible symbol of Jehovah. As they lighted the lamps, renewed the loaves of show-bread, and burned incense, they believed that the cloud was upon the mercy-seat over the ark of testimony, though they did not see it ; but the high-priest, when allowed to enter within the veil, stood in the immediate presence of that symbol with no screen between it and him. The Jioly of holies represented the kingdom of God in its highest stage of development, where his people draw near by sight, and not, as in the preceding stage, by faith. It was accessible only to him in whom all the dignity and sanctity of the priesthood culminated that he might represent the glorious estate of those who, when the divine plan of redemption shall have reached 23* 270 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. its highest and final development, shall dwell with God in his immediate presence as kings and priests, seeing as they are seen, and knowing as they are known. Even to him, access was not ordinarily permitted : once only in a year, when rites of lustration for his own sins and those of his constituents were necessary, he might enter to perform them, but must immediately fill the apart- ment with a cloud of incense lest he should lose his life by gazing at the symbol of Jehovah. The three stages of progress which this tripartite division of the tabernacle represents, find their realiza- tion in the history both of individual believers and of redemption itself. The law teaches a man the reality, extent, and odiousness of sin, and his need of expiation. The gospel, both in its rudimental state before the advent of Christ, and more clearly since his appearance, points to a Lamb of God which is a true expiation, and thus enables one who receives the glad tidings with faith, to come near to God and dwell with him in mutual love. But there is reserved for every believer a higher privilege than this. While in the body, his communion with God, however intimate and sweet, must be by faith, and not by sight ; but, when absent from the mortal body, he shall be present with the Lord, so that for him to die is gain. The tabernacle was, however, not only an exponent of personal religious experience by which the Israelite who felt the burden of sin was guided into the con- sciousness of regeneration, justification, and adoption, and at the same time assured of ultimate advancement to a higher and absolutely perfect state, but a represen- tation of the entire work of redemption in its three INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE. 271 stages of development in human history ; the first, then existing, and continuing till the appearance of Christ ; the second, extending from his first to his second advent ; and the third, exhibiting the kingdom of God in its complete and eternal state. The court is the church under the old covenant, when the people needed types of the expiation to be provided afterward ; the holy place is the church under the new covenant, when the symbolic atonement exhibited in the court has given place to one which can really take away sin, and the covenant peoj51e are consequently able to draw near to God in their own persons, though not yet permitted to behold him ; the holy of holies is the final state of the kingdom of God, which, as it cannot be literally described to us, has been again symbolized in the New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse. Having thus ascertained what is expressed by the division of the tabernacle into its court, its holy place, and its holy of holies, and by the relation of these parts one to another, we next inquire whether the forms exhibited by these several divisions, and by the entire edifice, are symbolic ; and, if so, what they signify. A place of worship must have some form ; and that of the quadrangle is so convenient for the purpose, that one is disposed to think at first that utility alone deter- mined the ground-plan of the Hebrew sanctuary and its circumjacent court. But when we find that, with all the additions superinduced upon the plan of the tabernacle to answer the demands of the more elaborate ritual used in the time of Solomon, the ground-plan of the sanc- tuary he erected, though much larger, was the same in 272 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. shape and proportion as that of its predecessor, we con- clude that the forms thus adhered to assisted to convey the significance of which both tabernacle and temple were full. An Egyptian, contemporary with Moses, and acquainted with no other symbolism than that of his own country, might be led to conclude that the quadrangular form exhibited in the habitation of the Hebrew God was intended to suggest that the cosmos is the dwelling of Jehovah ; but a person already familiar with the Hebrew idea of a covenant God dwelling among his covenant people, and thus revealing his spiritual nature, as in the universe he reveals his power and wisdom, would natur- ally so modify the significance attached to the quadran- gle by the heathen as to un(;Jerstand by it, in this case, the spiritual, and not the physical realm, in which God resides and reigns. From the Pentateuch to the Apocalypse, the church, or spiritual kingdom of God, whenever portrayed in the sym- bolism of surface forms, is represented by a quadrangle. We find this figure not only in the tabernacle, but in the temple of Solomon, in the temple of Ezekiel,^ and in the New Jerusalem. In the first two of these instances, the quadrangle occurs both as an oblong and a square, but with a preponderance of the former. In the third, the quad- rangle is again exhibited in both its forms, but the oblong is seen only in the holy place ; the court being square to signify that the kingdom, as here portrayed, is no longer in the stage of development exhibited in the tabernacle, 1 A delineation of the temple of Ezekiel in two plates, copied from J. F. Bott- cher's Proben alttestameyitlichen Schrifterkldriing, may be found at the end of Rosenmiiller's Scholia in Ezech. Lipsiae, 1833. INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE. 273 but has passed into its second stage by the historical fulfilment of that which was symboHzed in the court ; so that expiation, if now represented, must appear as complete. In the fourth, the oblong does not make its appearance at all, the quadrangle being square to denote that the kingdom of God is now in its final and perfected condition. The specific difference of form in these quadrangles is not an antagonism in the evidence, but the reverse ; since by means of it instances are multi- plied in which the kingdom of God is represented by a four-sided figure, and at the same time such means are furnished of exposing to view specific modifications of the generic idea represented, as one might expect to find in an elaborate system of symbolization. The symbolic kingdom is always four-sided, but is oblong or square according as it portrays the true kingdom in its inchoate, or in its final and perfect condition. We are prepared, therefore, to go again through the divisions of the tabernacle, and indicate the significance of its ground-plan. The court is four-sided, but not square ; a symmetrical figure, but only respective and not uniform in its symmetry to show that its spiritual counterpart, though approaching, had not yet reached the perfection suggested by a square. The Jioly place corresponded in form with the court, because the work of redemption, as here exhibited, is also incomplete. But, when we come to the holy of holies, we find in its ground-plan the same elements of regularity which existed in the other divisions, and, in addition, an exact equality of the lines by which it is defined. The quad- rangle being changed from an oblong to a square, and now exhibiting uniform instead of respective symmetry, 3 74 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. has not only ceased to suggest remaining defect, but positively affirms the faultlessness of that which it repre- sents. The symbolism of form extends beyond the superficial to the solid figures of the tabernacle. The height mentioned in the specifications so accords with the requirements of convenience, that one is at first disposed, as he had been in regard to the ground-plan, to reject the idea of symbolic significance ; but when he finds that the length, and breadth, and height of the New Jerusalem, are equal, he is compelled to believe that, at least in this vision of the holy city coming down from God out of heaven, the cubical form has significance. Even an ideal city could never be raised to the height of twelve thousand furlongs, in obliteration of its resem- blance to real cities, except for the purpose of symboliza- tion. The cube is among solids, as the square among superficial figures, the ultimate of regularity and symmetry, the perfection of form ; and was combined with other symbols in the vision of the apostle, to typify the future perfection of the kingdom of God. But if we admit that this figure, as displayed in the New Jerusalem, was significant, we cannot deny that it was equally so in the smaller dimensions of the Jioly of holies in the tabernacle ; and when we have learned that the sym- bolism of form selects the cube among solids, as it does the square among superficial figures, to represent the absolute, we shall be prepared for a similar parallelism between the solid which has an oblong base, and the base itself on which the solid has been erected. As the uniform symmetry of the apartment called the holy of holies expressed the perfection of that which the apart- INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE. 275 merit represented, it follows that the want of uniform symmetry in the holy place denoted a corresponding defectiveness in that which the chamber, by means of its respective symmetry, symbolized. The shape of a superficial figure depends on the number of its sides ; so that the symbolism of form is intimately connected with that of number. If numbers are to be used for the purpose of symbolization, four is naturally the numerical signature of that which is repre- sented by a figure with four sides. Consequently this number, wherever found in the tabernacle, whether it occurs in its own simple form, or combined with other factors in multiples of itself, suggests, by association of ideas, the spiritual kingdom of God. Other numbers are also thus combined ; but naturally four, as the representative of that which is symbolized by the entire institution, enters more frequently into combination, in order to stamp subordinate features with the impress of subordinate relation. Having sufficiently investigated the symbolism of form as exhibited in the tabernacle, let us again survey the edifice, seeking now for the significance of such numbers as are demanded by the specifications. Commencing with the wooden frame, we find that the pillars of which it consists amount to forty-eight. W^s this specification arbitrary, or was it determined by the laws of symbolism ? Whatever may or may not have been suggested to the contemporaries of Moses, the Christian reader of the New Testament cannot fail to recognize the correspondence between the walls of a temple, at least when built of stone, and the people 276 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. constituting the kingdom of God. In the epistles of both Paul and Peter, the Christian community is men- tioned under the metaphor of an edifice into which t>elievers are incorporated as living stones laid up6n Jesus Christ as a foundation. The first-named of these writers mentions prophets and apostles as built into the walls immediately upon Christ, the chief corner-stone ; and in the vision of the New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse twelve stones, or courses of stone, are seen in the foun- dation of its walls, inscribed with the names of the twelve apostles. This imagery of the New Testament was doubtless derived directly' from the temple of Solomon, and was superior, for the purpose of the writers, to any furnished by the tabernacle : yet the latter, though inferior, in the time of the apostles, to a structure of stone for symbolizing a people organized into a com- munity in which God was present, may have been planned to serve the same end in the time of their nomadic ancestors. Its frame of wood may have been synonymous with the walls of stone which enclosed the sanctuary erected, in a later age, to inculcate the same system of truths on a people dwelling in fixed habitations. If so, what number of pieces should we expect to find in this wooden frame .'' As twelve is the numerical signa- ture of the Hebrew people, and the frame of so large a structure as was required could not consist of so few pieces, the number would probably be determined ^y some multiple of twelve. But forty-eight is the riiultiple of twelve by that number which stands for the kingdom of God ; so that the combination of twelve and four seals the people represented by twelve as the living material of that spiritual temple which the taber- nacle was throughout designed to symbolize. INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE. 277 Turning from the frame to its coverings, observe that they are four in number. Necessity requiring some- thing more thdn the dehcate fabric of the innermost curtain, but not dictating whether there shall be two, three, four, or five coverings in all, there seems to be no other reason, in this case also, why four was chosen than that it is the numerical symbol of the idea which the whole edifice was designed to inculcate ; namely, that the Hebrew community was the kingdom of God. But four is the number not only of the curtains, but of the colors exhibited by the innermost and principal curtain, in which white, blue, purple, and crimson, combined to make a new presentation of the thought already sug- gested to the mind. But, further, these coverings, so far as they were of cloth, were wOven in webs four cubits wide, as if it were intended that this symbol should not fail of accomplishing its end by lack of iteration. The dimensions of the curtains were determined by the size of the edifice : a sufficient reason thus appear- ing for the prescribed length and breadth of the first and second, we need not look for significance in the number of cubits mentioned in the specifications. The silence of Moses in regard to the measure of the third and fourth coverings, which were of leather, also favors the conclusion that the dimensions of the curtains were not significant. But the size of the edifice, and of its several parts, seems to have been determined with refer- ence to the laws of numerical symbolism. The holy of holies is ten cubits in its length, breadth, and height respectively. The holy place is ten cubits in width and in height, but twenty cubits in length. The court is fifty cubits wide, and one hundred cubits long. Every 24 .?78 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. one of these prescribed measures is limited by ten or some multiple of it ; and, as we can discover no reason for this in necessity or peculiar adaptation, we find one in the meaning of ten as employed by the ancients to signify such completeness as is reached by numerical augmentation at the end of every decade. The fre- quent occurrence of ten in the dimensions of the edifice, suggests and emphasizes the idea of perfection as attained by growth from a state of imperfection ; and, if there were only tens and powers of ten, we might per- haps be constrained to understand that the kingdom of God was represented as already existing in this per- fected condition. But there are indications in the numerical symbolism of the tabernacle, as well as in its exhibition of both squares and oblongs, that the institu- tion represents that which is destined to be perfect, but has not yet attained to perfection. The whole area enclosed is fifty cubits wide, and one hundred cubits long ; so that, in one of the dimensions, the ten is multiplied by a number which the Greeks employed to indicate progress toward completion in that which is yet in a dimidiate or incomplete state. In the temple of Solo- mon, the dimensions, though enlarged, are, in all cases where they are given, multiples of ten ; but as we are ignorant of the dimensions both of the court of sac- rifice, and of the entire temple enclosure, we cannot positively afiirm that the edifice bore any numerical sign of incompleteness. But the temple of Ezekiel which exhibits a square, or perfected court of sacrifice, one hun- dred cubits on a side, has its outer enclosure, though square, limited by five as a mark of incompleteness appropriate where the holy place had not yet attained to INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE. 279 the form of a square. The Kmitation by five is in this case still more weighty in its significance because given not in cubits, as the dimensions of the court of sacri- fice, the Jioly place, and the Jioly of holies are given, but in reeds, apparently for the sole purpose of exhibiting the numeral five hundred (500), rather than the equivalent measure in cubits, which, being three thousand (3000), would carry no token of deficiency. In the New Jeru- salem, all incompleteness having now disappeared, the dimensions, given in furlongs to imply the growth of the kingdom since it was measured by cubits and reeds, are produced by the multiplication of the numerical sig- nature of the holy people into a higher power of ten than any hitherto appearing in the recorded dimensions of symbolic sanctuaries. The exhibition of both five and ten in the dimensions of the tabernacle suggests, there- fore, that both incompleteness and completeness pertain in some way to that which is represented. The places in which they respectively occur indicate that the incom- pleteness is to be referred to the stage of development in which the kingdom of God then existed, and that the imperfection is ultimately to disappear. The five im- pressed on the court marks that which it represents as tending toward, but not yet attaining to, the complete- ness signified by ten. The same numerical sign of imperfection occurs in the height of the court, which was five cubits, whereas the tabernacle, restrictively so called, w»s ten cubits high, and in the spaces between the pillars of the court, which also measured five cubits ; so that the curtain supported by these pillars appeared in divisions five cubits high, and five cubits wide. 28o SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. This sign of incompleteness appears even in the num- ber of the pillars around the court, which, according to the specifications, must show ten on the front, ten on the rear, and twenty on each side, or sixty in all ; so that the total sum is equal to the product of the numerical sign of the holy nation multiplied by the numerical sign of incompleteness. Bahr counts each corner-pillar twice, once on the end, and once on the side, and thus makes a total of fifty-six ; but the accompanying diagram by Riggenbach^ exhibits an arrangement of the pillars which seems to accord better with the specifications, and is certainly more symmetrical, as it divides without fractions both the length and width of the court, expressed in cubits, into sections, each having its length equal to the height of the curtain. It should be remembered that the specifications were not designed to show how the arrangement of the pillars would strike the eye of a spectator, but to guide the artisans in their work of con- struction. They must provide twenty pillars for each side, ten for the rear, and ten for the front. They must arrange them so that on the front there shall be an entrance twenty cubits wide, provided with a curtain which can be either let down, or folded up, and secured to the fillet of silver extending from pillar to pillar. This entrance must be so placed in the front as to have equal spaces on each side. The specifications therefore divide the ten pillars of the front into four for the twenty cubits of the gateway, and three for each of the side spaces ; but we are to understand that these numbers are not given by one who after the tabernacle ^ Die Mosaische Stiftshiitte. Basel, 1867. INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE. 281 had been set up tells how many pillars strike his eye, but by one who is directing how many shall be constructed. The entrances to the three divisions of the tabernacle are severally cut into sections by a specified number of pillars ; the gateway of the court must have four ; the entrance to the house, five ; and the veil between the holy place and the Jioly of holies, four. No other reason for these specifications of number being apparent, we seek one in symbolism ; but find it in the significance of the sections into which the entrances are thus divided, rather than in the pillars, which here, also, are numbered for the benefit of the artisans, and not of spectators. The four pillars specified for the gate of the court, as may be seen by referring to the diagram, cut that gateway into four divisions : the five pillars at the entrance of the house, if the two outer are placed each in front of the side walls, cut that entrance also into four sections : the four pillars between the two apartments, if the two outer are placed in contact with the side walls, give three passages from one apartment to the other. That significance is attached to the entrances, and not to the pillars, is evident both from the subserviency of the latter, and from the enumeration in the Apocalypse of the gates of the New Jerusalem, as if there were meaning both in the gates themselves, and in the number of them. What, then, is the import of these doors of the sanc- tuary .'' The first and second, counting as one moves inward, bear the numerical signature of the kingdom of God, as if to signify that those who belonged to it might pass through, and dwell with Jehovah in the fellowship of his house. The first advertised them that they 24* 282 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. might in person enter the court, and there transact with God through his representatives ; the second, that through their representatives they might enter into the holy habitation itself. The third door, bearing the numerical signature of that which is infinite and divine, is thus marked as a transit through which none has a right to pass but Jehovah. It is atrisagion, proclaiming, to those who have been admitted to the outer apartment, the superlative sanctity of the inner chamber. The entrance of the high-priest through this triplex passage, once in a year, in no degree militates against this interpretation, since he merely enters to lustrate the tab- ernacle defiled, even to the parts most remote from and inaccessible to the people, by their sinfulness ; and, when thus admitted for the purpose of purifying the place that God may continue to dwell in it, he must immedi- ately raise a cloud of incense to hide from his view what the apartment contained. It was not his dwelling-place as the outer chamber was the home of the priesthood : it belonged exclusively to Jehovah. One point more in the symbolism of number deserves attention before we pass to the consideration of color. The inner curtain was divided, over the veil between the holy place and the Jioly of holies, into halves, which were again joined together by means of loops and studs. The division cannot be accounted for on the ground of utility, and seems to have been made solely to sug- gest that the habitation consisted of two parts so distinct, that one might be removed, and the other remain. This suggestion was repeated in the second curtain, which also was divided over the partition-veil. Now, the number of loops required by the specifications is fifty INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE. 283 for each of the halves, and the number of studs fifty for each of the connections. The innermost curtain must have fifty loops on each of its connecting selvages, and fifty studs for each connection, and the second curtain an equal supply of loops and studs ; the studs of the first being of gold, and those of the second of copper. The limitation of the loops and studs by fifty, and the adherence to fifty notwithstanding the difference in the length of the two curtains, indicate that the number was significant. It is the same numeral which expressed in cubits the width of the court, and must be intended to convey a similar meaning. It is the multiple of the two factors which stand for completeness and incompleteness, and hints that the two representations which came together into one at this junction of the curtains, sym- bolized what was yet incomplete, but destined to attain completeness. The symbolism of color appears, in the edifice of the tabernacle, only in the drapery. The curtain which enclosed the court is of bleached linen, to signify that the area thus enclosed is a holy place where nothing unclean may enter, where the Holy One of Israel dwells in the midst of the holy nation. The veil which covers the entrance differs, however, from this pure white drapery, being diversified with the other sacred colors. The admixture of these brilliant hues with the white con- veys to the beholder some further information in regard to the character of this holy habitation of Jehovah. The blue reminds him of its heavenly origin ; the purple, of the kingly state of its occupant ; and the crimson marks it as a place of life where the living God dwells in the 284 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. midst of the living creatures to whom he has imparted eternal life. Proceeding inward, we find the four colors in all the remaining drapery; in the veil before the habitation, in that which divides the holy place from the holy of holies, and in the curtain designated as the tabernacle. The veils at the entrance of the court, and at the entrance of the house, are in every respect similar. The same colors are specified, are enumerated in the same order, whatever that may signify,^ and are so inwoven as to produce a similar pattern. The English version speaks of needlework ; but'the original seems to indicate that the fabric was woven so as to exhibit the blue, the purple, and the crimson, in regular stripes or checks, and not in exact imitation of the tabernacle and its partition-veil, both of which the skill of the weaver had adorned in the same beautiful colors with cherubic shapes as a pattern appropriate only in the interior of the habitation. The crimson thus woven into all the drapery of the tabernacle, except the screen which separated its holy area from the encampment, proclaimed that the kingdom of God is not only holy, but life-giving. It marked the symbolic kingdom as the place where the covenant people were to become acquainted with, and enjoy their God' Through the medium of its testimony and its services, as under the Christian dispensation through the temple of Christ's body, they were to have fellow- ship with Him whom to know is the true life ; and, the 1 The colors of the curtain called the tabernacle are always mentioned in the order which follows ; namely, fine-twined linen, blue, purple, and crimson ; but in all other cases, including the three veils and the sacerdotal garments, the colors are enumerated as blue, purple, crimson, and fine-twined linen. No one has suggested a reason for the difference of arrangement. INTERPRETATION OF THE EDIFICE. 285 crimson in the entrance-curtain of the court havinc: announced this characteristic of the institution, the veil at the entrance of the habitation repeated the announce- ment ; and the composite animal figures depicted in the interior as symbols of living creatures, whether wrought wholly or only partly in crimson, still more explicitly attested that in the kingdom of God man is restored to the life which was lost through sin. As the area of the court represented a kingdom, and the house was the dwelling of a king, it was meet that one of the colors displayed by the tapestry should be the royal purple, to illustrate the kingly majesty of Him who here reigns King of Israel. As the tabernacle was a pattern of things in the heavens, and was designed to institute upon earth such a reign of God as exists in heaven, its drapery displays the azure hue of the firmament, to indicate that the thing symbolized had its origin in the blue expanse where, " from the place of his habitation, Jehovah looketh upon all the inhabitants of earth," ^ and was brought down thence to be in this lower world not only a kingdom, but a kingdom of heaven. In the chapters on artificial symbolism, the metals followed next after color. Observing the same order in the work of interpretation, we now inquire what was signified by the copper, the silver, and the gold which entered into the material of the tabernacle. Copper appears only in the court, gold only in the house ; and the two meet at the door of the latter, where the five pillars stood on sockets or sills of copper, but had capitals 1 Ps. xxxiii. 14. i 286 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. overlaid with gold. Silver edges the top of the fence around the court, and the sill of the house is also silver. These phenomena justify the conclusion already announced, that gold is reserved to honor the house above the court ; the latter representing the earthliness in the midst of which Jehovah had fixed his habitation, in distinction from the heavenly glory of the habitation itself. When the kingdom of God is represented at the end of the New Testament in its final stage, the habitation has so expanded as to be identical with the court, and then copper disappears from the symbolism, and the only metal seen is pure gold ; but in the IMosaic taber- nacle there was need of copper to represent the present earthly condition of that which was to become the city of God. Accordingly the pillars of the court had sills of copper, and were secured in place with pins of the same material ; the sills at the door of the house, as they marked the boundary between the house and the court, were of the metal appropriate to the latter ; while the pillars themselves belonged to the house, and received a corresponding treatment. On the other hand, the interior of the house was resplendent with gold, the walls being entirely covered with the most precious and the most beautiful of the metals, in honor of its regal and divine occupant. The significance of the silver has also been explained in the preliminary chapter on the symbolism of mineral substances. This metal both crowned the court, and composed the sill of the house, to present another illustration of the superiority of the latter over the former. As the metal commonly used for money, and as the identical silver which, in the form of half-shekels, INTERPRETATION' OF THE EDIFICE. 287 the people had paid for their redemption from the punishment to which they had all been liable as unholy and sinful, it symbolized a real and efficacious redemp- tion, whereby men were able to pass from the court to dwell in the house of Jehovah as his accepted children, and proclaimed the impossibility of ascending from the court to the house, except as redeemed sinners. Of vegetable substances in the material of the taber- nacle, our inquiry respects only acacia-wood ; the linen drapery having symbolic significance only as a vehicle of the four sacred colors, and of the composite animal figures in which those colors were displayed. We have already had occasion to show that acacia and cedar were synonymous, denoting, by means of their extraordinary capacity to resist decay, one element of life. It was becoming, that whatever timber might be needful in a structure designed to represent the union between God the Saviour and his redeemed people, as a means of life to the latter, should be not only beautiful and fragrant, but of the most imperishable species which could be obtained. Acacia was such in the wilderness, and so was cedar at Jerusalem. There might have been no need of cedar in the temple of Solomon as a mark of life, but for the absence of such suggestiveness in the material of which its walls were constructed. The true temple, of which both the Hebrew sanctuaries were shadows cast upon the realm of sense, is built of " living stones ; " but, there being no life in the masses of rock which David and Solomon had made ready, the masonry was lined with the most imperishable timber within reach, to continue the suggestion of life conveyed by the 288 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. acacia-wood in the walls of the tabernacle. It is scarcely necessary to add that the acacia-wood in the pillars around the court had the same import as in the walls of the habitation. The composite animal figures produced by the skill of the weaver on the partition-veil and inner curtain of the tabernacle represented creaturely life in its highest excellence, such as was found in paradise before the fall, when man lived in intimate companionship with God ; and such as there will be in the restored paradise of the New Jerusalem, when "the tabernacle of God is with ' men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." ^ These cherubic forms symbolize those who " have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." ^ They represent the great mul- titude of the redeemed out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, dwelling with God in fulness of life. 1 Rev. zxL 3. 2 Rev. xxiL 14. CHAPTER XL INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE .OF THE TABERNACLE. The court was chiefly a place of burnt-offerings : hence the significance of the court culminated in its altar. Immediately after the promulgation of the • decalogue as a foundation of the covenant, Jehovah gave directions through Moses for the establishment of intercourse and fellowship with himself. The order was given in general terms suitable for all occasions, and thus left room for more specific directions in regard to the altar afterward built for the court of the tabernacle. The statute reads, " An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen : in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And, if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone ; for, if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." ^ It appears from this that an altar must be of earth, or of earthy material, unmodified by human art. The 1 Exod. XX. 24-26. 25 289 290 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. earth was the scene of the sacrifice, as heaven was the home of the Being to whom it was offered. It was earth, however, raised up toward heaven, the conception of an altar including that of elevation. In both the Latin and Greek languages, the idea of altitude is conveyed in the etymology of the word which denotes an altar for the worship of the celestial deities.^ Those words are, it is true, more properly applied to the upper part of the structure, there being beneath it a base, or platform, extending out on all sides on which the officiating priests went around the altar restrictively so called ; but often the word included the whole fabric. In Hebrew, the slaughter of the victims, and not the height of the platform on which they were slain, was suggested by the etymology of the word denoting that elevated platform. Height is, however, as essential to an altar for Hebrew worship as if contained in the name itself. It might be built of earth, or of stones in their natural state ; but it must be elevated to show that the offering laid on it was a gift from earth to heaven, the party making the oblation thus bringing it as near to the other party as possible? It was doubtless with the intent of carrying out this representation still further that the Phoenician tribes with which the Hebrews were surrounded in the land of their inheritance built altars on hills, as if by means of such " high places " they would approach nearer to the objects of their worship ; but the law of Moses gave no countenance to such a 1 See Andrews' Latin Lexicon, art. Altare ; Liddell and Scott's Greek Lexicon, art. Bw/z6f ; and Creuzer's Symbolik, vol. iii. p. 764. To the Dii terrestrcs and the Dii infcrni, offerings might be made on an altar not elevated ; but the Dii siiperi required 'Cat altare in distinction from the ara. INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 291 practice^ merely requiring that an altar should be higher than the ground on which it was erected. It further appears, from the statute concerning altars in general, that they were places where God came to meet his people. An altar was, like the tabernacle, a place of meeting between the two parties, the people offering their gifts, and he communicating his blessing. As the site of the tabernacle is designated as the place where Jehovah had set his name, so in this statute he promises to record his name wherever his people erected an altar. The idea conveyed in the tabernacle with all its elaborate symbolism was, in germ at least, contained in any pile of earth or unhewn stones built for the purpose of sacrificing ; the worshippers being raised up by it, and God coming down to meet and bless his worshipping people. This statute, being promulgated before the direction to construct the tabernacle and its altar, provides, by the prohibition of steps, that the person who officiates shall not expose his nakedness ; but such an exposure, so incongruous with the sacredness of the employment, was still more effectually guarded against in the service of the tabernacle by means of the drawers which the priests must not fail to put on before they ministered at the altar. In other cases, an altar was said to be built, or ele- vated ; but the portable structure used as such in the tabernacle is spoken of as made, or constructed, because it had a frame of wood overlaid with copper. This frame was probably filled with earth to answer the requirements of the general statute. There is no intimation of this, indeed, in the writings of Moses ; but 292 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. neither does he mention any other expedient for holding the fire in place. Copper as dug out of the ground, similar to it in color, and inferior to that metal which among metals represented celestial glory, was appropri- ately associated with earth in an altar belonging to a permanent and yet portable institution. By the affinity of the copper with the earth, this frame of an altar, which could be carried from place to place, fulfilled the same end in the expression of thought as an altar of earth. The wood being, in the first place, designed for a frame on which the copper might be fastened so as to give sufficient size and strength without too great weight, was of acacia for the same reason which required this particular species of timber in the planks of the house, and the pillars of the court. The tabernacle being a place of life, acacia-wood, on account of its superiority to decay, was sought for every purpose which was to be answered with wood, whether in the edifice or its furniture. Not only the frame, or wall of the altar, was of acacia covered with copper, but also the horns ; and this fact may help to determine the significance of these pro- jections. The horn is, in cornute animals, the instru- ment of power, and thence becomes an emblem of strength, and as such is congruous with all the other elements combined in the altar as a symbol. It has, accordingly, been commonly understood that the horns of the altar represented the power of its ministrations. But recently it has been suggested ^ that, among the metaphorical significations of the horn, height was no less 1 Hofmann : Schriftbeweis. Nordlingen, 1859. Vol. ii. r. p. 257. INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 293 appropriate than strength as an attribute of an altar. The horn is the highest part of the animal, carried aloft as a badge of power and the honor consequent on power, and therefore used as a sign of elevation. To lift up the horn is to exalt, either in the physical or in a figurative sense. A horn is something lifted, or raised up. The word is applied to a hill in the passage, " My well beloved hath a vineyard in the horrj of the son of oil," ^ i.e., in a very fruitful hill. Other languages make use of the metaphor in a similar way. ^ The horns of an altar may be intended, therefore, to symbolize still more emphatically the elevation of the earth on which the sacrifice is offered toward heaven, the residence of the Being to whom it is presented. The copper with which the horns were overlaid seems to countenance this interpretation. May not both shades of meaning be com- prehended in one and the same emblem.-* The horns elevating the place of sacrifice nearer to heaven, the efficacy of the altar was especially conspicuous in these symbols of elevation. The altars of antiquity varied in form according to the different nationality of the worshippers. Those of Greece and Rome were usually round ; but all Hebrew altars were four-sided, being thus stamped with the numerical signature of that kingdom of God in which he reveals himself to his people as a Redeemer and Saviour as in the material universe he reveals other aspects. The dimensions of the altar are such that the number expressing its length and its breadth is the same which 1 Isa. V. I, marginal reading. 2 Smith's Bible Dictionary, art. Horn. 25* 294 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. dominates in the court ; but no significance is to be attached to this, since the number is not preserved in the altar of burnt-offerings in the court of the temple. Indeed, a comparison of the tabernacle with the tem- ple leads to the conclusion that in both sanctuaries the dimensions of the furniture were determined by other considerations than symbolic significance. Five cubits square was a convenient size for the altar in the court of the tabernacle, while for the larger sanctuary of later days an altar twenty cubits on a side being neither too large nor too small, that was the measure which Solomon was instructed to appoint.^ During the journeys of the Hebrews from station to station, the altar of burnt-offerings was covered with a cloth of purple,^ being the only article of the sacred furniture to which this color was assigned. We are to understand, therefore, that it was especially representative of the regal majesty of Jehovah, maintaining by means of its sacrifices, honorary and expiatory, the authority of the king while he was dispensing forgiveness and favor. The laver between the altar and the house, having in itself no significance, is not described in the specifica- tions. It provided, however, for a very significant ceremony, since it contained a supply of water that the priests might wash their hands and their feet when they went into the habitation, or ministered at the altar. The entire function of the priesthood consisted in the two branches of service here indicated, since it was with the feet that they entered the sanctuary, and with the hands that they served at the altar. Hence the require- 1 2 Chron. iv. i. 2 Num. iv. 13. INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 29s ment that the hands and the feet, rather than other parts of the body, should be washed. It denoted that, though consecrated to the sacred office, they nevertheless on account of their uncleanness by nature and by contact with the impurities of the people, needed a special puri- fication before every official act. They might not touch the vessels of Jehovah with their hands, nor place their feet within his dwelling, without a reminder that he is holy, and has chosen his people in order that they also may become holy. As the officiating priest entered the holy place, he beheld on his right hand the table of show-bread ; on the opposite side, the chandelier ; and at the further end of the apartment, midway between the side walls, the altar of incense. Of these we propose to speak in the order in which they have just been mentioned. The table was furnished with two dishes for bread, two for frankincense, and probably two for wine. Twelve flat loaves of bread in two piles constantly stood on it, fresh loaves being brought every sabbath, and the loaves which were removed being eaten by the priests only. The number of the loaves doubtless indicates that the whole covenant people, the twelve tribes of Israel, were to participate in this offering to their covenant God. On the top of each pile was a dish of frankincense, and near by were cups of wine, as seems probable from the description of the dishes as suitable to pour with.^ The Septuagint calls them bowls and cups ; and the Jewish tradition is, that they contained wine for a libation, or drink-offering, such as accompanied every food-offering 1 Exod. XXV. 29, margin ; Num. iv. 7, margin. 296 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. at the altar in the court. The table of show-bread was in some sense an altar, being the appointed place where certain offerings to Jehovah were to be placed before him. The materials of these sacrifices were the same as those of the food-offerings and drink-offerings in the court. We have already endeavored to show that corn and wine, or bread and wine, being the product of the life- work of the Hebrews, represented, in the symbolism of the tabernacle, the fruit of work in the higher sphere where one labors not for perishable food, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life. As the husband- man ploughs and sows, reaps and threshes, grinds the wheat into flour, and converts his flour into bread, as he plants and prunes his vineyard, gathers the grapes, and expresses their juice into the wine-vat ; so the true Israelite, who is alive unto God, produces the fruit of holiness, and enjoys the product of his diligence, as truly as the tiller of the earth has pleasure in the bread and wine with which he has supplied his table. This is the true bread from heaven of which wheat, manna, and other kinds of food, are figures ; it is not only the life-product of those who have been born again, but their chief enjoyment, the sufficient reward of all their labor. Knowing, however, that God has even more desire for the sanctification of his people than they themselves have, they wish him to enjoy with them the fruits of this spiritual husbandry. It is this fellowship of God with his people in the enjoyment of their sanctification which the show-bread represents. They here set before him in symbol the fruits of their diligence in the labor of the new life. They bring the offering by his own appointment, and keep it perpetually before him, that he INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. zc^'j may enjoy with them the results of their work, as he has also shared in producing them ; for in spiritual, as well as in natural husbandry, man is only a co-worker with God. So true is it that Jehovah participates with his people in the production of the true bread, that our Lord,^ while exhorting his hearers to labor for the food which endureth unto everlasting life, claims that he himself, as sent by the Father, is " the true bread from heaven," " the bread of life," " the bread of God," meaning that sanctification is attainable only through him. This, says he, is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. It was only by thus co-operating with God in their spiritual husbandry, that they could have fellow- ship with him in the enjoyment of its fruits. The wine and frankincense which accompanied the bread added something to its significance : the former, being the constant adjunct of bread, was needful to give fulness of meaning to the symbol of life-work and of enjoyment ; and the latter connected the bread which was a kind of sacrifice, " an offering from the children of Israel," with prayer. All offerings by fire to Jehovah must be accompanied with frankincense ; and that spice was placed on the bread to show that, though not literally consumed with fire, it was a sacrifice in the same sense as the offerings by fire, and therefore not to be divorced from prayer. The statute reads, " Thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row [pile], that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto Jehovah (every sabbath he shall set it in order before Jehovah continually), from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant." ^ 1 John vi, 2 Lev. xxiv.7, 8. 298 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. The loaves, when placed on the table, are called show-bread, or bread of the presence or face. The designation thus applied to the bread, and not to the incense or to the lamps which were equally in the presence of God, may have been intended to show unmistakably that they were placed there not to be eaten, but to be seen. The old loaves were, it is true, eaten by the priests, but not till they had been removed from the table which always stood so furnished as to present to the eye of God a reminder of the good deeds of his people. Bread of the presence is a cumulative appellation, meaning more than mere bread, because the loaves constantly remained before Jehovah as a memorial. But though it was bread of the presence, and not to be actually eaten while on the table by either party, it symbolized such enjoyment as is experienced not in eating merely, but in eating together. Among the Orientals, a table was an emblem of fellowship ; so that our Lord puts the treachery of Judas in the strongest light by saying, " Behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table." ^ So the apostle has in mind the same symbolic significance of a table, when he tells the Corinthians that, if disposed to accept an invitation to a feast given by a heathen, they might eat whatever was set before them without asking any question ; since, even if the food had been placed on the altar of a false god, the idol was nothing, and the food as a product of the earth belonged to the true God ; but adds that, if informed that any part of the feast had been offered in sacrifice to an idol, they ought to avoid 1 Luke xxii. 21. INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 299 partaking of it, lest they should be regarded by the informer as participating not in a common meal, but in a sacrificial feast, as Israelites after the flesh were partakers of the altar when they feasted on the flesh of peace-offerings, and as Christians commune with Christ at the Lord's table. Such symbolization of the table is frequently employed in the New Testament to show the spiritual fellowship between Christ and his people, when the kingdom of God shall have advanced to a later stage of development. Our Lord himself says to his disciples, " I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me ; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom." ^ That this mode of expressing the thought was not peculiar to him, is evident from the use of a similar phrase by a person, who, on another and previous occasion, exclaimed, " Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."^ Still another testimony to the prevalence of this mode of speaking is found in the Apocalypse, where John is directed to write, " Blessed are they who are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb." ^ The form of the table appears to have been deter- mined by symbolism only so far as it was four-sided. The tables of the Greeks and Romans were sometimes circular ; ^ but neither a round nor a triangular table would have harmonized with the tabernacle, for every thing which belonged to the institution must have the quadrangular form to stamp upon it the signature of the kingdom of God. The significance of acacia-wood 1 Luke xxii. 29, 30. 2 Luke xiv, 15. 3 Rev. xix. 9. 4 See Fiske's Manual of Classical Literature, Philadelphia 1843, p. 293. 300 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. and of gold has already been explained, so that it is only necessary to notice the fact that the table was con- structed of these emblems of life and glory. An ornamental band of leaves and flowers wrought in solid gold surrounded the table ; indeed, there is much reason to think there were two such crowns.^ These souvenirs of vegetable life attached to the table, and to the place in which it stood, the idea of life. This was, throughout the ancient world, the significance of a crown of leaves and flowers. The vital vigor of a plant reaches its highest development in the materials of such a garland, and therefore they become symbolic. But, when used as an emblem by the heathen in their worship of Nature, a crown signified life in a physical, and not in an ethical sense. A necklace of lotus-flowers on an Egyptian mummy was a promise of resurrection to such a life as had been lost.^ But, in Mosaism, life meant holiness and its accompanying joy. It was by dwelling with Jehovah in his holy habitation that the ancient Hebrew was made alive, as it is now by personal intimacy with the true God, and the Anointed whom he has sent, that the Christian receives eternal life. This union of the soul with God was symbolized in the tabernacle in many, indeed, one might say in all possible ways. The highest developments of both animal and vegetable vitality were grouped in the interior to show that it was the place of life, the habitation of the Living One who has life in himself, and of those to whom he has imparted his own quickening Spirit. This garland of leaves and flowers around the table shows that the 1 Exod.xxxvii. ii, 12. 2 Creuzer : Symbolik, ii. 45. INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 301 bjead is the bread of life, of which if a man eat, he shall never die and never hunger. When the encampment was to be broken up, the table of show-bread was first covered with a cloth of blue ; the full service of its golden dishes with the continual bread thereon was set in the usual order; and then a cloth of crimson was laid over the whole. No other article of the furniture was invested with this color in preparation for removal. Crimson was the peculiar badge of the table among the utensils of the interior, as they were distinguished, on the other hand, by the cloth of blue from the purple-clad altar of the court. After what has been said on the symbolism of color, it is scarcely necessary to explain the import of the crimson cover over the table of show-bread. It concurred with and intensified the testimony of the crown of leaves and flowers that the show-bread was the bread of life. Opposite the table was the chandelier, or lamp-stand. The light emitted by the lamps may have been some- times useful to the priests in their ministrations ; but, as respects mere utility, an equal number of lamps distributed throughout the apartment would have been more serviceable. Their aggregation on one stand, and the significant seven by which the number of them is determined, both indicate that they were placed here to assist in the representation of religious thought. Their position with reference to the table suggests the possi- bility that the light was, in its symbolism, the comple- ment of the show-bread. With this hint in mind, we ask, What is it of which light is the natural emblem } Sometimes it is used for 26 302 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. knowledge, and especially for the knowledge of God and his relations to man. Knowledge is light ; and to impart knowledge is to enlighten. The figure is capable, however, of expressing something broader and deeper than intellectual apprehension of truth. In fact, the import of light in the Scriptures usually extends beyond the sphere of the intellect into that of the conscience, covering the domain of duty as well as of verity. The children of light are those who obey, as well as perceive, the reality of the invisible and eternal. Hence those who are the light of the world not only impart knowl- edge to the ignorant, but reproof to the erring. The text, "Ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord : walk as children of the light, . . , and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness," ^ implies that a holy life reproves sin as light shames into decency those who in darkness would do abominable deeds. The admonition, "Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life," ^ involves both obedience to the word of life in those who hold it forth, and a diffusive influence in such obedience. We conclude, therefore, that in Hebrew symbolism light includes holiness, as well as knowledge. The offering of light which the covenant people brought as an accompaniment to the fruit of their life-work was the symbol of sanctified character. The two symbols are mutually complementary. The prayers and the alms of 1 Eph. V. 8 et seq, 2 phil. ii. 14 et seq. INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 303 a good man come up as a memorial before God ; and his example, by holding forth the word of life, diffuses an assimilating influence. But this Ifght of holiness, man is as unable to produce of himself as is a lamp to shine without oil, and oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit ; so that the oblation of light which the covenant people presented to Jehovah in the tabernacle contained in itself a declaration that they were sanctified by the indwelling Spirit of God. The same idea was again brought to view in the number of the lamps ; seven representing a transaction between God and man, and therefore in Mosaism standing for the covenant itself. The illumination was effected by the co-operation of the infinite and the finite ; and the lamps were seven because that is the sum of the numerical signatures of the two parties united in producing the light. The lamp-stand served not merely to bear the lamps, but to assist in the symbolism. It represents the covenant people, the organized community, who by the example of their obedience shine for the illumination of the world. For under the old covenant, as under the new, the church is the pillar and stand of the truth, holding forth and diffusing its light. The seven branches of the stand indicate that it is not a merely human institution, but that God is in the midst of it, as in the Apocalypse our Lord was seen v/alking in the midst of the seven golden chandeliers which represented the churches of Asia. The peculiar ornamentation of the shaft and the branches was derived from the vegetable world, and was doubtless parallel in import with the crown of leaves 304 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. and flowers attached to all other utensils of the house. The flowers were in this case, if not in the others, those of the almond, the earliest tree to blossom and sprout in the spring.^ A branch of an almond-tree was the sign which God gave to Jeremiah that the word he was commissioned to declare should be speedily fulfilled. " Jeremiah, what seest thou "i And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree. Then said the Lord unto me. Thou hast well seen : for I will hasten my word to perform it." 2 This tree being the earliest manifestation of vitality in the vegetable kingdom, its buds, flowers, and fruit, when employed in the representation of religious thought, were expressive symbols of life. It was thus that they signified that Aaron-and his sons were chosen to draw near to Jehovah when, each tribe having brought a branch of this tree, Aaron's rod produced buds, leaves, and fruit, while the others exhibited no such phenomena.^ The superior vitality of Aaron's rod proved that he was called to approach the Living One, and be the medium through which life might be imparted to the people. In like manner the blossoms, fruit, and leaf-buds of the almond-tree, introduced into the ornamentation of the chandelier, were designed to show that the light emitted from its lamps was the light of life ; that in the church, as in its Lord, is life, and the life is the light of men. The chandelier was the only article of furniture in the tabernacle made of solid gold ; but we are not to conclude that it was therefore of superior dignity. The 1 The almond-tree, TPt-') derives its name from 1Ty^,io wake. It is, says Gesenius, the waker : so called as being the earliest of all trees to awake from the sleep of winter. 2 Jer. i. II, 12. 8 Num. xviL INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 305 Other utensils were probably made of wood to diminish their weight ; but such a device was unnecessary and perhaps impracticable in the case of the chandelier. When the others were plated, they were all equal in splendor of appearance, and in the symbolism of the metal which imparted such glory. Nothing less splendid than gold would have been proper in the habitation of the heavenly King. Of the three articles of furniture in the outer apart- ment, the altar of incense occupied the place of highest honor, being directly in front of the holy of holies, and as near the partition-veil as the burning of incense permitted. Although in no way connected with bloody sacrifices, it bears the same name as the altar in the court, a name derived from the slaughter of animals. This fact indicates a close affinity of some kind with the structure from which it derives a name so foreign to its ministra- tions. It was indeed an altar in the sense that oblations to Jehovah were placed upon it, and that he was under engagement there to meet his people, accept their offerings, and communicate his blessing. The name, though originally implying the slaughter of animals, had, by a broader application, come to denote any elevation on which either vegetable or animal sacrifices were presented. But, being an altar only in a secondary meaning of the word, it was not within the scope of the statute which required that every altar to which slain victims were brought should be of earth or of unhewn stones. The altar of incense was the place where those whose 26* 3o6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. sins had been expiated with bloody sacrifices in the court presented to Jehovah the oblation of prayer. It signified that, as the incense diffused a sweet odor, so the prayers of his redeemed and sanctified household are a delight to the heavenly King. We are not only assured by the testimony of Scripture that this interpre- tation is correct, but are able to discover such a correspondence between the incense and the worship, that they would naturally be associated, and become mutually suggestive, in the Oriental mind. For in prayer the soul breathes forth the holy affections which are immanent in it as the fragrance is in the spices before they are thrown upon the censer. Worship brings into lively exercise and consciousness the admiration, grati- tude, filial confidence, and devotion which characterize the household of God. In their presentation of such feelings, he takes great delight : so that the symbolism in which the Orientals represented worship by means of sweet spices, exhaling odors in' the highest degree grateful to the bodily sense, is by no means arbitrary, but founded in nature. The altar itself was an element in the representation, showing that the incense was offered to Jehovah, and presented at a place by him appointed for such service. It was called the golden altar in distinction from that in the court, which was of copper ;. but the metal was, in this case as in that, laid over a frame of acacia. Both the metal and the wood have been already interpreted ; and we need only pause to observe that the metal corresponds with the place in which the altar stood, as the copper on the altar of burnt-offering corresponded with the earlier and more earthly state of the kingdom INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 307 of God represented in the court. The golden garland surrounding this altar, just above the rings by which it was carried, had the same meaning as the similar ornament around the table. By collating the symbolism of the three utensils in the outer chamber, we find that collectively they represent an oblation to Jehovah on the part of those who are permitted to draw near to him, consisting of good works, good influence, and acceptable worship. Such offerings are appropriate to the place as the habitation of God, and to the persons who present them as members of his household. The service here rep- resented is that which one renders who has come to the consciousness of God's fatherhood, and has trusted the divine promise to absolve from guilt, but has not yet been admitted within the veil which conceals the glories of eternity ; who still walks by faith, and not by sight. It is a service which could be rendered, under the dispen- sation then existing, only on the ground of an expiation of sin symbolized in the sacrifices of the court, and to be realized at some time in the future. It was therefore rendered through priestly representatives. It is the ser- vice which now, when expiation is complete by the death of Christ, is rendered not by representative priests, but by all members of the Christian church, till they are called one by one within the veil. This service will continue to be rendered by the successive generations of believers onward to the second advent of Christ. As the sacrifices of the court were terminated at his first advent, by the one offering which needed no repetition, so the rites of the outer apartment will cease 3o8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. at his second coming, by the reception of those who perform them into the lioly of holies, where he, as our forerunner, has already entered. No sooner had he completed his work of expiation, than the partition- veil between the two chambers was rent in twain to signify that, redemption having advanced to the second stage of its historical development, those who formerly wor- shipped only in the court might now enter the habitation, and draw near to God in person; might even, through their representative and forerunner, pa'ss within the veil. The Christian may not, it is true, while in the mortal body enter the holy of holies ; but by faith he follows his great high-priest to the mercy-seat, as the pious Hebrew, standing in the court, followed in like manner the officiating priest to the table, the chandelier, and the golden altar. We are now to interpret the significance of the ark of the covenant. The fact that it was designed for the safe-keeping of the two tablets on which the decalogue was written, is one of many indications that these tablets were regarded as very precious. If one observes that the ten words were inscribed on stone for the sake of permanence ; that this durable record was preserved in a chest specially constructed for the purpose ; that this depository of the inscription was the sole furniture of that apartment in the tabernacle, which was not merely the holiest of all, but accessible only through the outer chamber and the court ; that the tabernacle itself was the centre of the encampment, being surrounded first by the tribe of Levi, and then by the other tribes, arranged in a second INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 309 cordon, — he must conclude, that as its kernel is the most valuable part of a nut, so the words inscribed on the tablets of testimony were more important than the successive shells and hulls by which they were pro- tected and preserved. The value thus attributed to the decalogue results from its being a testimony of God, revealing not merely, as perhaps we have been accustomed to think, what he wills, but what he is. The " ten words " inscribed on these tablets do, indeed, contain commandments ; but first of all they testify that God is a deliverer. The inscription commences, " I am Jehovah thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." ^ By its requirements and pro- hibitions, the document testified that Jehovah was holy, and required holiness of his people. Because of this witness which the inscription bore concerning Jehovah, it was called the testimony ; and because its Author had propounded it as the basis of the covenant he wished to make with the Hebrews, and they had formally and solemnly consented to receive it as such, it was also called the covenant? For corresponding reasons the 1 Exod. XX. 2. 2 There is a prevalent impression that the old covenant was really no covenant at all, but an economy established by the will of one of the parties, the other having no liberty of rejecting it. An attentive reading of the history will show,- however, that, the covenant being first proposed in general terms, the people responded, "All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do ; " and that, the " ten words " being then announced with the addition of a code of "judgments" containing in a condensed form nearly all the theocratic laws afterward promulgated, the people again responded, "All the words which Jehovah hath said will we do." The proposed covenant, having been twice accepted by the Hebrews, was formally ratified with such sacrifices, and sprinkling of blood, as usage required for the rati- fication of a covenant ; the people protesting for the third time, " All that Jehovah hath said will we do, and be obedient." The decalogue is to be regarded, therefore, 3IO SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. ark was sometimes termed the ark of the testimony, and sometimes the ark of the covenant. Over these tablets of testimony was the throne of Jehovah, where he dwelt between the cherubs which stood one on either end of the cover of the ark. Above this cover, or mercy-seat, as it is termed in the English version, and between these cherubs, was in particular, as the tabernacle was in a more general sense, the place where the God of the Hebrews localized himself in the midst of the people whom he had chosen that they should be holy. His throne was thus established on the testimon)^, or covenant, as a foundation. There can be little doubt that two passages in the Book of Psalms, which are more alike in the original than in the English version, refer to this position of his throne over the decalogue. One of them reads, " Justice and judgment are the habitation [or, in the margin, establishment] of thy throne."^ Robinson's Gesenius gives "foundation" as a more exact equivalent of the Hebrew word than "habitation " or " establishment." Employing this more accurate definition in place of "habitation," the other passage reads, " Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of his throne." ^ At all events, the relative position of the mercy-seat, or throne of grace, to the not as a law imposed upon the Hebrews without their consent, but as a testimony for holiness which Jehovah proposed, and they accepted, as the basis of a mutual agreement. True, that all its requirements were of natural and inevitable obliga- tion ; but the proposition made to the Hebrews was, that they should promise obedience, and thus put themselves on a different platform from the rest of man- kind. These " ten words " were a special statute accepted as such by the Hebrews, enforcing upon them what was in itself obligatory. Without the covenant, they would have been under the same obligation as the rest of mankind : with it, they were bound by their own promise. 1 Ps. Ixxxix. 14. 2 Ps. xcvii. 2. INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 311 tablets bearing witness to the holiness of God, is a sym- bolic utterance of the same truth which awakened once and again the enthusiasm of the psalmist. Over the testimony, as the basis of the covenant, was the place where Jehovah dwelt among his people as their God and King. Here was his throne between the two cherubs of gold, and in the midst of the cherubic figures wrought into the tapestry of the tabernacle itself. The cherub being a symbol of redeemed and perfected humanity, and the holy of holies representing the kingdom of God in its perfected condition, we are constrained to look, for the reality of what is here exhibited, backward to the earthly paradise where God and man walked together in friendly companionship, or forward to the restored paradise of the New Jerusalem, or upward to that paradise where our Lord went on the day of his death. " To-day," said he to the penitent malefactor, " shalt thou be with me in paradise." ^ Is there not, then, even now a place in the heavens where the spirits of just men made perfect are with God, seeing as they are seen, and knowing as they are known, walking by sight and not by faith .? Is not this the paradise which was prepared for man on the earth, but removed to heaven on account of his sin "^ Is not this the tabernacle which is to come down from God out of heaven, to be established on the earth as the final state of his kingdom here .-' The garden of Eden was no sooner vacated by man than it was placed under the care of cherubs, to be kept by them till the original heir should be restored to his inheritance. A tableau of cherubs around the throne of 1 Luke xxiii. 43. 312 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Jehovah is, therefore, a prediction and a promise to men of restoration to such fellowship with God as Adam enjoyed before the earth ceased to be a paradise. It authorizes them to expect that redemption will restore not only fallen humanity to holiness, and fellowship with God, but the material universe to its pristine fitness for, and symbolism of, such a condition of mankind, making it a tabernacle of God where he will meet his people. The association of the cherubs with the throne of God implies that redeemed men are to occupy some place free from the curse which rests upon the earth ; and their connection with Eden, as its keepers, suggests that the earth itself is to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious exemption from death of the children of God. The presence of the cherubs on the mercy-seat bearing such significance is in harmony with all the other symbols of the Jioly of holies. Its cubical form, the decade in its dimensions, its colors of holiness, heavenliness, kingliness, and life, its undecay- ing wood, and its glorious gold, unite in predicting that, when the kingdom of God reaches its final development, the outward state and surroundings of the redeemed will correspond in excellence with their high calling as the household of God. But we have yet to mention what is perhaps the most ^ important element in the symboHsm of the cover of the ark. It was not only the throne of the theocratic king ^^'' founded on the testimony of the decalogue that he was holy, and the throne of the Living One surrounded by creatures to whom he had imparted life as nearly resem- bling his own as it was possible that creatures should possess ; but the throne of grace, where assurance was given to sinners that their sin was taken away. INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 313 When a sin-offering had been slain, the blood was sprinkled on the altar to show that, by the death of his proxy, he who had forfeited his life by sin was delivered from the sentence of death, and permitted to draw near to God. This was represented by the application to the altar, as the place where God met his people, of the blood as a symbol of life. Such a sprinkling signified that the life of the sacrificer was covered with the life of the proxy slain in his stead, so that he was entitled to be a living member of the theocracy. In ordinary instances of the sin-offering, this covering of the soul of the sacrificer with the soul of his proxy was sufficiently represented and sealed by the sprinkling of the blood on the altar of sacrifice, that being the place where Jehovah met his people, and transacted with them through his representatives the priests ; but on the day of the annual atonement, or covering (for the two words are equivalent), when the sins of the priests themselves, and of the nation as such, were to be cancelled, the blood was brought into the ]ioly of holies, and sprinkled upon, and in front of the cappoj^eth, or golden cover of the ark. In this, the most solemn of the expiatory representa- tions of the calendar, it was necessary to bring the sym- bol of life even to the holiest place of the tabernacle to show that the priests and the nation were still alive unto God, and permitted to draw near to him in his appointed ordinances, each class according to its degree. If the blood had been applied to the altar in the court, as was sufficient in case of a sin-offering for an individual, the question might still rise whether the nation as such could draw near through its mediatorial officials into the 27 314 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. habitation, and wliether the priests were so cleansed that Jehovah would permit them to officiate. But the reception of the symbol of the nation's life before and upon the throne of Jehovah exhibited and sealed his acceptance of them as justified, and entitled to live in his presence. The cappoveth^ or golden cover of the ark, was there- fore not only a source from which Jehovah issued assur- ances that sin was taken away, but the very highest possible source from which such an assurance could proceed. Ordinarily, it was enough that the sinner should be assured by the application of the symbol of his life to the altar in the court ; but, when the most solemn expiation of the year was celebrated, the ritual required that the priest should bring the blood to the very throne of the king. There could be no affirmation that sin was cancelled more satisfactory in regard to its authority and its comprehensiveness than this. It came immediately from the throne of the king, and of necessity opened to the restored nation every thing in the tab- ernacle to which they could have been admitted if blameless. The literal meaning of capporeth, the word translated mercy-seat, is cover. Is it, then, so called because it v/as a lid for the ark, or with reference to the covering of sin .-* The first-mentioned reason occurs at once to every reader, and satisfies him till he finds how it is connected with what is now called expiation, but was conceived of by the Hebrews as the covering of sin. Unquestionably the expiation, or covering of sin, was solemnly declared and authoritatively sealed by the sprinkling of blood on the capporeth, or mercy-seat. In INTERPRETATION OF THE FURNITURE. 315 view of this fact, the translators of ancient versions, as, for example, the Septuagint and the Vulgate, and of modern versions, such as those in common use in Ger- many and in English-speaking countries, have rendered the word by something more specific than cover.^ They have taken into consideration that the Hebrew substan- tive is applied only to this object, is therefore a proper name, is cognate with the verb to expiate, or to make expiation, and is to be explained in the light of the pur- pose it subserved. They agree in calling it by names which imply that this was the place in the tabernacle which, above any other, showed forth the acceptance of expiation for sin. Attempts have been made to unite the two senses in which the mercy-seat was a cover, as if it expiated sin by covering the testimony of the decalogue against it ; but this is not to cover sin in the Hebrew sense, which was to place over it either the life thereby forfeited or some authorized substitute. When thus covered, it was regarded as taken away, or cancelled. The proper name capporeth, or covering, is not, therefore, so far as we can discover, applied to the lid of the ark because it covers the testimony, but because it was the place from which the covering of sin was authoritatively announced. With this idea of the mercy-seat, the attitude of the cherubs well accords ; for they stood with their faces toward it, as if what it signified was especially attractive, wonderful, and agreeable. The posture of these symbols of redeemed humanity expresses the gratitude for expia- tion which the vision of the Apocalypse represents them as uttering in song. 1 The Septuagint has iTiaarfipcov km-Qefia, the VvlgdAz ^ofitiatorium, Luther's version Gnadenstuhl. 3i6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. In the migrations of the tabernacle, the ark, including of course the mercy-seat and its cherubs, was enveloped first with the partition-veil, then with the leather, and afterward with the cloth of blue common to all the uten- sils of the habitation. It is to be noted, however, that the blue cover of the ark was laid over the leather ; and not under, as in the case of the altar of incense, the chandelier, and the table. The ark was thus distinguished from the three other utensils of the habitation, as the four were from the altar of the court. All of the four were invested with the chromatic signature of heavenli- ness ; but the ark alone wore it in full view of all spec- tators, to show that, as it pertained to the kingdom of God in its final and complete state, it was heavenly in an eminent degree. The partition-veil, laid over the ark as its first covering, preserved as far as was possible that representation of its sacredness of which the veil was the instrument when suspended in its place. The tapestry, which concealed the sacred emblems from sight when at rest, covered them when carried in procession. They were thus surrounded with the same sacred colors and the same cherubic figures symbolizing a holy and heavenly kingdom of life. CHAPTER XII. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE TABERNACLE. A PRIEST is one who mediates between God and man. He presents the gifts and sacrifices which the worshipper may not, or dare not, offer in person, and brings back from God the assurance of acceptance and favor. Among the Hebrews, as among kindred nations, priestly functions were discharged by the head of each family till the institution of the covenant at Sinai. This, by consecrating one family as priests for the nation, and requiring all sacrifices to be presented in front of the tabernacle of meeting, put an end to the ancient practice. In the narrative of the ratification of the covenant, the family priests are mentioned for the last time. They had no active part, however, in the sacrifices; which were conducted by Moses as the mediator of the covenant, and young men whom he chose as his assistants, perhaps on purpose to show that the old regime had passed away. As the mediator of the cove- nant divinely authorized to communicate to the people the messages of their God, and to God the messages of his people, Moses would be the first person thought of for the priesthood. But, his hands being already 27* 317 3i8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. sufficiently occupied, the office was conferred on his brother, as the person nearest to him in consanguinity, and harmony of feeling. As before in the several households, so in the nation, the office was hereditary. It is easy to see that such a change in the tenure of the priesthood would help to consolidate the families which before had worshipped at separate altars. The union of all Hebrews, of whatever parentage, in the worship of the tabernacle, was an important element of national life. The families were henceforth, at least so far as concerns the rites of religion, united together as a nation; and the family of Aaron were, by the appoint- ment of Jehovah, mediators between the nation and himself. The nation thus constituted not only belonging to Jehovah as other nations did, but being eminently his by virtue of their election as his covenant people, the family of Aaron were elected to a corresponding eminence above their kindred ; not only belonging to Jehovah as all Hebrews did, but being in a peculiar sense his for the service of mediation. As the entire nation were holy, or separate from other nations, so this family were called to be holy, or were separated from other Hebrews for the office and ministrations of the priesthood. As this separation of the Hebrews from the rest of mankind, and this privilege of being in a peculiar sense the property or inheritance of Jehovah, did not begin with any act of their own, but they were chosen to be his and to be holy ; so Aaron and his sons did not take the prerogatives of the priesthood sponta- neously, but were called to the office by the election of Jehovah himself. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 319 The Hebrew priesthood was instituted because the people were not quaHfied to draw near to God in person. By virtue of their election, the people of Jehovah were entitled to dwell in his habitation, but their con- sciousness of sin made them afraid of him : therefore, in condescension to their inability to understand the greatness of his love, he provided a class of persons who, as the representatives of his elect, might in their stead enter the tabernacle. To draw near to God, and to be a priest, are equivalent expressions. Aaron drew near in behalf of those who were elected to have spiritual communion with God, but were not yet deliv- ered from bondage to fear ; and his admission within the habitation signified that they were entitled to a corre- sponding access in spirit, that they were called a kingdom of priests for the reason that they might thus draw near to God in spiritual fellowship. By his office he was qualified to do outwardly and symbolically what all might do in spirit and in truth. But, before Aaron could enter the holy habitation in behalf of the people, he must officiate at the altar of sacrifice, and expiate sin ; for his constituents were sinful, and the representation of their approach to God as members of his household must be preceded by signs that i;their sin was taken away : otherwise it might be inferred that Jehovah was indifferent whether his people were holy or unholy. The Hebrew priesthood therefore symbolized in general the expiation of sin, and the admission to filial intercourse with God effected thereby. Accepting this as the correct interpretation of the symbol in its entire- ness, we proceed to consider separately the several parts of which the representation consisted. The particulars 320 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. to be interpreted are, election to the office, the compara- tive hoUness of the incumbents, the requirements of bodily soundness, the official garments, and the conse- cration. It is not only historically true that Aaron and his descendants were priests by the election of Jehovah declared through Moses the mediator of the covenant, and confirmed by the sign of the almond-rod, but such a calling of God is essential to the idea of the office ; for a priest is one who comes near to. God, dwells with him in his house as a companion in behalf of others because more acceptable than they. The priest is preferred before those whom he represents : therefore no man may take this honor to himself, or be exalted to it by his fellows. " Blessed is the man," says the psalmist, " whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts : we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." ^ Only those thus chosen by God were priests. This divine election of the family of Aaron out of Israel signifies that those who have been admitted to filial fellowship with the Holy One of Israel were called thereto by the sovereign choice of God. As Jehovah chose the family of Aaron out of the tribe of Levi, the Levites out of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the He- brews out of all the nations, so he has chosen his spiritual seed out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. Without such election they would have remained like the rest of mankind, strangers to the covenant, instead of becoming " a holy priesthood to offer up spirit- 1 Ps. Ixv. 4. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 321 ual sacrifices." ^ The New-Testament writers make this divine election very prominent, declaring that those who by receiving Christ become sons of God, were born not of the will of man, but of God,^ were called to be saints, ^ were chosen before the foundation of the world that they should be holy,* were predestinated to the adoption of children,^ were elect unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. ^ The priesthood were elected to holiness. The whole people, as a kingdom of priests, were to be a holy nation ; but the family of Aaron were chosen to a still higher ceremonial purity than was required of their brethren. When Korah and his companions claimed the right to officiate as priests, they did so on the ground that all the congregation were holy ; and the reply to the mutineers was, " To-morrow Jehovah will show who are his, and who is holy ; and will cause him to come near unto him : even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him." '^ The budding of Aaron's rod decided the question between him and those who claimed the office on the ground that all were hoty. It was a sign that Aaron was elected to a superiority of holiness among the Hebrews, as the nation was to a similar eminence among the nations of the earth. The same thing is evident from the legal ordinances concerning the priesthood. Many things allowed by the law of nature were by the law of Moses forbidden to a Hebrew. Beasts, birds, and fishes being classified into 1 I Pet. ii. 5. 2 John i. 13. 8 Rom. i. 7. 4 Eph. i, 4. 5 Eph. i. 5. 61 Pet. i. 2, T Num. xvi. 5. 322 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. clean and unclean, one who belonged to the holy nation might not eat of any thing pronounced unclean, however much esteemed as an article of diet by Gentiles, on penalty of becoming unholy in his own person, and unfit for his usual participation in the symbolic transactions of the tabernacle. Dead bodies and diseased persons were pronounced by the law, unclean ; and any Hebrew who touched a dead body, or came in contact with a person suffering with certain diseases, became also unclean, and incompetent to appear in the court of the tabernacle. But a priest was not only bound by all ordi- nances which separated the Hebrews as a holy nation from the rest of mankind, but by requirements and prohibitions peculiar to his class. It was lawful for a layman to become defiled by touching the dead, provided he was afterward duly cleansed ; but a priest was forbid- den to do it, except when his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or virgin sister, had died. With this exception, he might not incur defilement even for neces- sary offices connected with the burial of the dead. In contracting marriage, a priest must not become one flesh with a dissolute or a divorced woman, but marry either a virgin, or a widow of good character. The high-priest must be even more strict than the common priest, both in respect to mourning and wedding. He might not defile himself for the dead, even when his nearest kins- man died ; but must leave to others the rites of mourn- ing and sepulture, discharging the duties of his office as at other times, without even rending his clothes, or uncovering his head. He must marry only a virgin of Hebrew origin ; not being allowed, as other priests were, to take a widow or a proselyte. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 323 Now, this outward separation from common things symboHzed a corresponding separation from what is common and unclean in the field of ethics ; and the representation was more impressive because repeated in the different classes called to this outward holiness, and because greater and greater strictness was required of the several successive classes as they were appointed to a nearer and nearer approach to Jehovah in his taber- nacle. The election of the Hebrews to be a holy nation set forth before the eyes of men the truth that Jehovah is holy, and that the true Israel who in spirit and in truth have access to him must be holy : the calling of the priests to a greater strictness of life than was required of the common people, and the requirement of a still higher degree of holiness in the head of the sacerdotal order, were concurrent and cumulative testimonies to the same truth. Closely connected in significance with the ascetic abstinence from things permitted to other Hebrews, which the law demanded of the family of Aaron, was the requirement of bodily soundness in those who performed the. most sacred functions of the priesthood.^ All male descendants of Aaron belonged to the order by right of birth ; but, if one had any corporal defect, he could not draw near to Jehovah as an officiating priest. He was entitled to maintenance the same as if physi- cally whole, and might be employed in some subsidiary duties ; ^ he might eat the bread of his God as the other priests did, but not offer it ; he could not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar. 1 Lev. skL 16-24. 2 See note on p. 64. 324 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. The reason of this requirement is not in the necessity of excluding from the worship bodily deformities as objects disagreeable to the eye; for some of the' defects mentioned in the law would be concealed by the dress, and might remain unknown to any mortal but the unfor- tunate man himself. It is worth while to notice in this connection the similar requirement of heathen religions that their priests should be free from blemish.^ The Greeks even went so far sometimes as to select the most beautiful men for the sacerdotal ofBce.^ Their religion set before them cosmical perfection as the object of highest admiration, as Mosaism, in like manner proposed the ethical perfection of Jehovah for the admiration of the Hebrews. Physical faultlessness in the Hebrew priest was symbolic, as it was in those who ministered at the altars of Zeus, but intended to convey a different suggestion. Its symbolism was in accordance with the spirit and doctrine of Mosaism, as the similar require- ment in heathenism was with the system it aided to represent. The soundness of physique which the Mo- saic law required in one who drew near to the covenant God in his holy habitation, signified that Jehovah had no ethical blemish. It thus coincided in its testimony with the requirement of an ascetic separation from common life. In almost every modern nation there are some rem- nants of the ancient custom of representing office by garments of peculiar material, shape, and color. History registers the decline of the custom, but not its birth and 1 Fiske: Manual of Classical Literature, p. 162. _ 2 Creuzer : Symbolik, iv. 645. 9 Fig. 31. SU I ORDINATE PRIEST IN COSTUME. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 325 growth ; for it was as powerful as ever in the earliest age which has transmitted to us its records. In the time of Moses, both kings and priests in every country- were clothed in a garb not only distinctive, but emblem- atic. The king wore, it may be, a crown, and the priest a mitre ; the former was invested perhaps in purple, and the latter in shining white. The two offices, if not united in the same person, were distinguished by differ- ent official garments. The dress in which the priest offered sacrifice was not the same as the royal apparel of the king, but the vestments of each were intended to represent the peculiarities of his office. This being true of regal and sacerdotal attire throughout the ancient world, we infer that the holy garments which Moses was directed to make for Aaron and his sons were not only distinctive, but symbolic. They were both badges and emblems, distinguishing the wearer as an official, and showing the nature of his office. In interpreting the significance conveyed by the gar- ments of the Levitical priesthood, it will be convenient to treat first of the four pieces worn by priests of ordi- nary rank, and afterward of those peculiar to their chief. Is there, then, no significance in the fact that this official costume consisted of four pieces .■' We might think so if tTiis were the only instance in which the number occurred in the symbols of the tabernacle. But as four limits the colors of the tapestry, the ingredients of the incense, the spices of the holy anointing oil, the composite parts of the cherubs, we conclude that the same signature of the kingdom of God was designedly impressed on the official costume of those who were 28 326 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. elected to draw near to Jehovah. This judgment is con- firmed by the recurrence of four as the number of pieces additional to the dress of the ordinary priests which the head of the order was required to wear in the performance of official duty. The costume common to all members of the order included drawers, tunic, girdle, and bonnet ; the high-priest was required to wear in addition the robe of the ephod, the ephod, the breast- plate, and the crown or plate of gold on his cap, the cap itself differing in shape from those of his subordinates. Adherence to these appointments of the law was esteemed so important in the ritualistic period of the Jewish church, that the Talmud repeats to the six-hun- dredth time, "The garments of the high-priest are eight," ^ often mentions four as the number belonging to a priest of ordinary rank, maintains that any sacer- dotal act would be invalid if the person officiating wore a greater or less number of garments than was appointed, and pronounces how large a bandage a priest might wear on a wounded finger without infringing the law. These traditions, however worthless in other respects, prove that, while the ordinary sacerdotal cos- tume consisted of four separate pieces, the high-priest was required to wear four others in addition. The numerical signature of the tabernacle was thus im- pressed on the official garments of its priesthood. The garments of the priests of ordinary rank were all of pure white except the girdle. The drawers, the coat, and the bonnet, were of shesh, bleached, but not dyed. White raiment was, as we have seen, emblematic of ethical purity. It was " the righteousness of the 1 Braun : Vestitus Sacerdotum Hebraeorum, Liber I. p. 25. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 327 saints." As worn by the priest, it signified that those who were admitted to intimacy with the Holy One of Israel must be pure in heart and life. Several passages are to be found in the Apocalypse in which those who have been redeemed with the blood of the Lamb, and received to the immediate presence of God, are described as apparelled in white. In one of the visions, John sees a great multitude which no man could number standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and is informed that these have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, and for this reason are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple. His informant adds still further, " He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." In this symbolic description of the blessedness of those who are purified from sin through the blood of Christ, it is easy to recognise the symbols of Mosaism. These people among whom God dwells, and by whom he is served in his temple, correspond to the Hebrew priests. In both cases the white color of their apparel is a symbol of holiness. The material also contributed something to the signifi- cance of the dress. The garments must all be of linen ; and in the vision of Ezekiel the directions given for the official raiment of the priests add to the requirement of linen the express prohibition of any thing woollen. The reason of the requirement lies, doubtless, in the greater cleanliness possible in a warm climate to one whose garments are exclusively of this material. Indeed- the passage in Ezekiel referred to above, mentions the avoidance of sweat as the end to be secured by wearing linen instead of woollen. The material was suggestive 328 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. first of outward, and therefore, secondarily, of inward purity, g Not only was the costume of a priest significant in its material, its color, and the number of its pieces, but each of the four garments of which it was composed contributed an element peculiar to itself. The coat, or tunic, was first in importance, as it was in size. Reaching from the neck to the ankles, it was nearly coincident, as a covering of the person, with the whole costume ; so that the other three garments were supplements to this, rather than its equals. Its import, as might be expected, is also nearly the same as that of the whole dress. As the entire costume of four pieces, by means of its material and its dominant color, was sug- gestive of holiness, so was the coat in particular, as it invested the person from the neck to the ankles with linen white and shining as light. Moreover, this gar- ment was woven in one piece to represent, by this sort of integrity, moral wholeness or holiness. To rend his garment was a sign that one was inwardly torn ; and, on the other hand, a coat which was whole was symbolic of inward wholeness. Such a garment was a token that the heart of the wearer was not rent with violent passion. This symbolism was carried so far as to exclude the art of the tailor at least from new garments.^ The Hebrew employed an artist not to cut cloth into pieces to be sewed together, but to weave a' coat without seam ; and 1 The Greeks applied to a tailor the same word, ukecttiq, as to a physician, uKECTyp, from uKEO/iai, to heal, merely changing the termination ; as if the art com- menced with healing or making whole old garments. The Latin word for tailor, sartor, is also from a verb, sarcire, signifying to mend. See Liddell and Scott's Greek Lex., and Andrews' Latin Lex. ; also Braun, Vestitus Sac. Ileb. Liber L p. 258. ft:^. i_ t— pitaiiir IfflpnTipn-ir;,',' J-Y i>.^ nfiiiTiniiirmVn innin i mnnm''"! fell!] \m^ li:?:-'vi"\X^^- "ipiaiinrcr .jaPSFiHiiir ppMimir ^naasir Innaiiisi J,TP'* Fig. 32. SACERDOTAL TUNIC. Ji^ I. Fig. 33. LOOM FOR WEAVING SEAMLESS TUNICS. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 329 the symbolic significance of rending it resulted from this peculiarity. Tunics without seam were exclusively used in the early centuries of Hebrew history, and had not disappeared at the commencement of the Christian era, since our Lord himself wore such a garment.^ Braun records that he had in his possession two tunics of this kind, and had seen several others, all brought in his day from the East Indies.^ The passion most frequently symbolized by rending the garments was grief occasioned either by calamity or sin ; but heart-rending grief in one who had been set apart from common life to the service of God was incongruous with his holy calling. Hence the high-priest was expressly forbidden to rend his clothes on account of any bereavement ; and such a demonstration of mourning was allowed to an ordinary priest only when he had been bereaved of his nearest kinsmen. Such legislation indicates how important it might be, among a people conversant with symbolism of this kind, that the principal official garment of the sacerdotal order should be without rent or seam. The tunic of the priest was not only without seam, but so woven as to exhibit checks like the pattern called damask ; for such is the meaning of the descriptive adjective which the English translators incorrectly regarded as equivalent to bividered. The coat was therefore covered throughout with four-sided figures of small size. Bahr thinks that these were symbols of like import with the precious stones in the breastplate of 1 John xix. 23. 2 Braun: Vestitus Sac. Heb. Liber I. p. 278. He had before taken the trouble to have a loom constructed, and a seamless tunic woven, to demonstrate the possi- bihty of producing such a garment by the art of the weaver. His loom, and the tunic woven in it, are shown in figures, 33 and 34. 28* 330 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. the high-priest ; as if every member of the sacerdotal family bore on his person visible signs that as a priest he was the representative of the tribes of Israel, these symbols designedly having, in the case of the subordinate priests, only a ^reflection of the glory and beauty of those which distinguished the head of the order. If there had been just twelve of these quadrangular figures in the sacerdotal tunic, we might have had reason to believe that they were a symbol of like import with the jewels of the breastplate, whose arrangements in checks is indicated in the original by the same word ; but the absence of the number twelve leaves the matter involved in uncertainty. Whatever this pattern may signify, it is found on the tunics of Assyrian kings. The study of Assyriology may therefore yet reveal its import.^ 1 In connection with the figure of the Assyrian king (fig. 33), showing ih.e.iashbehiz or checkered pattern of his tunic, tlie following passage from Layard (Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 140) is worthy of attention for its bearing on the whole subject under discussion, as well as for its mention of the embroideries on the robes of the king. " The intimate connection between the public and private life of the Assyrians and their religion is abundantly proved by the sculptures described in the previous pages. As amongst most Eastern nations, not only all public and social duties, but even the commonest forms and customs, appear to have been more or less influenced by religion, or to have been looked upon as typical. The resi- dence of the king, as I have observed, was probably at the same time the temple ; and that he himself was either supposed to be invested with divine attributes, or was looked upon as a type of the supreme Deity, is shown by the sculptures. The winged figures, even that with the head of the eagle, minister to him. All his acts, whether in war or peace, appear to have been connected with the national religion, and were believed to be under the special protection and superintendence of the Deity. When he is represented in battle, the winged figure in the circle hovers above his head, bends the bow against his enemies, or assumes his attitude of triumph. His contests with the lion and other formidable animals not only show his power and skill, but typify at the same time his superior strength and wisdom. Whether he has overcome his enemies, or the wild beasts, he poiurs out a libation from the sacred cup, attended by his courtiers and by the winged figures. The embroideries tipon his robes, and upon those of his attendants, have all mythic meaning." iiiiiiiiip^ Fig. 34. TUNIC Wn flOUT SEAM, WOVEN IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. Fk;. 35. ASSYRIAN KING. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 331 A girdle of some kind was in ancient time, as it is even now, essential to the completeness of an Oriental costume. The tunic of a laborer was confined with a plain band of leather, such as John the Baptist was girt with ; but the girdle was sometimes of costly material, and ornamented with works of art indicative of wonderful skill and patience. This part of the ancient costume by means of diversity in its material, size, shape, and ornamentation, was easily made a badge of office. The girdle of the soldier, sustaining the weight of weapons, was not of the same fashion as the emblematic sash with which the minister of religion girt himself for the rites of worship. The priests of Egypt were distin- guished among themselves by girdles of diverse patterns, indicating, perhaps, that they belonged to different deitie^ or were of unequal rank. The girdle of the Hebrew priest seems to have been, more than any other article of his attire, an official badge. According to the traditional law of the Hebrews, the priest must remove his girdle when he ceased to officiate, but might, if more conven- ient, continue to wear the other official garments through the day.!^ How the girdle of the priest symbolized his office as an attache of the tabernacle, is evident when we consider its peculiar ornamentation. Like the other garments, it was of white linen ; but, unlike them, it was interwoven with threads of blue, purple, and crimson. The four colors of the tabernacle signified that the wearer belonged to the institution. This badge of office certified that he had a right to enter the habitation where these significant colors were dominant. The Arab wears on his head a cap similar to the 1 Braim: Ves. Sac. Heb., Liber II. pp. 385, 401, 674. 332 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Turkish fez, which he calls a tarbuslu The Bedouin spreads over it a handkerchief folded so that three of the four corners hang down on the back and shoul- ders, and binds it in place with a twisted rope of goat's hair or camel's hair reaching around his head. The Syrian Arab, if he wishes any addition to his tarbush, ties a handkerchief over it, or winds around it a shawl of wool, silk, or cotton, so as to form a turban. The Orien- tal turban has exhibited both in modern time, and in the remotest antiquity, a great variety of form, material, and color. By means of this diversity it has served to dis- tinguish between men of different nations, and of differ- ent classes in the same nation. The difference between the head-dress of the Hebrew high-priest, and those appointed for his subordinates, was doubtless designed to express a difference of rank, while both patterns were badges of honor. The specifications given to Moses direct him to make the bonnets of the subordinate priests for glory and for beauty in the same terms in which he is required to make the whole costume for glory and for beauty. The repetition of this clause in reference to the bonnets, and only in reference to them, implies that they especially were designed for ornament and honor. As an ancient Assyrian king was distin- guished by a head-dress of peculiar shape and ornamen- tation, as a descendant of Mohammed is known by the color of his turban, so the dignity of the Hebrew priest, as an attendant on Jehovah in his holy habitation, was symbolized by a turban peculiar to his order in its material, its color, and perhaps its shape. The priests must wear drawers while officiating, to cover their nakedness ; and neglect to do so was to be Fig. 36. HINDOSTANEE TURBANS, INDICATING THE RANK OF THE WEARERS. \ Fig. 37. ROBE OF THE EPHOD. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 2)11 punished with death, even if no exposure of the person resulted. The covering was therefore symbohc. It was a removal from the significant tableau in which the priest was engaged, of those parts of his person which, as excretory, were especially representative of defile- ment. The significance of the costume of the Hebrew priest cannot be fully seen by one who overlooks the fact that it left his feet uncovered. An Oriental does not wear a shoe or sandal for protection from cold, but from filth ; and lays aside at least the outermost covering of his feet when he enters a house because he will not need such protection in such a place, and because his shoe might bring filth into the house. This etiquette is rigidly obser\^ed in Mohammedan countries in regard to mosques, which it would be sacrilegious to enter without removing the shoes. We are to understand, therefore, that the Hebrew priests were required to be barefooted when they were in the tabernacle, because any covering of the feet would have suggested that one might have brought in defilement from without, or was liable to acquire it while occupied in the holy place. The costume of the high-priest consisted of the four pieces worn by his subordinates, and of four others pecu- liar to him as the head of the order. Over the tunic he wore the robe of the ephod, the significance of which resulted from its blue color and the ornamental fringe which hung from its border at the bottom. To understand the meaning of this fringe, let us look at an ordinance which required every Hebrew to wear a fringe, and the reason assigned for such a law. " Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that 334 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribbon of bhie : and it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them." ^ The ornaments were intended to remind the wearer of the commandments of Jehovah, and were con- nected with his garment, whatever its color, by a cord or ribbon of blue to signify the heavenly origin of that which he was to keep in remembrance. Have we not, then, reason to believe that the ornamental fringe at the bottom of the robe of the ephod was related in its design and significance to the fringe which every He- brew was required to wear on his upper garment,^ and that the robe was throughout of blue for the same rea- son that a blue ribbon or cord must connect the mantle of the layman with its fringe .'' But this fringe, in the case of the high-priest, consisted of tassels in the shape of pomegranates, alternated with little golden bells. That the pomegranate, when employed in Hebrew sym- bolism, represented the law of Jehovah, which included in itself a multitude of particular commands and prohi- bitions as the fruit enclosed its thousands of seeds, appears from the version which the Chaldee paraphrast gives of two passages in the Song of Solomon. He translates, "Thy youth are filled with the command- ments like pomegranates," ^ where our version is, " Thy 1 Num. XV. 38, 39. 2 It was perhaps a "border" such as this law required which communicated the healing power of our Lord to those who touched it. Their expectation of a cure was founded on that remembrance and obedience which the border signified. The Pharisees enlarged these borders to an extraordinary size to signify that they excelled in holy obedience (Matt, xxiii. 5). 3 Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. JD1, p. 2265. Fig. 3S HIGH-PRIEST IN ROBE OF THE EPIIOD. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 335 plants are a garden of pomegranates ; " and " They are full of good works like pomegranates," ^ instead of " The pomegranates budded." The Talmud also has the phrase, '' They are full of the commandments as a pomegranate." ^ If, then, the pomegranates on the robe of the ephod symbolized the law in its totality as inclu- ding every specific requirement, it is at least a plausible conjecture that the bells with which they alternated sig- nified that the high-priest, or rather the covenant people whom he represented, were not only to remember the commandments of Jehovah, but by obeying to proclaim them. So far as they remembered and obeyed it, the word of the Lord sounded out from them. The specifications for the ephod make its shoulder- pieces so prominent that the Greek and Latin versions give it names in those languages which characterize it as a shoulder-garment.^ But the shoulder as the seat of strength was, in the early times when the strongest ruled, the seat of authority, and the most appropriate position for an emblem of government. Hence the key of the house of David was to be laid on the shoulder of Eliakim, to show that he superseded Shebna as superin- tendent of the royal household.^ According to the same manner of speaking, it is said of Messiah, " The govern- ment shall be upon his shoulder." ^ There is, perhaps, a remnant of this ancient symbolism in the epaulet, as a badge of command in an army. We infer, from its peculiarity as a shoulder-garment, that the ephod was a symbol of rank ; and, from the materials of which it was made, that it invested the wearer as a badge of royalty. 1 Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. JD"I, p. 2265. 2 jbid. 3 LXX. kTruficQ ; Vulgate, superhumerale. * Isa. xxii. 21, 22. 6 isa. ix. 6. 336 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. This garment was jDrovided for the high-priest as the representative of the holy nation, that the jewels on its shoulders, and the threads of beaten gold woven into it throughout, might signify that they were kings as well as priests.. The four sacred colors in the ephod were the livery of the tabernacle, marking the wearer as an inmate of the house ; but the jewels and the gold indi- cated that he was a friend rather than a servant of the King. A high rank is thus accorded and sealed to the true Israel. They are not only priests, but a royal priesthood. They draw near to God as members of his household. They are permitted to call him Father, and regard themselves as his sons. The girdle of the ephod concurred with its jewelled shoulder-pieces and its gold, to set forth the dignity of the high-priest, and of the sons of God in whose place he stood. As we have already had occasion to remark, the girdle often became, by some peculiarity in its fashion, a badge of rank ; and here, by its identity with the ephod in material and workmanship, it assisted to distinguish the wearer. The two jewels on the shoulders of the ephod, engraven with the names of the twelve tribes, were " stones of memorial unto the children of Israel, " ^ that it might never be forgotten that the priest was the proxy of the people, and that the royal dignity with which he was clothed belonged to them. The breastplate of judgment was closely connected in significance with the ephod, indicating that the wearer was a ruler endowed with wisdom for the decision of important questions relating to the public welfare. He wore it on his heart because the heart was regarded as 1 Exod. xxviii. 12. I Fig. 40. BREASTPLATE. Fig. 41. EPHOD, WITH BREASTPLATE ATTACHED. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 337 the seat of wisdom. When Solomon came to the throne, he asked God to give him an understanding heart to judge his people, and received the reply, " Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart." Whether, therefore, the ephod and breastplate are viewed as jointly one badge, or as separate badges, the latter symbolized wisdom for judging as the former strength for execution. Made in the form of a bag, it contained something called the Urim and Thummim} designed, perhaps, as a pledge that when he went, with the breast- plate on his heart, to inquire of Jehovah how to decide any question submitted to his decision, he should find the matter illuminated with a perfect light, and be able to decide with an infallible wisdom. The names of the twelve sons of Jacob, graven on the jewels of the breast- plate for a memorial, were designed to keep in remem- brance that the true Israel occupied the position in the matters symbolized by the tabernacle which the high- priest filled in the symbolic institution. The two memorials, one on the shoulder and one on the heart, were pledges that those who are permitted to draw near to God in spirit and in truth are kings, as well as priests, and shall not only be admitted to see his face, but be employed in ruling and judging.^ The head-dress of the high-priest was distinguished from that of his subordinates not only by its shape, but by its plate of gold bearing the inscription Holiness to Jehovah. This plate, peculiar to him as the head bf the 1 The words Urim and Thummim, Hterally lights and perfections, probably signify, by hendiadys, perfect light ; but we can only conjecture what the emblem so called was, and how it was connected with other parts of the symbolic apparatus. See Smith's Bible Dictionary, art. Urim and Thummim. 2 Rev. V. 10. 29 338 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. priesthood, and of the nation as a kingdom of priests, was another badge of rank, and equivalent in meaning to a crown.i It is worthy of notice that Assyrian kings also wore plates on the forefront of their turbans, fas- tened, like that of the Hebrew high-priest, by a ribbon tied behind.^ The inscription, peculiarly important from its position on the forehead, where, according to the custom not only of the Hebrews,^ but of other Oriental nations, religious symbols were worn, proclaimed that the high-priest through his election, his physical fault- lessness, his separation from common life, his investment with the robes of office, and his consecration, was so holy that he might not only approach Jehovah, but could take away the sins of his people. For it is said of this crown, " It shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts ; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before Jehovah."^ The inscription indicated such holiness in the mediator as would not only cancel the defects of the worshippers, but procure for them positive favor on his account. Their iniquity was taken away ; and they were accounted holy because their representative was holy. The typical element enters so largely into the symbolism of the high- priest, that it has been difficult to proceed as far as we have without including it in our exposition ; and it is impossible satisfactorily to interpret the 1 Exod. xxix. 6, xxxix. 30 ; Lev. viii. 9. 2 See fig. 45. 3 Ezek. ix. 4 ; Rev. vii. 3, ix. 4, xiii. 16, xiv. 1-9, xvii. 5, xx. 4, xxii. 4. For an Egyptian example, see Wilkinson, Second Series, vol. i. p. 348 . * Exod. xxviii. 38. • Fig. 42. TURBAN OF A SUBORDINATE PRIEST. Fui. 43- TURBAN OF THE HIGH-PRIEST. Fig. 44. GOLDEN CROWN. Fig. 45. HEAD OF AN ASSYRIAN KING WITH A CROWN ON THE FOREHEAD. ^'*— ttfc^^^' Fig. 46. HIGH-PRIEST IN HIS ORDINARY COSTUME. INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 339 crown and its inscription, without pointing forward through the ages to the true priest of whom Aaron was a prophetic symbol. But, as we purpose to devote a chapter to those symbols of the tabernacle which were prophetic, we pass on to observe that there was signifi- cance in the color of the ribbons with which the crown was fastened to the head-dress. They were blue, to denote that this holiness was not of earthly and human, but of heavenly and divine origin. The garments in which the high-priest officiated on the day of atonement should not be confounded with the costume of a subordinate priest, for they must be exclu- sively white ; whereas, the girdles of the sons of Aaron, like that with which Aaron himself was ordinarily girt immediately over his tunic, were ornamented with the four sacred colors. The garments of gold, as the ordi- nary costume of the high-priest was sometimes styled, were laid aside for the moment to give greater promi- nence to the idea of purity as suggested by whiteness. Coming nearer to Jehovah than at any other time during the year, the representative of Israel wore only white garments, to show forth as impressively as possible the holiness of the Being whom he approached.^ Of the ceremonies of consecration, the washing of the priests evidently signified the removal of spiritual uncleanness, the investment with the official costume was equivalent to an investiture with the office, and the 1 It is a mistake to regard the garments which the high-priest wore on the day of atonement, as a penitential costume. White was significant of joy, rather than of grief, being worn on festive occasions ; and was on that account more appropriate for holiness, or ethical health, which is necessarily accompanied with enjo)Tnent. 340 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. unction they received indicated that they were divinely enlivened and refreshed in spirit for the work to which they were separated. The consecrating oil which was sprinkled on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and their garments, was also poured on the head of Aaron till it ran down on his beard, to show that as the chief of the order "he needed and would receive the Spirit of God in richest fulness." ^ The threefold sacrifice which followed consisted of a sin-offering to take away the sin of the candidates, a holocaust to show that they surrendered themselves to Jehovah, and a peace-offering ; the last being made, by some peculiarities in its ritual, a sacrifice of consecration to the office. There being as yet no priests duly inducted into office, Moses himself, as the mediator of the covenant, officiated in the sacrifices, following in general the established ritual, but with such variations as the pecu- liarities of the case demanded. The blood of the sin- offering was not carried within the habitation, because the persons purified were not yet priests, but was sprin- kled on the altar as in the expiation of a private person ; and the flesh of it could not be eaten by Moses, because he was not a consecrated priest, but must be burned without the camp. The burnt-offering seems to have followed the ritual in all points. The ordinary ritual of the peace-offering gave place to ceremonies of consecra- tion specially adapted to symbolize sacerdotal preroga- tives'and functions. Some of the blood was applied to an ear, a thumb, and a great toe of each candidate ; and he was caused to heave the heave-shoulder, and wave the wave-breast, to show that in the office to which he was 1 Kurtz : Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament, p. 331. Fu:. 47. HIGH-PRIEST IN COS-TUME OF THE DAY OF ATONEMENT, INTERPRETATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 341 consecrated he would be authorized and required thus to apply the blood of expiation, and thus to cause the worshippers for whom he officiated to heave the heave- shoulder, and to wave the wave-breast, of their peace- offerings, before Jehovah. The flesh was divided into two portions, like the flesh of any peace-offering ; one being consumed on the altar, and the other eaten by Aaron and his sons, to signify the fellowship between the Holy One whom the altar represented, and those whom he had accepted as the members of his household, and the officers of his holy habitation. It was not without meaning that these ceremonies of consecration were repeated daily for seven days ; the repetitions, and the number which limited them, both concurring with all the other elements in the represen- tation to indicate that the priesthood was an office of high honor and privilege. As such it was adapted to symbolize the glory And blessedness of those who draw near to God in spirit and in truth. 29* CHAPTER XIII. INTERPRETATION OF THE SACRIFICES OF THE TABERNACLE. Religious feeling naturally expresses itself in offer- ings as well as in prayer. Man feels his dependence, and is impelled to acknowledge it by tributary gifts, as well as in verbal utterance. He is grateful for what he has received, and presents a thank-offering. He is conscious of guilt, and seeks to propitiate with a present. The question whether offerings to God were first brought to him by his own appointment, or were prompted by man's religious instinct, is of no practical importance ; since, if they originated in the yearning of the human heart after God, they were at once approved by him, and, if first enjoined by him, it was because the heart of man would naturally express itself by such means. If not of divine institution, they must have been very early invented, for they were in use in the family of Adam even before the birth of his youngest child. Moreover, Cain and Abel seem to bring their offerings to Jehovah not as if inaugurating a new mode of worship, but as if in conformity with a custom already established. Originating thus early, the custom of worshipping by means of offerings remained in vogue through the antediluvian period, and, when the descend- 342 INTERPRETATION OF THE SACRIFICES. 343 ants of Noah were dispersed, was preserved by all branches of the family. The universality of the custom among the ancient nations proves that, whether . of divine or human origin, it was in accord with the nature of man. The cloud of obscurity, which rests on the beginning of worship by means of offerings, envelops also the origin of diversity in the substance of which they consisted, and in the meaning they were intended to convey. The offerings of Cain and Abel being of different material, it has been conjectured that Cain purposely avoided the expression of such opinions and feelings as were sym- bolized in the bleeding sacrifice of his brother. But as these offerings are not introduced into the sacred history on their own account, but only incidentally mentioned as occasioning the fratricide which followed, the narrative is too brief and general in its statement to justify the reception of such a hypothesis as the only possible explanation of the difference which the eye of Jehovah discovered in the two worshippers. The altar-worship of Abraham and Jacob, though frequently mentioned, is not described with sufficient amplification to exhibit to the reader the specific ideas it expressed. Some of the distinctions between one offering and another observable in the worship of the tabernacle may have obtained before the time of Moses, and, if altar-worship was first practised by divine direction, may have been as ancient as sacrifice itself. No such distinctions, however, are apparent to the reader of the Pentateuch till he reaches the account of the exodus. That event originated a peculiar species of sacrifice, which became an institution. We shall have occasion to interpret it when we speak of 344 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. the annual festival of the passover. The law afterward given at Sinai enumerated several species of offerings, different in name, in material, in the accompanying cere- monies, and in the ideas they were intended to exhibit. The symbolism of these offerings we have now to interpret. There is no evidence that the sacrifice described by Moses under the name of sin-offering is of more ancient date than the law of Sinai, or that there was any offering in the patriarchal period whose chief element was expia- tory. Probably all bleeding sacrifices contained the idea of expiation ; but the animals brought to the altar by Noah were burnt-offerings, symbolizing self-surrender or allegiance in general, rather than expiation in particular. In no other case prior to the time of Moses is a sacrifice designated by a specific name ; so that, while it is not absolutely certain that none of them were primarily and chiefly sin-offerings, it seems probable that a sacrifice of expiation was unknown before the time of Moses except as it was included in the sacrifice of broader import in which the flesh was consumed on the altar. The Hebrew sin-offering has such adaptation to the wants of a person subjected to the discipline of the comprehensive and exceedingly particular law of Sinai, that one can easily believe it was a portion of the same system with the law itself, intended to impart the assur- ance of salvation where the law had awakened the consciousness of guilt. The sacrificial customs which the Hebrews had inherited from their ancestors were modified in order that, as conscience was quickened to more frequent and more lively accusation, they might be INTERPRETATION OF THE SACRIFICES. 345 provided with consolation and encouragement in corre- sponding degree. The elevation of the expiatory element from the subsidiary position it held in patriarchal sacrifices, to be the head and front of one species of offering, was also a step in the preparation of mankind for the great expiation in which all sacrifices were to be swallowed up, and cease to be offered, as the constellations which relieve the dark- ness of night are extinguished by the effulgence of the morning sun. Expiation being at first symbolized in connection with the profession of allegiance, the law of Sinai exalted it to be celebrated by means of a distinct sacrifice, and thus erected another waymark on the path of life. The Mosaic sin-offering being, as the name indicates, chiefly expiatory, we have first to define the expiation it was intended to effect. It must be remembered, how- ever, that the idea prominent in this species of Sacrifice was present in all the bloody sacrifices of the tabernacle. This appears from the reason assigned for the law forbid- ding the Hebrew to eat blood. The reason is given in these words : " For the life of the flesh is in the blood : and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls : for it is the blood that maketh an atonement [for] with the soul." ^ Blood was not to be eaten because, when applied to the altar, it expiated sin with the soul or life of the animal slain. But blood being thus applied to the altar in the ceremonial of the sin-offering, the trespass-offering, the burnt-offering, and the peace-offering severally, each of them must have 1 Lev. xvii. 11. The preposition 1 in the last clause is spoken of the instru- ment. See note on p. 254. 346 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. included the idea of expiation, though it was more prominent in the first and second than in the third and fourth. Expiation, or as the English version expresses it, atonement, was effected through the sprinkling, by a priest, of blood drawn from an animal devoted to death by the sinner, and slain jsy- hi«a-on the north side of the altar in the court of the tabernacle. In every case where an animal was offered on the altar, some of its blood was sprinkled to make an atonement. This is expressly prescribed in the statutes concerning the differ- ent species of sacrifice, except in the case of the peace- offering ; and there the same ceremony is enjoined, but without the clause explanatory of its meaning. What- ever else a devout Hebrew wished to see represented by means of a bloody sacrifice, his feelings prompted him to include the acknowledgment of sin, and the divine assur- ance of forgiveness. The law provided, therefore, that, when he presented a burnt-offering to signify his self- surrender, or a peace-offering as a means of enjoying fellowship with God, the ceremonial appropriate to the specific design of the sacrifice should be preceded by a sign, which was both symbolic and sacramental, that the sins of the worshipper were obliterated, and that he was consequently delivered from his liability to die as a transgressor. This sign consisted in the act of the priest bringing near to Jehovah the sacrificial blood, which, as the victim was the proxy of the worshipper, symbolized the life of the latter. By passing through in his stead the death to which he was liable on account of sin, the life or soul of the animal, which was in its blood, bad borne or taken away his sins ; and, being still his INTERPRETATION OF THE SACRIFICES. 347 proxy, was now brought by the priest to the place where Jehovah met his people, to show that the soul whose place the victim had assumed was entitled to live, and to draw near to the living God, as if righteous. Obviously, such a transaction cannot really take away sin. Nothing can change the nature of a wicked act so that he who committed it ceases to be blameworthy for what he has done. A symbolic transaction with the blood of bulls and goats cannot even cancel the demand of justice that the transgression of law shall be punished. But such a transaction may represent, by means of its symbols, and in this case was appointed to represent, that the sinner was released from punishment, and treated as if righteous, on account of some substitution, not symbolic, but real and efficient, to which this transaction stands related as a shadow does to the substance inter- cepting the light. What means the Hebrew had of dis- covering that the true expiation was a future, and not a past event, we have to consider not in the present stage of our discussion, but further on when we take up the sub- ject of types. Definite information in regard to the real and efificient substitution symbolized by the ceremonial of a sacrifice was not necessary to the expiation of his sin, or to his confidence that he was accepted and treated as if righteous. That which was propounded to his faith was the symbol, and not the Lamb of God to which in our day sinners are invited to look. Having faith in the symbol as a symbol, he was justified, that is, accepted and treated as if he were a just person, on the ground that a substitute had been provided for him by God, which could really take away sin ; and the symbol not only set forth this fact for his comfort, but included 348 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. an appointed seal that he, personally, was a partaker in the redemption thus provided. The symbolic expiation culminated in the sprinkling of blood by the priest ; but it by no means follows that this one act included all that was essential to the ceremony. There were certain species of animals appointed to the altar, to the exclusion of all others ; and the blood must come from one of the class thus set apart for sacrifice. It must be drawn from a victim devoted to the purpose by the transgressor ; an animal belonging to him, and not to another person. The sinner himself must slaughter the animal, and do it on the north side of the altar. These preliminaries were as essential to an expiation as the act of the priest bringing the blood near to God. The sprinkling of the blood, in which the expiation culminated, was a sacra- mental sign, assuring the sacrificer that his sin was taken away ; but it was only a part of the symbolic expiation. In analyzing the process by which the symbolic expiation was effected, we have attained to a fuller and more nearly perfect conception of that which the process effected than we could have reached by the study of Hebrew etymology. The word translated make an atonement means, primarily, to cover. There can be no doubt that the translation is substantially correct ; but the process by which a word primarily meaning to cover came to be of equivalent import with the cere- monial commencing in the presentation of an animal before the altar, and ending in the sprinkling of its blood by the priest, is lost, and can be only conjecturally recovered. To expiate is to cover. A symbolic expia- tion by means of a sacrifice was a pantomimic represen- INTERPRETATION OF THE SACRIFICES. 349 tation assuring the sacrificer that his sin was covered, and that consequently he would be treated as if he had not sinned. The first step in the ceremonial of the sin-offering was the presentation by the transgressor, of the animal which was to die in his stead. According to his higher or lower position in the theocracy, and the comparative importance of his sin resulting from his relative standing, he brought a bullock, a male kid, or a female lamb or kid. A bullock marked the higher position of a priest, and the greater importance of his sin. A kid, an animal of less value than a bullock, was required of a ruler ; but it must be of the male sex to mark the sin as an event of greater moment than if the transgressor were not thus distinguished. A female kid or lamb was the sin-offering appointed for one of the common people. When the sacrifice was for a national sin, the victim was the same as if a priest needed expiation. The sacrificer, having brought an animal of the kind appointed for a person of his rank to the side of the altar, put his hand with solemn formality on its head. To comprehend this imposition of the hand, one must examine other instances in which the hand was similarly employed. It was so used in blessing,^ in imparting the Holy Spirit,^ in imparting the prerogatives of an office or the qualifications for it,^ in performing miracu- lous cures,^ and in sentencing a criminal to execution.^ Whatever specific difference of meaning there may have been in the ceremony as employed for these different 1 Gen. xlviii. 13, 14 ; Mark x. 16. 2 Actsviii. 17-19. 3 Num. viii. 10, xxvii. 18 ^^ seq. ; Deut. xxxiv. 9 ; Acts vi. 6 ; i Tim. iv. 14, v. 22. * Matt. ix. 18 ; Mark vi. 5 ; Luke xiii. 13 ; Acts ix. 12, 17. 5 Lev. xxiv. 14. 30 350 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. specific purposes, it must have had a generic significance common to all instances in which it was appropriate. But imparting or giving to the person on whom the hand is laid is an idea common to the above-cited specifications. This appears at first sight in regard to all the cases except that of condemning to die, and appears also in that case as soon as we conceive of the persons imposing their hands as imparting condemna- tion. Remote as such a mode of conception may be from our habits of thought, there is no more incongruity in the impartation of a curse by such a symbolic act than of a blessing. Doubtless, then, the ceremony under consideration signified in all cases that the person who laid his hand on another imparted something, the spectator being dependent on the peculiarities of the case, or an accompanying explanation, for his knowledge of what was conveyed. When, therefore, the sacrificer laid his hand on the head of the animal which was to expiate his sin by dying in his stead, it is most natural to understand that he meant to impart to the animal the power to be his representative in the transaction about to take place.^ The slaughtering of the animal was the consummation of the vicarious death to which it had been appointed by the imposition of hands. The personal agency of the sacrificer, in taking the life of his substitute, gave emphasis to his acknowledgment of ill-desert, and his consent to the substitution. The north side of the altar, 1 Some have seen in this act the impartation of sin ; but such an interpretation is unnatural, because sin cannot be imparted. The turpitude of sin adheres to him ■who sinned ; and the transfer of it to another is as impossible as the transfer of personal identity. The interpretation we have given accords well with the letter of the statute in Lev. L 4. INTERPRETATION OF THE SACRIFICES. 351 where the animal was put to death, connected the event with the region which the ancients feared as the abode of darkness, gloom, and calamity. The sprinkling of the blood, in which was the life of the innocent proxy, covered the soul of the sinful but penitent principal, so that Jehovah could receive him as if innocent. The two had exchanged places, but not characters. The animal had suffered death as if guilty : the sinner might draw near to God as if sinless. In this covering of one soul with another soul,^ the atonement consisted ; and the sprinkling of the blood in the places where God manifested his presence at once completed the symbolic representation, and afforded a sacramental seal that a real expiation was accomplished. The soul of the proxy was brought into Jehovah's presence by his direction, and by his authorized representative, to show and to testify that the penitent sinner himself might draw near. It is consequently this application of the blood to the holy places which is termed making an atonement? The vicarious death did not of itself expiate ; the acceptance by Jehovah, through his priest, of the life thus surrendered, was still necessary. By allowing and commanding it to be brought to his imme- diate presence, he signified his acceptance of the substitution, and his consequent willingness to restore to his fellowship the person whose soul had been covered.^ 1 For an explanation of this usage of ^^ soul," see p. 253. 2 Lev. xvii. 11. 3 Atonement is sometimes spoken of as made for the soul, and sometimes as for the sin, of the sacrificer ; but these different modes of expression imply only different aspects of the same truth. The soul of the proxy covered the soul, or it covered the sin, according to the stand-point from which the subject was viewed. 352 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. This symbolic transaction presupposed another and a real expiation which it made available to the sacrificer. It was not necessary that he should know how, where, or when that expiation was made, or was to be made. Faith could leave with God the solution of the question, How can sin be forgiven consistently with rectitude ? and enable the believer to see, in the reception upon the altar of the blood or soul of his proxy, the sacramental sign that he himself might approach. It was enough for him that Jehovah had said, " I have given the blood to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls ; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement with ^ the soul." There was significance in the application of the blood to the particular place it was made to touch. When a priest had sinned, the blood of his sin-offering was carried within the habitation, where some of it was sprinkled before the veil, and some was put on the horns of the altar of incense, to indicate that by the expia- tion of his sin he was entitled to enter the sanctuary, and enjoy that immediate fellowship with God to which priests were admitted, as if he had not sinned. When the sacrificer was a layman, the blood was put on the horns of the great altar in the court, to signify that the expiation admitted him to such mediate fellowship as Jehovah allowed to the whole congregation of his people. In either case, the sin was so covered that the penitent was entitled to the privileges he had forfeited. The penalty of death which he deserved was remitted, and his title to theocratic life was assured to him by a sacramental sign. 1 See note on p. 254. INTERPRETATION OF THE SACRIFICES. 353 Expiation having now been completed by the sprink- ling of blood, it remained to dispose of the flesh. The flesh of a sin-offering belonged to God as truly as that of a holocaust ; but there was not the same necessity that all of it should be burned. The entire consumption of the burnt-offering represented the unreservedness with which the sacrificer gave himself to God, and was consequently an important element in the ritual of that sacrifice. But in the ritual of the sin-offering it only remained, after expiation had been completed by sprink- ling the blood, that Jehovah should manifest in the disposal of the flesh the feelings with with which he regarded the restoration of the penitent. Accordingly by receiving a portion on the altar, and giving the remain- der to his household for their food, he demonstrated his and their joy in that which the sacrifice had effected. The sin-offerings were accordingly eaten by the priests within the precincts of the tabernacle, their families not being allowed to partake with them because the flesh was " most holy." It was not only the " bread of God," as all sacrifices were, but exceeded a peace-offering in holiness ; for not only the wives and children of the priests, but the sacrificer and his friends, were allowed to partake of the latter, whereas the sin-offering was given to the priests to be eaten in the house of God by them only as members of his household. The offerer could not partake of it; for, by furnishing the blood of atone- ment, it had become holy, and its holiness had been brought into antithesis with his sinfulness. So impor- tant was this exclusion from the feast of the person expiated by the sacrifice, that when the sin-offering was for a priest, or for the whole congregation, the participa' 30* 354 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. tion of the priests with Jehovah was omitted, and the whole of the flesh, with the exception of the fat, was carried to a clean place outside of the camp, and there disposed of by burning. A sinner might never eat of the sacrifice by which he was purged from his sins. By taking away sin, it had itself become a "most holy thing," acquiring rank in holiness above peace-offerings, which were classed with " holy things," while a sin- offering was " most holy." Its holiness was so great that it could be eaten only in the court of the tabernacle, and only by the priests ; that a vessel wherein it had been cooked, if of earthen-ware, must be broken lest the holiness it had acquired by the contact should be con- taminated by some subsequent use, or, if of brass, must be scoured and rinsed.^ The trespass-offering being so similar to the sin- offering in its design and ritual, being, indeed, one form of the sin-offering, needs no separate elucidation. The injury to property having been repaired by the payment of the required compensation, a male lamb was sacrificed, and its blood sprinkled on the altar in expiation ; the position of the trespasser in the theocracy not being marked, as in other sin-offerings, by a difference in the animals required from priests, rulers, and private persons, respectively. The blood was applied not to the horns or highest parts of the altar, as in the sin-offering restrictively so called, but to its sides ; expiation being relatively less prominent on account of the reparation made by the offender in connection with the sacrifice. 1 Lev. vi. 25-30. This passage has been strangely misunderstood as it the sin- otfering defiled the vessels in which it was cooked, when it is expressly said to be " most holy." INTERPRETATION OF THE SACRIFICES. 355 The burnt-offering of Mosaism seems to have been the continuation of the bleeding sacrifice of the patriar- chal period ; the sin-offering and the peace-offering growing out from it as the side-branches of a tree from the stem. Its ritual commenced with an expiation. The sacrificer constituted the victim his proxy by the imposition of his hand, and slaughtered it. The priest then made atonement for him by sprinkling the blood Upon the sides of the altar in like manner as in the trespass-offering. The way was thus prepared for perform- ing acceptably the self-surrender symbolized by giving to Jehovah the flesh of the slaughtered animal. The representation of atonement properly preceded the out- ward and symbolic consecration, as the real expiation of sin was a necessary antecedent to an acceptable offering of himself by the worshipper as a spiritual sacrifice. The animal for a voluntary burnt-offering might be taken either from the herd, or from the flock, or it might be a pigeon. In the latter case, its sex, not appearing in the representation, was a matter of indifference ; but, when a quadruped was brought for this species of sacrifice, it must be a male, to show the importance of the transaction, and to set forth with emphasis the energy and earnestness with which the sacrificer gave himself to God. The flesh, having been placed on the altar, was sent up to heaven in the flame of the holy fire. No part of it was reserved, but all was consumed as a whole burnt-offering to signify that the self-surren- der was entire. The burnt-offering was always accompanied by a food- offering, and might be regarded as including it were it 35^ SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. not that in other circumstances the food-offering was offered independently. The sacrificer could not truly surrender himself to Jehovah without including in his consecration the fruits of his life-work; and therefore the symbolic transaction must include gifts of corn in the form of bread, flour, or roasted ears. Holiness will always show itself in the life ; but the good deeds which result are not all of one pattern. They vary in different persons, as constitutions and circumstances are various. Accordingly the Hebrew was permitted to symbolize, by any of the preparations of wheat he was accustomed to use in his family, the good deeds of a holy life, which are " the bread of God." But, with the allowance of such variety, it was required that the food should always be penetrated with oil, to show that the producer of these fruits of holiness had been refreshed and enlivened in his labor by the Spirit of God. They were also seasoned with salt, the symbol of fidelity to engagement, to pledge the sacrificer to a real fruitfulness in the good works which his offering represented. Whatever kind of food the sacrificer chose to bring, he must not forget to accompany it with frankincense ; for no offering of good works would be acceptable to God unless accompanied with prayer. A single handful of the food-offering was consumed by fire, and the remainder was eaten by the priests, to show in this twofold manner Jehovah's acceptance of it. His representatives actually ate of it as food which he furnished to the officers of his household ; and his participation in the feast was symbolized by the burning on the altar. The frankincense, however, in correspond- ence with its import, was all burned. " Jehovah might INTERPRETATION OF THE SACRIFICES. 357 very well supply his servants, the priests, from the food which Israel offered to him as the representative of its grateful self- surrender ; but incense, like the prayer which it represented, belonged to himself alone." ^ As the statutes concerning drink-offerings commence with the words, "When ye be come into the land,"^ and there is no mention of any drink-offering actually offered in the wilderness, it is reasonable to conclude that wine was not a necessary accompaniment of a burnt-offering till after the settlement of the Hebrews in Canaan. Being ^thenceforth one of the staple products of their land, which they constantly labored for and enjoyed, it was required with the parched grains of wheat, the fine flour, or the cakes, as an accompaniment to every burnt-offering, and with similar intent ; namely, to symbolize the consecration of labor and its fruits. Its reception on the altar signified that Jehovah had pleasure in the results of a consecrated life. Peace-offerings signified in general that the sacrificer having obtained expiation of his sins, and consecrated himself and his substance, was in a state of friendship with God. The feast of fellowship in which they terminated was at once an expression of love, and a means of increasing it in the human party at the feast. 1 Kurtz : Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament, p. 29S. 2 Lev. xxiii. 10 ; Num. xv. 2. These statutes refer, it is true, to food-offerings, as well as drink-offerings ; but the former had been enjoined by previous legislation, and several instances in which they were offered in the wilderness are recorded. It would be difficult to account for the manner in which drink-offerings are treated in the Pentateuch on any hypothesis which ascribes a later date to these writings than the entrance to Canaan. 358 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. The imposition of hands, the slaughter, and the sprinkUng of the blood, being performed in the same manner as in the burnt-offering and the trespass-offering, and therefore with similar significance, need no further interpretation. These ceremonies of expiation being completed, the disposal of the flesh was next in order. Its choicest portions, namely, the fat, were burned on the altar to represent the self-surrender of the sacrificer ; the breast was reserved for the whole community of priests, and the right hind-leg for the individual priest who officiated ; the remainder was given back to the sacrificer, that he and his friends might participate with the household of God, and with God himself, in the feast of friendship. Jehovah testified his acceptance of the friendly gift, and his enjoyment of it, by allowing it to be burned on the altar. The priests, by their personal participation in the feast as his officers, and by his direction, gave still further demonstration to the same effect. The permission to the worshipper to share with Jehovah and his household in eating the flesh which had been brought to the altar showed the friendly relation subsisting between the parties. There can be no doubt that the waving of the breast and the heaving of the leg was a ceremonial presenta- tion to Jehovah of what was to be eaten by the members of his household ; and the ceremony of heav- ing is easily explained, since the Hebrew word is the technical term for lifting upon the altar. The altar was ideally a high place, and whatever was offered was lifted to the top of it ; and so heaving a thing upward became the sign that it was presented to Jehovah. The mode in which waving was established as a symbol is less INTERPRETATION OF THE SACRIFICES. 359 evident ; but perhaps the horizontal movement, being directed toward the tabernacle, denoted that the gift was thus presented to Jehovah for the use of the sanctuary. One has only to read the directions for waving and heaving to be convinced that, however these movements acquired their significance, they signified presentation to God. On the question. Why was the breast waved, and assigned to the priests in general, whilst the leg was heaved, and assigned to the officiating priest alone } Kurtz ingeniously remarks, " I know no other way of arriving at an answer to this question than that of tracing the relation of the breast as half-fat to the fat of the burnt sacrifice, and that of the leg as the best of the flesh to the flesh of the sacrificial meal. As the offerer of the sacrifice brought his whole family to the sacrificial meal, so Jehovah admitted his whole family, so to speak, i. e., the whole of the priests performing service at the time, to participate in his enjoyment ; not, indeed, by assigning them a portion of the pure fat, which would have been thoroughly uneatable, but by assigning them the nearest to it, viz., the half-fat ; and the reason why this was not heaved, but waved 'before Jehovah,' i. e., moved toward the door of the tabernacle, and then back again toward the priest, was probably because the service of the priests in general had respect to God who dwelt within the tabernacle. And as the wave-breast, as half-fat, was related to the meal provided for Jehovah ("the bread of Jehovah"), so the heave-leg, as the best of the flesh-meat, was related to the meal provided for the offerer. It was heaved, not waved, probably to exhibit its relation to the altar upon 360 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. which Jehovah's portion was burnt. Both of these are in perfect harmony with the fact that the leg was allotted to the officiating priest alone ; for lie alone per- formed the loving service for the offerer of presenting his gift to Jehovah, and he alone performed the service at the altar of sprinkling the blood, and burning the sacrifice." ^ 1 Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament, p. 278. CHAPTER XIV. INTERPRETATION OF THE LUSTRATIONS OF THE TABERNACLE. The significance of expiatory sacrifices already ap- pears, A person who had violated a law might obtain an assurance of forgiveness by bringing a sin-offering ; and those who were not inwardly accused of any partic- ular transgression might, through the same instrumen- tality, be comforted in every approach to God with a token that even the sins of which they were unconscious were blotted out. It is unnecessary, therefore, to inter pret lustration as performed by sprinkling blood : we have only to speak of the removal of unclean^iess. The legal regulations concerning defilement, though not implying that the person who had contracted it was blameworthy on that account, were fitted to inculcate on the people the importance of holiness ; for the analogy between physical cleanliness, and purity of heart, is obvi- ous, and they well knew that no unsoundness of the physique could be more offensive to those who lived delicately in kings' courts than filthiness of the spirit was to Jehovah. The care enjoined to avoid defilement of the body, and to remove it when acquired, was fitted to educate them to a high appreciation of inward purity, and to the habit of watchfulness against sin as 31 361 362 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. odious to God. Outward cleanness and uncleanness were made to symbolize corresponding conditions of the heart. Moreover, there was a relation between the defilement of the flesh for which the law provided lustration, and filthiness of spirit other than that of analogy ; for the former, though acquired without blame on the part of the unclean person, had its source and cause in the sinfulness of the race. A person became legally unclean by contact with offensive substances connected with reproduction and with death, however slight the contact, but incurred no legal disability on account of a real defilement of the person by other means, whatever its degree. Such discrimination made it evident that the care which the law required of the Hebrev/ to preserve ritual cleanness, as a condition of admittance to the habitation of Jehovah, had reference to something else than physical offensiveness. The law was as strict within the sphere of its demands as that which guarded an Oriental monarch from the approach of the filthy, but required exemption from such filths only as were in some way connected with the succession of individuals in the life of the race. Contact with the dead separated one from fellowship with Jehovah because death was in the world by reason of sin. A leper was unclean, and defiled those whom he touched, because death had begun its work upon him. Excretions from the organs of reproduction in like manner defiled, and excluded from the habitation of God, because sin had brought a curse upon the relation of the sexes. The law of ritual defile- ment thus put a mark upon generation and death as connected with, and affected by sin, though not in INTERPRETATION OF THE LUSTRATIONS. 363 themselves wrong. It called attention to them as the two points where sin made its deepest scars. It taught the defiled man that, even if personally innocent of transgressing the law of Jehovah, he belonged to a race suffering the consequences of sin. " It was unquestionably the ban of death, which reigns in the human body as the effect of sin, that stamped upon the phenomena apparent in the different departments of generation, leprosy, and decomposition, the character of Levitical uncleanness. And the obligation resting on the Israelites not, indeed, to preserve themselves free from such uncleanness (for that was impossible), but whenever it occurred to purify themselves, or to seek purification in a certain prescribed mode, was based upon' the priestly character and consecration of the people as a covenant nation called to approach and hold communion with Jehovah, a holy God who could tolerate no uncleanness that sprang from sin, but unfit to approach him as long as the uncleanness continued." ^ Uncleanness of the kind first named in the foregoing paragraph was ordinarily of the lowest grade known to the law, requiring for its removal only the application of water, a symbol whose significance is too obvious to need interpretation. Childbirth, and disease in the organs of generation, rendered necessary a longer lustration, closing with a sin-offering. By this addition of an expiatory sacrifice, the ceremonial exhibited not only an unclean- ness of the individual in consequence of the sinfulness of the race, but a personal sinfulness which needed forgiveness. The sin-offering did not refer to any sin in 1 Kurtz : Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament, p. 420. 364 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. particular ; but, the inconvenience to which the unclean person was subjected in consequence of the sinfulness of the race naturally awakening the consciousness of per- sonal guilt, it was mercifully provided as a sacrament of absolution. The uncleanness caused by contact with the dead body of an animal being removable by the application of water, the process needs no interpretation. The cere- monial by which a person defiled by contact with a human corpse was cleansed is less transparent, and the novice in symbolism may need aid in studying its signifi- cance. This defilement was removed by means of the "water of separation," a mixture of pure water with ashes, prepared for the purpose by a process which itself needs explication. Water not sufficing to remove a defilement so deep, the ashes of a heifer which had been slain as a sin- offering, were mingled with it. A male animal being normally required for a sin-offering, the exceptional requirement of a heifer in this case probably referred to the peculiar use of the ashes as an antidote to -death, the female being eminently the life-producing sex. In other victims for the altar, the color was a matter of indifference ; but the heifer selected for this purpose must be red, for since in man a rosy complexion is a sign of vigorous vitality, redness was among the ancients a symbol of life even when, as in the case of the heifer, fl the external color had no relation to the vital force within. The redness of the cow was an element in her fitness to represent life, and be an antidote to death. With similar reference to her fitness to stand as a sym- INTERPRETATION OF THE LUSTRATIONS. 365 bolic and sacramental life-bearer, it was required that she must not only be without defect or superfluity, as all animals brought to the altar must, but be of an age indicating the full vigor which belongs to maturity before decay has commenced, and have been absolutely exempt from the exhaustion of labor. The animal, hav- ing been slain, became an expiation by the sprinkling of its blood seven times toward the sanctuary ; and its ashes thereby acquired a cleansing efficacy to take away uncleanness as its blood had taken away sin. It was slain not only outside of the sanctuary, but outside of the camp, because lustration was the chief end for which it was slain. The tabernacle was the normal place for a sin-offering ; but all rites of purification, being designed for those who could not enter the sanctuary, were performed elsewhere ; and, as the deepest kinds of uncleanness excluded even from the camp, so the most thorough lustrations were significantly commenced afar off from the holy habitation of Jehovah, and beyond the dwellings of his people. The high-priest, who by rule should present the sin-offering of the whole congrega- tion, could not officiate because by so doing he would put himself into rapport with death and its uncleanness, from which, as the head of the holy nation, he must be separate ; and therefore, as the ceremony was too impor- tant to be performed by an ordinary priest, his son or successor must officiate in his stead. The burning of the animal in its entirety, there being no other exception than the small quantity of blood which had been sprin- kled toward the sanctuary, indicated that in the pleni- tude of its vitality it was wholly given up to be made an antidote to death, and a means of purifying those who 31* 366 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. by contact therewith had become defiled. The cedar- wood, the coccus-wool, and the hyssop, thrown into the fire which consumed the heifer, intensified the signifi- cance of the transaction. The first two as symbols of life, and the third as expressive of purification, contributed to the power of the residuary ashes to purify from the defilement connected with death. The unclean- ness contracted by the priest who officiated, by the person who burned the heifer, and by the person who gathered up the ashes, resulted from the position they had assumed of connection with death in order to provide for the whole people means of purification. By going out of the place of life to prepare, for those who were excluded therefrom by contact with death, the means of re-admission, they had themselves contracted a degree of defilement, but only such as yielded to the application of water. The ashes thus prepared, when mingled with pure water, greatly increased the significance of the latter as a symbol of purification, and indicated the specific nature of the defilement for which the mixture was an antidote. The life-power represented by the heifer, the cedar-wood, and the coccus-wool, showed that the uncleanness to be removed was connected with and occasioned by death. The sprinkling of the mixture upon the defiled person was a sign that by contact with this " water of separation " he was cleansed from his defilement. It was not without meaning that the sprinkling was performed with a spray of hyssop, or that the clean person by whom the lustration was performed became, in consequence of such service, unclean for the remainder of the day. Hyssop was itself an emphatic INTERPRETATION OF THE LUSTRATIONS. 367 symbol of purification ; and the temporary defilement of the purifier illustrated the intensity of the uncleanness which his benevolent errand obliged him to approach. The lustration of a leper commenced outside of the camp, and was designed in its first stages to effect his admis- sion within the camp, but not within the sanctuary. The use of two birds naturally suggests an analogy between this ceremonial, and that of the day of atonement, which required two goats, — one to be slain, and the other to be set at liberty. There is doubtless some analogy between the two ceremonials, but this important difference deserves attention ; namely, that, while the blood of the slain goat was sprinkled to make atonement, there is no evidence that the bird was propitiatory. It seems rather to have been slain for the sake of obtaining its blood as a symbol of life. Cedar-wood and coccus-wool were added to it as parallel and cumulative symbols. Water and hyssop, both expressive of purification, completed the mixture ; and the requirement of living, or running water, in distinction from that which had been bottled, or taken from a cistern, added emphasis to the ceremony. The live bird was dipped in this mixture of signs of purification and life, to represent the restored leper in his passage from his recent condition of disease to health, and was set at liberty to continue the represen- tation of him as escaping from restraint, and returning to the scenes and the society he had enjoyed before his misfortune. The application of the same mixture to the leper himself also implied that he had passed from disease and impurity to health, and fitness to associate with the uncontaminated ; while its sevenfold repetition 368 SIGNIFICANCE 6F THE TABERNACLE. signified restoration to the privileges of the covehant between Jehovah and his people. The purification of his person by the washing of his body, the removal of all his hair, and the washing of his clothes, with which this act of the ceremonial ended, completed the repre- sentation of a man risen from the imcleanness of death to a new life. The washing and shaving with which the first act of the ceremonial ended, when repeated on the seventh day as the commencement of the second part of the lustration, had obviously the same significance as before, and served to deepen the impression already made in regard to the offensiveness of leprosy. Of the ceremonies of the eighth day, the most important by far were those connected with the trespass-offering. If it is asked. Why was a trespass-offering required from a restored leper .-' the answer doubtless is, that his absence from the sanctuary and from the camp was, from the stand- point of the covenant, a withholding from Jehovah of the service due to him as the national King and God. Though involuntary on the part of the leper, it was a trespass on the rights of Jehovah, whose claim to the service of his people was not annulled by any inability to render it resulting from sin. Without blame on his part, he had been robbed of the service of one of his subjects : consequently that species of sacrifice which atoned for an infringement on the rights of property was necessary to effect the restoration of the leper, The payment of the debt, with the addition of a fifth, as the law required in cases where the obligation could be estimated in money, was impossible, and therefore not mentioned; but in all other respects the ceremonial INTERPRETATION OF THE LUSTRATIONS. 369 proceeded as if the leper had committed a trespass. The trespass-offering was so much more important than the other sacrifices, that, while doves might be substituted for lambs in the sin-offering and the burnt-offering, if the leper was a poor man, there could be no abatement in the requirement of a male lamb for a trespass-offering. The re-consecration of the man to the service of Jehovah, by means of the blood of the trespass-offering, showed that he was accepted notwithstanding his trespass ; and the application of it to the tip of his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, signified, as in the similar consecration of the priests, the sanctification of the whole body of which these were the parts principally concerned, and of the whole being of which these were the chief factors. Some of the oil which had been waved with the lamb of the trespass-offering, and thus had become the property of Jehovah, was similarly applied to the ear, the thumb, and the toe, and the remainder poured upon the head, as a sign that the Spirit of God was imparted to the restored leper to enliven and strengthen him for the service to which he was sanctified. But, before the oil was thus used for anointing, some of it was sprinkled toward the sanctuary as a sign that the enlivening influence thus represented enabled the recipient of it acceptably to approach Jehovah in his sanctuary. The ceremonial being coincident with that which set apart the priesthood in its use of blood and oil, and in the application of them to the ear, the thumb, and the toe, and different from it only in the application of them separately instead of jointly, cannot be very different in its significance. The similarity both in the forms and 370 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. in their significance is to be accounted for on the ground that, Israel being a kingdom of priests, the leper by these rites of lustration was restored to a sacerdotal status. To the objection that the people were conse- crated at Sinai with blood only, it may be replied that they were already the people of Jehovah, and had been in covenant with him from the time of Abraham ; while the leper, exscinded from the covenant people, and forbidden to enter the camp, was farther from Jehovah than the Hebrews were previous to the covenant at Sinai. The sin-offering and holocaust with which the ceremonial ended require no interpretation, as they were performed in the usual manner, and conveyed the same significance as on other occasions, A word, however, may be useful, accounting for the requirement of a sin-offering as part of the ceremonial. A sin-offering was ordinarily a voluntary sacrifice brought by one who was conscious of sin. But, even if no consciousness of transgression had sprung up in the soul during the long absence from the sanctuary, it must at least be true that the leper might have sinned ; and, as there were stated sin-offerings for the whole people to cover such possibilities, so, analo- gously, this propitiatory sacrifice was appointed for the leper at his restoration, that he might re-enter into the fellowship of the covenant with an assurance that the sins he had committed during his exclusion, whether they had revealed themselves to his consciousness, or not, were blotted out. The propriety of a sacrifice of dedication, as part of such a ceremonial, is obvious. CHAPTER XV. INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR OF THE TABERNACLE. A PROMINENT feature in the Hebrew calendar of worship is the dominance of seven. Every seventh day was set apart from labor as a time of rest and holy convocation. Every seventh year the land rested from tillage : at the end of seven of these periods of seven years, the land rested a second year, and was restored to the family to which it originally belonged, whatever changes of tenure might have taken place during the cycle. There were seven days of rest and holy convo- cation during the year, in addition to those which occurred weekly. The seventh month of the year was ushered in with the sound of trumpets, proceeding first from the sanctuary, and immediately propagated through the land ; and its first day was one of the seven annually recurring sabbaths. It was also signalized by the assign- ment to it of those festivals which were not bound to some other time of the year by historical association or natural fitness ; the day of atonement, the festival of tabernacles, and the day of rest and convocation, which closed not only this particular festival, but all the annually recurring solemnities of the year, being included 371 372 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. in the seventh or sabbatical month. The passover, and ■the festival of tabernacles, occupied each seven days ; and this was the limit of all solemnities which lasted more than one day. The observance of the seventh day of the week is expressly connected in the decalogue with the work of God in creating the world ; and the number seven whenever it determined the length of festivals, or the time of their occurrence, as in the instances cited above, conveyed, to one versed in Hebrew symbolism, thoughts of the union of the infinite with the finite, of the divine with the human, of Jehovah with his people. The daily service was a constant recognition of Jehovah as their God by the priestly nation, and, on his part, of them as his people. The morning and evening holocausts were a perpetual profession by them that they gave themselves, and the fruits of righteousness which they brought forth with the aid of his Spirit, to Him on whose altar they placed the lamb with its appointed accompaniment of flour, wine, incense, salt, and oil. The reception of the sacrifice on the altar by the officers of his household was an assurance from Jehovah that he accepted with pleasure the spiritual sacrifice of which it was the sign. The reservation of a part of the food-offering, to be eaten by the priests as " the bread, of their God," served to show his fellowship with his people in the enjoyment of their sanctifica- tion. The service within the habitation exhibited the state of God's people as redeemed, justified, and received to communion with him by faith. The table showed the INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 373 fruits of righteousness, the chandelier the Hght they diffused, the altar of incense their offerings of prayer and praise. In the exhibition of the kingdom of God in this its second stage, it was not necessary to symbolize propitiation by the sprinkling of blood, or self-surrender by the offering of an animal ; since these first steps in the way of life were presupposed by the presence in this place of the people through their representatives. The symbols of the first chamber of the tabernacle were designed rather to exhibit the results of propitiation and self-surrender in the holy lives of God's people. They are the same symbols which in the court accompany, and are subsidiary to, the bleeding sacrifice ; but here they present in full development an idea which there was exhibited only in germ. The corn, wine, oil, and incense, which in the court were offered on the same altar, are here offered on three several altars, as if the bud had swelled and opened into a blossom of three petals. The food-offering has not only been raised from a subsidiary to an independent position, but is divided into three distinct sacrifices. By this expansion of the symbolism, it became richer in its significance, and more instructive. The symbols, moreover, were not only separated one from another, but were of finer quality than was required in the court ; since the corn which there was presented as flour was here made into cakes, the oil must be the purest that could be obtained, the incense was a compound of that ordinarily used with other most precious spices, according to a recipe used for this purpose exclusively. Thus expanded and honored, the symbolism of the food-offering exhibited the people of God worshipping and serving him in his 32 374 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. temple day and night continually, and him as feasting on the fruits of their sanctification, rejoicing in the light they diffused, and pleased with their worship, as if they had filled his house with the finest perfume. The observance of every seventh day by the Hebrews, whether first established at Sinai, or received by tradi- tion from their fathers, was a memorial of the creation of the world by Jehovah. But the Mosaic narrative of the creation, fairly interpreted, implies that the week as a division of time was instituted at the beginning of human history, and that every seventh day was from the first celebrated with the same intent as is ascribed to the weekly sabbath in the fourth commandment. The Mosaic law, in giving its sanction to an institution already existing, prescribed the manner in which it should be observed, — namely, by abstinence from labor, a holy con- vocation, the duplication of the two daily sacrifices, and the renewal of the show-bread, — but in no way changed its significance. In whatever mode the monotheists of preceding centuries had hallowed the day, whether by abstinence from labor, or by sacrifice, or both, they observed it as a memorial of God's work of creation. This memorial observance of the seventh day from the beginning may have occasioned the hebdomadal division of time which we find in the earliest nations, and may have originated the speculations on number which before the time of Abraham had established seven as the numerical symbol of transactions between the Crea- tor and the creature. The sabbath was therefore a sign to the Hebrews primarily of the first transaction between the two parties to which, in common with the rest INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 375 of the ancient world, they applied three and four as numerical symbols. But, by means of their symbolism, it put on a wider meaning, so as to cover with its sug- gestiveness the whole field in which the Creator and the creature are brought together. The observance of it was an acknowledgment of Jehovah in his relations to the universe in general, and in the special relations he sustained to their nation ; the desecration of it was a breach of their engagement that he should be their God, and that they would be his people, as well as a denial of him as the Creator. As a month was with the Hebrews a natural division of time as truly as a day, a ceremonial was provided for the new moon, as well as for the rising and the setting sun. On the first day of the month, a sin-offering was presented for the whole congregation, developing more fully, and making more prominent, the ideas of sin and forgiveness expressed by the daily sprinkling of blood ; a large addition was made to the daily burnt-offering, to show forth with an impressiveness commensurate with the importance of a month as compared with a day the same ideas which were conveyed by " the continual burnt-offering;" and the silver trumpets were blown by the priests in the tabernacle to remind Jehovah of his people.^ As the seventh day was honored above other days, so was the seventh month above other months ; a sabbatical character being communicated to it by the day of rest and convocation with which it was intro- duced, the day of atonement, the festival of tabernacles, and the atzereth, or day of rest and convocation, which 1 Num. X. 9, 10. 376 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. brought the festivals of the year to a formal conclusion. The seven which marked its place in the calendar sanc- tified it as a remembrancer of God in his relation to the world and its inhabitants, and especially to his kingdom on earth and the people of his covenant. The festival of the passover commemorated the deliv- erance from Egypt. At its first institution it was prescribed that the pas- chal lamb should be selected on the tenth day of the month, or four days before, it was slaughtered ; but, as this requirement was not incorporated into the statutes concerning its perpetual observance, the significance of four was not relatively of great importance. That which it signified might, however, have been of greater value to the generation which came out of Egypt than to their posterity ; and this consideration favors the belief that whereas the lamb was to be selected before- hand in order that the people by the sight of it might be better prepared for the celebration of the symbolic rites, the period of waiting was determined by four rather than by some other number with reference to the time the Hebrews had spent in Egypt. It had been announced to Abraham that his posterity would be enslaved in a strange land, and after serving their oppressors four centuries, or" generations,^ would expe- rience a great deliverance, and return to Canaan. If this announcement had been transmitted from father to son, the limitation of the days of waiting to four would have great pertinence, and incite the people to prayer and expectation. The length of the bondage was of less 1 Gen. XV. 13, 16. INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 377 concern to subsequent generations, and was not exhibited in the symboHsm with which the deliverance was to be celebrated in the promised land.^ The sacrifice of the paschal lamb was so peculiar in its ceremonial that one hesitates to class it under any of the four species of animal sacrifice. It bears most resemblance to the peace-offerings, but is perhaps best disposed of if regarded as belonging to a species of which Mosaism furnished only this one specimen. It differed from all the other animal sacrifices in not being brought to the altar, and in the omission of blood- sprinkling. These differences, if they existed only in regard to the celebration of the passover in Egypt, might be accounted for on the ground that there was then no national sanctuary toward which the blood could be sprinkled, and no national altar on the north side of which the lamb could be slain ; but the same differences obtained in Canaan as in Egypt. The sacrifice must be offered in the neighborhood of the sanctuary ; ^ but there is no evidence that it was brought within the sacred enclosure, and the number of such sacrifices to be offered in a single evening utterly forbids the supposi- 1 A different significance has here been attributed to four from that which it ordinarily conveyed in ancient symbolism. Four is primarily the signature of the world reduced to order, and secondarily of the kingdom of God in the world ; but, as a word may be used in several meanings having no apparent connection one with another, may not a similar experience have happened to symbols ? We use the word spr'mg to signify a leap, a?i issue of wafer from the earth, an elastic body, or a season of the year : is it not possible that further induction would show that four has other symbolic power than that of suggesting an organized creation ? In no other instance has the writer of this volume ventured to deviate from the induc- tive method of determining the meaning of a symbol. If he has erred in this instance, the exception may perhaps serve to establish more firmly in the mind of the reader the principle that only one meaning is to be allowed to a symbol. 2 Deut. xvi. 6. 32* 378 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. tion. Notwithstanding these pecuHarities, however, the paschal lamb was truly a sacrifice, being so styled in the Mosaic law,^ and so regarded by the apostle Paul.^ But, if its death was sacrificial, its blood was expiatory like that of all animal offerings ; and the subsequent meal was a feast of fellowship with Jehovah like those which followed peace-offerings, such a privilege having been secured by means of the expiation. This sacrifice, ■ however, as compared with a peace-offering, left expiation in the background, and made fellowship prominent. The supper exhibited the celebrants as belonging to the family of God, and feeding at his table. It was a pledge, at the first celebration, that Jehovah would protect and provide for those whom he called out of Egypt : it was a memorial, when celebrated in Canaan by their descend- ants, that with a strong hand and an outstretched arm he did deliver those who ate the first passover supper. The lamb must be placed on the table whole, no bone being broken, and no part being cut away in the process of preparation, to exhibit more perfectly the oneness of the partakers with each other, and with the divine Deliverer. By eating together the unbroken and undivided lamb, they were, in the significance of the symbolic act, one, as the morsels of food placed before them formed one body. The same symbolic significance is attributed by the apostle Paul to the Lord's Supper when he says, " The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ .-* For we being many are one bread, and one body : for we are all partakers of that one bread!' ^ Not only must the lamb be placed on the table whole, but no part might 1 Deut. xvi. 6. '^ \ Cor. v. 7. 81 Cor. x. 16, 17. INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 379 afterward be carried to another house, the symboKc significance of its integrity requiring that it should be eaten in one place. It was also important that, as nearly as possible, it should be entirely consumed ; and, with this in view, the direction was given, that, if one family was too small to eat the whole of a lamb, two or more families should unite in the paschal supper. Whatever portion remained was to be burned, that the flesh might neither see corruption, nor be used as common food. This disposal of the remnant of the feast, as all sacrificial flesh was disposed of which could not be eaten, showed that the supper was not a common repast, but a sacri- ficial meal, and that the fellowship into which the partakers were brought as members of one body was a holy fellowship. The equipment of the celebrants for travel, and the haste with which they ate, as if intending a journey, and wishing to be on the way as soon as possible, referred to the condition of the Hebrews on the memorable night . when the paschal supper was first eaten. The bitter vegetables which accompanied the roast lamb at the paschal supper referred probably to the bitterness of the bondage from which the Hebrews were delivered. It is recorded in the national history that "the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor, and made their lives bitter with hard bondage ; " ^ and this element was introduced into the symbolism of the paschal supper to connect, in the re- membrance of the celebrants, the suffering with the deliverance. By as much as the former was made to appear more bitter, was the latter more highly appre- ciated. 1 Exod. i. 13, 14. 380 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. The unleavened bread which not only accompanied the paschal lamb, but was the only bread allowed during the seven days following the supper, symbolized the state of moral uncorruptness to which the Hebrews were called by their divine Deliverer. Leaven was the symbol of corruption, and thence of moral impurity, and for this reason was excluded from food-offerings to Jehovah. The only exceptions were, that when the two loaves were presented on the day of pentecost, as the first- fruits of bread, they must be baked as at other times with leaven, it being so important that the offering should be made in kind, and thus truly consist of the first-fruits, that the symbolism of leaven was disregarded ; and that when a man brought a peace-offering, as an expression of gratitude for a favor already received, he must bring leavened bread with the pastry of his thank-offering.^ The leaven in these anomalous instances was less objec- tionable, as no part of the bread was laid on the altar, but all of it was either for the priest, or for the festal board to which the offerer invited his friends. Because leaven was a symbol of moral impurity, the absence of it was 'required during the festival which commemorated the calling of Israel out of Egypt to be a holy nation. That such was the significance of the banishment of leaven not merely from the tables, but from the houses, of the Hebrews during "the days of unleavened bread," is evi- dent both from the similar use of the symbol in other parts of the Mosaic institutions, and from the allusion of the apostle Paul when he says, " For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us : therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of 1 I.,ev. xxiii. 17, vii. 13. INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 381 malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." ^ But, though leaven was sym- bolic of wickedness, it was also a very useful ingredient in bread, rendering it much more palatable than unleav- ened bread, unless the latter was prepared with oil as in the food-offerings to Jehovah. As no mention is made of oil in connection with the unleavened bread to be used during the week following the passover, we may infer that no such substitute for leaven was allowed, and that the bread was less palatable than that which they ordinarily ate. Thus we may account for the facts that it is called " the bread of affliction," ^ and mentioned in connection with the flight from Egypt, as if it commem- orated a time of trouble.^ These facts have led some interpreters to infer that the Hebrews who fled from Egypt were directed to use unleavened bread during their flight, on account of the haste and tribulation which prevented the preparation of more palatable bread, and that the requirement of unleavened bread in the subsequent annual celebrations was primarily a reminder of the haste with which the fathers fled. It may be true that the absence of both leaven and oil was thus intended, but the mere prohibition of leaven cannot be thus understood ; for surely bread of affliction and of haste would not have been required or even allowed as a food-offering for Jehovah. We must give to the absence of leaven the same significance in the unleavened bread of the passover as in the food-offerings of the court, and the show-bread within the tabernacle. The sheaf of barley waved on the second day of the passover-week, and thus presented to Jehovah for the use 1 I Cor. V. 7, 8. 2 Deut. xvi. 3. 8 ibid. 382 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. of the priests, was the earnest of the cereal harvest, and was rendered acceptable by an accompanying burnt-offering which, as a symbol of expiation and self- consecration, formed a basis for such a presentation of first-fruits. There was no peace-offering because, as the harvest had not yet been gathered, it was proper to hold in abeyance the sacrifices of thanksgiving. It is, how- ever, worthy of notice that the particular reference of the ceremonial to the approaching harvest of cereals was indicated by the requirement of twice the quantity of flour usually offered with such a holocaust, while the drink-offering was not increased because there was no special reference to the vintage. The occasional sacrifices which signalized each of the seven "days of unleavened bread "were greater than those of a weekly sabbath, equivalent to those ordinarily offered at the appearance of a new moon, and exceeded only by those of the seventh new moon, the day of ' pen- tecost, and the festival of tabernacles. No other week, therefore, during the year, except the week of rejoicing over the autumnal harvest, presented in its sacrifices such calls to self-dedication as the week following the paschal supper ; and there were but few single days in the calendar which inculcated the duty with a ceremo- nial as impressive as that which during this festival was repeated daily for seven days. There were important reasons in the symbolic significance of seven why that number should determine the duration of the days of unleavened bread." The deliverance from Egypt was a transaction of Jehovah with the people of his covenant, eminently deserving to be indicated as such since he brought them out with a strong hand and an out- INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 383 Stretched arm, achieving their salvation by wonderful interferences with the natural course of events. The festival of pentecost was not historically com memorative like that of the passover, but had its basis in the fact that the cereal harvest was now gathered ; as is evident from the distinguishing ceremony of the day, namely, the presentation to Jehovah, by waving, of two loaves of bread made of new wheat as a required pre- liminary to the domestic use of the grain which had been harvested, and from the relation this festival bears to the presentation of the first sheaf as indicated by the direction to count fifty days from that ceremony to the similar presentation of the first loaves. The waving of a sheaf or omer of the earliest barley was a consecra- tion of the harvest into which the first sickle had that day been thrust ; and the waving of the loaves of wheaten bread was an act of thanksgiving for the cereal fruits of every kind which had now been gathered. It was fit that the offering with which the harvest opened should be brought to the sanctuary in the sheaf, and, since barley was the earliest grain, as a sheaf of barley ; and equally appropriate that, when all kinds of grain had been har- vested, the offering should be presented in a form exhib- iting the produce of the land prepared as food for the use of man, and since wheat ripened latest, and excelled in quality, in the form of wheaten bread. The first ceremony looked forward with devout hopefulness to a blessing which the second acknowledged as already in possession. The numerical increase from one sheaf to two loaves is also worthy of notice, especially as each loaf contained an omer of flour, which, as the word seems 384 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. to indicate, was the quantity yielded by an omer or sheaf. " Two-tenths of an ephah of white meal were used in the preparation of these two loaves. As an omer of ears probably yielded about an omer of grain or flour, it is a significant fact that exactly double the quantity required for the Easter offering of first-fruits was ordered to be used for the wave-loaves ; and this doubling of the quantity was also shown in the fact that the flour was made into two loaves, and not into one only. In the symbolism of the Hebrews, however, doubling always expressed a higher gradation, which rested, in the present case, upon the contrast between the beginning and the close of the harvest." ^ The difference between a harvest in anticipation and a harvest in possession accounts also for the peace- offerings at pentecost, a species of sacrifice not appointed to be brought in the name of the whole congregation on any other day in the calendar. The waving of the two lambs in connection with the two loaves presented them to Jehovah for the use of the priests, as an expression oi thanks for the cereal produce of the land appropriate only when the harvest had been secured. The sacrifices of the festival apart from those which belonged to the waving of the loaves were equivalent to the sacrifices appointed for the days of unleavened bread, and the ordinary new-moons ; and the additional sacrifices occasioned by the waving of the loaves, placed the day on a level with the seventh new-moon. The festival of trumpets, with its rest from labor, its holy convocation, its augmented holocaust, and its inspir- 1 Kurtz : Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament, p. 378. INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 385 ing music, imparted a sabbatical character, as we had occasion to remark at the beginning of the chapter, to the month already bearing the sabbatical number, — a character which became yet more decided by the inclu- sion within it of three annual sabbaths in addition to that with which it commenced, and of all festivals not bound to some other month by a necessity inherent in their nature. The whole month, because it was seventh in the calendar, was a reminder of Jehovah and of his relations and dealings with the people of his covenant ; but the first day of the month was eminently so, being appointed as " a memorial of blowing of trumpets." ^ Its rest from labor, its holy convocation, and its augmented holocaust, called attention to the significance, as seventh in the calendar, of the moon which now made its first appearance ; and the sound of thousands of trumpets, prolonging the peculiar blast with which the priests blew at this sabbatical moon, reminded Jehovah of his people and their sacrifices more loudly than at ordinary new- moons. That the " memorial of blowing of trumpets " was intended to remind Jehovah of his people, as well as them of him, or, more accurately, to assure the people that they were remembered by their God, is evident from the ordinance concerning the manufacture and use of the two silver trumpets ; which particularly assures them that they shall be remembered by Jehovah, and saved from their enemies, if these trumpets are sounded in battle, and charges them to blow the trumpets over the sacrifices at the new-moons, that they might be a " memorial before God." ^ 1 Lev. xxiii. 24. ^ Num. x. 9, 10. 386 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. The day of annual atonement reveals its design in the appellation itself ; and its occurrence but once in a year shows that it was the highest and most comprehensive of the expiatory provisions of the law. The basis of the institution was in the defectiveness of the other and more frequent expiations, which made it necessary that they should be complemented by one as high in rank, and as extensive in applicability, as the symbolic appa- ratus permitted. The sanctuary, as it stood in the midst of a people who, though chosen unto holiness, were also sinful, and was served by officials who, though chosen out of the people to a higher holiness, were par- takers of the common sinfulness, needed to be purified from the uncleanness imparted by the contact of such worshippers and such ministers ; and its services of expiation, inasmuch as they were liable to the imperfection which inheres in all works wrought by human instru- mentality, were acceptable to Jehovah, and satisfactory to sensitive consciences, only when they had themselves been expiated by the sprinkling of blood. It is true that there was also a liability to imperfection in the ceremo- nies of the annual atonement ; but, in the first place, it was easier to provide that every thing should be done in exact accordance with the ritual in a service which occurred but once in a year, than in all services ; and, in the second place, as the object in complementing the frequent acts of sprinkling blood was not to satisfy speculative objections, but to assist the faith of believ- ing sinners, it was wise and kind to do so by showing that the defects which they discovered or suspected had been foreseen and remedied. The possibility of defect in the remedial and complementary provision might INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 387 even serve a good purpose in suggesting that this was not the real, but only a symbolic remedy, having its counterpart in spiritual things at present covered with mystery, but to be revealed at the good pleasure of Jehovah. As the annual expiation was the highest in the sym- bolic institutions, the blood must be sprinkled on the capporeth, or golden cover of the ark, as the holiest object within the tabernacle, the very throne of Jehovah ; and the sprinkling must be performed by the highest of the priests. As a remedy for the defects of rites performed by human instrumentality, it covered with its provisions the whole field of expiation, cancelling the sins of the nation and of individuals, and thereby purging the sanctuary itself from the uncleanness which otherwise it might acquire from contact with sinners. The first thing in the special service of expiation which deserves attention, is the peculiar dress in which the high-priest officiated. Having worn his garments of gold while the sacrifices of the morning, both the con- tinual and the occasional, were offered, he laid them aside, and put on garments of white. Like the costume of an ordinary priest, they consisted of four pieces ; but there is no reason to conclude that his turban was con- formed in shape to those of his subordinates, or was in any respect different from that which at other times distinguished him as the head of the sacerdotal order, except in the absence of the golden crown and the ribbons of blue. On the contrary, it is reasonable to believe that, as the high-priest alone could perform these solemn rites, he retained a badge of rank which was in 3S8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. no way inconsistent with the significant act of exchan- ging his garments of gold for a garb of white. Whatever the significance of this exchange may have been, it was conveyed with greater force because the costume he assumed was wholly white, and not, like that of a subor- dinate priest, variegated with a girdle containing the other sacred colors. These garments of white signified that the wearer was representing Jehovah not, as ordina- rily, in the fulness of his attributes, but, in accordance with the peculiar character of the day, in the splendor of his holiness. The sin to be removed was in contrast with the purity of Jehovah, who, by the rites appointed for this day, declared that he received the expiated trans- gressors as if they had kept themselves pure like him- self. Hence it was important to symbolize clearly and emphatically that attribute of the divine nature which, being opposed to sin, requires its removal before the transgressor is treated as he would have been if holy. The person appointed to transact with the people in the name of Jehovah therefore disrobed himself of the apparel which by means of gold, jewels, and colors, symbolized not only holiness, but life, royalty, and heavenliness, to put on, for the special service of expia- tion, a costume symbolizing nothing but holiness. Thus, by the temporary removal of other attributes from view, the antagonism of Jehovah to the sin he blotted out was more clearly and impressively exhibited. That these garments of white represented holiness, and not, as some have supposed, the humiliation and sorrow of the people on account of sin, is evident from the designation of them in the directions for the day as " holy garments," ' ■■ Lev. xvi. 4. INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 389 and from the uniformity with which, in other cases, white raiment symboKzes purity and splendor. But this representative of the purity of Jehovah was himself a sinful man, and, as such, needed expiation. His first act,' therefore, in the ceremonial of the day, was the presentation of a sin-offering for himself and his associates in the priesthood. As befitted the high posi- tion of the persons whose sins were to be taken away, and the consequently greater importance of their trans- gressions, the victim was of the highest grade ; and, as befitted the crowning expiatory service of the year, its blood was carried to the holiest apartment of the taber- nacle. It was here sprinkled once on the mercy-seat, and seven times on the ground in front of it ; the first application of the blood having reference to the restora- tion of the sacerdotal order to the favor of Jehovah, and the seven which followed to the anticipated removal from this apartment of the uncleanness which other- wise it might contract from their sins. The admis- sion of the blood within the holy of holies showed that the penitent sinners in whose behalf the symbol of life was brought, might come not merely where they could have fellowship with God by faith, but where there should be no veil between him and them ; and its appli- cation to the golden mercy-seat, where Jehovah dwelt enthroned between the cherubim, set forth the fulness of fellowship with him to which they were entitled by virtue of the atoning blood. The symbol was thus prophetic, since the expiation was performed in behalf of the whole priesthood, while only the high-priest could enter the holy of holies, and come to the capporetli. It was a sign that those for 33* 390 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. whom the bullock had surrendered his life were alive unto God with such fulness of life, that the curtain of separation should not always exclude them from the nearer approach, and more intimate fellowship, symbolized by the innermost apartment of the tabernacle. The sprinkling on the ground in front of the mercy-seat was the application to this apartment of the blood which, as it cancelled the sins of the priests, was efficacious to take away also from the symbolic apparatus the con- taminating uncleanness of death consequent on sin. The septenary number fitly associates with this lustra- tion the idea of the covenant, as if Jehovah had purged the sanctuary that, according to his engagement with his people, he might dwell among them. One defect in the ceremonial by which the sins of the high-priest were taken away is obvious to the most careless observer, as is also the necessity which compels the introduction of it. There being no person who could mediate between Jehovah and his highest official, the sinner himself acts in the place of a mediator, entering the holy of holies before he was expiated, and presenting the blood of his own sin-offering ; but this very imperfection was serviceable to the ultimate design of the symbolism, as it was suggestive of a greater priest, who should be sinless, and therefore able to do in reality what the symbolic priest could effect only as he was a symbol and a type. If there was any signifi- cance in the symbolic apparatus, the removal of sin from the high-priest before he could officiate as an expiatory mediator declared the necessity that there should be a sinless priest, the impossibility of finding him in the family of Aaron, and the consequent probability INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 391 that, though still unrevealed, such a priest had been provided. The Jioly of holies being now purified from the sins of the priesthood, similar ceremonies with the blood of the goat elected to be slain, purified it from the uncleanness consequent on the sins of the whole people. The outer apartment was then cleansed by sprinkling the blood of the two sin-offerings at one and the same time ; after- ward the altar in the court was purified, the lustration being confined to the altar because it alone was regarded as a seat of Jehovah, the court being the place where the holy nation dwelt, and the altar his dwelling-place in the midst of them. The second goat was a part of the sin-offering, supple- menting the symbolism of the other by representing that the sins of the nation were removed, to be forever out of sight. The first covered with its life the forfeited lives of those who had sinned, and showed that they were still alive unto God, and entitled to approach the Living One in his habitation : the second carried away the sins themselves. The two goats were one sin- offering ; 1 and the sacrifice consisted of two animals, because, in the nature of the case, one could not symbol- ize all that was to be represented. As, in the lustration of the leper, two birds were necessary, because one could not furnish its blood to be used as a symbol of life to show that the person who had been a leper was now whole, and also fly away to represent that he was restored to freedom, so the sacrifice for sin, on the day of atonement, required two goats, that one might repre- sent the means and the other the effect of redemption ; it 1 Lev. xvi. 5. 392 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. being impossible that the two parts of the representation should be acted by one and the same animal. The assignment of each animal by lot to the particular part it was to bear in the ceremonial shows that they were, until thus assigned, equal and exchangeable factors in the representation. The lot determined which should be for Jehovah, and which should be for removal ; which should cover the sins of the people by surrendering its life, and which should carry away the sins thus covered into utter separation. " Scape-goat " is probably an inaccurate translation of azazel, but does not materially deflect the sentences in which the word occurs from their true meaning. The word not being found elsewhere in the Scriptures, we have only its etymology, and its relative position in the ordinance concerning the day of atonement, to teach us its definition. Azazel is in Arabic the proper name of an evil spirit ; and it has been inferred that the word is thus used in this passage. But such an interpretation of the ceremonial of the day of atonement is contradictory to the spirit of Mosaism, and less probable than the supposi- tion that Mohammedans derived the proper name Azazel from this passage as erroneously interpreted either by themselves or by Jewish commentators. Tholuck has suggested that azazel is an abstract noun from azal, to remove, and signifies " complete removal." ^ The cloud of incense which filled the Jioly of holies while the ceremonial of the two sin-offerings was in progress, was for the purpose of covering from the sight of the high-priest the pillar of cloud which rested over the mercy-seat. But, since the burning of incense is a 1 Das alte Testament im neuen Testament, p. 83, note. INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 393 symbol of prayer, we may belieye that the fragrant cloud which concealed the shecJiinali from the high-priest, was also designed to teach him that he should come into the presence of God not with familiarity and irreverence, but in the spirit of worship. The material from which the enveloping cloud was formed thus coincided with the envelopment itself in the exaltation of Jehovah. As was customary and appropriate after sin-offerings, sacrifices of dedication, wherein both priests and people professed to surrender themselves to God, followed the ceremonial of expiation. Before the high-priest pro- ceeded to offer these burnt-offerings, he put off the garments whose significance was specially appropriate to offices for the removal of sin, and resumed the costume which more fully expressed the dignity and authority with which he was clothed as the authorized representative of Jehovah. Normally, so much of the flesh of sin-offerings as was not consumed on the altar, was eaten by the priests, as the holy household of God sharing with him in his joy over the restoration of the ruined. But as the bullock had been offered for the priests themselves, and the goat for the nation in which the priests were included, they could not appear in this representation as the holy associates of Jehovah. This part of the representation, therefore, was omitted, as on all occasions when atone- ment was made either for the priests specifically, or for the nation in general. The flesh of the bullock and of the goat, instead of being eaten by the priests within the enclosure of the tabernacle, was carried beyond the boundary line of the encampment, and burned to ashes as too holy for any common use. 394 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. The uncleanness of the person who led away the living goat into the wilderness, and of the person who burned the slain goat and the bullock, was consequent on going out of the holy encampment. It is a very great mis- take to suppose that they acquired it by touching the sin-offerings, which, so far from imparting defilement, were in the highest degree holy, — more holy than peace-offerings ; the latter being simply " holy," while a sin-offering was always " most holy," ^ and was, in all cases when the priests had not disqualified themselves by sin, to be eaten within the habitation of Jehovah, by the members of his household separated from the rest of the nation to a higher sanctity. As distinguished from what was outside of its precincts, the camp was regarded as a holy place ; and the idea of its holiness was inculcated by pronouncing those who went out unclean, and requiring them to wash before they could re-enter. The festival of tabernacles as originally instituted, presents but little symbolism. Its primary design was to give expression to joy and gratitude in view of the products of the earth, every kind of which had now been gathered ; and it was therefore also called the fes- tival of ingathering. The requirement that the people should dwell in booths made of branches of trees so well accords with the agricultural character of the celebration, that the festivities of harvest may have been a primary reason for erecting these bowers, and dwelling for the time beneath the shade of branches cut from the palm or 1 Lev. vi, 25, 29. INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 395 other beautiful trees, and allowed to retain their foliage and fruit. But an opportunity was thus afforded to make this joyous festival in the land of promise commemorate the experience of the fathers in their passage thither from the land of bondage. For though the Hebrews dwelt in canvas tents, and not in leafy bowers, while on their journey from Egypt to Canaan, the booths which their descendants constructed for the festivities of harvest were analogous to tents in the relation they bore to dwellings built for permanence. As related to the ceiled houses which the Hebrews occupied in Canaan, the booth and the tent were the same ; and therefore, notwithstanding the difference between them in material and appearance, the statute reads, " Ye shall dwell in booths seven days ; that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt." ^ The festival not only presented in these places of temporary sojourn a visible reminder of the manner in which the fathers lived when they had no country in possession, but furnished opportunity once in seven years, in the year of release, for all the people to listen to the public reading of the Book of Deuteronomy, so that the children, as they came to years of understanding, might be acquainted with the history and laws of their nation. Though in the intervening years, the book of the law was not publicly read, the anniversary must have turned the current of thought toward the matters rehearsed in the sabbatical year ; so that this festival was fitted to bring to recollection not merely the fact that 1 Lev. xxiii. 42. 396 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE, their fathers dwelt in tabernacles, but all the facts connected with the journey from Egypt to Canaan. As the passover was a memorial of the deliverance experi- enced at the beginning of the journey, so was the feast of booths, of life in the wilderness. Nor was the connection of such a memorial with the joy of harvest arbitrary and forced; for nothing was more natural than to associate in thought the richness of their inheritance with the probationary trials by means of which the nation had been prepared to possess it. It is not known by what authority the pouring of water as a drink-offering was introduced as one of the ceremonies of this festival ; but the ceremony is in itself a joyous recognition of water as one of the blessings yielded by the land Jehovah had given them. They brought it to his altar, as they did other fruits of the land, in grateful acknowledgment of his goodness in providing for them such a country. But it would be very congruous with, and auxiliary to, such joy and gratitude, to remember the scarcity of water in the wilderness. In like manner, in regard to every comfort the people derived from their inheritance, a compari- son of their experience with that which their fathers had in the wilderness, as it increased their appre- ciation of Canaan, was appropriate to a festival of in- gathering. Though oil was originally appointed, and always con- tinued to symbolize the influence of the Spirit of God, and water was never so used in the time of Moses, we are assured by the evangelist that our Lord regarded the water drawn from the Pool of Siloam, and poured out during the festival of booths, as a symbol of the Holy INTERPRETATION OF THE CALENDAR. 397 Spirit.^ The pouring of water, and the pouring of God's Spirit, are associated by Isaiah ^ as if they were parallel expressions ; one in the dialect of symbolism, and one in the dialect of nude spiritualism. So far as can now be ascertained, water, as life-sustaining, was first used by Isaiah to symbolize the refreshing influence of the Spirit of God. In the time of our Lord, its symbolism was, as we have seen, so well established that it had been incorporated into the temple-service. It was much used by him, and is found many times in the writings of the evangelist who has interpreted it for us as used by our Lord on the sabbath which closed not only the festivities of harvest, but the annual cycle of festivals. It has its basis in the refreshing influence of water on those who are suffering with thirst. To such, living water is the water of life not because in contrast with stagnant water it seems to be alive, but because as a beverage it sustains life. As a means to this end it ranks with corn and wine, but was omitted from the altar-gifts required by the law of Moses proba- bly because the industry of man was not concerned in its production. By some means it was afterward intro- duced into the ceremonies of the week which reminded the people of the riches of their inheritance, and of the contrast between their condition and that of their fathers when passing through the wilderness. 1 John vii. 39. The interpretation, given by Jews since the Christian era to the s}-mboIic worship of their ancestors, does not often accord with the Christian; but a passage in the Jerusalem Talmud is, as Lightfoot observes, worthy of remark, which testifies that this ceremony of drawing and pouring water was " because of the drawing or pouring-out of the Holy Ghost according to what is said, ' With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation '" See Lightfoot's Works, vol. i, p. 978. 2 Ch. xliv. 3. 34 398 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. The illumination, by means of which in later times the hilarity of this festival was prolonged into the night, we need not take time to interpret ; because, in the first place, there is no evidence that the custom originated before the tabernacle gave place to the temple, and, in the second place, light is so evidently a means of vision, of safety, and of enjoyment, that we may regard it as self- elucidating. It is easy to account for the large increase of burnt- offerings during this festival, the kindness of God which it commemorated naturally prompting the people to the presentation of themselves and their property to him ; but no satisfactory reason is apparent to the modern student of these symbols why one day was distinguished above another, so that the division of the seventy bul- locks into seven unequal numbers, arranged in a series regularly descending to seven, is an enigma waiting for solution. The sum of the series, and the number in which it terminates, are, however, even in the present state of our knowledge, suggestive. It was appropriate to an agricultural festival, that the sacrifices of dedica- tion should largely consist of the animal employed in the work of tillage. It was equally appropriate that the septenary sign usually applied to festivals should not be wanting, and that the decimal symbol of completeness should be combined with it to distinguish the highest festival of the year. CHAPTER XVI. PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. The tabernacle exhibiting the kingdom of God not only in the stage of development in which it then existed, but as destined to pass into higher stages, was necessa- rily prophetic. All its symbols were signs of future things either in the sense that the truths they exhibited were truths of Christianity, as well as of Mosaism, or in the sense that they exhibited truths peculiar to Chris- tianity. The institution signified in general that the living God removes from penitent sinners the sentence of death incurred by transgression of his law, and treats them as if they had been obedient, receiving them as children to his favor and fellowship. But this theology belongs to Christianity as much as to Mosaism, and the tabernacle exhibited it as a truth of the future, as well as of the time then present. In its relation to Chris- tianity, therefore, the tabernacle was a symbol of future things, or a type. In this sense not only the institution as a whole, but also its several elements, were typical ; for Christianity contains all the ideas inculcated by Mosaism. When, by the slaughter of an animal as a sin-offering, it repre- sented that a sinner could live unto God by means of a death ; when by the sprinkling of the symbol of life it 399 400 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. represented that the soul of the sinner, having vicari- ously passed through death, was now alive unto God, — it symbolized truths which are parts of the Christian, as well as of the Mosaic system. It must be confessed, however, that this conception of a type does not allow it the fulness of significance to which it is justly entitled. Strictly, a type symbolizes not merely something which is to have existence in the future, but something whose existence is only in the future. The tabernacle is a type, nevertheless, even in this restricted sense ; for as God dwelt in it among the Hebrews, so since the incarnation he dwells in Christ as a tabernacle of meeting. The sacred tent constructed at Sinai represented him as present with the holy nation ; but in the temple of Christ's body he is Em- manuel to all nations. He is with us as he was with them, and for the same ends ; namely, that he may be our God and Saviour, providing expiation for our sins, and receiving us to his fellowship as members of his house- hold. But the Christian tabernacle of meeting is supe- rior to that of the Hebrews, as the substance is superior to the shadow ; for while the latter is a symbol repre- senting in outward forms that God dwells with men as a father with his children, Christ is really the manifesta- tion of God dwelling with his people, providing for them an expiation not symbolic, but real, and admitting them to fellowship not in outward forms, but in spirit and in truth. Christ is therefore in the Christian sys- tem what the tabernacle was a symbol of in the Mosaic. It prophesied of him, and was dependent on him for its symbolic significance : he is its antitype. Accordingly, when, in the fulness of time, the kingdom of God passed PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 401 from its first to its second stage of development, and Christ became the tabernacle of meeting between God and men, the reason for maintaining the typical sanctu- ary with its typical sacrifices ceased, and it was soon allowed to pass away never to be re-established. Our Lord recognized expressly the symbolic relation of the temple to himself, and implicitly that of the tabernacle, when he said, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up ; " speaking not, as his auditors supposed, of the symbol, but of that which it symbolized.^ If, then, the edifice of the tabernacle was intended to typify the temple of Christ's body in which God mani- fests himself to men, in which he meets his people, and dwells among them, what can we expect but to find here and there, throughout the whole system of symbols of which this edifice was the nucleus, parts which are dependent on the incarnation for their significance .'' Whether we look first at the bleeding sacrifices of Mosa- ism, or at the Lamb of God to which Christianity points, we feel sure, as we compare the expiatory provisions of the two systems, that the former was intended to fore- shadow the latter. The sin-offering of the tabernacle signified that, in the temple to be built on the incarna- tion of God as a foundation, a sacrifice would be offered which, by reason of its inherent efficacy, would need no repetition, and would take away whatever necessity might have previously existed for symbolic sacrifices. In such comparison of one system with the other, we have in our day opportunity for discovering types of which the ancients were destitute. But, in the evi- dent imperfection of some parts of the Mosaic system, 1 John iL 21. 34* 402 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. there was, even before the advent of Christ, reason for expecting something better in the future ; that is, for understanding these imperfect parts as prophetic of something worthy of the whole system in which they were contained, and of the mind which devised' it. It is said that the lowest of vertebrate animals has rudimen- tary bones rendering no aid to the mechanism of its body, and serving only to connect it with higher classes in the same division of the animal kingdom. When only the lowest species of the vertebrates existed on the earth, the organs they possessed in a rudimentary state were prophecies of homologues afterward to appear in full development in animals of a higher class. So the evidently imperfect expiations which Mosaism provided by the death of an animal, and the presentation before God of the symbol of its life, foretold a homologous provision which would be faultless.^ At first only a very vague conception could be formed of this archetypal expiation ; but, as the light of revelation increased from age to age, the mystery revealed itself more and more. After King David had predicted that one of his descend- ants, whom he denominates his lord, should sit as a ruler at the right hand of Jehovah, and be a perpetual priest, thus, like Melchizedek, uniting the royal and sacerdotal offices, a pious Hebrew, believing that David spoke as he was moved by the Holy Ghost, had reason to look forward to this son of David as a priest who would perform the efficacious and complete expiation which the blood of bullocks and of goats symbolized, but could not accomplish.' When Isaiah predicted that the true expia- tor would pour out his own soul unto death as an offering 1 Heb. vii. ii. PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 403 for sin, he furnished his countrymen with the means of approximating still nearer in their conceptions to the archetypal expiation predicted by the sacrifices offered in the national sanctuary day by day continually. But these sacrifices were as truly prophetic symbols when first ordained at Sinai, as afterward when, in the progress of revelation, the people of God better understood what victim was to die, and what priest was to officiate, in the sacrifice to which they pointed. As the ownership of a book does not of itself enable the owner to read it, so the possession of prophetic symbols is not inconsistent with ignorance of the future events which they symbol- ize. The question is not. How much of the future did the Hebrew read in his system of symbolism } but. Did it symbolize future things ? Was it such a pattern of the kingdom of God that from our stand-point we can see that the mind which devised it must have been cognizant of the future, and must have designed this symbolism as a type of the kingdom in future stages of its development .-* The earliest vertebrate animal was a type of all later and higher species of vertebrates, even when these later and higher species existed only in the mind of the Creator. Was the Mosaic symbolism in like manner typical of Christianity .'' Did it include, in its representation of the kingdom of God as then devel- oped, symbols obviously imperfect and rudimentary, but homologous to truths characteristic of Christianity in distinction from Mosaism } It is our first task to ascertain, by a comparison of Mosaism with Christianity, what symbols employed by the former were prophetic. Afterward it may be interesting to inquire how much the Hebrews knew, or had in their 404 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. power to learn, of this anticipative significance. We propose, therefore, to review the symbolic apparatus of Mosaism for the purpose of pointing out such parts of it as were dependent for their full significance on the incarnation. In such a search it must not be forgotten that the symbols of Mosaism were types in this restricted sense only when that which they represented was to undergo change. One who regards the Mosaic institu- tions as a system of symbols, intended primarily for the instruction of the Hebrews in regard to the kingdom of God as it then existed, will doubtless find fewer prophetic symbols than Lund and other typologists of the school which believed that the tabernacle was designed solely to symbolize future things. Some of the Hebrew sym- bols had no reference to time. What they represented was as true in the present as in the future. Incense, for example, was a symbol of prayer, but of prayer offered while the tabernacle was yet standing, as truly as of modern prayer. It was a symbol which contained in itself no element of prophecy. Other Hebrew symbols were dependent for their full significance on something future. We have already seen that the edifice of the tabernacle symbolized the habitation of God with men and, in its full significance, his habitation with us by means of the incarnation. It thus had significance both as a symbol and as a type. We shall find that some other symbols, in like manner, did not exhaust their import in setting forth the kingdom of God as then existing in the world, but were laden with additional meajiing in regard to future things. PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 405 The edifice of the tabernacle, as we have seen, was a type of Christ, in whom God dwells among men as their Saviour. But the symbolism of the edifice indicates that the people of God are incorporated into his holy habitation. The planks of acacia of which its walls consisted signified that the twelve tribes of Israel were built into the sanctuary. Such symbolism, being dependent on the incarnation for its significance, must be a prophetic declaration that, when God shall become manifest in the flesh, his people shall be incorporated into, and become one with, the tabernacle in which he shall dwell. In other words, the symbolism of the tabernacle included a prophetic symbol of the union of Christians with Christ in the temple which God inhabits. This union could not take place in its fulness before the incarnation. The sanctuary must be built, or believers could not be built into it. But the prophetic symbol implies that, when God shall manifest himself in the flesh, he will dwell not only among, but in his people, — implies that the incarnation will be an epoch when a new dispensation will commence, differing from the old in the more intimate union it establishes between God and men, and the more abundant communication of his Spirit for which it provides by means of such union. The planks of acacia in the tabernacle, and the stones in the temple, looked forward to Christianity for their archetypes as the fins of a Silurian fish to the arms and legs of a man. Without such prospective reference, they contribute to the symbolic significance of the tabernacle as little as the bones of a fish which are homologous to those in the arm of a man, but exist only as rudiments, contribute to the mechanism of the animal, 4o6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. It is allowed that provision was made whereby, in view of the future incarnation, God dwelt in believers before the advent of Christ. But Christianity is especially the dispensation of the Spirit ; and it is by oneness with Christ, by incorporation as living stones into the temple founded by the incarnation, that Christians have fellow- ship with their heavenly Father. As a representation of the kingdom of God after the incarnation, the tabernacle presented, in the construction of its walls fitly framed together, a type of the union of those who believe in Christ with one another to form the spiritual temple in which God dwells by his Spirit. But if the frame of acacia typified the union of believers with each other, after the incarnation, in a living temple of sanctified humanity built on Christ as a foundation, the division of the enclosed space- into two apartments represented two stages in the development of the kingdom of God, both subsequent to the incarna- tion, and one so distant in the future that in this eighteenth century after the advent of Christ it has not yet been reached. The outer apartment portrayed the period between the two advents when men draw near to God, and have fellowship with him by faith ; and the inner chamber, that eternal state which will be introduced by the second coming of Christ, when the veil which now hides God from his people shall be removed, and they shall see his face. The threefold division of the taber- nacle, therefore, is still a prophetic symbol. In the time of Moses it prophesied of the two advents of our Lord, and their respective influence on the condition of his people ; in our time it still typifies the final condition of redeemed humanity, when " the tabernacle of God will be PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 407 with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God ; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former things are passed away." ^ The symbolism of form and number in the tabernacle foretold the continuance of imperfection in that stage of development of the kingdom of heaven when, the expia- tion typified in the court having been accomplished, the people of God should be permitted to draw near to him by faith as members of his family, and the entire removal of imperfection in that final state when they shall see his face, and dwell with him in a world recon- structed so as to be itself faultless, and to shut out all physical and spiritual evil. The typical significance imparted by the square, the cube, and the decade, as employed in the tabernacle, can be comprehended in our day only through study of these symbols as used by the writer of the Apocalypse, and even in the light so reflected is with difficulty comprehended in its fulness ; but, the more thoroughly his usage is studied, the more clearly will it appear that these symbols as they occur in the tabernacle were laden with prophecy. If the tabernacle foretold the appearance of God manifest in the flesh, that which the priesthood of the tabernacle represented could have no reality till after the incarnation. In other words, a typical interpretation of the edifice necessitates a corresponding reference of the symbolism of the priesthood forward to the time of 1 Rev. xxi. 3, 4. 4o8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Emmanuel. Moreover, as the edifice typified a person, his personality suggests that Emmanuel may be the antitype of the priesthood, as well as of the tabernacle itself. The symbolic priesthood represents fellowship between God and man ; and no closer fellowship between God and man is conceivable than must exist in the case of an incarnation. The man in whom God incarnates himself may say, " I and the Father are one," with deeper significance than any of his brethren of the human family. But as the tabernacle typified not only the one man in whom God becomes united to humanity, but also the union of multitudes of men in that Media- tor for a habitation of God, the symbolic priesthood requires in its homologue the admission of all the true Israel to a similar fellowship. The edifice prophesied not only that God would dwell in man, but that the whole people of God would be included in that taber- nacle of humanity which he was to inhabit. It promised that he would dwell with all those who should keep his covenant, and remember his commandments to do them. Consequently the priesthood of the person in whom God was to become manifest in the flesh, implied the priesthood of all who should become incorporated into him to form the spiritual habitation of God. If he was chosen, they were chosen in him \ if he was holy, they were called to be holy ; if he was a son, they were also children ; if he had access, they might draw near to the Father. But as the people of God could be built into the spir- itual temple only as they became united to the man in whom God was incarnate, and as God could dwell in them only as he .dwelt in the Mediator, their fellowship PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 409 with him, though of a similar, might not be of the same nature. In Emmanuel, God was to be united to man in a personal union ; but he was to be united to other men only mediately through Emmanuel ; and this difference of union might be expected to effect some diversity in the mode and degree of his fellowship with them. Such a diversity was foreshadowed not only in the subordinate relation of the planks of acacia to the edifice into which they were incorporated, but in the subordination of the priestly nation to the family of Aaron. The Hebrews were all priests, and entitled to draw near to God ; but Aaron and his posterity were chosen to a closer fellowship than other Hebrews. In like manner all Christians are children of God, and as such have access to their Father ; but Christ is the Son of God in a peculiar sense, and as such united to him in the closest union conceivable. The priesthood of the priestly nation was not a type in the restricted sense in which we are using the word ; for it did not foreshadow any peculiarity of Christianity, but symbolized what was true alike before and after the advent of Christ, namely, the fellowship to which God admits his people by means of a Mediator. The priest- hood of the family of Aaron, however, was prophetic in its symbolism, representing that which was yet future, and contingent on the appearance of the person sym- bolized. The expiation wrought by them in symbol foretold an efficient expiation ; and their privilege of immediate access to Jehovah, while their brethren could approach only through their mediation, symbolized a fellowship with God closer than that which was sym- bolized by the priesthood of the nation, — closer . indeed, 35 4IO SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. than was possible before the incarnation, and possible now only to the man Christ Jesus. It becomes necessary, therefore, to examine in detail the symbolism of the Hebrew priesthood, that we may discover wherein it was prophetic. We have already interpreted it as representing the expiation of sin, and the fellowship with God consequent thereon. So much it represents before the element of time is taken into account. But now we propose to show that it prefigured the expiation made by Christ, the admission of those who receive him as their priest to fellowship with God throitgh him, and the still closer fellowship between him and the Father. If, then, reversing the order in which these speci- fications have been mentioned, we first compare the eminence of the sacerdotal family above other Hebrews in the privilege of access to Jehovah with the eminence of Christ over Christians in union with God, we find that in this respect the two dispensations are evidently homologous by design, and that Mosaism, in distinction from Christianity, has nothing which this eminence of the priestly family over the priestly nation could repre- sent. Apart from Christianity, this eminence of Aaron is without meaning, but, as a type, most expressively symbcJlizes the peculiar Sonship of Christ as it differs from the fihal relation into which he introduces those that receive him. The Hebrews had access to Jehovah only through the family of Aaron : so, in our time, the children of God have fellowship with their Father, but he comes to them in Christ, and they approach him through the same Mediator. Aaron and his family, on the contrary, had no need of a mediator, but entered PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 411 the habitation of Jehovah as members of his household, and were employed by him as his representatives in transacting with their brethren : so Christ enjoys a unique intimacy with the Father, and is exalted as a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. But the eminence of the Hebrew priests above their brethren corresponds with the eminence of Christ above other children of God in more respects than that which has been mentioned. All Hebrews were required to keep themselves separate from unclean things as a condition of approaching the altar ; but the priests were restrained within narrower limits than their brethren, as if to symbolize a higher degree of holiness ; and the high-priest was still more restricted in his liberty of contact with the effects of sin, in order to represent a superlative sanctity. This gradation in formal holiness was doubtless designed to teach that ethical purity was necessary in all who were admitted to fellowship with God. It inculcated upon the Hebrew, as we have already seen, that without holiness of heart and life he could not stand in the filial relation to God, pictured in the office of the priesthood. But if the priesthood is not only a symbol, but a prophetic symbol, announcing beforehand the advent of a man whose fellowship with God should be superlatively intimate, this requirement of outward cleanness in the symbol does not exhaust its meaning in declaring that all the children of God must be holy, but includes in its full significance a declaration that the Son of God, whom Aaron and his family foreshadowed, would exemplify the superlative holiness symbolized in the chief of the sacerdotal order. Auxiliary to this 412 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. representation that the archetypal priest would be unde- filed with sin, was the exclusion from the altar of every descendant of Aaron who had any physical defect, A Hebrew priest could not perform the functions of his office unless he was able to typify, by means of a faultless body, the sinlessness which was to characterize the priest of the new covenant. The representation of Emmanuel's holiness was still further cumulative by means of the white linen in the sacerdotal garments, the integrity of the several pieces woven without seam, and no longer used if rent, and the inscription Holiness to Jehovah, with which the chief of the priesthood was crowned. It culminated in the sinless- ness of the high-priest by the expiation of his own sins, before he could officiate on the day of atonement in taking away the sins of the people. The dress of the subordinate priests, though chiefly suggestive of holiness, contained in the colors of the girdle, signs of other attributes of the antitype ; but, as the same colors are found in profusion in the costume of the high-priest, it is preferable to pass at once to the garments worn by him in addition to the garments of holiness common to him and his subordinates. Of the vestments peculiar to the high-priest, the first to be put on signified by its color that the holy person whom the wearer typified was also heavenly. Apart from the prospective reference to Christ, it seems inappropriate and extravagant that the robe of the ephod should be of cerulean blue to the exclusi6n of the other colors of the tabernacle. The hue of heaven might appropriately be mingled with the white, the purple, and the red, as in other parts of the symbolism, to authenticate a priest of PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 413 earthly origin as a minister of the heavenly institution ; but a robe of blue extending from the neck to the calf of the leg, is more satisfactorily emptied of its significance, when we find that it symbolizes a priest who is not of the earth, earthy, but the Lord from heaven. The ornaments suspended from the robe well accord with such prospective reference, for they signify that the priest who is to come from heaven will obey and pro- claim the word of God. The ephod, as a shoulder-garment and girdle, was intrinsically a badge of rank and power ; but its impress- iveness was enhanced to the highest possible degree by the splendor and symbolic power of the colors combined in its material, the beauty and significance of flowers wrought into its web by the skill of the weaver, and the magnificence of the two onyx-stones fixed upon its shoulder-pieces as emblems of royalty. The colors were all appropriate to the King of Israel as holy, heavenly, living, and life-imparting ; but the regal purple was entirely synonymous with the ephod itself. It set forth to view what was, indeed, implied in priesthood, the high rank and authority of the person who should be in such intimate relation with the king. A priest is one who is privileged to approach God as a member of his family, and is authorized to deaf with men in the name of God. The conception implies that God is a king, and that the priest is of the royal household. A king might, indeed, receive into his family as a son, and employ in transac- tions with his subjects, a confidential officer who was not of his own blood ; but the person whom he would most naturally appoint to approach unto him in his habitation, and transact for him with his subjects, is his only-begot- 35* 414 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. ten son. The conception can rise to this ideal, and can rise no higher. The purple of the ephod, as well as the ephod itself, attributed to Christ a relation to God similar to that which the beloved son of a king sustains to his father. It was a sign that he would enjoy the favor of God, and be clothed with administrative authority. The breastplate attached to the ephod, had typical significance which will be more appropriately interpreted hereafter. At present, we only take notice of the fact that it was worn by the high-priest alone, and assisted to distinguish him as superior to his brethren. Whatever else it typified, it foretold the superiority of Christ in the king- dom of God, and, as an attachment of the ephod, superiority by reason of the office which the ephod indi- cated. The ephod as a whole exhausts the resources of symbolism to express the glory of Christ. As the turbans of the subordinate priests were for glory and beauty, we may infer that the high-priest wore one of different shape to indicate a still higher degree of rank, and that no other shape could have exalted him more than the appointed pattern. But, even if such an inference is of doubtful validity, the crown of gold fastened to the turban was certainly a mark of supe- riority. In examining the symbolism of the robe of the ephod, and of the ephod, we were purposely silent con- cerning the ornaments of gold attached to both vest- ments, and the golden thread wrought into the web of the latter, that this metal might be mentioned only once, and in connection with the turban, where its significance culminates in a crown. Always in ancient time signifi- cant of high rank, it was here specific in its meaning, de- claring the regal rank of the priest as a son of the king. PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES, 415 The principal ceremony in the consecration of the priests consisted in anointing them with oil ; the unction being more copious in the case of Aaron, because he was the chief of the order. The ceremony signifying in the first place that the persons anointed would have the help of the Holy Spirit in the discharge of official duty, according to the measure of their need, also foretold that The Messiah, The Christ, The Anointed, would be likewise qualified for the work his Father had given him to do. The eminence of the Hebrew priests over other Hebrews in all these particulars typified the superiority of Christ over his church. It announced that they should be holy, but he immaculate ; that they should be heirs of a heavenly inheritance, but he the Lord from heaven, by whose generous impartation they are co-heirs with him ; that they should be children of a king, but he the first-born son ; that they should possess the prerogatives of such relationship, but that in all things he should have the pre-eminence ; that they should enjoy intimacy with God, but that he should be one with the Father to a degree attainable by him alone ; that they should receive the Holy Spirit to cheer and strengthen them for their work, but that he should be anointed with " the oil of gladness " above his fellows. As such eminence of Christ over his church implies that those for whom he acts as priest partake with him, in an inferior degree, of that in which he is their superior, we need not retrace our steps through the symbolism of the priesthood to show how it represents believers in Christ as saints, as children of God, as having access to the Father, as heirs of his kingdom, as having received 41 6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. the Holy Spirit. We will only revert to that vestment of the high-priest which was but partially interpreted. The breastplate is not only a badge of Christ's supe- riority, but a sign that he is superior for the reason that he can and does elevate to a participation with himself in his regal dignity as the Son of God, all those in whose behalf he presents himself in the presence of the Father. As the breastplate represented the twelve tribes of Israel, and, by its attachment to the ephod, the oneness of Israel with Aaron, so it typified the church of the new covenant, and its participation with its Mediator in all that the ephod foretold of his glory. The symbol prophesied that Christians should be partakers with Christ in his honors and prerogatives, and at the same time dependent on their union with him for such partici- pation, — should sit with him on his throne, enjoying in the execution of his will the accomplishment of their own. In other words, it signified that he would give power to as many as received him, to become the sons of God. The New Testament teaches expressly that the Hebrew priest, in the atonements he made with the blood of sacri- fices, was a type of Christ, taking away sin by a homol- ogous procedure. There is also in the language it employs in describing the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, such a tang of the Mosaic symbols as reminds the hearer of the place of sacrifice, the altar, the priest, the faultless lamb, the vicarious death, and the sprinkling of blood. On closer inspection the correspondence is found to extend beyond the terms employed ; for the two transactions resemble one another so much in the end sought, the means used, and the mediatorial position of PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 417 the expiator, as to justify the belief on this ground alone that the Levitical atonement was designedly so shaped as to foreshadow that of Christ. There was nothing in Mosaism, as distinguished from Christianity, to which the symbol could refer ; but it corresponds with the expiation wrought. by the High-Priest of the Christian profession as face answers to face in water. The typical signifi- cance of the Hebrew priests as expiators cannot be satisfactorily interpreted, however, without taking into consideration the correlative meaning of the sacrifices they offered. But as the Scriptures testify that the sin-offerings of the tabernacle were types of the sacrifice which Christ offered, not less explicitly than that the priesthood typified him as the Mediator appointed to make expiation for the sins of the world, we may take for granted that both were typical ; and, since Christ obtained eternal redemption for us with his own blood, that both types found their antitypes in him. He was \ both priest and sacrifice, and in this double capacity was the future object symbolized by all the priests and all the sacrifices of the tabernacle. The Hebrew priest, as the authorized mediator between Jehovah and the person who brought a sin-offering, prefigured Christ. ''Presiding at the sacrifice as the representative of the King whose law had been violated, the priest brought the blood, as a symbol of the life of the person redeemed with the life of the sacrificial animal, to the immediate presence of the King, in accordance with his direction, to signify that the transgressor himself might now draw near ; and the chief of the order carried this symbolism to its highest power of expression when, once in a year, he carried the symbol of life to the holiest spot of Jehovah's dwelling 4i8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. wh€re, if anywhere, the heavenly King could not be approached by sinners, and there found him on a throne of grace ready to forgive as soon as the demands of jus- tice would permit. All this mediatorial function of the priesthood found its antitype in Christ ; who, having by the appointment of his Father obtained eternal redemp- tion for us, entered into heaven, the greater and more perfect dwelling of God, not with the blood of bullocks and of goats, but with his own blood. Type and antitype are correspondent in ofiEicial position, in the end sought, and in the means employed. Even if the New Testament had not so expressly affirmed that Christ is the antitype of the Hebrew SACRIFICES, it might be legitimately inferred that he is, from the premises that the edifice of the tabernacle typified his appearance on the earth as God manifest in the flesh ; that its priesthood prefigured his mediatorial work as the Saviour of sinners ; that as a priest he must needs have somewhat to offer ; and that, in the ritual of the symbolic sacrifices, there was a representation of God accepting sinners as deserving to live because another life had been surrendered instead of the life of the sinner. If Emmanuel is to make the sinner's peace with God by the presentation of another life surrendered instead of the life of the sinner, whose life can it be but his oNvn .'' If the edifice foretold the appearance of a man who should beihe tabernacle of God, if its priesthood was a type of the same man offering to God a sin-offering for the sins of the world, where can we look but to this Divine Redeemer himself for the antitype of the sin- offering, and of the symbol of life which it furnished by PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 419 passing through death ? Without an express indication of Christ as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, we might discover that the expiation of which Moses wrote in the symbols of the tabernacle, was to be accomplished by means of his death. If the tabernacle was a type of Emmanuel, it follows that its sacrifices, as well as its priesthood, were depen- dent on his appearance for the realization of that which they symbolized. The symbolic atonements being per- formed in an edifice which foretold the habitation of God in man, the real atonement could not take place till the temple of flesh which it typified had been prepared. The typical edifice, however, as an edifice, merely pointed forward to the advent of God manifest in the flesh as a necessary preliminary to the real expia- tion, without indicating by what means or in what manner sin was to be covered. But the sacrifices being symbolic, as well as the edifice itself, furnished in their symbolism suggestions in regard to the manner in which sinners were to be delivered from death, and become, as if by a new birth, sons of God. The vicarious death of an animal typified some other and more worthy substi- tute to be provided by God when he should appear in the flesh ; and the impossibility of finding such a substi- tute elsewhere than in Emmanuel himself pointed to him as the Lamb of God provided not to expiate the sin of an individual, but of the world. Comparing the symbolic sacrifices with the offering which Christ made of himself, we find that the former prefigured the latter as a gift. The Hebrew who sacrificed gave something which was his own to God. To bring to the altar what did not belong to him, would 420 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. empty the rite of its customary and appointed signifi- cance. Moreover, the Hebrew was allowed to give only certain kinds of property to be laid on the altar. The gift must be something which, if retained by him, would have been a source of enjoyment ; it must be something representing his life both as a means and an end. In the case of animal sacrifices (and no others could be brought for the remission of sin), a substitution was represented by the imposition of hands ; so that the gift stood in the place of the giver, and died in his stead. The animal thus given as a substitute must be in the most vigorous period of its life, and have no defect. In all these particulars Christ as a sacrifice corresponded with the symbol. The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, though delivered to death in accordance with the determinate counsel of God, and slain by the hands of wicked men, was not an involuntary victim, but " has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God." " He loved the church, and gave himself for it." He gave himself to death as a Hebrew devoted his lamb, his kid, or his bullock. In so doing he realized the highest ideal of sacrifice as an act of giving, surrendering whatever there might be to pursue and to enjoy in life, as well as life itself. He gave himself to die as the substitute or ransom of those for whom he was a sacrifice. By the fulness and vigor of his right- eousness, he was qualified thus to deliver sinners by means of a vicarious death, since he had no sins of his own for which to answer. Every sacrifice, of whatever kind, was a gift ; but the burnt-offering was eminently significant of giving, and signified in particular self-surrender. In this species, PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 421 then, more than in the others, we find a type of Chiist's sacrifice as a gift of himself. The Hebrew gave the domestic animal he had reared and loved, to be wholly consumed on the altar ; and Christ unreservedly devoted himself, saying in effect. Since the symbol is ineffectual without that which it prefigures, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. But, if the burnt-offering was peculiarly representative of Christ's devotion of himself, every other species was also in some way peculiarly significant. The food-offering, for example, accompanying a holo- caust to signify that the offerer's gift of himself included the consecration of his labor, foretold, as a prophetic symbol, that Christ would not only surrender his life, but diligently engage in whatever activity his office might require. The sin-offering was a type of Christ dying for sinners, that they, constructively dying with him in his death, might actually live with him in his resumption of life. The peace-offerings, which furnished to the people of the old covenant means of fellowship with God, find their antitype in the one offering whose flesh has feasted more of the children of God than any sym- bolic sacrifice, and with more satisfying food. The prominence given in the New Testament to the death of Christ as a sacrifice for sin, requires a more comprehensive examination of the Mosaic sin-offering, with reference to its typical relation to that event, than it is necessary to apply to the other species. We quit them, therefore, after the brief indication given in the last paragraph of their typical significance, to compare the Hebrew sin-offering with its Christian antitype. The symbolic sin-offering prefigured, in the purpose for which it was offered, the death of Christ. The cover- 36 422 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. ing of sin was the end to be secured by means of the Mosaic sin-offering ; and Christ died for the same pur- pose. From the later books of the Old Testament, it is evident that the inspired men who wrote them expected that Messiah would die for the expiation of sin, as the lamb of a sin-offering was slaughtered for that purpose at the side of the altar.^ The writers of the New Testa- ment say of Christ that God hath set him forth " to be a propitiation through faith in his blood ; " ^ that " he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world ; " ^ that " while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us ; " * that " he died for the ungodly ; " ^ that " he died for all ; " ^ that " he died for our sins ; " " that " we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins ; " ^ that we were " redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot ; " ^ that " he washed us from our sins in his own blood ;•" ^"^ that " his blood cleanseth us from all sin ; " ^^ that " we are sancti- fied through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all ; " ^'^ that " he was manifested to take away our sins ; " ^^ that " he is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world ; " ^^ that " he bare our sins in his own body on the tree ; " ^^ that " he was once offered to bear the sins of many ; " ^^ and by so doing manifest their opinion that the death of Christ corresponded in 1 Isaiah (ch. liii.) not only predicts that Messiah will die as an expiatory sacrifice but, in amplifying his subject, employs in detail technical terms applicable only to a sin-offering. 2 Rom. iii. 25. 3 i John ii. 2. 4 Rom. v. 8. S Rom. V. 6. 62 Cor. v. 15. T i Cor. xv. 3. 8 Col. i. 14. 9 I Pet. i. 19. 10 Rev. i. 5. 11 I John i. 7. 12 Heb. x. 10. 13 i John iii. 5. 14 John i. 29. 15 I Pet. ii. 24. 16 Heb. ix. 28. PROPHETIC SYMBOI^S OR TYPES. 423 its purpose with the sin-offerings prescribed by the law of Moses. The sprinkHng of blood in the ritual of the sin-offering prefigured the presentation before the Father of those whom Christ redeemed with his life, as deserving to live on account of his vicarious death, and the Father's acceptance of the plea. Apart from its typical reference to Christ, the presentation of the blood of the animal to Jehovah by his direction, in the place where he dwelt with his people, symbolized the restoration to filial privileges of the person who, having vicariously died in the death of the sin-offering, has by that means risen again to a new life, in which he is allowed to be intimate with God. The blood as a symbol of life was a sign that the person for whom it had been shed was alive unto God. As a type, however, it signified more than as a mere symbol. As a symbol of the life of the animal, it had no meaning except as transferred from the proxy to the principal : as a type, it was capable of a broader significance ; for as the Lamb of God, though truly dying for sinners, could not be holden by death, since he is divine as well as human, the blood of every symbolic sacrifice typified the life of the Redeemer, as well as of the redeemed. In the archetypal sacrifice, the principal and the proxy are one not only in the sacrificial death, but in the resurrection. It was because the Lamb of God, though slain, still lived that his death availed to redeem, those for whom he died. A mere animal or a mere man would have been an insufficient ransom. The exigency required a Redeemer who could not die except by his own voluntary submission, and, having thus died, could not be holden in death. Only by the vicarious 424 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. death of such a Lamb could sinners rise to a life of acceptance and fellowship with God. In his life they live : if he is not risen, his death was an insufficient ransom, and they are yet under condemnation. But the new life of the proxy, as well as of the principal, was typified by the blood of the symbolic sacrifices presented before Jehovah. Perhaps we might more accurately say that the blood typified the life of the mystic body of which the Redeemer is the head, and every believer is a member ; for the life of the redeemed is an organic life, derived from and inseparable from the life of Emmanuel. In Christ, and in Christ only, has the blood of the Mosaic sin-offering found its significance exhausted. It was a sign that he should not only die, but live again, and that his church, redeemed by the surrender of his life, should live with him. The Mosaic sin-offering prefigures, in its siLbstitution of one life for anotJier, the sacrifice of Christ. By divine direction the offerer brought a lamb to the priest, and by the imposition of hands imparted to it the power to be his representative, and die in his stead : its blood was accordingly received and acknowledged by Jehovah as the blood, or life of a person who, having transgressed the law, had satisfied its penal demands, and was there- fore entitled to live. By the appointment of God, Christ was delivered for our offences, and rose again for our justification. Having died as a sin-offering, he resumed the life he had laid down, ascended into heaven, and there remains to plead that those whom by the appoint- ment of his Father he ransomed with his life, have a right to live. The correspondence is complete in all particulars, except in regard to the person who pro- PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OR TYPES. 425 vides the substitute. The Hebrew was symboHcally redeemed with the blood of one of his own lambs ; but the animal was so inadequate, and the entire resources of the sinner were so inadequate as a price of redemp- tion, that faith in the symbolic sacrifice must have been faith in it as a symbol of an adequate substitute to be provided by God. The inadequacy of the animal as a price of redemption showed that the substitution of it was only a rudiment of the homologous provision which would appear in the antitype. The Mosaic sin-offering, as a manifestation of the jics- tice of God, was a type of Christ's sacrifice of himself. The ritual of the symbolic expiation represented Jeho- vah as a God of justice, as well as of grace ; forgiving the sins of his people, but demanding, as a condition of their justification, that the authority of the violated law should be as fully sustained as if they had suffered its penalty. The vindication of law prefigured in symbol became a historic verity when the blood of Christ was shed for the remission of sins. By virtue of the sin- offering thus set forth, God could be just, and justify him that believeth in Jesus. The Mosaic sin-offering was also, in its manifestation of the love of God, a type of the sacrifice of Christ. Its correspondence with its antitype in this respect was very imperfect, but it did nevertheless reveal Jehovah as a God of love ; for the expiation was made by his appointment, and the institution of such a ritual represented that he desired to forgive, and would do so when consistent with justice. Its symbolism spoke not only of a vicarious death which would renderforgiveness consistent with his rectitude, but of the vicarious death 36* 426 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. of such a substitute as he only could provide. The symbol was, indeed, as a manifestation of love, but a rudiment in comparison with the sacrifice it prefigured ; for the cross of Christ reveals that God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. The Mosaic sin-offering, in its influence on the person expiated, also prefigured the sacrifice of Christ. It comforted the penitent Hebrew with the assurance of forgiveness, inspired him with courage and strength for present duties, and brightened his future with the hope of salvation. In like manner the cross of Christ imparts to the believer comfort, courage, strength, and hope. CHAPTER XVII. EXTENT TO WHICH THE HEBREWS COMPREHENDED THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. The tabernacle, as a representation of the system of religious truth revealed through Moses, was designed for the instruction of the whole people. There was no esoteric class, as there was among the Egyptians, having exclusive possession of the key of knowledge, but all the holy nation were allowed and encouraged to study the oracles of God committed to them in the symbolic institutions. But though the symbols were designed for the instruction of all, and were intelligible in some degree to the poorest in intellectual endowments and acquisitions, even the wisest must have failed to see the whole truth represented. With equal desire to learn, and equal diligence in study, there would be different degrees of attainment ; but the foremost of all would find the limit of his capacity before he had seen in the symbols all they imported to their Author ; if for no other reason, because, as the tabernacle symbolized the habitation of the Infinite One with men, only infinite intelligence could completely comprehend such a propo- sition. A revelation of God, natural or supernatural, requires men to think of a Being who transcends the limit of human thought ; and the revelation conveyed by 427 428 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. the symbols of the tabernacle was no exception to the rule. Other causes besides the finite nature of man limited the ability of the Hebrew to read the symbols of the tabernacle. So far as they were prophetic, it was not designed that they should convey their significance as clearly before the prophecy was fulfilled as afterward. Obscurity covered the types of the tabernacle with a veil, as clouds sometimes obscure the sun. This obscurity was not so thick as to conceal the meaning of the types from all, but was so graduated as to furnish a test of character, allowing those who, from sympathy with the Author of the symbolic system, earnestly desired to know his meaning, to discover it through the veil, and at the same time hiding it from those who were indifferent or prejudiced. For example: there were in the symbolic priesthood and sacrifices, intimations that Messiah would be the true Expiator and the true expiation ; but these intimations were discovered only by persons who were spiritual, in distinction from worldly. Such persons endeavored to look through the visible things of the tabernacle to the invisible things portrayed. They were sensitive in regard to sin, and longed for the salva- tion and the Saviour promised in the symbols. They earnestly desired that Jehovah should forgive, and do it consistently with rectitude. With such feelings, they were more easily led to appreciate the typology of the priesthood, and of the sin-offering, than persons who cared for none of these things. An apostle attributes to such subjective differences, the opposite opinions of the contemporaries of Jesus in regard to his claim to the Messiahship. The worldly, HOW FAR COMPREHENDED BY HEBREWS. 429 through indifference to the evil of sin, and hostility to God's method of expiating it, had overlooked the predic- tions that Messiah would die as an offering for sin. In their pride of race, they fixed their attention on the prophecies concerning Messiah as a king, and would listen to no intimations which seemed to detract from the grandeur of his regal state. Consequently, they set their wisdom against the hidden wisdom of God, which if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Even when the true interpretation was pointed out by the apostle, they rejected it, for the reason that nothing in the state of their feelings taught them the need of a suffering and dying Messiah. Such an interpretation as made their sacrifices and their priests prefigure Jesus of Nazareth and him crucified, was foolishness to their apprehension, because they lacked the spirituality which appreciates the cross as a remedy for sin.^ The veil of obscurity which covered the prophetic symbols not only permitted the worldly to live in igno- rance of that which the spiritual discovered, but concealed even from the latter class much of the significance which the types are seen to contain when examined in the light of subsequent history. We may believe that Moses, as a man of spirituality, discovered in the symbols of the tabernacle prophecies of the one sacrifice and the one priest whom they symbolized ; but we cannot believe that by any thing short of a supernatural communication he could acquire so clear and comprehensive a conception of the historical Christ as is vouchsafed to those who live under the new covenant. He doubtless, like other 1 I Cor. ii. 6-16. 430 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. prophets of the Old Testament, searched diligently to know the full meaning of the prophecies which God communicated through him, and the time of their fulfil- ment ; perhaps he learned all which could then be learned from the prophecies themselves : but the prophe- cies did not attempt to reveal Christ to the ancient Hebrews as clearly and fully as he has been revealed in history. The degree of obscurity necessary as a test of character, and as a condition of securing the fulfilment, by means of wicked hands, of the determinate counsel of God, rendered it impossible to take away, entirely, even from the most spiritual of the Hebrews, the veil which ordinarily covers the future. Could the Hebrews, then, read the symbols of the tabernacle with no other limitations than are imposed by the finite nature of man, and the necessity of concealing from him the future .■* The question admits of different answers according as it is understood to ask whether he was able to master the national symbolism so as to see in it all the significance it was designed to convey, or whether he had actually done so. In answer to the first of these questions, it may be maintained that religious truth could be communicated as intelligibly through symbols as by alphabetic writing. Doubtless, some modern languages would be superior for such a purpose to any system of symbolization ; but the thesis is, that the Hebrew symbolism was equal to Hebrew manuscript as a vehicle of such ideas as were taught in Mosaism, What is there, then, in the characters of the alphabet to render them more apt for the inculcation of religious truth than the visible objects men have learned from nature, or from one another, to regard as symbols of HOW FAR COAfPREHENDED BY HEBREWS. 431 things which cannot be seen ? An alphabet is itself a system of symbols, and differs from the religious symbol- ism of antiquity in employing signs arbitrarily chosen, rather than such as have an antecedent correspondence with the things signified. The more numerous combina- tions for which it provides may render it capable of exhibiting religious truth with more fulness of detail, and exactness of representation, to a people who have long employed it for such and similar purposes ; but the Hebrew tongue was spoken by a people who never achieved more than scanty progress in literature, and at the time of the exodus were generally unable to write or read. For such improvement in its capability of express- ing thought as it gradually attained after the settlement in Canaan, it was largely indebted to the symbolism of the national worship, which enabled poets and prophets to transfer the names of symbols to correspondent ideas in the realm of the invisible. Symbolism, being in itself not inferior to manuscript as an instrument, was peculiarly adapted to the stage of development which the Hebrews had reached. A higher degree of literary culture would have dwarfed the faculty of intuition which enabled them to interpret it with ease and pleasure. In the ability to interpret symbolism, they were superior to the most cultivated nations of modern times by reason of their quick-sightedness in discerning correspondences between the visible and the invisible. A natural aptitude for reading symbolism would of course increase by use ; and the presence of such a system as confronted the Hebrews from childhood onward to the end of life must have educated them to a far higher ability than they had received by natural endowment : so that 432 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. we may conclude that they were as well able to interpret the tabernacle as the people of modern times the printed pages of the New Testament. The conditions which limited the Hebrew were such as restrict the Christian in the interpretation of the Scriptures. Mosaism, as exhibited in the symbolism of the tabernacle, not only presented ideas which in them- selves surpass the power of man to receive in their completeness, but was so large in its scope, and so comprehensive in its details, that none could completely master the subject, and see in every symbol the fulness of meaning it would reveal if made a special study. A narrower precinct than that which confines one to the knowable, limited every individual Hebrew in the interpretation of the tabernacle. Christian theologians do not claim that they have seen the full significance of the Scriptures. Some of them have made a specialty of a particular book, and, after all their studies, would doubtless admit that more light might still be thrown upon the small field they have spent years to investigate. Probably no devout Hebrew supposed he had exhausted even a small segment of the symbolism by means of which Jehovah had chosen to make known his ways. Surely no one pretended that he could survey the whole system with particularity and exactness of knowledge. Every student, however diligent, would find, sooner or later, in the limitation of his own individual intellect, a limit to his ability to interpret the tabernacle. The Hebrew was also limited, in his ability to read the symbolism of the tabernacle, according to his opportu- nities for study. The majority were much occupied with the cares of life, and received religious instruction chiefly HO IV FAR COMPREHENDED BY HEBREWS. 433 from the lips of those who had more leisure to study. As early as the time of Moses, we find the tribe of Levi charged with the duty of teaching ; ^ and there are records concerning the reigns of Jehoshaphat and Josiah which imply that teaching was still a function of the tribe.^ Naturally, the Levites would be in advance of men of other tribes in the knowledge of the national symbolism for the same reason that Christian teachers usually understand the Scriptures better than those whom they instruct. The most important condition which limited the Hebrew in his interpretation of the tabernacle was the measure of his spirituality. A worldly-minded man, however powerful and active his intellect, cannot know the things of God ; for, being spiritually discerned, they can be revealed only to the spiritual. One who loves the truth so far as already discovered, and allows it to enter into his experience, is in the attitude requisite for learning ; but he who holds the truth in unrighteousness labors under a disadvantage in the prosecution of further inquiry similar to that under which a deaf man studies music, or a blind man the harmony of colors. Never having experienced godly sorrow for sin, he cannot comprehend it ; never having felt the grateful love of those who have been forgiven, he cannot appreciate as they do the wonderful love which expiates sin. The ability of the Hebrews to interpret the tabernacle being subject to conditions such as limit Christians in the study of the Scriptures, we may infer that the extent to which the significance of the tabernacle was actually comprehended, as compared with the extent to Deut. xxxiii, 10. 2 2 Chron. xvii. 9, xxxv. 3. 37 434 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. which it was possible to discover it, did not differ much in ratio from the measure of spiritual understanding in the knowledge of Christ to which men in modern times attain by means of the New Testament, as compared with the measure which is attainable. They were subject, as we are, to intellectual, circumstantial, and spiritual limitations ; and none of them fully compre- hended the meaning of their oracle. There were all degrees of attainment among them ; the most ignorant and carnal perceiving almost nothing beyond what they could see with the natural eye, and a few of the most intelligent and spiritual discerning Christ almost as clearly as if they had lived some centuries later, and with the same receptivity had compared the symbols of the tabernacle with the truth as it is in Jesus.^ 1 Schottgen (Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae, vol. ii.) has culled from Hebrew writers, some living before, and some very soon after the Christian ei^a, a multitude of passages in regard to the Messiah, some of which are strangely like Christian utterances. These quotations show that, whatever different opinions may have been in the ascendant, individuals believed that the Messiah would suffer (pp. 550 et seq.), would die {p. 557), that he would die at the time of the passover, (p. 558), that he would rise from the dead (p. 565), that the holy dead would rise with him (p. 571), that he would ascend into heaven (p. 596), and that he would take away the sins of the Hebrews (p. 653). Eisenmenger (Entdecktes Juden- thum) has made a similar collection. One of his quotations reads, " He [Messiah] will offer up himself, and pour out his soul unto death, and his blood will expiate the people of God." (Vol. ii. p. 721.) CHAPTER XVIII. STUDY OF THE TABERNACLE IMPORTANT TO CHRISTIANS. The sacred tabernacle of the Hebrews, though super- seded by the tabernacle of flesh which it adumbrated, is even now worthy of attention. A man does not for- get his childhood, nor despise its lessons, because he has arrived at maturity ; neither should he contemn the beginnings of revelation because he lives when the Light of the World has risen above the horizon. The student of nature, however familiar with her face as it appears by day, might discover new expressions if he should gaze on it when the morning star is still visible in the east ; and in like manner we may discover, if we go back to the twilight of revelation, some truths which have been concealed, as the stars at noon, by the bright- ness of the Sun of righteousness, or see familiar truths in new forms, as one sees mountains which at evening stood with distinct outline in front of the western sky appearing in the early dawn as shapeless masses of cloud. If nature should be studied in all her varying aspects, so should revelation ; for as the world is one whether seen by day or night, in summer or winter, so it is one and the same God who of old dwelt between the cheru- bim, and now is in Christ. As a revelation of the same God who is revealed in 435 436 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Christ, the tabernacle would be an object of interest to the Christian even if its symbolism related to other attributes than those manifested in Christ, and other works than the work of redemption. The Christian is interested in nature because as a creation it speaks to him of the wisdom which designed, and the power which produced it, and thus aids him to a better acquaintance with God. Love neglects nothing which proceeds from, and is a manifestation of, the person who is its object ; and the Christian consequently would be interested in the tabernacle as a work of God if, instead of being coincident with Christianity in the scope of its revela- tion, it reflected such attributes of God as are mirrored in nature. But the tabernacle was a revelation of love, a representation of God coming down from heaven and dwelling with men as their Saviour, a prefiguration of the Emmanuel through whom the Christian has fellowship with God ; and as revealing not only the God they love, but the attributes of God they most delight in, is even now, when it exists only in history, an object of interest to those who would acquaint themselves as much as possible with their Father in heaven. Even if the Christian should find nothing in the tabernacle which he had not previously learned from the New Testament, he could not fail to be interested in a different mode of presenting the same truths. The symbols of the tabernacle would still be what the engrav- ings in a Bible are to a child, helps to the vivid appre- hension of the written word. They are the pictorial illustrations of the gospel forming images in the mind of the reader more distinct than his own imagination could construct, and thus aiding him to perceive as real, STUDY OF THE TABERNACLE IMPORTANT. 437 the realities of which the gospel testifies. We succeed in bringing the invisible God within the sphere of our conception, so that he seems a real, living person, by looking at Christ as his image ; and, in like manner, by attending to the symbolism of the tabernacle, we may acquire a livelier apprehension of such realities as sin, expiation, fatherhood, and sonship. The symbols of the tabernacle are interesting also as belonging to the history of redemption, and thus con- tributing to a comprehensive knowledge of what it is ; for redemption does not consist in general truths, but in things done. It is a subject for the historian, rather than for the speculative philosopher. Redemption is a fact, or rather, a long series of facts ; and the existence of the tabernacle is part of its history as truly as is the life of Christ. Every fact in the history is precious, since it may contribute to our knowledge of what the plan of redemption is as a revelation of God, or as an influence on the character and condition of men. The gospel assures us that we have been redeemed with the blood of Chrtst ; and we interpret the assurance in the historic spirit which conceives of Mosaism and Chris- tianity as parts of one organic whole. If, instead of regarding the death of Christ as a part of the history of which the Hebrew sin-offering was also a part, we should isolate that event from its historical connections, we should lose a most important means of interpreting the assurances that Christ died for us, and that we have redemption Jhrough his blood. The preceding paragraph suggests another service which the tabernacle renders to the student of the New Testament. " Redemption through his blood "is a 37* 438 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. phrase which Christianity received from Mosaism, and is to be interpreted in its historical sense. The Chris- tian who studies the history of redemption from the beginning becomes better quaUfied to interpret the death of Christ not only by his more comprehensive knowl- edge of facts, but by his greater facilities for ascertaining the meaning of terms which the symbolic institutions have supplied to Christianity. The tabernacle is the dictionary in which the Christian is to find the authori- tative definition of such a phrase as " redeemed with the blood of Christ ; " and, as the number of terms transmitted from the older to the younger dispensation is by no means small, he has frequent occasion to invoke the aid of the tabernacle in the study of the gospel. But the tabernacle, though exhibiting the same kingdom as is proclaimed in the New Testament, presents it in an earlier stage of its development. The aspect of the kingdom, therefore, is not precisely the same as in the later delineation. As an edifice photo- graphed at different periods in the f)rogress of its erection affords pictures not precisely alike, so the kingdom of God in the time of Moses presents a different appearance from the same kingdom in the time of Christ. It may happen, also, when an edifice is photographed a second time, that a picture is produced exhibiting some parts, or some relations of part to part, not manifest in the other, for the reason that the view was taken from a different stand-point. In §uch a case, the second picture will probably omit some particulars shown in the first, so that each is a complement to the other. The New Testament, though portraying the STUDY OF THE TABERNACLE IMPORTANT. 439 same kingdom as the tabernacle, was designed for men of later times, and of more advancement in spiritual culture. It presents, therefore, a view of the kingdom slightly different from that exhibited in the earlier dispensation, because taken from a stand-point better adapted to the spiritual condition of those it addresses. For example : the tabernacle represents God as the king of a family. The priests were his household, in which he reigned as a monarch. The idea of fatherhood was, indeed, represented, for it is involved in that of a family. As sons, they were admitted to his apartments and supplied with food from his table. But the idea of kingship was much more prominent than that of father- hood. The reverse is true in the Christian conception, which, though it by no means robs God of his kingly glory, mentions him more frequently as a father than as a king. In this conception, he is the Father of a kingdom, as, in the earlier, he was the King of a family. The two representations are equally correct copies of the kingdom of God, and owe their dissimilarity simply to the fact that the pictures were not taken from the same position. Each of these two conceptions of God is powerful in its influence on human character. To think of God as our Ruler, is to cultivate the conscience : to think of him as our Father, is to cultivate the affections. We cannot afford to lose either conception, for each contributes something toward the knowledge of a Person who cannot be described under any one metaphor drawn from human relations, nor, indeed, perfectly described under a thousand. Christianity has not contradicted the testi- mony of Mosaism, that God is a ruler : on the contrary, 440 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. the mode in which it exhibits the fatherhood of God confirms the representation that he is a ruler, for it is by saving men from the sentence of his own law that he manifests his affection. But the teaching of the New Testament in regard to law and sin is so overlaid with its proclamation of love, that we easily overlook it, and have need of the Old Testament to bring us to Christ. As it was necessary that the revelation which God made of himself to the Hebrews should precede, in the history of the race, the manifestation of himself in Christ, so, in the religious experience of an individual, there must be some consciousness of guilt before he is prepared to appreciate the love of God in the expiation of sin. The Hebrew Scriptures and the Hebrew ritual are well fitted to develop such a consciousness ; and history shows that Christianity takes deepest root in individuals, families, and nations most conversant with the Hebrew concep- tion of God. The tabernacle is important to the Christian, as it aids in interpreting the symbolism of the New Testament. Christianity has its symbolic institutions, as well as Mosaism, though they are only two in number. Our Lord, in anticipation of his death as a sin-offering, directed that bread and wine should be used by his disciples to symbolize the sacrifice thus offered. The application of water is a natural sign of cleansing ; and, as such, he directed it to be used in his church to signify that his people were cleansed from their sins. The general significance of baptism and the Lord's supper being apparent in the symbolism itself, and in words of explanation which accompany the establish- ment or celebration of the rites, is there any thing STUDY OF THE TABERNACLE IMPORTANT. 441 further to be learned by comparing these transactions with the symbolism of the tabernacle ? Man is prone to misuse the symbolic transactions appointed for his aid by confounding them with the truths symboHzed, It is sufficiently evident to us who live since the advent of Christ, that the blood of lambs, kids, and bullocks, cannot really take away sin ; but doubtless many a Hebrew overlooked the fact that the sin-offering was a symbol, and rested in it as an efficient atonement. Some Christians in like manner see in baptism an efficient, instead of a symbolic cleansing, and in the bread and wine of the Lord's supper an efficient sacrifice for sin, instead of symbols of the body and blood of our Redeemer. This natural tendency to confound the symbol with that which it symbolizes has led to, and strengthened itself by means of, a wrong interpretation of the Scriptures. To one who under- stands that baptism is a symbol, the direction, " Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins," conveys the idea that the washing with water is the sign of a spiritual transaction in which sin is taken away ; but to another, who overlooks the symbolic nature of the tran- saction, it seems to imply an efficiency in the rite itself to cleanse a man from his sins. One who understands that the Lord's supper is a symbol interprets the decla- ration, " This is my body," as a definition of the symbol ; but another, confounding the symbol with the thing symbolized, believes that our Lord intended to affirm the identity of the bread with his body. Now, the study of the tabernacle, as it induces the habit of discrimi- nating between symbols and the invisible things they represent, aids a Christian in rightly conceiving of bap- 442 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE. tism and the Lord's supper, and in rightly interpreting what is written in the Scriptures in regard to these symboHc institutions. In the light derived from the symbolism of the tabernacle, the Lord's supper is seen to be a symbolic memorial of the death of Christ ; the bread and wine being the body and blood of our Lord in the sense in which white raiment is the righteousness of saints, and vessels full of odors are prayers. As wine in the supper is the blood of Christ shed for the remission of sins ; so water in baptism is also the blood of Christ as applied to an individual for the purpose of washing away his sins. There is a noteworthy difference between the old covenant and the new in symbolizing the remission of sins. When the covenant was ratified at Sinai, half the blood of sacrifice was sprinkled on the people to signify that they were a party to the covenant, as the sprinkling of the other half on the altar showed that Jehovah was pledged. But the Mosaic law made no provision in ordinary cases for applying the blood of expiation to the transgressor. He brought his sin-offering ; and its blood was sprinkled before Jehovah to show that his sacri- fice was accepted, and had accomplished its purpose. As the offering was for him alone, there was no occasion for applying the blood to his person to show that it had availed to redeem him as an individual. Christianity, on the other hand, notwithstanding the comparative paucity of its symbols, applies to every believer a sign that he is personally interested in the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, The propitiation is one and the same for all ; but each has, in the application of water to STUDY OF THE TABERNACLE IMPORTANT. 443 his own person for the remission of sins, an assurance of his individual interest in the blood which was shed for many. Christianity has not only symbolic institutions, but symbolic writings ; and important aid may be derived from the symbolism of the tabernacle in the interpreta- tion of the latter, as well as of the former. The Apoca- lypse describes visions vouchsafed to the writer, of scenes invisible to the natural eye ; but, as the things he saw were symbols, it is only through study of the language of symbolism that the significance of these visions can be apprehended. Notwithstanding the many and diverse empiric interpretations offered, one after another, by persons seeking support in this book for opinions previously embraced, and the consequent scep- ticism which prevails in regard to the possibility of interpreting the visions otherwise than by conjecture, there is reason to believe that these symbols are employed in accordance with laws which rendered them intelligible to those for whose immediate benefit the book was written, and would again reveal their meaning if these laws could be recovered. Speaking of one of the symbolic numbers in the Apocalypse, Semisch has well said, "It is a hieroglyphic which still awaits its Champollion ; " ^ and the same might be said of many other symbols, with equal suggestiveness of what may come to pass when the visions of the Apocalypse are placed side by side with the symbolic institutions of the Old Testament. 1 Herzog's Real-Encyklopadie, B. II. s. 659. INDEX Acacia, lo. Acacia-wood, significance of, 233 ; signifi- cance of, in the edifice, 287. Altar of burnt-offerings, 42 ; significance of, 291. Altar of incense, 41 ; significance of, 305. Altars, significance of, 289. Ancient symbolism, 177. Animal forms, significance of, 256. Animals, significance of, 24S. Ark of the covenant, 31 ; captured by the Philistines, 106 ; restored by the Philis- tines, 107 ; separated from the tabernacle for half a century, 107; at Beth-shemesh, 107 ; at Kirjath-jearim, 107 ; at the house of Obed-edom, 109 ; brought to Jerusalem, 109 ; significance of, 308. Artisans employed in constructing the taber- nacle, 3. Atonement, the annual, 92 ; significance of its ceremonies, 385. Attendants of the tabernacle, 55. B Bars, the horizontal, 14. Bells and pomegranates on the robe of the ephod, significance of, 334. Blood, significance of, 222. Blue, significance of, 211. BodUy soundness in the priests, significance of, 323- Bonnets of the priests, significance of, 332. Bread and wine, significance of, 235. Breastplate of judgment, significance of, 336. Building of the tabernacle required, 4. Burnt-offering, 70 ; significance of, 355. Calendar, 84 ; interpretation of, 371. Candlestick, 39 ; significance of, 301. Cedar-wood, significance of, 233. Ceremonies of consecration to the priest- hood, significance of, 339. Cherubs, 18 ; significance of, 259 ; signifi- cance of, in the drapery of the edifice, 2S7. Coat, or tunic significance of, 328. Color, symbolism of, 209 ; significance of in the edifice, 283. Composite animal forms, significance of, 256. Consecration of Aaron and his sons, 50. Consecration of the Levites, 52. Consecration of the tabernacle, 49. Consecration to the priesthood, significance of ceremonies at, 339. Contributions for building, 3, Com and wine, significance of, 235. Comer planks, 13. Costume of the priests, interpretation of, 324- Costume of the high-priest, interpretation of, 333 ; on the day of atonement, not to be confounded with the costume of a sub- ordinate priest, 339. Court, screen around, 29 ; significance of, 266. Covenant between Jehovah and the He- brews was truly a covenant, 309. Cover of the ark of the covenant, signifi- cance of, 310. Crimson, significance of, 217. Current expenses, 115. Curtains, 16. 445 446 INDEX. Daily service, 86 ; significance of, 372. Death, uncleanness by contact with, signifi- cance of the lustration from, 364. Defilement, ceremonial, 78. Defilement by contact with death, sigmifi- cance of the lustration from, 364. Drink-offerings, 72 ; significance of, 357. E Edifice of tabernacle, g ; interpretation of, 264. Election of Aaron and his descendants to the priesthood, significance of, 320. Ephod, significance of, 335. Erection of the tabernacle, 45. Expenses of construction, 113. Expenses of worship, how defrayed, 115. First fruits of the cereal harvest, presenta- tion of, 89 ; significance of the presenta- tion of, 381. Five, significance of, ig8. Food-offering, significance of, 356. Form, symbolism of, 182 ; significance of, in the edifice, 271. Four, significance of, 194. Frame, description of, ro. Fringe on the robe of the ephod, significance of, 333- Furniture, 31 ; interpretation of, 289, Garments of the priests, significance of, 324. Girdle of the priests, significance of, 331. Goat's hair, curtain of, 26. Gold on wood, 14. Gold, significance of, 226. Ground-plan of the tabernacle was a paral- lelogram, 9. H Head-dress of the high-priest, significance of, 337- Head-dress of subordinate priests, signifi- cance of, 332. Hebrews, how far they comprehended the significance of the tabernacle, 427. High-priest, his costume, 60. Holiness of the priesthood, significance of, 321. Holy of holies, significance of, 269. Holy place, significance of, 267, 307. Hyssop, significance of, 234. I Illumination of the court of the women at the festival of tabernacles, 96. Incense, significance of, 242. Jewels, significance of, 23 1. Journey from Sinai to the border of Canaan, time occupied in, 102. Journeys of the Hebrews, loi. K Keepers of the tabernacle, 55. Korah, rebellion of, 103. Laver in the court, 43 ; not in itself signifi- cant, 294. Leaven, significance of, 380. Leprosy, lustration from, significance of, 367. Levites, consecration of, 52 ; duties of, 56 ; their maintenance, 122. Linen of the innermost curtain, 16. Lunar service, significance of, 375. Lustration from sin required, 76. Lustration from ceremonial defilement, 78. Lustrations, interpretation of, 361. M Manna, 36. Material of the frame, 10. Meat-offering, 71. Mercy-seat, significance of, 310. Metals, significance of, in the edifice, 285. Migrations of the tabernacle, 100. Minerals, symbolism of, 225. Mosaism, symbolized in the tabernacle, 140; prominent features of, 140; differed from heathen religions, 146 ; as it differed from the religion of Egypt, 147 ; essentially the same system as Christianity, 164. INDEX. 447 • N New-moon, 88. New-moon service, significance of, 375. Number, symbolism of, 182 ; significance of, in the edifice, 275. O Occasional sacrifices, 98. Oil, significance of, 238. Paschal ceremonies, significance of, 376. Passage of the Jordan, 104. Passover, 88 ; celebrated in the wilderness, 51 ; first celebration of, in Canaan, 105. Peace-offering, 72 ; significance of, 357. Pentecost, 90 ; significance of its ceremo- nies, 383. Perfumes, significance of, 242, Pillars for the curtains, 15. Planks of the frame, 10. Pomegranates on the robe of the ephod, significance of, 334. Pouring of water at the festival of taberna- cles, 96 ; significance of, 396. Priests, distinguished from Levites, 58 ; their official costume, 59 ; their consecra- tion, 59 ; their duties, 64 ; their mainte- nance, 118. Priesthood, interpretation of, 317. Prophetic symbols or types, 399. Purity, ceremonial required, 77. Purple, significance of, 215. Quadrangle, significance of, 197. R Removal from Sinai, 100. Robe of the ephod, significance of, 333. Sabbath service, 87. Sabbath, significance of, 374. Sacrifices, different species of, 66. Sacrifices, interpretation of, 342. Scape-goat, 392. Seven, significance of, 199. Seventh new-moon, 91. Shittim-wood, 10. Show-bread, significance of, 295. Signal for removing to another station, 5. Silver sill under the frame, 15. Silver, significance of, 229. Similar symbols employed by the Egyptians and the Hebrews, 134. Sin-offering, 67 ; significance of, 344. Study of the tabernacle important to Chris- tians, 435. Symbolic significance of the tabernacle, ar- gued from the general use of symbols in the time of Moses, 130 ; testimony to, in Jewish writings, 135; evident to one who understands the language of symbols, 139. Symbolism of the ancients, 177. Symbols were employed by the Egyptians, 132. Symbols of the tabernacle, had reference primarily to Mosaism as distinguished from Christianity, 151 ; in what way prophetic of Christianity, 164 ; means of interpreting, 167. Tabernacle, the word applied to the inner- most curtain, 16 ; at Gilgal, 106 ; at Shi- loh, 106; at Nob, 107; at Gibeon, no; deposited in the temple by Solomon, in. Tabernacles, festival of, 95 ; significance of ceremonies at the festival of, 394. Table of show-bread, 38 ; significance of, 295. Tax of half-shekel, 115. Tax for celebration of festivals, 123. Temporary tabernacle, 4. Ten, significance of, 202. Three, significance of, 187. Tithes, 122. Transportation of the tabernacle, 100. Trespass-offering, 69 ; significance of, 354. Triangle, significance of, i8g. Tripartite division of the tabernacle, signifi- cance of, 270. Trumpets, festival of, 91 ; significance of the ceremonies at the festival of, 384. Tunic, significance of, 328. Twelve, significance of, 205. Types, or prophetic symbols, 399. Typology of Lund, specimen of, 156. 448 INDEX. Typical of Christ as an expiator, the priest- hood was, 416. Typical of Christ as a sacrifice, all the sacri- fices of the tabernacle were, 418. Typical of Christ as a sin-offering, the sin- offering of the tabernacle was, 421. Typical of Christ, the costume of the priests was, 412. Typical of Christ, the edifice was, 400. Typical of Christ, the eminence of the priests over their brethren was, 410. Typical of the expiation made by Christ, the fellowship of Christians with God through Christ, and of the still closer fellowship between him and the Father, the priest- hood was, 410. Typical of the final condition of redeemed humanity, the holy of holies was, 406. Typical of the period between the two ad- vents of Christ, the fioly place was, 406. Typical of the union of Christians with Christ, the breastplate was, 416. Typical of the union of Christians with Christ, the frame was, 405. Uncleanness, 77. Uncleanness, ceremonial, 78. Uncleanness by contact with death, signifi- cance of the lustration from, 364. Uncleanness of leprosy, significance of the lustration from, 367. Unleavened bread during the paschal week, significance of, 379. Uzza, death of, 108. Vegetable substances, symbolism of, 233. Veil at the entrance, 25. Veil between holy place and holy 0/ holies, w Water of separation, 366. Water, pouring of, at the festival of taber- nacles, 96 : significance of, 396. White linen, significance of, 209. PRINTED BY LANGE, LITTLE i CO., NEW YORK. DATE DUE ^— ^-i&gfc r v..^^_„^..^-.^*^' -'..:, u3" ^u Nuv i:.^uuj \PECO^'^ 7UU5 ORO PRINTED INU.S.