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 PRESENTED BY 
 
 The Library of Professor 
 
 A. A. Hodge 
 
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THE 
 
 TABERNACLE, 
 
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE JUNKIN, D.D.LL.D., 
 
 LATE PRESIDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE, VIRGINIA. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 
 
 No. 821 Chestnut Street. 
 
Entered according to tlie Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 
 
 THE TRTSTEES OF THE 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 
 
 In the Clerk's OlBce of the District Court for the Eastern District 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY WESTCOTT & THOMSON. 
 
TO THE EEADEE. 
 
 You have, in these chapters, gleanings from a field in 
 which this labourer has toiled for more than half a century. 
 Four times has he delivered the doctrines here set forth, in 
 the form of lectures : first to his pastoral charge proper; 
 afterwards, to the still more important charges successively, 
 in Lafayette College, Miami University, and Washington 
 College, Virginia. Each deliver}^ was accompanied with a 
 careful revision of the whole matter under consideration. 
 Nevertheless, these are reminiscences^ for the fortunes of 
 war have cut him off from all his books, papers and even 
 letter files : so that, present labour and the remembrances 
 of fifty years back, are here presented, combined, and con- 
 densed into this little volume. The tiny book is a com- 
 pend of Christian theology. I say Christian i\iQ,o\ogY \ for 
 I have, long ago, been forced into the conviction, that with- 
 out a diligent study of the tabernacle, no man ever ac- 
 quires clear, transparent, and practical views of evangeli- 
 cal truth in systematic order. A few things you will find 
 here, difi'erent from commonly received interpretations. 
 Prominence is given to the central point of the moral uni- 
 verse ; and care is taken to keep the symbols separate and 
 distinct. My views in regard to the cherubim, which were 
 
4 TO THE READER. 
 
 given to tlie public twenty-one years ago, have been re- 
 vised, by such aids as were within my reach; but no 
 material changes from the Lectures on Prophecy have been 
 thought necessary or proper. Reference to other men's 
 opinions have not been made Perhaps it is due to myself 
 and to truth, to remark, that Fairbairn's Typology I had 
 not seen, until nearly through with these chapters, and 
 therefore, it can scarcely be said, that / dissent from his 
 opinions, even where we differ. Dr. Newton's excellent 
 book on these subjects, had almost arrested my long cher- 
 ished purpose to write out my views. After, however, 
 reading it and finding some points of difi'erence in minor 
 matters, I came to Elihu's conclusion, though for a diifer- 
 ent reason, ' ' Therefore I said. Hearken to me ; I also will 
 show mine opinion. ' ' 
 
 Philadelphia, February 1, A.D. 1865. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 To the Reader 3 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Introduction — Philosophy of Symbolization 9 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 The Ark of the Testimony 13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Tables of Stone— What do they Symbolize 17 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Mercy-seat — Its Symbolic Substance 24 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Table, for the Bread of Faces 46 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Candlestick 60 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Incense Altar 63 
 
 1 * 5 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Tho Altar of Burnt-offering 55 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Laver and his Foot 61 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 The Priesthood and the Holy Garments 66 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 The Tabernacle, and its Court 78 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Symbolic Meaning of the Tabernacle and its Court 87 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 The Putting Up and the Taking Down 98 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Cloud of Glory— The Pillar of Fire 102 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Farther Symbol Substance of Chapters XIII. and XIV. — Organ- 
 ization of the Church — Solemnity — Place, a desert — Divine 
 guidance and support 108 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Holy Anointing Oil — Consecration of tho Tabernacle and 
 its Furniture, and of the Priesthood 114 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Relations of the Truths Symbolized — To each other and to the 
 grand system — The Shekinah — The central doctrine of Chris- 
 tianity 123 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Relative Positions Farther — Brazen Altar — The Ark— The 
 Golden Altar 133 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Relative Positions — Laver — Candlesticks — Table of Show- 
 bread 143 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Miscellaneous Suggestive Analogies — Sojourn of Israel — Bond- 
 age in Egypt — Forty Years in the Wilderness — Order of 
 March — Westward Movement — Entrance into Canaan 149 
 
THE TABERNACLE, 
 
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Symbolization, 
 
 There is no immediate communication between 
 the souls of men in this world. Without the instru- 
 mentalities of our bodily organs, we know nothing 
 whatever of each other's spiritual nature, condition, 
 or character. Indeed, our knowledge of seJf^ is 
 equally dependent on the physical organism witli 
 which our thinking substance is connected. John 
 Locke, the greatest of modern metaphysicians, traces 
 the commencement of our ideas to sensation and re- 
 flection. This has been by some misunderstood, at 
 least, misapplied. But still, it is substantially true : 
 the first knowledge we have is the immediate result 
 of excitement in our nervous system. The history 
 of man's creation implies, first, the formation of the 
 wonderfully complicated material habitation for the 
 rational spirit ; then the breathing into his nostrils 
 the breath of life. What the connection is and how 
 
 9 
 
10 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 it is formed between the body and the soul, we are 
 entirely ignorant ; and yet there is no knowledge 
 more certain, than that such connection exists — that 
 the spirit within us operates upon the body and the 
 body influences the spirit. The mystery here lies 
 in the manner ; and is to us, thus far, inscrutable. 
 No person doubts the fact, nor his ignorance of its 
 mode. A man born blind and so continuing, has no 
 knowledge of colours : the deaf has no idea of 
 sounds ; and so of all the other senses : and, were 
 all wanting, the mind would have no ideas at all ; 
 and so could not engage in those interminable pro- 
 cesses of reasoning, which Locke comprehends 
 under the term refleetion. 
 
 Now, it is this mysterious, but most intimate con- 
 nection between soul and body, that unites together 
 the two worlds — the world of matter and the world 
 of spirit ; and makes it possible for us to illustrate 
 the one by the other. Hence the comparisons, para- 
 bles, allegories of Scripture. Hence the multitudi- 
 nous efforts of men, in all ages, to embody deity in 
 visible form. Idolatry is but a perverse abuse of 
 this natural susceptibility : a vain attempt to create 
 a new medium of intercourse and communion be- 
 tween the visible and the invisible. But these abuses 
 constitute no valid objection against symbolical rep- 
 resentations of sacred truths ; such as we have in 
 comparisons, parables and allegories, where resem- 
 blance of relations enables us to make plain, spirit- 
 ual tilings, by natural things more plain and easily 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 11 
 
 comprehended. As all the intercourse and com- 
 munion of spirit with spirit is through the medium 
 of our physical organism ; so God has been pleased 
 to make our intercourse and communion with him- 
 self, dependent upon material media. He estab- 
 lished a covenant with our first parent and set up 
 the tree of life as a symbol of its blessings upon 
 condition of his compliance. When Adam sinned 
 and placed himself and his posterity under a dispen- 
 sation of wrath, it pleased God, in his sovereign 
 love, to reveal liis dispensation of mercy and to 
 guaranty eternal salvation to all who should believe 
 in the promised Messiah — the seed of the woman. 
 He thereupon instituted bloody sacrifices, as the 
 outward sign and symbol of the cardinal truth in the 
 glorious gospel scheme : thus creating a medium of 
 intercourse and communion between the redeemed and 
 the ever blessed Father : thus for ever presenting, in 
 the burning sacrifice, the memento of the promised 
 salvation through the death of the Saviour. This 
 same principle we have, expanded in the whole ar- 
 rangements established at Sinai ; in the somewhat 
 complicated and arbitrary, but yet significant struc- 
 ture of the tabernacle, its furniture, appurtenances, 
 and the worship of which it was the centre and the 
 medium. 
 
 In process of their exposition, it will be best to 
 follow the order of the sacred text, as given by 
 Moses, in his account of the construction of the 
 furniture, the tabernacle and all its surroundings. 
 
12 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 With the single exception of the altar of burnt-offer- 
 ings, the order of the text is probably the order of 
 imjiortance. 
 
 As each several object is taken up, it "will be most 
 natural to give, (1) a description of the material 
 structure ; (2) then its symbolical substance, that is 
 the doctrine which it represents : then, (3) when we 
 shall have gone over the whole in detail, to bring 
 them together; (4) note their relative positions 
 severally, and in reference to the whole, as one sys- 
 tem. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCOIIDING TO MOSES. 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Ark of the Testimony. 
 
 ExoD. xxxvii. 1-9. " And Bezaleel made tlie 
 ark of shittim wood : two cubits and a half was 
 the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth 
 of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it : and 
 he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, 
 and made a crown of gold to it round about. And 
 he cast for it four rings of gold, to he set bj the four 
 corners of it ; even two rings upon the one side of 
 it and two rings upon the other side of it. And he 
 made staves of shittim wood and overlaid them with 
 gold. And he put the staves into the rings by the 
 sides of the ark, to bear the ark. And he made 
 the mercy-seat of pure gold : two cubits and a half 
 was the leno;th thereof and one cubit and a half the 
 breadth thereof. And he made two cherubim of 
 gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the 
 two ends of the mercy-seat ; one cherub on the one 
 end on this side, and another cherub on the other 
 end on that side ; out of the mercy-seat made he the 
 cherubim on the two ends thereof. And the cheru- 
 bim spread out their wings on high, and covered 
 with their wings over the mercy-seat, with their faces 
 
 2 
 
14 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 one to another ; even to the mercy-seat- ward were 
 the faces of the cherubim." 
 
 We have here an analysis of the ark into two 
 parts ; the chest or body — we may say, the ark 
 proper ; and the cover or lid, the mercy-seat. 
 
 First, the ark proper. Let us note the materials 
 of which it is made — shittim wood. From all we 
 can learn, the probability is, that this wood was the 
 black acacia — a species of locust, which abounded 
 in that region. The term implies a thorny tree ; 
 and as the boards of the tabernacle, which were 
 twenty-seven inches wide, were made of the same, it 
 must have been a tree of large growth ; but of what 
 particular species, is perhaps a question whose diffi- 
 culty is inversely as its importance. Of this the 
 chest and the staves for transportation were made. 
 The length, taking the cubit at eighteen inches of 
 our own measure, was forty-five inches, the width 
 and the height, twenty-seven; the same as the 
 breadth of the tabernacle boards. 
 
 This box or chest and the bearing staves were 
 overlaid with gold. The crown of gold round about 
 the upper part of the chest, was doubtless an orna- 
 mental network curving outward and forming a 
 guard to prevent the lid or mercy-seat from slipping 
 out of its place. Rings of gold were attached to 
 each corner on the sides, through which the staves 
 passed and lay continually ready for use in carrying 
 the whole structure. 
 
 The cover was a plate of solid gold ; the ends 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 15 
 
 turned up and wrought into figures called cherubim, 
 with wings extended toward each other and their 
 faces turned inward and downward, as if looking 
 intently toward the contents of the chest. 
 
 These contents were the two tables of the law. 
 The words were first uttered, in thunder tones, from 
 the summit of the burning mountain. Exod. xx. 
 They were afterward delivered to Moses, recorded 
 by immediate divine power on the two tables of stone, 
 and handed along ranks of angels. Acts vii. 53 : 
 " Who have received the law hy the disposition (into 
 ranks) of angels and have not kept it." These 
 tables, prepared supernaturally — without any human 
 agency — were broken by Moses when he came down 
 from the mount — Exod. xxxii. 19 : '' And Moses' 
 anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his 
 hands, and broke them beneath the mount." After- 
 wards, by divine command, Exod. xxxiv. 4, ^'he 
 hewed two tables of stone like unto the first — and 
 took in his hand the two tables of stone." In verse 
 first the Lord says, " I will write upon these tables, 
 the words that were in the first tables, which thou 
 breakest." The statement in verse twenty-eighth, 
 " And he wrote upon the tables the words of the 
 covenant, the ten commandments," must therefore 
 be understood of the Lord and not of Moses. And 
 in Deut. x. 4, 5, we are told, " he (the Lord) wrote 
 on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten 
 commandments, — and I turned myself and came 
 down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark 
 
16 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 which I had made ; and there they be, as the Lord 
 commanded me." 
 
 Here we have an apparent inconsistency in the 
 Scripture statements. Paul, Heb. ix. 4, says of the 
 ark, "wherein was the golden pot that had manna, 
 and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the 
 covenant." But Moses said unto Aaron, Exod. xv. 
 33, " Take a pot, and put an omer of manna therein, 
 and lay it up before the Lord. * * * * 
 * * And Aaron laid it up before the testimony 
 to be kept." And so, as to the rod. Num. xv. 10, 
 ''And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod 
 again before the testimony." These show that there 
 was a prefix — a coffer or shelf appended at the for- 
 ward end of the ark for these articles. All diffi- 
 culty vanishes, if we read, instead of wherein, where- 
 upon, or, on tvhich, was the golden pot, &c. And 
 this is allowable ; and so we have, as the sole con- 
 tents of the ark, the tables containing the ten com- 
 mandments ; and this is expressly affirmed, 1 Kings, 
 viii. 9 : " There was nothing in the ark save the two 
 tables of stone." 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Tables of Stone— What do they Symbolize. 
 
 These were made, as we have seen, before any 
 part of the tabernacle furniture. Their history her- 
 alds forth their transcendent importance. No com- 
 pend of moral truth may pretend to compare with 
 them, for glory and grandeur of origin ; for sim- 
 plicity and completeness of adaptation to man's 
 necessities ; or for sublime exhibitions of the Divine 
 perfections. Such an illustrious transcript of the 
 moral attributes of God and his claims upon the 
 supreme adoration of men, and of their obligations 
 to one another, is sought for in vain among the 
 records of human wisdom. And how should it be 
 otherwise ? Who so fit to adapt law to his crea- 
 tures as their Maker ? Who but Jehovah himself 
 can reveal the perfections of his own being ? Whose 
 right is it to dictate law to the moral universe, if not 
 its Author ? But Jehovah exists as the Elohim — 
 the plurality of persons in the essential unity. Has 
 the issuance of these ten words any special reference 
 to this personality ? Certainly ; the testimony of 
 Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. All that man knows 
 truly of the Divine perfections, he knows through 
 
 2 » 
 
18 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 the teachings of the second person m the Elohim — 
 the divine Logos, by -whom the world was made and 
 without whom was not anything made that was made. 
 It was the voice of the Word, afterwards made flesh 
 — the same Word which said JLet there be light, and 
 there was light, that thundered from the summit of 
 the burning mountain these ten words, and after- 
 wards delivered them to Moses along the ranks of 
 angels. This will be evident upon a comparison of 
 a few scriptures. In Psal. Ixviii. 17, 18, 20, we 
 read, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, 
 even thousands of angels : the Lord is among them 
 as in Sinai, in the holy place. Thou hast ascended 
 on high, thou hast led captivity captive : thou hast 
 received gifts for men ; yea, for the rebellious also, 
 that the Lord God might dwell among them. * * 
 * * And unto God the Lord belong the issues from 
 death." But now this is applied, in Eph. iv. to 
 Christ : ''When he ascended up on high he led cap- 
 tivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that 
 he ascended, what is it but that he also descended 
 first into the lower parts of the earth ?" Thus de- 
 monstrably plain it is, that it was the Lord God oui 
 Saviour who ascended, at a later period, from the 
 tomb of Joseph to the throne of his glory in the 
 heavens. He it was, the Man of Calvary, who, 
 midst his thousands of angels, was in Sinai and dis 
 pensed this law. " The Lord came from Sinai, and 
 rose up from Seir unto them : he shined forth from 
 Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO xMOSES. 19 
 
 saints : from his right hand went forth a fiery law 
 for them. Yea, he loved the people." — Deut. xxxiii. 
 2. This fiery law and this burning mountain con- 
 sumed no one, for it emanated from the gracious 
 King of Zion. At the very interview in which he 
 re-wrote it on the stones hewed out by Moses, "He 
 passed by before him, and proclaimed The Lord, the 
 Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-sufiering and 
 abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for 
 thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and 
 sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." 
 The entire system of ceremonial observances is evan- 
 gelical — all relate to the gospel scheme of salvation. 
 "For unto us," says Paul, Heb. iv. 2, "was the 
 gospel preached as well as unto them." 
 
 As to the kind of stone used, we are left even 
 more in the dark than as to the wood, and therefore 
 infer it to be a matter of no consequence. Only this 
 is plain, that they were fragile, being shattered to 
 pieces when thrown from Moses' hands. Nor have 
 we anything specific as to their size, unless it be 
 that Moses seems to have carried them down the 
 mount, Exod. xxxii. 19, in his own hands, whence 
 we may infer they were not very thick, and they 
 could not have been more than forty-two or three 
 inches long, and twenty-six wide. 
 
 The first suggestion of a symbolical meaning is 
 durability. Engraving on stone intimates perma- 
 nency. Job, in his sorrows, exclaims, chap. xix. 
 23, " Oh, that my words were now written ! oh that 
 
20 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 they were printed in a book ! that they were graven 
 with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever." 
 Then he proceeds to express his faith in the Hving 
 Redeemer and his hope in a glorious resurrection : 
 truths these, which he washed to perpetuate for ever. 
 The first tables represented the law of God as 
 wi^itten in the heart of man at his creation : or, we 
 may say, human nature — Adam, with the law cre- 
 ated in him. The breaking of the tables sets forth 
 the fall of man and the utter defacement of God's 
 law and image. The replacement of the tables by 
 Moses, and the re-writing of the law upon them, by 
 the power of the great Redeemer, forcibly illustrates 
 his entire work of restoring man to the full domin- 
 ion of the holy law, or, in other words, the restora- 
 tion of the law to its ruling power over him ; or may 
 we not say the second Adam, the pattern of all the 
 redeemed. Such symbolical meaning seems to rise 
 up before us on the surface of the whole matter ; 
 and thus Paul seems to suggest, 2 Cor. iii. 2, 3, 
 "Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known 
 and read of all men : manifestly declared to be the 
 epistle of Chidst ministered by us, written not with 
 ink, but with the Spirit of the living God ; not in 
 tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." 
 So he speaks of "the work of the law^ written in 
 their heart;" and Jeremiah says, "I will put my 
 law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ;" 
 and, citing from Ezekiel, Paul, Heb. viii. 10, says, 
 " I will put my laws into theii^ mind, and write them, 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 21 
 
 in their hearts." The bringing of ' man under the 
 power of law, the protection of the law from vio- 
 lence and profanation, and the security of its right- 
 ful dominion, is therefore the grand idea herein set 
 forth. All around it is encased within its golden 
 enclosure. The casket indeed i§ precious, costly, 
 and beautiful, but the jewels it contains are the price- 
 less treasure. 
 
 In connection, however, with the remarks above, 
 that the ceremonial observances are Gospel ordi- 
 nances, it is important to distinguish them from the 
 legal matter of the old covenant. The ten words 
 and the various applications of their principles 
 throughout the pentateuch, are quite diiferent from 
 the sacrifices, the lustrations, the incense burnings, 
 the ci'ties of refuge, &c. The former are legal, and 
 whenever separated from the latter, become a law 
 of works — the very covenant made with Adam. But 
 the latter, coalescing with and qualifying and point- 
 ing out the way of fulfilling the former, transmute 
 the whole into the new covenant, or true gospel, 
 which was revealed to Adam before his expulsion 
 from Paradise. The Israelites then, as nominal 
 Christians now, by neglecting this distinction, con- 
 verted the very doctrines of grace into a law of 
 works. For example, when men affirm that the act 
 of believing, subjectively considered — ^. e., the action 
 of the sinner's own mind — as Ms otvn, is accounted 
 to him for righteousness, and justifies him ; what is 
 this but justification by works ? What, but the old 
 
22 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 covenant made with Adam ? Thus the Judaizing 
 Galatians converted, by perversion, the gospel in 
 Moses, into a covenant of works : to refute which 
 corruption Paul wrote them this argumentative 
 epistle. 
 
 This highly important distinction explains an 
 otherwise perplexing difficulty in the context from 
 which the above quotation 2 Cor. iii. is taken. 
 Claiming rightful authority and instrumental ability 
 to write in their hearts a holy epistle, the apostle 
 disavows his own efficiency^ and imputes all the suc- 
 cess of his mission at Corinth to '' the Spirit of the 
 living God," who only could write "in fleshly tables 
 of the heart," even as "the finger of God" wi'ote 
 the ten words on the tables of stone : " our suf- 
 ficiency is of God." "The letter killeth:— The 
 ministration of death, written and graven in stones." 
 But how, if the gospel was preached unto the Is- 
 raelites under the old covenant or dispensation of 
 Moses, can that letter kill and be the ministration 
 of death ? The answer you have in the foregoing 
 paragraph. The letter killeth — the law of Moses 
 becomes a ministration of condemnation and of 
 death, only as and because, men fix their minds on 
 the letter and the tables, as contradistinguished from 
 the positive, ceremonial institutions which are purely 
 evangelical, and which only and alone are our 
 schoolmaster — our pedagogue — to lead us unto 
 Christ the great Teacher. I never could see how 
 the moral law could be a child's leader, — (to trans- 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 23 
 
 late the word pedagogue.) It is the sword of the 
 Spirit to produce conviction of sin ; but this, of 
 itself, is not a grace, and tends not to draw the con- 
 victed toward Christ the teacher. On the contrary, 
 the conscience convicted of sin only, shrinks away 
 in terror and dismay, as in the first case — Adam 
 and Eve hid themselves from God : and Peter said, 
 " Depart from me, for I am a sinful man :" and the 
 demons, " Art thou come to torment me before the 
 time?" But I cannot help seeing how the gospel 
 in the tabernacle should lead, by the smoke of its 
 brazen altar, the light of its candlestick, the entice- 
 ment of its shew bread, the odour of its incense, and 
 brightness of its Shekinah, into the holiest of all, 
 where the Lord our Righteousness dwelleth between 
 the cherubim. It is only when unbelief despises all 
 these, that the glorious gospel of the blessed God, 
 whether preached by Moses, David, or Isaiah — by 
 Jesus, Peter, or John — becomes a savour of death 
 unto death : and it is only when mixed with faith, 
 it becomes a savour of life unto life. But we must 
 proceed to the second result of our analysis of the 
 Ark, without which the symbol is incomplete, and 
 must lead to the very error which makes the whole 
 a ministration of death. 
 
24 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Tlie Mercy -seat; its Symbolic Substance. 
 
 In chapter second we have given a description of 
 the material structure. Our business now is with 
 its typical meaning : and here we have a sub-analy- 
 sis. Although there is but one piece of beaten — 
 or very pure and malleable gold — yet the plate, 
 or lid of the chest, is obviously distinguished from 
 the cherubim ; and therefore let us treat them seve- 
 rally. 
 
 Sec. I. It is obvious that the deposit of the tables 
 in the body of the Ark is no guaranty of their pro- 
 tection and safety, so long as there is no cover to 
 it. The precious contents are still exposed, though 
 nearly surrounded with golden walls. But place 
 on it this plate of solid gold, of adequate thickness, 
 and of length and breadth fully commensurate with 
 the chest itself, and of course with the tables within, 
 and you complete the idea of protection and safety. 
 What then does this shield of protection physical, 
 represent, in the typical or symbolical substance ? 
 The answer cannot be mistaken : Jesus Christ is 
 the protector and fulfiller of law. He only dcos all 
 things Avell. Thus it becometh us to fulfil all right- 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 25 
 
 eousness. He is the Lord our righteousness. The 
 law in him only, of all mankind, finds all its de- 
 mands completely met. Universal obedience to 
 its preceptive claims he only paid : and here we 
 have the true idea of righteousness. The law of 
 God is a straight line, and conformity with it is 
 straightness or righteousness. Two aspects, how- 
 ever, must be noted of this fundamental idea. 
 
 1. The law prohibits certain things from being 
 done : and it must be specially noted, that the dec- 
 alogue presents law to us in the negative form 
 chiefly ; eight of the ten commandments are formal 
 negations, yet involving substantial affirmatives. A 
 ninth also, viz., the fourth commandment, is largely 
 a negation. The fifth alone is purely affirmative. 
 In this form our Redeemer fulfilled all law: he did 
 no evil, nor was guile found in his mouth; and the 
 wretched magistrate who handed him over to execu- 
 tion, washing his hands, said, " I am pure from the 
 blood of this innocent person — take ye him and cru- 
 cify him, for I find no fault in him." 
 
 2. But the divine law is not a mere negation. 
 Eternal rewards are not held out to inaction. The 
 servant who hid his Lord's money and returned it 
 to him on his return home, was not rewarded for 
 his negative inaction ; but he was punished — " cast 
 ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness." 
 Law is positive. It requires active exercise of all 
 the talents bestowed, and it exhibits positive benefits 
 as the rewards of active obedience. Thus did our 
 
 3 
 
26 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 Redeemer fulfil law. The only positive word of the 
 ten, he observed rigidly — he was obedient to his 
 parents until he began to be about thirty years of 
 age. Equally full and complete was his compliance 
 with all positive requirements of law. Malignant 
 ingenuity put forth its utmost efforts to prove against 
 him sinful omission or commission, but in vain. He 
 stands perfect in rectitude on the very records of 
 the court that handed him over to the executioners. 
 As is the Mercy-seat to the material substance of 
 the tables, so is Christ to the moral and spiritual 
 substance of the inscribed law. 
 
 Now it is exceedingly important to the right un- 
 derstanding of the fundamental doctrine of Chris- 
 tianity — the article of a standing church, as Luther 
 called it, for us to bear in mind, that the tables re- 
 cord no penalty, but simply precepts. True it is, 
 all command of authority implies penal sanction, in 
 case of disobedience ; and the Redeemer of lost men 
 is under covenant engagements, voluntarily entered 
 into, to meet the penal requirements of the divine 
 law against those whom he redeems : but this Ark 
 of the testimony is not the symbol representation 
 of that idea. Another symbol is provided, as we 
 shall see, to shadow forth the indispensable requi- 
 site. Here we have the one grand doctrine of jus- 
 tification set forth. Positive compliance w^th all 
 the positive, actual demands of law is here most 
 beautifully set forth. To such obedience, full and 
 perfect, and to this alone is promised life, happiness, 
 
TilE GUSl'EL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 27 
 
 heaven, as a reward. Penal suffering is not meri- 
 torious of happiness, as we shall see when we come to 
 treat of the altar of burnt-offerings. It is active holy 
 obedience — righteousness, that God always rewards 
 with life and blessedness : and this is the fundamental 
 principle of the divine government. Deny this, and 
 you lose the very conception of such government. 
 Holy action shall be rewarded ; unholy action shall 
 be punished. But perfect holy action, — obedience 
 to the divine law — righteousness, has been lost, as 
 to all men by nature, and is nowhere to be found, 
 but only in the divine Man : and this is passed over, 
 legally accredited, in the scheme of salvation, to all 
 that believe. " But now the righteousness of God 
 without the law [the moral law as fulfilled by man] 
 is manifested ; being witnessed by the law [the cer- 
 emonial law of Moses] and the prophets ; even the 
 righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus 
 Christ unto all and upon all that believe ; for there 
 is no difference." Bom. iii. 21, 22; and ver. 26. 
 " To declare at this time his righteousness : that he 
 might be just and the justifier of him that believeth 
 in Jesus." Thus, the Mercy-seat proclaims the ful- 
 filment of the divine law by the gracious Mediator, 
 and this holy and perfect obedience is imputed in 
 law, and is set down to the benefit of all believers, 
 as theirs for justification. 
 
 Moreover, as justification is inseparably connected 
 with sanctification, we have this too symbolized in 
 the Ark and its contents. As the letter of the law 
 
28 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 was re-written on the tables " by the finger of God," 
 so is and must be its moral substance " AYritten by 
 the Spirit of the living God in fleshly tables of the 
 heart." But of this we shall see more hereafter, 
 when we come to consider the Laver and the rela- 
 tive position and order of the doctrines here typi- 
 cally represented. 
 
 Sec. II. We proceed with the cherubim. " The 
 generic meaning of the Hebrew word cherub, the 
 plural of which is cherubim, is not settled with cer- 
 tainty. Some critics refer it to an Arabic source, 
 and infer the meaning to be 7iearness, eontiguiti/, — 
 hence, a minister or servant: and thus cherubim 
 are the servants of God. Others deduce it from 
 two Arabic words which signify " as " or " like to a 
 boy." They are most probably correct who form 
 the word from a Hebrew term that means to ride 
 (raukab) by an interchange of two of the letters. 
 This is the opinion of Poole. We have the orig- 
 inal and the derived word brought into immediate 
 connection in Ps. xviii. 10 : " The Jehovah rode 
 upon a cherub, and did fly." With a very slight 
 modification, the word here translated, rode, is used 
 to signify the car or vehicle of the cherub, in 
 I Chron. xxviii. 18 : " And of gold for the pattern 
 of the chariot of the cherubim, that spread out their 
 wings, and covered the Ark of the Covenant of the 
 Lord."* We are not, however, safe in depending 
 
 * See Lee. X. and XI. of my work on Prophecy, for a more full 
 account of this matter. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 29 
 
 upon remote derivation for the meaning of words. 
 Use is often arbitrary in modifying it, and therefore 
 the safer method is to examine many instances 
 where a word occurs, and by close inspection to 
 ascertain what idea the writer expresses by it. 
 Thus we make Scripture explain Scripture. 
 
 In pursuance of this method, as we cannot inspect 
 all the cases in detail, because it would occupy too 
 much space, and would become tedious, let us clas- 
 sify them and take up the more important. Thus 
 we find four notable instances of their introduction : 
 viz., the cherubim of Adam, of Moses, of Ezekiel, 
 and of John. Those in the temple of Solomon be- 
 long to the Mosaic, being but an enlargement of 
 these upon the Ark. But as progressive develop- 
 ment characterizes God's works and his word, wis- 
 dom dictates the propriety of reversing the chro- 
 nological order, so as to make the later development 
 throw light back upon the earlier and more obscure. 
 The first gospel was given to man in a commination 
 addressed to his tempter, "he shall bruise thy head" 
 — the seed of the woman shall crush the kingdom 
 of Satan. This primitive, and obscurely expressed, 
 gospel was gradually expanded, and more and more 
 illustrated, until, as the Sun of Righteousness, it 
 shone forth in eJBfulgent splendour. So with the 
 cherubim. Very little is said of them on their first 
 presentation ; the account before us is more full ; 
 Ezekiel gives more detail ; and John comes still 
 nearer an explicit revelation of their appearance 
 
 3 * 
 
30 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 and symbolic meaning. It will therefore be advisa- 
 ble to begin with John, and carry back what hght 
 we can to Ezekiel, to Moses, and to Eden. 
 
 The name cherubim is not used in Rev. iv. 6-9, 
 but the description identifies the Zoa — the living 
 creatures of this vision with those of Ezekiel and 
 of Moses and the Seraphim of Isaiah. Preparatory 
 to the description, we remark, there is no creature 
 of God exactly answering to these. They are com- 
 posite, — parts and portions of different animals be- 
 ing combined. Nor can we suppose the selections 
 and combinations are merely accidental. The ob- 
 vious reason of this complexity is, that no creature 
 could furnish all the properties, necessary to symbo- 
 lize and set forth the requisite properties of the 
 things signified by them. The infelicity of our 
 translation in the word beasts, has been often 
 pointed out. There is another word in the Revela- 
 tion, translated properly, beast, because it means a 
 wild animal that lives by destroying others — a beast 
 of prey. But here it is simply living ones. As 
 Christ says of himself, using this same word, " I am 
 he that livetJi and was dead and behold I am alive 
 for evermore." These living creatures are placed 
 in the space between the glorious central throne on 
 which one sat that was to look upon like a jasper 
 and a sardine stone : and round about the throne 
 were four and twenty seats — thrones : " and out of 
 the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and 
 voices." The position of the four living creatures 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCUKDINO TO MOSES. 31 
 
 was upon the sea of glass in front of the great and 
 glorious central throne, and the encircling four aii-l 
 twenty thrones, " and in the midst, i. e. the middle 
 space between the throne, and within the circle of 
 the thrones." This literal translation makes the 
 sense clear ; whilst our English text is unintelligible. 
 "In the midst of the throne." If the four Zoa 
 were in the midst of the throne, how can we con- 
 ceive them to be "round about the throne." But 
 on the sea of glass, in front, they stand, and within 
 the circle x'jx?.(ij of the twenty-four thrones. 
 
 Now, having settled their position, let us inquire 
 into their characteristics, and symbolization. 
 
 1. They are living, like the Master whom they 
 serve. " I have set watchmen upon thy walls 
 Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace, day 
 nor night." (Isa. Ixii. 6.) " Lo I am with you 
 always, even to the end of the world." 
 
 2. Perpetual and universal vigilance. " They 
 are full of eyes, before and behind." The true 
 ministers of Christ — to cite from Lee. X. as above 
 — have been, in all ages of the world, the deposi- 
 taries of moral and religious knowledge, and the 
 channels of its communication from God to man. 
 
 We may even lay down a broader proposition, and 
 affirm that they have proved themselves to be the 
 eyes of general science. Literature, science and 
 general learning look to them as their great patrons. 
 Where shine the beacon-lights of science that have 
 not been kindled by tlie tapers of the church ? 
 
32 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 Where is the unbelieving philosopher, that does not 
 owe even his capacity of traducing the ministers of 
 God, to the literary instruction afforded by those 
 very men?" Why, even the celebrated saying of 
 Jefferson, " Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," 
 he borrowed from the Bible. How forcibly is this 
 thought expressed in the symbol, " full of eyes, be- 
 fore and behind?" Where else did the Grecian 
 mythology get its Argus with her hundred eyes, 
 which Juno ultimately placed as ornaments in her 
 peacock's tail ? Of these ministers faithful and true, 
 there are indeed sometimes counterfeits : such as 
 Isaiah speaks of (Ivi. 10.) " His watchmen are 
 blind : they are all ignorant ; they are all dumb 
 dogs that cannot bark ; sleeping, lying down, loving 
 to slumber." 
 
 3. Another characteristic of God's ministry is 
 courage — moral heroism. " The first Zoon was 
 like a lion." Whenever the providence of God 
 called for it, lion-hearted courage stood forth, to the 
 wonder, and often to the vexation and dismay of the 
 church's persecuting enemies. " The righteous are 
 as bold as a lion." "Mark the intrepidity of Paul 
 before Agripppa ; on the Acropolis of Athens ; amid 
 the tossings of the tempestuous ocean ; in the face 
 of the mob at Jerusalem, at Ephesus, at Philippi. 
 Look at Huss before the council of Constance and 
 the pile of burning faggots : at Luther, the lion of 
 the Reformation, * * ^^ * where can we 
 find a picture of greater moral sublimity than the 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 33 
 
 heroic reformer presents, as when, in the presence 
 of the Emperor, the Roman Catholic clergy and 
 nobility, with uplifted hand, and eye glancing to- 
 ward heaven, he exclaims, " Here I stand, I cannot 
 do otherwise. God help me, Amen." Lift your 
 eye to the Alps, and behold Zuingle, the eagle of 
 northern Switzerland ; then let it fall upon the city 
 at their base, and think of the Paul of the Reforma- 
 tion. Read Calvin's letter to Francis I. a production 
 which, as it issued from the pen of the first scholar of 
 his day, stands even yet among the very proudest 
 productions of literary genius. In its onward 
 sweep, let your vision pause upon the rugged moun- 
 tains of Scotland. Listen to the splendid eulogy 
 pronounced over the body of Knox by the Regent 
 Morton, " There lies he who never feared the face 
 oLman," then pay the meed that is due to the 
 dauntless reformer of North Britain. Truly does 
 the lion's face represent the spirit of the gospel 
 ministry. 
 
 4. The second Zoon is like a calf or ox. Patient 
 endurance of toil is thus represented. " Much in- 
 crease is by the strength of the ox." Prov. xiv. 4. 
 By the uncomplaining endurance of her ministry is 
 the church increased ; by their slaughter is she fed. 
 On them falls the stroke of persecution. '' The blood 
 of the martyrs is the seed of the church." 
 
 5. " The next trait to be noted is humanity. 
 Afi'ectionate sympathy with the sons and daughters 
 of sorrow, is ever allowed to be a quality of God's 
 
34 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 true and faithful servants/' This is symbolized by 
 the third Zoon, which "had a face as a man." This 
 bespeaks also, intelligence and wisdom. 
 
 6. " The fourth living creature was like a flying 
 eagle." This bird, aptly called the king of birds, 
 as is the lion king of hearts, " by the elevation of 
 his flight, and the keenness of his vision, beautifully 
 represents that loftiness of soul, that singleness of 
 heart, that quickness of penetration and prompt- 
 ness of action, which well become those men who 
 minister in Gpd's great name, and act as sentinels, ' 
 to guard his timid flock in this wilderness world." 
 
 7. "And the four Zoa had each of them six 
 wings about him." The angels of the churches, 
 " the heralds of mercy to a ruined world, ought to 
 move with rapidity." Nor would it be easy to de- 
 vise a symbol of this characteristic more expressive 
 than this. Universally is the wing employed for 
 the purpose ; and this is intensified here by the 
 supernatural number ; as if to triple the motive 
 power and so the motion itself. The command is, 
 " Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to 
 every creature. ' 
 
 8. "And they are full of eyes within." These 
 set forth the high conscientiousness of the Chris- 
 tian ministry. " They are to be self-searching men. 
 They are required, first of all, to examine them- 
 selves, before making a tender of their services to 
 the Captain of salvation. 
 
 9. "They rest not day and night." This surely 
 
 \ 
 
, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 35 
 
 does not intimate a restless, uneasy temperament, 
 like a tiger in a cage ; but simply, their incessant 
 employment in their heavenly work, saying, " Holy, 
 Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, 
 and is to come." Here we learn the burden of 
 their labours to be, the proclamation of the doctrine 
 of the Trinity in the unity of the divine essence ; 
 for the phrase, ivliicli was^ and is, and is to come, 
 is really a translation of the sacred and incommuni- 
 cable name Jehovah : and this fundamental doctrine, 
 on which the entire edifice of gospel grace is built, 
 is their never ceasing song. Reject this doctrine 
 and all is gone : salvation is a dream. Retain it, 
 expand it, build on it ; and you have the entire 
 system of evangelical truth. 
 
 Thus, we have presented in these apparitions of 
 living things, all the leading attributes and qualifi- 
 cations of gospel ministers. The Zoa are, in our 
 opinion, symbolical of that living agency by which 
 the dispensation of mercy is carried on in the world. 
 We have not here, indeed, the name cherubim ; but 
 we have the substantial essence of the thing ; we 
 have the slain lamb, between the Zoa and the throne ; 
 and we shall find in our retrograde movement, indu- 
 bitable evidence of their identity. We shall also 
 see, that in all cases where the cherubim are intro- 
 duced, it is in connection with a dispensation of 
 mercy — the issuing forth of the glad tidings of 
 peace and salvation to lost men. 
 
 Ezekiel's vision, like John's, was seen in heaven 
 
36 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 — ''the heavens were opened and I saw visions of 
 God." i. 1. In his first and detailed account, he 
 does not use the word cherubim, any more than does 
 John. But in chap. ix. he introduces the name in 
 the singular, and in chap. x. in the plural. His de- 
 scription is of a complicated machine or car of tri- 
 umph, and is not a little difficult to be understood. 
 Without entering into minute detail, our purpose 
 will be answered by a general statement and such 
 detail only as will identify the vision as to substance, 
 with that of John. Taking the whole in its unity, 
 it is a car, bearing a glorious throne with " the ap- 
 pearance of the hkeness of the glory of the Lord : " 
 its wheels so constructed as to move, hke a chair on 
 castors, in any direction without turning. It is 
 generally, and I believe correctly, understood to 
 symbolize the divine providence — the machinery by 
 which our Redeemer rules in and spreads his church : 
 and herein it contains the substance of the great 
 roll seen by John in the angel's hand. 
 
 But our concern is with the items which corres- 
 pond with the Zoa of the apocalypse : and here we 
 have : 1, The four living creatures ; 2, They are 
 full of eyes on their wheels round them, i. 18. So 
 are their wings, x. 12. 3, "They four had the face 
 of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side : 
 and they four had the face of an ox on the left side ; 
 they four also had the face of an eagle," i. 10. We 
 learn, moreover, that the general form of their body 
 was that of a man, v. 5. "And this was their ap- 
 
THE GOSPEL AOCORDIN(i TO MOSES. 37 
 
 pearance ; they had the likeness of a man." They 
 differ from the Zoa of John, in that "every one had 
 four faces/ and every one had four wings," v. 6. 
 Here, as in John, is set forth the four characteristics 
 of the faithful minitti-y, courage, humanity, patient 
 endurance, and elevation of soul and purpose. They 
 are perpetually active as well as vigilant. The 
 brightness and effulgence — "and as the bow that is 
 in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appear- 
 ance of the brightness round about," i. 28. 
 
 In short, it is impossible to read and compare the 
 Old Testament and the New Testament prophets, in 
 this matter, without reaching the conviction that, in 
 substance, they are the same ; and by consequence, 
 symbolize and set forth a dispensation of mercy. 
 Accordingly, in chap, ii., Ezekiel gives an account 
 of his commission : " Son of man, I send thee to the 
 children of Israel." And of this mission he gives 
 an account which runs throuojh his entire book. 
 
 Before we return to Moses it is proper here to note 
 the seraphim of Isaiah. Chap. vi. 1—3: "In the 
 year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sit- 
 ting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train 
 filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim ; 
 each one had six wings ; with twain he covered his 
 face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with 
 twain he did fly.^. And one cried unto another and 
 said. Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts : the 
 whole earth is full of his glory." 
 
 We can hardly restrain the remark, that the vis- 
 
 4 
 
38 THE TABERXACLE, OR 
 
 ions and prophecies connected with this triumphal, 
 wheeled car, surmounted by its brilliant throne and 
 bow, were largely then future and are still future. 
 The restoration of the Jcavs and the wars of Gog 
 and Magog, see chap. 37, 38 and 39, are certainly 
 yet future : "it shall be in the latter days." Hence 
 these wheels and wings, indicating rapid movements 
 in all directions, represent all the agencies employed^ 
 by Him who sitteth on his throne. These are the 
 days of church extension, of Bible Societies, and 
 missions. 
 
 The word Sercqyld'in signifies hurnmg ones, — 
 bright, fiery-coloured, flaming ones. Their office and 
 wings evince their identity with the living creatures 
 of John and Ezekiel. Jehovah is also seen upon 
 his throne, the seat or source of power, whence pro- 
 ceeds the ministerial commission. Accordingly, in 
 immediate coiniection with this vision, Isaiah receives 
 that heavenly charge, which he fulfilled in such a 
 holy manner. "Then flew one of the seraphim 
 unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he 
 had taken with the tongs from ofi" the altar, and 
 he laid it upon my lips. Also I heard the voice of 
 the Lord, saying. Whom shall we send and who will 
 go for us ? Then said I, Here am I, send me. And 
 he said, Go, tell this people ;" go and preach the 
 gospel, and warn sinners to flee from the wrath to 
 come. Here again, the cherubic symbols are -exhib- 
 ited in connection with the delivery of the ministe- 
 rial commission. .:. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO IVIOSES. 39 
 
 In these three manifestations of the cherubim. 
 
 they are seen in vision. There was no embodiment 
 of them in any actual, material substances. They 
 were simj^ly ideal representations, made to pass be- 
 fore, or, as it were, into the minds of the prophets. 
 So also was it at first with Moses. The patterns of 
 the entire tabernacle and its furniture were exhibited 
 to him in the mount, and so vividly and indelibly 
 impressed upon his mind, that he could direct the 
 construction of them all in actual material sub- 
 stances : "And look that thou make them after their 
 pattern, which was showed thee in the mount." 
 Exod. XXV. 40. This is, therefore, the only in- 
 stance of an embodiment in wood, stone, gold, silver, 
 brass, cloth, or skins, of the symbolic cherubim, and 
 their attendant implements, used in the worship of 
 Jehovah. Permanency and intelligibility by the 
 people, is doubtless a prominent idea in this embodi- 
 ment. 
 
 What then are the Mosaic or Sinaitic cherubim 
 designed and adapted to set forth ? 
 
 1. They spring from the mercy-seat ; are a unit 
 with it ; and are upheld by it. Here are symbol- 
 ized, (1.) The issuance of the messengers of salva- 
 tion from the Saviour himself. "All power in 
 heaven and earth is given unto me, go ye therefore 
 and preach the gospel to every creature." (2.) They 
 are of the same piece of gold ; this teaches the offi- 
 cial unity of Christ and his ministry ; " That they 
 may be one, even as we are one : I in them, and 
 
40 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one ; 
 and that the world may know that thou hast sent 
 me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me." 
 (3.) Permanent and constant dependence : as the 
 cherubim rest their weight on the mercy-seat, so 
 ministers of the gospel depend upon Christ — "Lo, 
 I am with you alway." 
 
 2. They have the human form and face. These 
 proclaim the intelligence and kindly sympathies of 
 the men who minister in holy things. 
 
 3. They have the lion-face — the courage necessary 
 to meet and defy danger and death. 
 
 4. They have the ox-face — patient endurance of 
 labour and toil. 
 
 5. They have the eagle-face — symbol of intelli- 
 gence and lofty aims. 
 
 6. They have the wings, Avhich spread out over 
 the mercy-seat, and betoken their readiness and 
 ability to waft to all the world the glad tidings, that 
 the law has been fulfilled and justification secured 
 to all who believe in their jewel-crowned King. 
 
 7. They have their faces turned downward to the 
 mercy-seat and -the law it covers. This indicates 
 their chief study of these things, into which the 
 angels desire to look. 
 
 8. Their faces are turned inward, which teaches 
 the restrictions and limitations of that dispensation : 
 whereas those of Ezekiel and John turn outward and 
 in all directions ; because the times referred to by 
 their ministry are aggressive : the Sinai restrictions 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 41 
 
 of the Abraliamic covenant — that middle wall of 
 partition is broken down and the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant goes forth to make Abraham the father of 
 many nations, the heir of the world. Thus all the 
 essential parts of the cherubim of John and of Eze- 
 kiel are here found : and were we to run into the 
 detail of every part — the pins, and hooks, and rings, 
 and cups, and tongs, and snuff-dishes, &c. — about 
 the tabernacle, w^e should find even more complicated 
 variety than in Ezekiel's vision. 
 
 Now all this is intimately connected with the di- 
 vine legation of Moses, which, we have seen, not- 
 withstanding its fiery law, is pre-eminently a mis- 
 sion and a ministration of mercy. 
 
 One case more remains — the cherubim of Eden. 
 Gen. iii. 24 : " So he drove out the man : and he 
 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." 
 
 Note here the brevity of the record. These im- 
 aginary beings are not described as things new and 
 ill understood ; but as if the expected readers of 
 the history were familiar with their general appear- 
 ance and uses. This was undoubtedly the fact. A 
 knowledge of these symbols was handed down by 
 tradition, just as the rite of sacrifices was ; and the 
 meaning of both. Adam was cotemporary with 
 Methuselah two hundred and foiiy-three years; 
 Methuselah with Shem ninety-eight years; Shem 
 with Isaac fifty-two years; and of course within 
 
 4 -^ 
 
42 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 eight years of the birth of Jacob, who was one hun- 
 dred and thirty years old at the descent into Egypt ; 
 which leaves but one hundred and thirty to the 
 birth of Moses. How easy then was it to transmit 
 a sacred religious observance to this time ; and to 
 preserve its meaning in a religious community ? 
 Adam, Methuselah, Shem, Jacob ; these four could 
 bring it down to within one hundred and fifty years 
 of the time when Moses had arrived at manhood. 
 Therefore it is that he presents it as a matter with 
 which his present and prospective readers were not 
 unacquainted. Subsequent details surely authorize 
 their matter to be understood of the briefer state- 
 ment before us. 
 
 There is a traditionary exposition of the work of 
 the cherubim, which we feel constrained to reject. 
 It is that they are flaming angels, set as guards to 
 ward off and prevent man from approaching and 
 attempting tt) seize upon and eat the fruit of this 
 tree, in the vain hope of gaining life by it. As- 
 suming that the tree was a sacrament of the cove- 
 nant of works, the agency of these living creatures 
 is to prevent men from attempting salvation by 
 clinging to that covenant. " To this there are two 
 or three insuperable objections. First, the word 
 translated heep, never signifies to keep off — to drive 
 away ; but generally, if not always, to keep in 
 safety; to protect; to defend. In Gen. ii. 15, it 
 means, to watch, and take care of. Adam was 
 placed in the garden "to dress it and to keep it." 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 43 
 
 " For I knoAv him," says God, concerning Abraham, 
 " that he will command his children and his house- 
 hold after him ; and they sliall keep the way of the 
 Lord." Chap, xviii. 10. ''Because that Abraham 
 kept my charge," xxvi. 5. "I will again feed and 
 keep thy flock," xxx. 31. And God said unto La- 
 ban, " Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either 
 good or bad, — that thou speak not harshly to him," 
 xxxi. 24. Let them " lay up corn in the land of 
 Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities," xli. 
 35. These are all the instances of the word's oc- 
 currence (according to Trommius) in Genesis : and 
 they clearly show that the sense is not to keep off — 
 to drive atvay — but to preserve. So, in the passage 
 in question, it must mean, to keep up a knowledge 
 of the way of life ; — to instruct men how they must 
 walk if they will enjoy life — to keep constantly in 
 the way which leads to it, — to walk in Christ who 
 is the way, that they may enjoy him as the life." 
 
 Second. We find no instance in the Bible where 
 cherub or cherubim means an angel, that is, a spir- 
 itual, created being, not connected with .a body. 
 
 Third. The tree of life is Christ, in communion 
 with whom is life. The tree in the garden was a 
 symbol of that life ; and the tree of life in Ezekiel's 
 and John's visions, clearly exhibits him as the bless- 
 edness of the souls of men : his fruit is perpetual, 
 and his leaves for the healing of the nations. 
 Therefore, to exclude men from him could not be 
 the work of holy beings. See Lee. XL 
 
44 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 It remains only to repeat that this cherubic vision 
 is given, in immediate connection with the first rev- 
 elation of mercy — '' he shall bruise thy head " — the 
 destruction of Satan's kingdom and tyranny over 
 man : and the means of this destruction — " thou 
 shalt bruise his heel," — his inferior nature shall 
 suffer ; and of this suffering, bloody sacrifices, di- 
 vinely appointed at this time, are the standing and 
 most expressive symbol. 
 
 "We therefore conclude that the Ark, inclusive of 
 the Mercy-seat, is the grand type of the Messiah ; 
 as FULFILLER of preceptive laiv for lost men ; as 
 "the Lord our Righteousness ;" as the justifier 
 of all that believe in him. 
 
 This gives us the reason why it is called the Ark 
 of the Testimony. The ten words are God's testi- 
 mony to truth and right, and against all that is false 
 and unrighteous. The Mediator w^ho delivered the 
 tables of stone to Moses is called a witness. " These 
 things saith the Amen ; the faithful and true wit- 
 ness," Rev. iii. 14. And in Rev. xix. 10, the angel 
 says, " I am thy fellow-servant, and of th}^ brethren 
 that have the testimony of Jesus : worship God : 
 for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 
 And in Malachi iii., the Saviour calls himself " a 
 swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the 
 adulterers, and against false swearers, &c." So 
 was he the subject of prophetic promise. " Behold, 
 I have given him for a tvitness to the people, a 
 leader and commander to the people," Is. Iv. 4. The 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 45 
 
 stones are called the testimony — " put into the Ark, 
 the testimony " — " two tables of testimony." Con- 
 sequently the Ark of the Testimony and the taber- 
 nacle of the testimony — " the tabernacle of wit- 
 ness " are mentioned in several places — as Num. 
 xvii. 7, 8, and xviii. 2. In short, Christ's fulfilling 
 the law is the highest conceivable testimony to its 
 importance in reference to God's government and 
 man's salvation. 
 
46 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 TJie Table for the Bread of Faces. 
 
 This was made of the same materials with the Ark, 
 Exod. xxxvii. 10-16. It was thirtj-six inches long, 
 eighteen wide, and twenty-seven high. Its border 
 of network and ornamental crown were similar to 
 those of the Ark ; as also were its rings in the four 
 corners of the feet, and staves for transportation ; 
 and all overlaid with pure gold. " And he made 
 the vessels which were upon the table, his dishes, 
 and his spoons, and his bowls, and his covers to 
 cover withal, of pure- gold." On it v/ere placed 
 every Sabbath twelve cakes of bread. '' And thou 
 shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: 
 two tenth-deals shall be in one cake. And thou 
 shalt set them in two rows, upon the pure table be- 
 fore the Lord. And thou shalt put pure frankin- 
 cense upon each row, that it may be upon the bread 
 for a memorial, even an offering made by fire, unto 
 the Lord. Every Sabbath he shall set it (the bread) 
 in order before the Lord continually, being taken 
 from the children of Israel by an everlasting cove- 
 nant. And it shall be Aaron's and his sons', and 
 they shall eat it in the holy place : for it is most 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 47 
 
 holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by- 
 fire by a peri^etual statute," Lev. xxiv. 5-9. Here 
 remark, (1) bread is the staple of life. The manna 
 is called "bread from heaven." In the present 
 case the bread is made of fine flour, ground between 
 the millstones. (2) It is most likely unleavened, 
 though the book nowhere aflirms this expressly. 
 The passover bread, and most, if not all else offered 
 unto the Lord, was unleavened — Lev. ii. 5-11 — " a 
 meat offering (not flesh, but bread) baken in a pan, 
 it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, part is burned 
 for a memorial, and that which is left of the meat 
 offering shall be Aaron's and his sons.' No meat 
 offering, which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shall 
 be made with leaven : for ye shall burn no leaven, 
 nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made 
 by fire." And, vi. 14-17, " This is the law of the 
 meat offering — he shall take of it his handful, of 
 the flour of the meat ofiering — and shall burn it 
 upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memo- 
 rial of it, unto the Lord. And the remainder thereof 
 shall Aaron and his sons eat : with unleavened bread 
 shall it be eaten in the holy place ; in the court of 
 the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. 
 It shall not be baken with leaven." It hardly ad- 
 mits of a doubt. The shew bread was unleavened. 
 
 (3.) It remained on the table from one Sabbath 
 until the next ; even on their journeys it was not 
 omitted. (See Num. iv. 7.) Therefore is it called 
 sheiv bread — bread of faces — bread continually before 
 
48 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 faces of the Lord. This renders it the more likely 
 to be unleavened ; for, in that climate where the 
 manna remaining over night spoiled, leavened bread 
 a week old would be sour. 
 
 (4.) The frankincense was probably placed in 
 some of the dishes provided and was removed and 
 burnt in the censers or on the incense altar, on the 
 Sabbath, and Avill be noticed when we shall describe 
 that article of furniture. 
 
 Let us inquire into the typical meaning of the 
 table, its furniture and its contents. 
 
 In general, it exhibits Messiah as the bread of 
 God, that comes down from heaven and sustains the 
 life of the church. John vi. 35-39 : " And Jesus 
 said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that 
 eateth of this bread shall live for ever." But particu- 
 larly, (1) The wood and the gold, as throughout, 
 symbolize the human and the divine natures in the 
 person of Christ. (2) The sufferings of the Saviour 
 may be alluded to in the grinding of the flour and 
 the action of the fire in baking. (3) The Twelve 
 cakes or loaves are the twelve tribes of Israel, for 
 each and all of whom bread was provided. (4) The 
 frankincense when offered expresses prayers and 
 thanksgivings of the church. (5) The continual 
 presence of the bread is a guarantee, that spiritual 
 food shall never fail, but a store is perpetually on 
 hand. (6) The exchange of the bread and the priests 
 eating it in the holy place on the Sabbath sets forth 
 clearly and forcibly, that abundant provision of 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 49 
 
 spiritual food and nourishment v^h'cli the Lord's 
 day always brings with it to the people of his love. 
 
 (7) Its exclusive appropriation to the priests inti- 
 mates the limited privileges of the people ; and pre- 
 pares for the contrast of a later day, when they be- 
 come elevated as kings and priests unto God. 
 
 (8) The unleavened bread indicates the absence of 
 any process of decay. Leaven is the first step to- 
 wards dissolution, and its prohibition assuredly inti- 
 mates the absence of ail tendency to corruption in 
 the Redeemer, who, even in a physical sense, saw no 
 corruption. Does not this teach that in the sacra- 
 mental supper, we ought not to use leavened bread, 
 bread in the first stage toward utter putrefaction ? 
 
 Moreover the other idea, suggested by the un- 
 leavened bread of the passover as an indication of 
 being hastily driven out on a pilgrimage journey, is 
 still applicable : we are travelling through a strange 
 land toward the heavenly Canaan. 
 
50 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TJie Candlestick. 
 
 ExoD. xxxvii. 17-24. '' And he made the candle- 
 stick of pure gold : of beaten work made he the can- 
 dlestick ; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his 
 knops, and his flowers, were of the same. And six 
 branches going out of the sides thereof; three 
 branches of the candlestick out of the one side 
 thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out 
 of the other side thereof: three bowls made after 
 the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knop and a 
 flower ; and three bowls made like almonds in another 
 branch : so throughout the six branches going out 
 of the candlestick. And in the candlestick were 
 four bowls made like almonds, his knops and his 
 flowers : And a knop under two branches of the 
 same, and a knop under two branches of the same, 
 and a knop under two branches of the same, accord- 
 ing to the six branches going out of it. Their 
 knops and their branches were of the same : all of 
 it was one beaten work of pure gold. And he made 
 his seven lamps, and his snufl"ers, and his snuff"- 
 dishes, of pure gold. Of a talent of pure gold 
 made he it, and all the vessels thereof." 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 51 
 
 This gives us a very distinct general notion of 
 the lamp-stand. The four bowls made like almonds 
 give the only difficulty in our conception ; they 
 are, I suppose, part of the one piece of beaten gold 
 and so adjusted as to contain the oil : and are there- 
 fore of similar use with the two olive trees in Zecha- 
 riah's vision, '' which through the golden pipes empty 
 the golden oil out of themselves." Zech. iv. 2, 12. 
 
 We have a base, and an upright shaft, and the 
 three branches on each side suitably ornamented 
 with knops and flowers ; and each, like the main 
 shaft, terminating in an ornamental cup or tulip- 
 shaped receptacle for the lamp. For the 23d verse 
 describes the lamps as entirely separate from the 
 candlestick itself ; as really so, as the other items 
 mentioned : " He made his seven lamps, and his snuff- 
 ers, and his snuff-dishes." The lamps, or burners, 
 being separate, could easily be removed for cleans- 
 ing, trimming and filling. 
 
 Our position is, that Christ, in his prophetic 
 office, is herein typified. He communicates to us all 
 the true knowledge of God and of eternal things, 
 which we possess. He lights our way into the 
 holiest of all. His '' commandment is a lamp, and 
 the law is light." He it was who 'said, Let there be 
 light, and light was. "Unto you that fear my 
 name, shall the Son of righteousness arise with heal- 
 ing in his wings." " This is the true light which 
 lighteth every man that cometh into the world." 
 " He teacheth as never man taught." 
 
52 THE TABERNACLE, OK 
 
 It may be said, I know, that "the seven golden 
 candlesticks are the seven churches," Rev. i. 20 ; 
 and the argument and inference may be, that here 
 too, the candlestick is the symbol of the church : as 
 He tauo;ht, "Ye are the lio-ht of the world." This 
 is true, but it does not militate against the doctrine 
 that Christ is typified by the candlestick. For all 
 the light the church possesses and radiates is re- 
 flected from the sun. "Ye were some time dark- 
 ness, but now are ye light in the Lord ; walk as 
 children of light." This is intimated in the fact 
 that it is all pure gold : that the lamps are seven, 
 the mystic number of perfection; — "seven lamps 
 of fire burning before the throne, which are the 
 seven spirits of God." Rev. v. 5. The Holy Ghost 
 is sent and enlightens sinners, as he is the Spirit of 
 God in Christ Jesus. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 53 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Incense Altar. 
 
 ExoD. xxxvii. 25-28 : "And he made the incense 
 altar of shittim wood : the length of it was a cubit, 
 and the breadth of it a cubit ; it was four square ; 
 and two cubits was the height of it ; the horns there- 
 of were of the same. And he overlaid it with pure 
 gold, both the top of it and the sides thereof round 
 about, and the horns of it : also he made unto it a 
 crown of gold round about." A little table, eighteen 
 inches square and twice that in height, with a horn- 
 like projection in each corner, all covered with pure 
 gold, and the metal wrought in ornamental work 
 around the edge, is the simple idea of the incense 
 altar ; to which is afl&xed the rings ; and accompany- 
 ing which are the staves for transportation. "And 
 he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense 
 of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothe- 
 cary." "And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet in- 
 cense every morning ; when he dresseth the lamps, 
 he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron 
 lighteth the lamps at even, he shiiU burn incense 
 upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord through- 
 out your generations," Exod. xxx. 7, 8. "Let my 
 
 5 * 
 
54 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 prayer be set forth before thee as incense ; and the 
 upUfting of my hands as the evening sacrifice," Psal. 
 cxli. 2. And John's vision. Rev. viii. 3, becomes 
 expository. "And there was given unto the angel 
 much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers 
 of the saints upon the golden altar which was 
 before the throne." There is not, nor can there 
 reasonably be, any diversity of opinion as to the 
 symbol meaning. The perfume and smoke of the 
 burning incense ascend, a beautiful type of the prayers 
 and supplications of the saints ; and the altar, its 
 censers and its implements all are a type of our 
 Redeemer as the intercessor and advocate of his 
 people before the divine throne. "We have an Ad- 
 vocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ, the right- 
 eous." Through him our supplications pass up, and 
 by his advocacy the cries of our necessities become 
 prevalent ; and from the Father, for his sake, come 
 down all the blessings needed in the church. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 55 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Tlie Altar of Burnt-Offering, 
 
 This was a square frame of boards, seven and an 
 half feet on the sides and four and an half high. 
 "And he made the horns thereof on the four corners 
 of it ; the horns were of the same ; and he overlaid 
 it with brass. And he made all the vessels of the 
 altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basins, and 
 the flesh-hooks, and the fire-pans : all the vessels 
 thereof made he of brass. And he made for the 
 altar a brazen grate of net-work, under the compass 
 thereof, beneath unto the midst of it." Here we 
 have no mention of net or crown work along the 
 outer edges of the sides, as in the golden covered 
 furniture ; because the brazen grate, being separa- 
 ble and hanging down inside, had no need of such 
 work to prevent its contents from falling out. Both 
 the grate and the square frame had rings on the 
 sides, at the corners, and their respective staves 
 overlaid with brass, for their transportation. 
 
 The altar of burnt-offerings is the great and fear- 
 ful type of Christ, as the suffering Saviour. It ex- 
 hibits to our eyes "Our passover sacrificed for us." 
 "He, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself 
 
56 
 
 without spot to God," Heb. ix. 14. ''And hath 
 given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to 
 God for a sweet smeUing savour," Eph. v. 2. As 
 the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, he 
 had a fearful work to perform ; and all that belongs 
 to the rendering of satisfaction to penal justice for 
 lost men, is here symbolized. "For it became him, 
 for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, 
 in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Cap- 
 tain of their salvation perfect through sufferings," 
 Heb. ii. 10. The burning altar, with its victim, is 
 Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
 
 The doctrine of sacrifices has a divine origin. 
 Very extensively, in the heathen world, has the cus- 
 tom prevailed of ofiering animals in sacrifice to their 
 deities. A living animal, a sheep, a goat, an ox, is 
 brought to the priest ; its life is taken, and its body, 
 in whole or part, is burned to ashes or cinders. Not 
 unfrequently, by a terrible perversion, the victims 
 ofiered were human beings. Every year, in the 
 month of January, our own ancestors in the British 
 Isles offered ninety-nine men in sacrifice to their 
 imaginary gods. I^he natives of Mexico had such 
 practice when discovered by the Spaniards. The 
 nations of ancient Canaan abounded in this fearful 
 sin — they made their own children pass through the 
 fire unto Moloch. And God, by the mouth of 
 Moses, legislated on this subject. Lev. xx. 2 : 
 "Whosover he be that giveth any of his seed unto 
 Moloch, shall surely be put to death." Neverthe- 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 57 
 
 less it was often done : Even as late as the reign of 
 Manasseh, before Christ seven hundred years, this 
 dreadful crime was perpetrated in Israel : And 
 Manasseh "made his son pass through the fire," 2 
 Kings xxi. 6. How deep the depravity, how blinded 
 the conscience, how terrible its lashes, to drive men 
 into such enormity of crime ! Now all these sacri- 
 fices were associated with the conception of rendering 
 God propitious. But how could this be ? Is it con- 
 ceivable that the slaughtering of an innocent lamb 
 and the burning of its body, or the murdering of an 
 innocent child, should be pleasing to God, its Crea- 
 tor ? Could reason dictate such a course ? On the 
 contrary, reason as well as revelation, condemns it. 
 "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow 
 myself before the high God ? Shall I come before 
 him with burnt-oiferings, with calves of a year old ? 
 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or 
 with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my 
 first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body 
 for the sin of my soul ? " Micah vi. 6, 7. If human 
 sacrifices are abhorrent to reason and to the Author 
 of reason, how do we account for them ? If the de- 
 struction of even the dumb brute, and its unproduc- 
 tive consumption, is condemned by reason, whence 
 the custom so general over the earth ? Ye men ! who 
 proclaim the adequacy of reason, unaided by revela- 
 tion, to guide man in the paths of holy duty, here is 
 a problem for you. How do you account for the 
 general prevalence of bloody sacrifices ? 
 
58 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 Reason is dumb. It remains for revelation to 
 speak ; she lifts the veil ; and all is intelligible. 
 This is a divine institution, ordained of God in 
 paradise, for the specific purpose of holding up to 
 view the promised seed of the woman, as the vica- 
 rious substitute, suffering in the law-place and room 
 of lost men, that thej may escape the dominion 
 of the curse. God is the Lord of life and has 
 supreme dominion over everything that lives. He 
 therefore may do w4iat he will with his own. Ac- 
 cordingly he appointed the sacrifice of animals, as 
 types and representations of Christ's offering up 
 himself a sacrifice for us. He clothed our first 
 parents in the skins of the first sacrifices, ere they 
 were expelled from the garden ; and we find Abel 
 bringing the firstlings of his flock and of the fat 
 thereof, an offering to the Lord : and this, in the 
 faith of the promised Messiah. See Heb. xi. 4. 
 
 This exposition is demonstrated in the habitual 
 practice of the Hebrew worship. Lev. i. 4: "And 
 he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt- 
 offering ; and it shall be accepted for him to make 
 atonement for him." So Lev. iii. 2, 8, 13, and iv. 
 4, 15, 24, 29, 33 ; Num. viii. 12. So, of the scape- 
 goat. Lev. xvi. 21: "Aaron shall lay both his 
 hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess 
 over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, 
 and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting 
 them upon the head of the goat." And thus " The 
 Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. ' ' 1 Pet. 
 
THE aOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 59 
 
 ii. 24 : " Who his own self bare our sins in his own 
 body on the tree." "Behold the Lamb of God, 
 which taketh away the sin of the world." "For 
 he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no 
 sin ; that we might be made the righteousness of 
 God in him," 2 Cor. v. 21. " For it is not possible 
 that the blood of bulls and of goats should take 
 away sins," Heb. x. 4. But we are sanctified 
 through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ 
 once, V. 14. Thus satisfaction is rendered to di- 
 vine justice — " The wages of sin is death " — and 
 this death Jesus, as our Surety, endured for us, as 
 a true vicarious substitute. " For Christ also hath 
 once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that 
 he might bring us to God, being put to death in the 
 flesh, but quickened by the Spirit," 1 Pet. iii. 18. 
 We repeat the blessed doctrine — The Altar of burnt- 
 offering with all its implements, and all its services, 
 represents the seed of the woman, the Lord our Re- 
 deemer, in his official character, as our High Priest 
 offering up himself a sacrifice for our sins. 
 
 In this he is the legal head and surety of the 
 saved sinner, on whom the curse of the law had lain. 
 The worshipper who brings his sacrifice acknow- 
 ledges his own life to be forfeited ; and expresses 
 his faith, that Christ typified by the sacrifice is sub- 
 stituted ;' that is, is recognized in law as taking his 
 place and suffering for him. There is nothing like 
 a change or transfer of moral character intimated. 
 This were an idea too absurd to be believed for a 
 
60 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 moment — yea, almost too silly and wicked to be 
 conceived. But there is a transfer of guilt, i. e., 
 of liahility to suffer punishment. And this is the 
 only conceivable sense in which " Christ bore our 
 sins in his own body on the tree," the only sense in 
 which he became a sin-oifering for us. Guilt is the 
 bond that binds the sinner to the stake for everlast- 
 ing burning : Christ, in wondrous love, unlooses 
 this cord from the sinner and binds it around him- 
 self. He dies in our place, and having said, " It is 
 finished," the guilt of our sin is gone for ever. 
 Hence it follows, by an inevitable necessity of logic, 
 that our sins can never rise in the judgment against 
 us. Justice eternally bars the possibility of this ; 
 and pardon to' the believer follows : a pardon bought 
 with blood — with blood divine : yet to the sinner, 
 as from Christ, a perfect gratuity : — by grace ye 
 are saved. 
 
 Thus, properly speaking, is the sinner saved: he 
 is rescued from the curce ; he is delivered from the 
 wrath of God ; " snatched from hell and the grave." 
 Now, it may be well to note in closing, this is not 
 justification. Another symbol — the Ark — sets forth 
 that idea : positive righteousness, holy action, enti- 
 tles to life everlasting : but the suffering of penal 
 evil to the full only delivers the sinner from penal 
 suffering. This we shall see more distinctly when 
 we come to combine all these symbols into a grand 
 unity, and to point out the relations of each to each, 
 and to the comprehensive whole. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 61 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Uie Laver and It is yoot. 
 
 The word laver is of Latin origin, and signifies 
 a washer, or wash-bowl, Exod. xxxviii. 8 : " And 
 he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of 
 brass, of the looking-glasses of the women, which 
 assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the con- 
 gregation." "And, chap. xL 30, 31, 32, he set the 
 laver between the tent of the congregation and the 
 altar, and put water there, to wash withal. And 
 Moses, and Aaron and his sons washed their hands 
 and their feet thereat. When thej went into the 
 tent of the congregation, and when they came near 
 unto the altar, they washed; as the Lord com- 
 manded Moses." And chap. xxx. 19-21 : "For 
 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their 
 feet thereat. When they go into the tabernacle of 
 the congregation, they shall wash with water, that 
 they die not : or when they come near to the altar 
 to minister, to burn offering made by fire to the 
 Lord. 'So they shall wash their hands and their 
 feet, that they die not." 
 
 Let us note the material — ''brass; of the looking- 
 glasses." A strange transmutation this, looking- 
 
62 THE TABEP.XACl.E. OR 
 
 glasses into brass ! Persons disposed to cavil at 
 Scripture have noticed this as an absurdity : and 
 have also alleged, to Moses' prejudice, that glass 
 was not known in the world when he is claimed to 
 have written — nearly fifteen centuries before Christ. 
 But infidelity gains nothing by such petty cavils. 
 All we have to do, in order to obviate both these 
 supposed difficulties, is to acknowledge a slight infe- 
 licity in our English translation, and to correct it. 
 The word translated looking-glasses, simply means 
 mirrors, or reflectors, which were made in Moses' 
 day of metal, of brass chiefly, though probably with 
 a mixture of other metal. These metallic reflectors 
 or mirrors would be made of very finely purified 
 metal ; Avhich was therefore very suitable for the 
 purpose of an instrument for cleansing. 
 
 It seems probable that the laver and his foot were 
 separable. Possibly the wash-bowl was composed 
 from the refined metal of reflectors ; and its foot of 
 a coarser material. This idea of two pieces is 
 strengthened by the fact that no rings and staves 
 are provided for its transportation : leaving us to 
 infer that they were packed up with other things 
 when the camp removed. 
 
 Nor have we any detail as to its shape, or dimen- 
 sions, or ornaments. The brazen sea of Solomon 
 was fifteen feet in diameter : and he constructed 
 ten lavers. As extreme cleansing was required, it 
 is not at all probable that the priests washed their 
 hands and their feet by putting them into the bowl 
 
THE GUSPEL ACCUKDING TO MOSES. 63 
 
 itself. Much more likely, there were separate 
 smaller bowls, which Avere emptied after each ablu- 
 tion ; or, it is probable '' his foot " was a bason be- 
 low the laver, with means of letting off the fouled 
 water, and of letting down from the bowl above a 
 new supply for the next person. 
 
 Further, we notice the high importance of these 
 washings. The priest wdio neglected them perilled 
 his own life ; giving awful sanction to the command 
 — "Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." 
 
 "We now enquire for the symbolical meaning : 
 and to this the answer is, Christ Jesus as the puri- 
 fier of his church. Among the last messages he 
 delivered by the old prophets, w^as the promise of 
 his personal advent. " But who may abide the day 
 of his coming ? And who shall stand when he ap- 
 peareth ? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like 
 fuller's soap. And he shall sit as a refiner and 
 purifier of silver : and he shall purify the sons of 
 Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they 
 may appear unto the Lord an offering in righteous- 
 ness," Mai. iii. 2, 3. This mission was to display 
 the law of God to his church, and to " give himself 
 for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with 
 the washing of water by the word ; that he might 
 present it to himself a glorious church, not having 
 spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it 
 should be holy and without blemish,'" Eph. v. 25-27. 
 And this glorious work he accomplishes " Not by 
 works of rio;hteousness which we have done, but ac- 
 
64 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 cording to his mercy he saved us, by the washing 
 (we might translate it the laver) of regeneration 
 and renewing of the Holy Ghost," Tit. iii. 5. 
 
 This purification is not from the guilt of sin — by 
 guilt meaning liability to penal evil — to punishment. 
 The burning altar is the exclusive symbol of this 
 idea. But the laver symbolizes Jesus as the puri- 
 fier — the cleanser from moral defilement. The two 
 symbols are entii-ely separate and distinct, but hav- 
 ing their proper relations. 
 
 It doubtless may occur, as an objection to our 
 considering Christ as symbolized by the laver, that 
 the work of sanctification belongs, in the economy 
 of redemption, to the Holy Spirit. This is true, 
 but it is as the Spirit of Christ ; or as sent through 
 him and at his intercession, that the third Person 
 sanctifies the sinner. We hold and teach, that sanc- 
 tification, which begins in regeneration and is con- 
 tinued through life and even in eternal ages, is the 
 work of the Spirit. See Junkin on Sanctification, 
 chap. vii. viii. ix. Still, only for the sufferings 
 symbolized in the burning Altar and the righteous- 
 ness by the Ark, could the Spirit be sent to do this 
 work — " If I go not away, the Comforter, the Spirit, 
 will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send 
 him unto you," Jno. xvi. 7. And our Lord's driving 
 of the hucksters and brokers out of the temple in- 
 dicates this reforming process. He gave much at- 
 tention moreover to the priests and Levites, the 
 scribes and Pharisees — to all engaged in teaching 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 65 
 
 and administering the ordinances and executing the 
 laws. And in the qualifications required for tli .^ 
 apostleship, and for the higher office of evangelists, 
 he procured a great reformation. Even the deacon's 
 office was to be in the hands of holy men, full of 
 the Holy Ghost and of wisdom. Thus he fulfils his 
 own prophecy ; and purifies the sons of Levi ; call- 
 ing into the sacred offices of the church men whom 
 by his Spirit he has sanctified ; and this, with the 
 ulterior view of securing pure teachings and a holy 
 administration. How sacred and solemn the warn- 
 ings to ministers of the word, that, first of all, they 
 should see well to their own conversion, as a prep- 
 aration for the office: and then, for sustenance in 
 the discharge of all official duties, their constant 
 need of sanctifying influences. But for these, con- 
 tained all in the promise, " Lo ! I am with you 
 alway, even to the end of the world," who would 
 not exclaim, "Who is sufficient for these things?" 
 The minister who does not continually resort to the 
 laver will surely not be characterized by presenting 
 unto the Lord offerings in righteousness. 
 
66 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER X, 
 The PHestliood—The Holy Garments. 
 
 From the call of Abniliam, while in Ur of the 
 Chaldees, in the seventieth year of his life, until this 
 Exodus, being four hundred and thirty years, there 
 was no order of official priesthood in the church. 
 The father of the faithful was unquestionably 
 prophet, priest, and king in his own house : so like- 
 wise was it, most probably, with the other tribes and 
 nations. The institutions of the cherubim and sac- 
 rifices ; that to point out to man the way to obtain 
 life by fulfilment of preceptive law, and to perpet- 
 uate the knowledge of that fulfilment for ever ; this, 
 to en:hibit the sufferings of the woman's seed in ful- 
 filment of penal law : the one, to proclaim justifica- 
 tion of life ; the other to teach redemption from 
 death, by the death of the Redeemer himself. 
 These, I say, having been given to man in paradise, 
 with all the necessary explanations of their symbolic 
 meaning, it is not conceivable that Adam should 
 neglect or forget. The garments he and his wife 
 wore must have been a very adequate memento of 
 the covering proclaimed by the cherubim ; and at 
 the same time of the price of blood paid for their 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 67 
 
 deliverance from the curse of the law. It is, there- 
 fore, no random guessing, when we affirm that our 
 unhappy parents — nay, I recal that, for now, exer- 
 cising faith in the promised seed, as they obviously 
 do, they are again a happy pair ; and as being 
 blessed in the hopes of the great salvation, it is no 
 random guess to affirm that they, looking for the 
 promised seed, as they do — saying, I have found it 
 — I have gotten a man from the Lord — would keep 
 up the sacrificial offerings and in presence of the 
 cherubim. After the birth of many children, and 
 especially, after many of these had gone away from 
 the parental abode, and were each, with their fami- 
 lies, pursuing after their bread in the sweat of their 
 faces, Adam must have been to them a ruling, and 
 teaching, and worshipping head-king, prophet and 
 priest. Accordingly, we find them assembling to- 
 gether for public worship : and this coming together 
 and bringing their ofi"erings unto the Lord was, " in 
 process of time," — or, at the end, — the cutting off 
 of days : i. e., most assuredly, on the Sabbath, the 
 only end, heretofore mentioned. And here, we see, 
 Cain brings a mere thank-offering — the fruit of the 
 ground — an acknowledgement simply of fealty 
 offered to the Lord as king : but Abel presents a 
 living sacrifice — " The firstlings of his flock and 
 the fat thereof: and the Lord had respect unto 
 Abel and to his offering." This was manifested, 
 and consisted in its miraculous, spontaneous combus- 
 tion. We are not informed of Adam's officiating, 
 
68 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 or even of his being present on the occasion. But 
 if we mark the brevity of the history and the whole 
 nature of the case, I see not how we can avoid the 
 opinion that he superintended and directed all the 
 general aifairs of his expanding family. 
 
 Now, as it must have been with this family, until 
 it became so numerous, and spread over so large a 
 space, as to render it impracticable for them to meet 
 for worship in one place and to be managed by one 
 superintendent; so, when they, by necessity, estab- 
 lished new and additional places for their Sabbatic 
 assemblages, the patriarchal head of these new tribes 
 or nations would become the prophet, priest, and 
 king; and they would carry along with them the 
 laws, institutions, and forms of worship in which 
 they had been educated. The cherubim they might 
 not remove ; but its symbolic meaning they could 
 not avoid remembering more or less distinctly : and 
 an altar they could erect anywhere. And this is 
 the history of the world, in regard to prophet, priest, 
 and king, for more than twenty-five centuries : ex- 
 cept, perhaps, that in some nations there was an 
 order of priesthood created, separate from the pa- 
 triarchal head. Yet is it very certain that the 
 powers of civil rule and religious influence and con- 
 trol were vested in the same persons. The very 
 words, in various nations, which designate the priest's 
 office, also express civil rule. Joseph's father-in- 
 law was both a prince and a priest. And thus the 
 combination continued down through all Grecian 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 69 
 
 and Roman history. Priests there were in Egypt, 
 and Greece, and Rome ; but an order of priesthood 
 limited to the natural succession of a single family 
 is not, I apprehend, to be found in history at all ; 
 but only in Aaron's line. Melchisedech, who was 
 very probably Shem, was an insulated priest and 
 king of a tribe, but not one by succession in a regu- 
 lar line : neither father, nor mother, nor descent 
 had he in any genealogical line of priesthood. If 
 Shem was the Melchisedeck who met Abraham, and 
 to whom that patriarch paid tithes as his superior, 
 he had learned the ceremonies of the sacred service 
 from his grandfather Methusaleh, with whom he 
 was cotemporary for ninety-eight years. 
 
 Thus the first decisive movement in the history 
 of the world toward the separation of things civil 
 and worldly from things religious and spiritual, is 
 in the Bible and in connection with the true re- 
 ligion. The rights and privileges and duties of men 
 who minister in holy things are clearly defined; 
 and so also of civil afiairs. The king in Israel must 
 keep within his own sphere, lest he meet with a 
 breach, like the son of Abinadab, and give occasion 
 to write on his habitation the sad memorial — Perez- 
 Uzzah, 2 Sam. vi. 7, 8 ; or, as Uzziah, w^hom Aza- 
 riah the priest withstood, saying, '' It appertaineth 
 not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense, but to the 
 priests, the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to 
 burn incense: go out of the sanctuary;" * * * * 
 " And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day 
 
70 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 of liis death," 2 Cliron. xxvi. But this is a matter 
 very different from a nation's ignoring God and set- 
 ting religion at nought : very different from the 
 proverb, " Religion has nothing to do with politics." 
 If the king has no right to minister at the altar, 
 neither has the priest a right to sit in the magis- 
 trate's seat ; but both are under laAv, and bear their 
 proper relations each to each, in the service of 
 God. 
 
 The whole tribe of Levi was consecrated to re- 
 ligious services, or such as subserved religion. 
 " Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them 
 before Aaron the priest, that they may minister 
 unto him." ''And I, behold, I have taken the Le- 
 vites from among the children of Israel instead of 
 all the first-born," Num. iii. The reason is, "Be- 
 cause all the first-born are mine ; for on the day 
 that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, 
 I hallowed unto me all the first-born in Israel, both 
 man and beast : mine they shall be : I am the Lord." 
 " Thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to 
 his sons : they are w^holly given to him out of the 
 children of Israel — to do the service of the taber- 
 nacle — to keep his chai'ge, and the charge of the 
 whole congregation." "And take thou unto thee 
 Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from 
 among the children of Israel, that he may minister 
 unto me in the priest's office," Exod. xxviii. 1. 
 As we have seen in chap, x., the business of the 
 priest is to offer sacrifices of every variety and kind. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDIN(J TO MOSES. 71 
 
 But all these are instructive ; all the priest's works 
 teach some important truths : " And that ye may 
 teach the children of Israel all the statutes which 
 the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of 
 Moses," Lev. x. 11. And in the matter of the lep- 
 rosy, they are directed to " do according to all that 
 the priests the Levites shall teach you," Deut. xxiv. 
 8. And Mai. ii. 7 : " For the priests' lips should 
 keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at 
 his mouth : for he is the messenger of the Lord of 
 hosts." 
 
 As to the various sacrifices, it is not consistent with 
 our plan, nor with the example of Paul, to go into 
 much detail ; and what we do will come up, when we 
 enter upon our composition of the various particulars 
 -into one complete system. We proceed with 
 
 The holy garments. " Thou shalt make holy gar- 
 ments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for 
 beauty. And these are the garments which they 
 shall make : a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, 
 and a broidered coat, a mitre and a girdle," Exod. 
 xxviii. 2-4. These now in the order of this text — 
 afterwards reversing this order. 
 
 1. The breast plate consists of a ground work of 
 fine twined linen, doubled, and about eight inches 
 square. "Four square shall it be, being doubled ; 
 a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall 
 be the breadth thereof." Upon this foundation is 
 wrought elegant embroidery of gold, of blue, and of 
 purple, and of scarlet— "the gold they did beat into 
 
72 
 
 THE TABERXACLE, OR 
 
 thin plates, and cut it into wires." Upon or inserted 
 into this "cunning work" are settings of stones, 
 even four rows of stones : the first row^ shall be a 
 sardius, or cornelian, a topaz, and a carbuncle. 
 And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, 
 and a diamond. And the third row a ligure, an 
 agate, and an amethyst ; and the fourth row a beryl, 
 an onyx, and a jasper : they shall be set in gold in 
 their inclosings," Exod. xxviii. 15-20. These gems 
 are of various colours, under the same names, so 
 that we cannot know w4th certainty what particular 
 hue each had ; or whether variegated ; and of 
 course, to attempt an exhibition of the tribal char- 
 acter from the colour and value of the stone on 
 which the name is written, w^ould be fanciful and 
 probably pursuing the metaphor too far. It might 
 be entertaining, if not useful, to present a table, 
 giving the name of the tribe, the name of the gem 
 on which it is engraven, and the probable colour ; 
 and leave the reader to study out the history of 
 each, with Jacob's and Moses' farewell descriptions — 
 a good Bible lesson perhaps and an exercise in natu- 
 ral science : 
 
 TRIBES. 
 
 r Reuben, 
 -j Simeon, 
 [ Levi, 
 
 iJudah, 
 Zebulon, 
 Issachar, 
 f Dan, 
 I Gad, 
 ( Asher, 
 
 GEMS. 
 
 Sardius, 
 
 Cornelian, 
 
 Topaz, 
 
 Carbuncle, 
 
 Emerald, 
 
 Sapphire, 
 
 Diamond, 
 
 Ligure, 
 
 Agate, 
 
 Amethyst, 
 
 COLOUR. 
 
 Deep red — venous blood. 
 Brownish red — venous blood, buffy. 
 Pale red-scarlet — arterial blood. 
 Bright green — foliage of spring. 
 Blue — the sky, cloudless. 
 Clear, transparent — purity. 
 Yellowish green — autumn. 
 Clouded — mossy — striped. 
 Blue, violet, shading off — sky. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING Tu MOSES. 73 
 
 TRIBES. OEMS. COLOUR. 
 
 fNaphtali, Beryl, Pale grayish green — sea. 
 
 4 -j Joseph, I chalc'eclony, } Variegated-striped. 
 
 [Benjamin, Jasper, Colours various — brown, yellow, white. 
 
 Whilst the reader may amuse, and entertain, or 
 perhaps, instruct himself, in studying these mate- 
 rials of the jeweller and the lapidary in learning the 
 language of gems and applying it to the patriarchs 
 and their tribes respectively, we may, with certainty 
 deduce this lesson from the breastplate, viz. : that 
 in the use of the jewels it puts forth the high esti- 
 mate the Lord sets upon the tribes of Israel, whose 
 memorial is placed on the breast of the high priest, 
 to intimate God's perpetual remembrance of his 
 church. Besides, from their being called, the Urim 
 and Thummim, the lights and perfections, it is 
 obvious to infer, that the high priest was to be a 
 centre from which light, learning, knowledge, should 
 radiate, and moral perfections be diffused and cher- 
 ished among the twelve tribes. And, although we 
 know not the manner of their communication, yet it 
 is plain from Ezra ii. 63, and Nehemiah vii. 65, that 
 Israel was in the habit of seeking divine directions 
 in the use of these contents of the breastplate. A 
 question arose as to the right of the descendants of 
 Barzillai the Gileadite, to the priesthood. Upon 
 searching the records their names were not found. 
 "And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should 
 not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a 
 priest with Urim and with Thummim." 
 
74 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 In the ends of this breastplate were two rings and 
 chains by which it was to be fastened to the other 
 parts of the dress. Ver. 22, 23 : "And thou shalt 
 make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of 
 wreathen work of pure gold. And thou shalt make 
 upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put 
 the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate." 
 The chains were attached to the rings and the other 
 ends of them to ouches or eyelet holes in the shoulder 
 pieces of the ephod. 
 
 Ephod is a Hebrew word which signifies a thing 
 hound — firmly attached. Our translators thought 
 best to adopt instead of translating it. It might be 
 rendered a bodice^ a waistcoat, a vest, or spencer ; 
 being a garment whose base or ground was fine 
 twined linen, on which were elegant embroidery or 
 cunning work "of gold, blue, and purple, and scar- 
 let." Exod. xxxix. 4, 5 : " They made shoulder 
 pieces for it, to couple it together ; by the two edges 
 was it coupled together. And the curious girdle of 
 his ephod, that was upon it, was of the same, ac- 
 cording to the work thereof." Yer. 6 : "And they 
 wi'ought onyx stones — a species of chalcedony — 
 enclosed in ouches or settings of gold, graven, as 
 signets are graven, with the names of the children 
 of Israel. And he put them on the shoulders of the 
 ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to 
 the children of Israel." "Six of their names on 
 one stone, and the other six names of the rest on 
 the other stone, according to their birth." These 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 75 
 
 were connected by the two wreathen chains of gold 
 respectively, with the upper corners of the breast- 
 plate ; the lower part being bound with a lace of 
 blue, passing through eyelet holes or ouches of gold, 
 to the girdle ; which seems to have passed over the 
 ])ody of the ephod, binding firmly and receiving the 
 bands which fastened the lower edge of the breast- 
 plate. All these, viz., the ephod or bodice, the gir- 
 dle, the breastplate and the shoulder pieces, includ- 
 ing the engraved onyx stones, seems to be included 
 sometimes under the name ephod. This article of 
 dress thus becomes the chief and distinctive garment 
 of the high priest. 
 
 The next, passing inward, is the robe of the ephod. 
 ''And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod, all of 
 blue," Exod. xxviii. 31. ''And there was a hole in 
 the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, 
 with a band round about the hole, that it should not 
 rend," xxxix. 2, 3, &c. This was ornamented upon 
 the hems, or skirts, with golden bells, and pome- 
 granates of blue scarlet and linen. "And it shall be 
 upon Aaron to minister ; and his sound shall be 
 heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before 
 the Lord ; and when he cometh out, that he die not." 
 
 "The broidered coat was of fine twined hnen," 
 not probably different from those made for Aaron's 
 sons, except in the matter of the embroidering. Ver. 
 27 and xxviii. 4, 39, 40 and 42 : "And thou shalt 
 make linen breeches to cover their nakedness, from 
 the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach." 
 
76 THE TABERNACLE, OE 
 
 The mitre or head dress of Aaron was also made 
 of fine linen. " And they made the plate of the 
 holj crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a 
 writing, like to the engravings of a signet, holiness 
 TO THE Lord," xxxix. 30,31. "And they tied 
 unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it on high on the 
 mitre." 
 
 The symbolic meaning of the high priest's dress 
 stands out pretty prominently. We have noted the 
 items, following for the most part, the order of 
 Moses' description. Let us now reverse this order 
 and begin at the very body of the man himself. 
 (1) He must be free from defect, or deformity, either 
 natural or from being maimed and deprived of any 
 faculty or member common to man. (2) He must be 
 washed with water at the Laver, before he can be 
 arrayed in his pontifical dress. This bespeaks the 
 same truth with the golden plate of the mitre; 
 purity; not consecration merely, or dedication to 
 sacred use ; but purity, actual freedom from all de- 
 filement in a moral respect. " Be ye clean that bear 
 the vessels of the Lord." 
 
 (3) The same is taught by the fine, white linen, 
 that forms the basis of all the garments except the 
 ephod. The Levite singers at the dedication of the 
 first temple, were " arrayed in white linen," 2 Chron. 
 V. 12. And the fine linen, in Rev. xix. 8, clean 
 and white — is "the righteousness of saints." This 
 linen tunic or under garment, reached from the 
 neck to the ancles, as was the custom in all the 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 77 
 
 eastern world ; we are not informed what parts of 
 it were embroidered : no doubt the sleeves and tie 
 part, which extended below the robe of blue, were 
 gorgeously ornamented. Thus holiness and beauty 
 — the beauty of holiness shone forth. 
 
 (4) Next comes the robe of blue, which reached 
 probably from the neck to or below the knees, and 
 which with its golden bells and artificial pomegranates 
 may remind us of the blue heavens above us and the 
 fruitful earth beneath, of which the robe bears the 
 richest mineral and vegetable products. 
 
 (5) The ephod, with its curious embroidered gir- 
 dle, its breastplate of judgment — its Urim and 
 Thummim, with the names of the twelve tribes 
 thereon and also on the two shoulder pieces, be- 
 speaks the solemn dedication of the tribes, who are 
 the church, to the service of God : the light the 
 knowledge, the beauty, the glory of the Apostle and 
 High Priest of our profession. The mitre or crown 
 proclaims the grand end of all the doings, the teach- 
 ings, the worship of the church, to be the glory of 
 God. 
 
 (6) The high priest, thus fully and richly en- 
 robed, is an official type of Jesus — God manifest in 
 the flesh, in all the fulness of his qualifications for 
 the work his Father sent him to accomplish. 
 
 7* 
 
78 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Ttie Tabernacle, and its Court. 
 
 It will promote perspicuity, in our description, if 
 we attend first to the more solid parts — the frame- 
 work of the building. And the materials must be 
 looked into : they are wood, brass, silver, and gold. 
 " And he made boards for the tabernacle, of shittim 
 wood, standing. The length of a board was ten 
 cubits — probably fifteen feet ; and the breadth of a 
 board one cubit and a half — twenty-seven inches." 
 (See Exod. xxxvi. 20, &c.) Each board had two 
 tenons at one end. " Thus did he make for all the 
 boards of the tabernacle : twenty boards for the 
 south side, southward : and forty sockets of silver he 
 made under the twenty boards." Of course, at the 
 cubit of eighteen inches, this determines the length 
 of the building to be forty-five feet. The tAvo 
 sockets under each board were driven into the 
 ground and the boards erected, placing the tenons 
 in the sockets. The same number of boards and 
 sockets were required for the north side. '^ And 
 for the side — or end — of the tabernacle westward 
 he made six boards" — which determines the width 
 of the building to be thirteen and a half feet. For 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 79 
 
 the east end " two boards were made for the corners.'* 
 " And thej were coupled beneath, and coupled 
 together at the head thereof, to one ring : thus he 
 did to both of them in both the corners." These 
 corner boards, facing the east, thus constituted a 
 brace and support to the sides north and south ; 
 whilst thej became door-jambs, of eighteen inches, 
 leaving the door or gateway into the building, ten 
 feet and a half wide. " And he overlaid the boards 
 with gold, and made their rings of gold, to be 
 places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold." 
 These bars he made of shittim wood ; five for the 
 boards on the sides north and south and five for the 
 boards on the west end. The side bars, except the 
 middle one, appear not to have extended the whole 
 length of the tabernacle, for it is said " he made the 
 middle bar to shoot through the boards, i. e. the 
 rings of the boards from the one end to the other." 
 This building is divided into two apartments by a 
 vail, placed across it, probably — (for the record 
 does not determine this) — one third of the distance 
 from the western end. Four wooden pillars, over- 
 laid with gold and resting on sockets of silver sup- 
 port this vail. A similar provision is made for the 
 door, except that the pillars are five in number and 
 must have been placed one at each side in close con- 
 nection with the corner boards ; which would leave 
 but two and a half feet for each of the four doors. 
 These pillars were overlaid with gold and had 
 golden fillets or rings at their chapiters or orna- 
 
80 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 mental heads ; " but their five sockets were of 
 brass." 
 
 Thus, Ave have the frame of a building — an up- 
 right structure, three sides closed and compacted, 
 the fourth partly open, with its five pillars, and a 
 row of four pillars dividing ofi" about one third of 
 it, at the west end ; all presenting an exterior of 
 burnished, glittering gold. We have, as yet no 
 roof; and can nowhere find in the record, any ac- 
 count at all of a floor. 
 
 Let us now proceed with the less solid, but not 
 less significant parts of it : and let us follow Moses : 
 beginning within, and working outward. And here, 
 we may remark as to the materials, it is probable 
 the prohibition, Exod. xxxvi. 5-7, has especial re- 
 ference to these : " The people bring much more 
 than enough for the service of the work, which the 
 Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave com- 
 mandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed 
 throughout the camp, saying. Let neither man nor 
 woman make any more work for the ofi'ering of the 
 sanctuary. So the people were restrained from 
 bringing. For the stufi" they had was sufficient for 
 all the work to make it, and too much." 
 
 The inner curtains were made of fine twined 
 linen ; this was the ground upon which were wrought 
 cherubim of blue and purple and scarlet. Of these 
 curtains there were ten, all alike in size and work- 
 manship : being twenty-eight cubits — forty-two feet 
 long, and four cubits — six feet wide. Five of these 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 81 
 
 were fastened together by fifty loops of blue in 
 the edges or selvidge ; and so of the other five ; 
 (see chap. xxvi. 5, 6,) and thus we have two 
 immense curtains or sheets of embroidered linen, 
 each forty-two feet by thirty; and when these 
 two are united by the taches of gold, and they 
 become "one tabernacle," it is sixty feet by forty- 
 two. 
 
 Now, if this large cloth be suspended by hooks 
 hanging nine inches below the upper ends of the 
 boards all round, it will constitute the lining of the 
 walls on the two sides and the west end, and become 
 a ceiling : for the length of the building is forty-five, 
 and the height of it fifteen, making sixty the precise 
 length of the two sets of curtains, when clasped 
 together by the fifty golden taches : and the two 
 sides equal thirty feet, to which add the width, and 
 you have forty-three and a half ; whereas the cur- 
 tains, severally, before their attachment, were forty- 
 two feet long. Thus we stand within a chamber 
 forty-five by thirteen and a half feet, and fifteen 
 high; and we behold nothing but the beautiful 
 white linen, ornamented with cherubim of blue, and 
 purple, and scarlet. The partition we have not yet 
 erected. This is constructed of the same material, 
 except that the blue seems to be the ground. Chap, 
 xxvi. 31 : " Thou shalt make a vail of blue, and 
 purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning 
 work : with cherubim shall it be made. And thou 
 shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood over- 
 
82 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 laid with gold : their hooks shall be of gold, upon 
 the four sockets of silver." And, ver. 36, " Thou 
 shalt make a hano-ino; for the door of the tent, of 
 blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, 
 wrought with needle-work." 
 
 We have already mentioned the omission of any 
 flooring for the tent. Two other items of seeming 
 necessity are wanting in the description, and left to 
 be suggested by their necessity: viz., a cross-tie on 
 the eastern end, at the top ; and some support to 
 the roof, to prevent the heavy outer coverings from 
 sagging down and forming a dish-like cavity, in 
 which rain would lodge, to the great inconvenience 
 and detriment of the whole building and its furni- 
 ture. How this was effected, and of what material, 
 we are not informed ; but some upbearers there 
 must have been, to form a pediment or slope to the 
 roof. And this will appear as we proceed with the 
 outside coverings, which are three. 
 
 The first is composed of hair-cloth. Exod. xxvi. 
 7-13 : ^' And thou shalt make curtains of goats' 
 hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle : eleven 
 curtains shalt thou make." Their length thirty 
 cubits, forty-five feet ; their breadth four cubits, 
 six feet. They are coupled together, five in one 
 sheet and six in the other ; and these two great sec- 
 tions are coupled together by fifty taches or clasps 
 of brass. Then the whole is laid over the building 
 outside, as were the linen curtains hung inside ; ex- 
 cept that the additional sixth or eleventh curtain is 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 83 
 
 folded half over or under its other half— ^' and shalt 
 double the sixth curtain in the fore front of the 
 tabernacle." This gives strength and binds it the 
 more firmly. From "the fore front," along the 
 top, to the west end is fortj-five feet ; add fifteen 
 feet from there to the lower ends of the boards, and 
 jou have sixty feet : i. e., six feet less than the 
 curtains when all attached into one. Of this sur- 
 plus three feet are taken up by the fold just men- 
 tioned ; and, ver. 12, the other three are folded in 
 like manner at the bottom next the ground. From 
 the lower ends of the boards over the top to the 
 lower ends on the other side is forty-three and a 
 half feet : but the hair-cloth curtains are forty-five 
 feet. This surplus cubit appears to be divided, so 
 as to reach nine inches below the boards " on this 
 side and on that side, to cover it." Thus we have 
 a black tent, such, for colour and texture, as are 
 seen in that country to the present time : the gold 
 being completely enveloped and concealed ; inside 
 by the hnen emfeoidered curtain, outside by the 
 goats' hair-cloth. 
 
 Besides this, there were two other coverings over 
 the Ark. xxxvi. 19 : " And he made a covering 
 for the tent of rams' skins dyed red ; and a cover- 
 ing of badgers' skins above that." The rams' skins, 
 or, as we would now call them, the morocco leather 
 covering, must have been composed of many pieces 
 firmly sewed together. So also must the badgers' 
 skins, this animal being smaller than the other. 
 
84 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 Both these covers are for utility, and not for orna- 
 ment. What animal was meant by the word ren- 
 dered badger, is not certainly determined : nor is it 
 our business, at least it is not indispensable for our 
 present purpose to inquire. The uses to which 
 these skins were applied evince their nature. In 
 the days of Ezekiel, nearly nine hundred years 
 later, we find a reference to them, chap. xvi. 10 : 
 he reminds Israel of these very times of sojourn 
 and the low depression of the nation, and their help- 
 less estate : "I clothed thee also with br older ed 
 work, and shod thee with badgers' skin," &c. 
 These, therefore, made a thick and strong leather, 
 impervious to rain, and suitable for shoes. So in 
 Num. iv. 10-14, the priests are directed to pack up 
 the candlestick and all its appurtenances, the in- 
 cense altar, and all the instruments of ministry, and 
 ^'put them in a cloth of blue," and "the censer, 
 the flesh-hooks, and the shovels, and the basins, and 
 all the vessels of the altar — in a purple cloth;" all, 
 after being thus covered with cloth, are to be cov- 
 ered with a covering of badger skins. This makes 
 it evident what was the character of these skins, 
 and of the leather made of them, if indeed it w^as 
 dressed at all. 
 
 The size of these two coverings is not given ; 
 and the mode of attaching them to the building 
 is left for us to imagine. From their obvious 
 use, w^e imagine they extended simply upon the 
 top and a short distance beyond, so as to form 
 
THE GIOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 85 
 
 a suitable eave, to throw the water off the tent all 
 round. 
 
 Before we enquire into the symbolic meaning of 
 this structure, let us construct "the court of the 
 tabernacle." This was an enclosure of one hun- 
 dred cubits by fifty — one hundred and fifty feet by 
 seventy-five. Like the tabernacle, the longer sides 
 of this parallelogram extended east and west, and 
 the gate faced the east. " The hangings of the 
 court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits : 
 their pillars were twenty, and their brazen sockets 
 twenty ; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets 
 were of silver," Exod. xxxviii. 9, 10. The pillars 
 themselves of brass, xxxvii. 10, 11. The height of 
 this curtain wall of fine white linen was five cubits, 
 seven and a half feet. " And for the gate of the 
 court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, 
 and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, 
 wrought with needle-Avork : and their pillars shall 
 be four and their sockets four," xxvii. 16. Thus, 
 we have an enclosure of one hundred and fifty feet 
 by seventy-five : the three sides, north, south, and 
 west, shut in by white linen curtains, seven and a 
 half feet in height, suspended by silver hooks and 
 fillets upon fifty pillars of brass, set in sockets of 
 brass, and their capitals overlaid with silver : the 
 remaining, or eastern, side is enclosed in the same 
 manner, except that an opening of twenty cubits, 
 or thirty feet, in the centre is left for a gateway ; 
 whilst the fifteen cubits on each side of it are shut 
 
86 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 up with the white linen. "What was the character 
 of the needle-work which distinguished the gate cur- 
 tain we are not expressly informed ; but the high 
 presumption is, that it was the same as the interior 
 curtains of the tabernacle ; viz., cherubim. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 87 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Symbolic Meaning of the Tabernacle and its Court. 
 
 The general symbolic meaning of the tabernacle 
 and its court was The Church of God. The tab- 
 ernacle, with all that appertains thereunto, is a vis- 
 ible type of the visible kingdom of our Lord upon 
 earth. As related to time, it is divided into three 
 dispensations, the patriarchal, the Mosaic, and the 
 Messianic. The patriarchal dispensation extends 
 from the first revelation of mercy — the proto-euan- 
 gellion^ given to Adam in paradise, to this organiza- 
 tion under Moses ; being two thousand five hundred 
 and eight years. The Mosaic, from this period, A. 
 M. 2508, to Pentecost A. D. 34, a duration of one 
 thousand five hundred and twenty-six years. The 
 Messianic period of the church extends from A. D. 
 34, until the second personal advent ; its precise 
 limit and duration are known only to the King him- 
 self. " But the saints of the Most High shall take 
 the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, 
 even for ever and ever," Dan. vii. 18. 
 
 Two proofs — rather clases of proofs of this 
 are presented. The former is the suitableness or 
 adaptation of these entire structures and arrange- 
 ments to typify the church. And here note, 
 
88 THE TABERXACLE, OR 
 
 1. The court is the larger space of the enclosure ; 
 and that into which is the wider entrance ; though 
 we have no express statement to that amount, it is 
 almost certain, the common people were permitted 
 to enter it. Certainly the offerer of a living sacri- 
 fice was allowed to enter, for he must bring his offer- 
 ing to the priest at the altar and there lay his hand 
 on its head. And in John's vision. Rev. xi. 2, he 
 is directed to leave the court out, for the reason, 
 that it is to be trodden under foot. This refers to 
 a period then future ; but it shows that the court, 
 as was that of the temple, is less pure and sacred 
 than the other enclosures — an idea plainly inferable 
 from its flimsy material — its inferiority as to expense 
 and beauty, and its being uncovered. All this suits 
 it to represent the less organized and more 
 loose and undefined religious observances of the first 
 period, during which there was no ofiicial priesthood, 
 nor any specified ordinances of divine service. The 
 necessity of a suffering Redeemer, as exhibited in 
 the altar ; and the necessity of purification, as set 
 forth by the laver (both of which are in the court) 
 this early church had. But it lacked many advan- 
 tages guaranteed in the second. 
 
 2. The Cherubim — the well-known types of the 
 messengers of mercy — on the curtains of the gate, 
 constitute a standing invitation to the outer world, 
 to enter in and engage in the true worship of the 
 true God. 
 
 3. The smoke and flame of the burning altar, 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 89 
 
 which were possessed by the church from the begin- 
 ning, are here suited to express the faith of the wor- 
 shippers, in the promised Messiah ; and also to call 
 the nations to dedicate themselves to God. 
 
 II. The holy place into which the priests only 
 were permitted to enter, represents, the Mosaic 
 economy — an advanced position. Here the minis- 
 tering priests are surrounded oiv^ll sides by the 
 golden walls ; and the cherubim of glory, on the 
 pure and fine twined linen, constantly remind them 
 of that purity symbolized by the laver, at which 
 they must wash before their entrance, and of their 
 obligations to bear 'on more than angelic wings, 
 to a lost world, the message of salvation by the 
 blood of the sacrificed lamb ; without offering of 
 which they themselves cannot enter. Here they 
 have the light of the candlestick — the light of the 
 world — to guide their feet in the path of duty. 
 Here they have the bread of heaven to nourish 
 and nerve them up to the solemn and important 
 duties of their office of ministering between the 
 living and the dead ; and of bringing the world to 
 bow at the feet of Messiah. 
 
 Here, too, they have the incense from the altar, re- 
 minding them of our Advocate with the Father ; and 
 thereby pointing to a still holier and more glorious 
 state of the church yet future ; into which she shall 
 enter, when the middle wall of partition shall be 
 removed and the vail be rent ; this signifying, that 
 the way is open into the holiest of all. 
 
 8 * 
 
90 THE TABERNACLE, OE 
 
 III. The most holy apartment of this building, is 
 therefore by itself well adapted to typify the gos- 
 pel church, with its newly-fledged and swift-winged 
 ministry ; its higher measure of purity ; its fuller 
 and clearer exhibitions of the mercy which covers 
 the law and proclaims its perfect fulfilment ; whilst 
 the atonement thereon made, shows the efficacy of 
 the great sacrifice for sin ; and the consequent par- 
 don of all who flee to the Rock of Ages for protec- 
 tion in obedience, by the fulfilment of law, both 
 preceptive and penal, consummates the work of 
 Messiah and promises the extension of its glorious 
 benefits over the whole earth. This spread of the 
 kingdom is exhibited by the double symbols — the 
 cherubim on the walls and ceilings ; and by those 
 of gold on the mercy-seat. 
 
 We proceed to the second class of proofs, that the 
 tabernacle symbolizes the church, viz. direct Scrip- 
 ture testimony. And (1) when God gave directions 
 for building this tent, he said, " Let them make me a 
 sanctuary ; that I may dwell among them," Exod. 
 XXV. 8. " And I will dwell among the children of 
 Israel and will be their God," Exod. xxix. 45. "I 
 the Lord dwell among the children of Israel," Num. 
 XXXV. 34 : (See Ps. ix. 11 : cxxxv. 21 : Ixxx. 1 : 
 Ixxxvi. 2.) (2) Jacob said, after his vision of the 
 ladder, " This is none other but the house of God, 
 9Aid this is the gate of heaven," Gen. xxviii. 17. 
 "Wherever God makes himself known to the souls of 
 his people, that is his house. ''But will God in 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 91 
 
 very 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?" 
 1 Chron. vi. 18. The tabernacle is often called the 
 house of God. Josh. ix. 23 : Jud. xx. 18, 26, 31 : 
 and so is the temple continually. (3) He has estab- 
 lished the bright, shining glory as the token and 
 evidence of his presence : the pillar of fire, the glory 
 in the tabernacle and especially above the mercy- 
 seat ; and the same in the temple at its dedication, 
 are tokens of the divine presence in the church. 
 But this material dwelling was the type of that 
 spiritual temple of lively stones which is erecting to 
 the praise of his glorious grace. " And are built 
 upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 
 Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone ; in 
 whom all the building fitly framed together groweth 
 unto a holy temple in the Lord ; in whom ye also are 
 builded too;ether for an habitation of God throuo-h 
 the Spirit," Eph. ii. 20-22. " For ye are the temple 
 of the living God ; as God hath said, I will dwell in 
 them, and walk in them ; and I w411 be their God 
 and they shall be my people," 2 Cor. vi. 16. This 
 is quoted from Ex. xxix. 4, 5, 6, where the purpose 
 of these constructions is stated. And Lev. xxvi. 
 12, " And I will walk among you and will be your 
 God, and ye shall be my people." There can be 
 no doubt ; the church of God is one. " And Moses 
 verily was faithful in all his house as a servant, for 
 a testimony of those things which were to be spoken 
 
92 
 
 after ; but Christ as a Son over his own house ; 
 whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and 
 the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end," 
 Heb. iii. 5, 6. 
 
 There is also, obvious reference to these decora- 
 tions in that beautiful Scripture, the xlv. Psalm : 
 " The king's daughter is all glorious within : her 
 clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought 
 unto the king in raiment of needle-work." Exter- 
 nally, like her divine Lord, she may appear as a 
 root out of a dry ground — like a rough Arabian 
 tent in the wilderness ; but internally, her moral 
 beauty, excellence and glory, command the admira- 
 tion of all holy beings, and the angels of gloiy 
 desire to look upon her and minister to her wants. 
 
 This house of God, in which he desires to dwell, 
 this church of the living God in which he has dwelt 
 from the days of Eden, must detain us yet a little. 
 An important enquiry must be met, before we pro- 
 ceed to the collocation of the items discussed and 
 explained, and the composition of the whole into one 
 system. 
 
 Is this the visible or the invisible church ? '' The 
 catholic or universal church, which is invisible, con- 
 sists of the whole number of the elect, that have 
 been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ, 
 the head thereof ; and is the spouse, the body, the 
 fulness of him that filleth all in all," Confession, 
 chap. XXV. It is called invisible because its mem- 
 bers cannot be certainly designated or segregated 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO IMOSES. 93 
 
 and known of men, as an organized body, bound 
 together by visible bonds and distinguishable from 
 the rest of mankind. But, " The visible church, 
 which is also catholic or universal under the gospel, 
 (not confined to one nation as before under the law,) 
 consists of all those throughout the world, that pro- 
 fess the true religion, together with their children ; 
 and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
 house and family of God, out of which there is no 
 ordinary possibiUty of salvation," Confession, xxv. 
 This distinction is well made, for it exists in the 
 Scriptures, and did exist in fact before any part of 
 them was written. "According as he hath chosen 
 us in him before the foundation of the world, that 
 we should be holy and without blame before him in 
 love," Eph. i. 4. Plainly, all who shall be found 
 on Christ-' s right hand, at the judgment, and none 
 others, belong to the church invisible. To affirm 
 therefore, that there is no salvation out of the 
 church — if you mean this body that is not on earth 
 visible — is, to repeat a truism, the saved are the 
 saved, the elect are the elect. But most unhappily, 
 sometimes, this assertion is made of the church that 
 is visible, and of course, under this twofold meaning 
 and application of the term cliurcli, a most grievous 
 and uncharitable falsehood is set forth. Our Con- 
 fession avoids this by the guarded language ''out of 
 which" — meaning outside of^ unconnected- with 
 which — "there is no ordinary possibility of salva- 
 tion." This excludes non-professors, unbaptized 
 
94 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 children, and heathen ; and decides nothing in their 
 cases. Salvation is ordinarily within the visible 
 church : those that ultimately reach heaven, the 
 elect, are ordinarily gathered within the range of 
 the means of grace and offers of salvation. 
 
 God was never without witness to his truth as 
 expressed in the law given to man at his creation, 
 and in the gospel made known to him in paradise. 
 There were always public testifiers, and testimonies, 
 and visible ordinances of divine service. But the 
 very brief history of the first two thousand and 
 seventy-eight years, leaves us very much in the dark 
 as to details. Sacrifices we know and the cherubic 
 figures, or their memorial history, continued through- 
 out that period, whose whole history, and chronol- 
 ogy, and political geography, including the flood, is 
 contained in eleven brief chapters. Yet, it was not 
 until the call of Abram, A. M. 2078, and the cove- 
 nant made with him, that the church, as far as we 
 know, can properly be said to have been organized ; 
 since that the visible ordinances pre-existent, con- 
 tinued and were confirmed by an external seal of 
 membership ; and with a range comprehensive of all 
 the nations of the world. This covenant with Abra- 
 ham perpetuates all and everything like public ordi- 
 nances, and guarantees its own universality ; and 
 these, under the sign and seal of the righteousness 
 of faith — faith in the promised Messiah, which 
 promise is limited to his seed. 
 
 From Abraham's call and covenant until the exo- 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 95 
 
 dus and the Sinai covenant — a period of four hun- 
 dred and thirty years — his family constituted a visi- 
 ble, social body, a people separated and segregated : 
 and their history leaves no room for the question, 
 whether this was the visible or the invisible church. 
 At Sinai there was a modification of the ecclesiasti- 
 cal covenant, not a withdrawal certainly, of any 
 spiritual privileges inherited by this people from 
 Abraham, but a restriction of its blessings to this 
 favoured family. We have the formality of its con- 
 struction in Exod. xix. 3, &c. : " Moses went up 
 unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the 
 mountain, saying. Thus shalt thou say to the house 
 of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel : Ye have 
 seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare 
 you on eagles' wings and brought you unto myself. 
 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and 
 keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treas- 
 ure unto me above all people, for all the earth is 
 mine : And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests 
 and a holy nation. These are the words which ye 
 shall speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses 
 came and called for the elders of the people, and 
 laid before their faces all these words which the Lord 
 commanded him. And all the people answered 
 together and said : All that the Lord hath spoken 
 we will do. And Moses returned the words of the 
 people unto the Lord." This is re-stated by Moses. 
 Deut. V. 2 : " The Lord our God made a covenant 
 with us in Horeb." And he proceeds in verse 
 
96 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 seventh, &c., to recite the ten commands, as an 
 essential part of the covenant, and, accordingly, 
 they are repeatedly called the "tables of the cove- 
 nant," Deut. ix. 9, 14, 15. And the Israelites are 
 often designated his "peculiar people" — his "pecu- 
 liar treasure." So long as they should continue 
 faithful to their covenant engagements, they should 
 continue his peculiar people, and the blessings of 
 the Abrahamic covenant were restricted to them. 
 This is the law that was added because of transo;res- 
 sions. Gal. iii. 19. Accordingly when Israel trans- 
 gressed the covenant by rejecting the promised 
 Messiah, their covenant of peculiar restrictions was 
 prostrated, the middle wall of partition was broken 
 down, and the covenant of Abraham came into ope- 
 ration, in all its length and breadth ; and the cast- 
 ing away of the Jews became "the reconciling of the 
 world." See Rom. xi. Indubitably this covenant, 
 with all its vast increase of outward, visible estab- 
 lishments, beyond the more simple observance of the 
 Abrahamic institutions, relate to the church visible ; 
 and the only sense in which this visible church is 
 catholic, that is, universal, is that quoted above from 
 the Confession of Faith, chap, xxv., viz. : "not con- 
 fined to one nation as before under the law." All 
 people, in all the nations, who profess the true relig- 
 ion, together with their children, belong to the vis- 
 ible kingdom of our Lord ; in them he dwells as in 
 his tabernacle of old : and this is the living habita- 
 tion on earth, of the living God, symbolized by the 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 9T 
 
 tabernacle of witness built at Sinai, according to the 
 pattern shown to Moses in the holy mount. 
 
 One other proof, that the church visible is typified 
 by the tabernacle and its court, is the fact that all 
 the other symbolic representations are included 
 within it. Every great doctrine of salvation is 
 taught by its typical furniture : and thus it harmo- 
 nizes with the declaration of our Confession — or 
 rather, the declaration harmonizes with it — that 
 "out of it there is no ordinary possibility of salva- 
 tion." Salvation cometh by faith, and faith cometh 
 by hearing: but how can they hear without a 
 preacher ? and how can they preach unless they 
 be sent ? Out of Zion shall go forth the law and 
 the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The angels 
 of mercy, on cherubic wings, fly all abroad, pro- 
 claiming peace on earth ; good will to men. 
 
98 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 TJte Putting Up and the TaJdng Down. 
 
 " And it came to pass in the first month in the 
 second year, on the first day of the montli, that the 
 tabernacle was reared up." This was Anno Mundi 
 2509, and of course Ante Christum 1491. 
 
 The work is said to have been done by Moses, 
 undoubtedly in the same sense that the manufacture 
 and building was done by him, i. e., through the 
 agents whom God qualified and Moses directed in 
 everything. The first move is of course to set in 
 the ground the silver sockets at the proper distances 
 — " and fasten his sockets, and set up the boards 
 thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and rear up 
 his pillars." Thus the framework is compacted to- 
 gether, Exod. xl. There is no express mention 
 made of the suspension of the great linen curtain 
 that lines the interior ; neither in the directions nor 
 in the execution. It is doubtless included in the 
 general statement, that " he put the covering of the 
 tent above upon it;" although this seems to refer to 
 the outside covering of hair-cloth ; and the leathern 
 roofs are named ; and also the vail of partition and 
 the door curtains. " And he took and put the teS' 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 99 
 
 timony into the Ark, and set the staves on the Ark ; 
 and put the Mercy-seat above upon the Ark ; and 
 he brought the Ark into the tabernacle, and set up 
 the vail of the covering ; and covered the Ark of 
 the Testimony " — that is, closed it in with the vail, 
 suspended perpendicularly from its own proper pil- 
 lars. 
 
 The table he set without the vail, in the larger 
 apartment, on the north side ; and placed the bread 
 thereon, as commanded. 
 
 The candlestick he set opposite the table on the 
 south side, and lighted the lamps before the Lord ; 
 as the Lord commanded Moses. 
 
 " And he put the golden altar in the tent of the 
 congregation, before the vail ; and he burnt sweet 
 incense thereon; as the Lord commanded Moses." 
 
 Thus the whole interior is furnished. " And he 
 put the altar of burnt-offering by the door of the 
 tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and 
 offered upon it the burnt-offering and the meat-offer- 
 ing ; as the Lord commanded Moses. Between the 
 altar and the door of the tent, he placed the laver 
 and put water therein." "And he reared up the 
 court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and 
 set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses 
 finished the work." 
 
 Thus far, the erection ; let us for a moment mark 
 the contrary service. The record is in Num. iv. 
 5-15 : " When the camp setteth forward, Aaron 
 shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down 
 
100 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 the covering vail, and cover the Ark of Testimony 
 with it. And shall put thereon the covering of 
 badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth 
 wholly of blue, and shall put in the stones thereof." 
 Doubtless the blue cloth was spread first, or at least 
 second, over the vail and under the skins ; as in all 
 the other cases — the table, the candlestick, the 
 golden altar, and even the altar of burnt-olFering — 
 in all instances the outside covers are of badgers' 
 skins. The table is something peculiar — " And 
 upon the table of shew bread they shall spread a 
 cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the 
 spoons, and the bowls, and the covers to cover 
 withal, and the continual bread shall be thereon:" 
 — the blue seems to have been spread on top of 
 the twelve loaves ; then the vessels, and then " they 
 shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover 
 the same with a covering of badgers' skins." The 
 candlestick and its lamps, tongs, snuff-dishes, &c., 
 and the incense altar, are covered with blue cloth 
 and skins as before, and the bars adjusted for trans- 
 portation. Of the laver no special mention is made : 
 it may be included in the package described in ver. 
 12 : "all the instruments of ministry," &c., which 
 were packed in the same method and attached to a 
 bar. 
 
 The brazen altar differs from the other articles 
 in that the cloth is to be purple : and no mention 
 is made of its separation into the two parts, as de- 
 scribed in Exod. xxxviii. The frame, or stand, and 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 101 
 
 the grate are both supplied with rings and staves ; 
 and in transportation were no doubt carried sepa- 
 rately. Probably the laver was among the vessels 
 thereof, packed in the grated basin for transporta- 
 tion. 
 
 When this operation of packing is finished, the 
 Kohathites, descendants of the second son of Levi, 
 are introduced as the bearers of these most precious 
 articles — ''After that, the sons of Kohath shall 
 come to bear it ; but they shall not touch any holy 
 thing, lest they die. These things are the burden 
 of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the 
 congregation." So in ver. 20 : " They shall not 
 go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest 
 they die." For this reason none of the covered 
 wagons presented by the princes " were given to 
 the sons of Kohath : because the service of the 
 sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should 
 bear upon their shoulders," chap. vii. 9. The Ger- 
 shonites — see chap. iv. 24-26 — were charged with 
 the transportation of the lighter and less sacred 
 parts ; the curtains, and all the covers of the taber- 
 nacle and of the court. To them were assigned two 
 wagons and four oxen, vii. 7 : whilst to the sons of 
 Merari, the third son of Levi, were assigned the 
 boards, the bars, the pillars, sockets, pins, &c., of 
 the tabernacle and the court, iv. 29-33 : and they 
 had four wagons and eight oxen, vii. 8, and iii. 
 86-37. 
 
102 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Clmid of Glory— Pillai' of Fire, 
 
 God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 
 Light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the 
 eyes to behold the sun. Nevertheless, intense, ex- 
 cessive brightness overpowers our organs of vision 
 and causes pain ; and, if continued, destroys the 
 organ itself. So Moses found it, when he set up 
 the tabernacle. " Then a cloud covered the tent 
 of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord 
 filled the tabernacle. And Moses Avas not able to 
 enter into the tent of the congregation, because the 
 cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord 
 filled the tabernacle," Exod. xl. 34, 35. So, at the 
 dedication of the temple — 1 Kings, viii. 10, 11 — 
 " The priests could not stand to minister because 
 of the cloud ; for the glory of the Lord had filled 
 the house of the Lord." Our English word glory ^ 
 derived from the Latin gloria^ through the French, 
 expresses, simply and originally, a bright, shining 
 light. But we have almost ceased to use it in the 
 original sense, and constantly employ it in the sec- 
 ondary meaning, as the symbol of displayed excel- 
 lence ; and that either intellectual or moral, or both 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 103 
 
 combined. Whenever high qualities are displayed, 
 we ascribe glory to the individual : and the highest 
 manifestations of excellence call forth the exclama- 
 tion and ascription of " Glory to God in the highest.'* 
 There is, therefore, a manifest impropriety in the 
 distinction sometimes made or intended by the 
 phrases, ''the essential glory," and "the declarative 
 glory of God." If glory is the shining forth of 
 excellence, it must necessarily be declarative, and 
 only declarative, and the use of this as a qualifying 
 epithet is tautological. Glory is the declaration of 
 excellence. 
 
 Moses first saw this in the burning bush on 
 Mount Horeb. "And the angel of the Lord ap- 
 peared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst 
 of a bush : and he looked, and, behold, the bush 
 burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed, 
 Exod. iii. 2-4. This bush typified the church of 
 God, then enduring hardness, in the midst of the 
 brick-kilns of Egypt. But amid these fires of per- 
 secution, now as always, the Lord dwelleth in her. 
 The non-consumption of the bush exhiMts the power 
 of Him that dwelleth therein, to save her, as on a 
 subsequent occasion the same Angel saved his three 
 friends in the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 
 Of course, this is no created, but the uncreated 
 Angel Redeemer : and Moses hid his face ; for he 
 was afraid to look upon God." Here was no form 
 or visible figure of God ; for when Moses, Exod. 
 xxxiii. 18-20, said, "I beseech thee, shew me thy 
 
104 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 glory ;" the Lord said, " Thou canst not see my face ; 
 for there shall no man see me and live." The bright 
 light, like a burning flame, was the whole appear- 
 ance: and this is the standing symbol of God's 
 gracious presence ; or, we may say, this non-consuming 
 fire, was a sign and token of the present Mediator. 
 Never was it exhibited, but in connection with a dis- 
 pensation of mercy. As conducting a dispensation 
 of wrath, the same glorious personage "is a con- 
 suming fire." " The Lord thy God is he which 
 goeth before thee ; as a consuming fire thou shalt 
 destroy them," Deut. ix. 3. In this there is a beau- 
 tiful and philosophical significance; the light and 
 the heat of natural fire are distinct and separaljie. 
 Light does not consume ; heat does. Light typifies 
 God our Redeemer, in whom justice and mercy meet 
 together in the salvation of his people ; the heat, 
 the fire has spent its force on the humanity, which 
 he offered up a burnt-ofi'ering for his people. But 
 his consuming heat accompanies the light of his 
 justice, in all the fires of his indignation and wrath 
 upon the workers of iniquity. The Sun of right- 
 eousness hath healing in his wings, only "to you 
 that fear his name : but all the proud, yea, and all 
 that do wickedly, shall be stubble : and the day that 
 Cometh shall burn them up." 
 
 We hope our reader is convinced, that the cheru- 
 bim of Eden, of Sinai, of Chebar, and of Patmos, 
 and the seraphim of Isaiah, are a'l one and the 
 self-same symbol ; and that they, being always ex- 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 105 
 
 hibited in connection with a ministration of mercy, 
 are types of the entire hving agency, which Messiah 
 employs to communicate glad tidings to lost men. 
 If this hope is Tvell founded, may we not, dear 
 reader, rise to a full assurance of hope, that the 
 bright lio;ht — the Shekinah of Adam ; of Moses at 
 the bush, at the Red Sea, on the summit of Sinai, 
 between the cherubim over the mercy-seat, above 
 the tent ; of Solomon at the dedication ; of Ezekiel 
 throughout his visions ; and of John in Patmos ; you 
 will be convinced are one and the self-same symbol 
 of God's presence in the church, whence he dis- 
 penses his mercy to lost men ? In this hope we re- 
 mark, 
 
 1. There was, in all these instances a bright light, 
 distinct from the cherubim ; though constantly ac- 
 companying them whenever they appeared. In Gen. 
 iii. 24, it is called " a flaming sword which turned 
 every way to guard the way of the tree of life." 
 In the bush, w^e have the light only — a brilliant 
 flame, and so at the Red Sea. In the tabernacle, 
 where the cherubim are embodied, the Shekinah is 
 distinct and hovered over the cherubim and the ark. 
 So at the dedication of the temple, the glory shone 
 forth from the ark, and filled the whole building. 
 In Ezek. i. 4, it is ^'a fire infolding itself;" and in 
 X. 4, 19, " The glory of the Lord went up from 
 the cherub — and the house was filled with the 
 cloud." 
 
 2. The forms assumed by this bright light vary. 
 
106 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 At Eden, as we translate, it is " a flaming sword 
 which turned every way." In Walton's Polyglot, 
 there is considerable variety of translation ; but all 
 implying a bright, fiery appearance moving in curve 
 lines or circles : and in Ezekiel i. 4, though the 
 words differ, the conception suggested is the same," 
 "a fire infolding itself," or as in the margin, " catch- 
 ing itself," a vast circular flame. Now, a circle 
 being the natural symbol of eternity, we have here 
 an eternal light, a glory without beginning or end : 
 and out of this circle of glory, proceeds '' the like- 
 ness of four living creatures" — the grand types of 
 the ministers of mercy. 
 
 In the bush at Horeb, this non-consuming fire is 
 not described, as to form; but "God called unto 
 him out of the midst of the bush." This is the 
 voice of mercy, as in Ezekiel's non-consuming fire 
 infolding itself. 
 
 3. As before stated, the glory at Sinai, where 
 God the Redeemer was in the midst of his chariots, 
 twenty thousand — even thousands of angels, Ps. 
 Ixviii.; yet no specific form was presented; and the 
 reason was given ; viz. lest afterwards the people 
 should make an image and fall into idolatrous prac- 
 tices : " For ye saw no manner of similitude on the 
 day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of 
 the midst of the fire ; Lest ye corrupt yourselves, 
 and make you a graven image, the similitude of any 
 figure," Deut. iv. 15, 16. 
 
 4. The form, of a pillar of a cloud by day and 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 107 
 
 of fire by night, accompanied the Israelites during 
 their entire journeyings, from Succoth to Canaan. 
 This was not however a figure of any animal or 
 natural object; but simply a column rising and float- 
 ing as it were, in the atmosphere, Exod. xiii. 21, 22, 
 and xiv. 19, 20 : and Num. x. 34, 35, 36, " And 
 the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day, 
 when they went out of the camp. And it came to 
 pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, 
 Rise up Lord and let thine enemies be scattered ; 
 and let them that hate thee flee before thee. And 
 when it rested, he said, Return, Lord, unto the 
 many thousands of Israel." 
 
 5. The same is true, as to the other three appear- 
 ances of the Shekinah, or established light. At the 
 dedication of the tabernacle and the temple, and in 
 the visions of Ezekiel, we have the brilliant light — 
 the non-consuming fire, distinct from the material 
 cherubim in the two first, and the imagery in the 
 last. In John's vision, there is a large addition to 
 all other appearances, except perhaps, Ezekiel's. 
 Still we have the Zoa separate from all the brilliant 
 lights. All these displays exhibit that true Light, 
 which lighteth every man that cometh into the 
 world. 
 
108 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Farther SytnhoUc Significance of the ttvo Preceding Chapters. 
 
 With all reasonable caution against seeking fanci- 
 ful analogies, and running into too minute details, 
 we hope the following will be admitted, as legitimate 
 suggestions, arising from the matter of chapters xiii. 
 and xiv. 
 
 1. The organization of the church is accomplished 
 by the agencies of God's own appointment. Aaron 
 and his sons and other Levites, no doubt, were em- 
 ployed by Moses, in the first erection ; for neither 
 the priests, nor the furniture of the tabernacle, were 
 as yet formally consecrated Avith the holy anointing 
 oil. But afterwards, when the pillar of the cloud 
 had removed, the most sacred things were handled 
 only by the priests ; and other parts of the holy 
 things, by other Levites in their order. Thus, all 
 the spiritual arrangements toward the public ser- 
 vices in the church, were then and are now com- 
 mitted to the various officers, duly called into her 
 service. "And no man taketh this honour unto 
 himself, but he that is called of God^ as was Aaron." 
 As there were very many and very various materials 
 worked into parts of the building and its furniture, 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING Tu MOSES. 109 
 
 and every part and portion, however small and ap- 
 parently insignificant, was necessary in its proper 
 place, so in the spiritual house, there are officers 
 and servants of all grades necessary, and each one 
 has his proper place and duty. It is greatly to be 
 feared that public sentiment in the church of our 
 day and country has swung over from that excess, 
 even to superstition, of reverence for the sacred 
 offices indulged in other days and countries, to the 
 opposite extreme. The officers of the church do not 
 command the respect and exercise the influence due 
 to the office. But be this as it may, the collecting 
 of the materials for the spiritual temple, and their 
 arrangement and collocation in its sacred walls, is the 
 proper work of the missionaries symbolized by the 
 cherubim, and the priesthood and Levitical services. 
 " For we are labourers together with God : ye are 
 God's husbandry, ye are God's building." ''Know 
 ye not that ye are the temple of God ? and that the 
 Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? " Let the men, who 
 aspire to minister in holy things, see to it that they 
 are themselves sprinkled with atoning blood, and 
 anointed with that divine unction set forth in the holy 
 anointing oil, so shall they build upon the chief 
 corner-stone. Therefore, 
 
 2. These builders and these carriers are under 
 very special orders and are to act with great solem- 
 nity. As Moses was commanded to put off his shoes 
 because the place whereon he stood was holy ground, 
 and as the sons of Kohath Avere not allowed even to 
 
 10 
 
110 THE TABERNACLE, UR 
 
 look upon the ark which they were appointed -to 
 carry, so Isaiah, lii. 7-12, speakhig of the gospel 
 day, exclaims, "How beautiful upon the mountains 
 are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that 
 publisheth peace;" and enjoins, "Be ye clean that 
 bear the vessels of the Lord." Men that minister 
 in holy things should themselves be holy. Mere 
 official consecration is easily distinguishable from 
 personal purity, and alas ! easily separable from it. 
 Such separation in fact, is doubtless often the ante- 
 cedent of that want of respect just alluded to. It 
 is scarcely possible, even for godly men, to exercise 
 respectful regard toward ministers who have only 
 official consecration, but fail to give evidence of per- 
 sonal piety. Even a few such melancholy cases have 
 a pernicious influence, and are seized upon by the 
 ungodly world, to which they in truth belong, as 
 grounds of disparagement to the whole ministry and 
 the church. To such traducers we would say, where- 
 fore all this reproach to the church and her ministry ? 
 The church does not profess omniscience in herself, 
 nor perfect holiness in her public servants. She 
 does w^hat she can toward searching men's hearts 
 who are called into her ministry, that she may have 
 only holy hands to be lifted up without wrath and 
 doubting. But considering the imperfection of her 
 knowledge and the depths of Satan's cunning as he 
 dwells in the hearts of the children of this world, it 
 is no marvel if, occasionally, one of yourselves suc- 
 ceeds in deceiving her and finding your way into 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. Ill 
 
 her ministry as did a Judas among the twelve. But, 
 even could you succeed in one out of twelve, and 
 thrust your man upon us, contrary to our rules and 
 to the dictates of a sound conscience, what is this to 
 glory over ? Is it not to glory in your own shame ? 
 Who is the more reprehensible ? Whose cheek 
 should be the more deeply mantled with the blush 
 of shame — the deceiver or the deceived ? " Cursed 
 be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male, and 
 voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt 
 thing." 
 
 3. May we not learn a lesson from the place of 
 this re-organization ? Holy ground is found in the 
 desert of Arabia. The ark and tabernacle are con- 
 structed on the very borders of a great and howling 
 wilderness, into which it at once plunged and seemed 
 lost among the wild and barren sands. Does not 
 this physical relation, beautifully and forcibly, point 
 out the spiritual relationship of the true visible 
 church, in the midst of an ungodly world ? All 
 that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of 
 the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, 
 but is of the world. How then should the sanctified 
 of God find their life and enjoyment in such a bar- 
 ren wild ? If ye were of the world, the world would 
 love his own ; but because ye are not of the world, 
 but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore 
 the world hateth you. And this suggests another 
 remark. 
 
 4. Divine guidance is indispensable. The Sheki- 
 
112 THE TABEKAACLE, OR 
 
 nah must lead ; that is the church must always fol- 
 low the God of mercy. These are they which follow 
 the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. So it was in an 
 earlier day. Abraham left his country and his kin- 
 dred at the call of God, and went out, not knowing 
 whither he went. He simply trusted in God, and, 
 watching the tokens of his providence, and hearken- 
 ing to the voice of his word, commenced the pilgrim- 
 age of a long and a happy life. A hundred and 
 five years he wandered, a sojourner in a strange 
 land, although it was his by covenant and sure to 
 be his in possession by his seed. Here we have no 
 continuing city, but following, not a supernatural 
 light of a cloud and pillar of fire, but the more sure 
 word of prophecy, the people of God now and 
 ever press onward toward that glorious city, beyond 
 this wilderness world, whose Maker and Builder is 
 God. The commandment is a lamp and the law is 
 light ; and the path of the just shineth more and 
 more unto the perfect day. Let it evermore be our 
 concern to seek unto this true Light, so shall we be 
 guided and kept by the power of God through faith 
 unto salvation. 
 
 Sustenance from God is guaranteed. He sends 
 none on a warfare at his own charges ; but provides 
 all necessary good things. In the thirty-nine years' 
 travel they lacked not bread or clothing. This sets 
 forth the abundant and perpetual supply of grace 
 to Zion's travellers through this barren desert. The 
 righteous man shall dwell on high, his place of de- 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDINa TO MOSES. 113 
 
 fence shall be the munitions of rocks, bread shall 
 be given him, his water shall be sure. " I will abu]:- 
 dantlj bless her provision : I will satisfy her poor 
 with bread. I will also clothe her priests with sal- 
 vation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy." 
 " They shall hunger no more, neither thirst ; the 
 sun shall not smite them ; for he that hath mercy 
 on them shall lead them, even by the springs of 
 water shall he guide them. I am the bread of life: 
 he that cometh to me shall never hunger ; and he 
 that belie veth on me shall never thirst." 
 10 * 
 
114 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Soly Anointing Oil — The Consecration of the Tabernacle 
 and its Furniture, and of the Priesthood. 
 
 Moses was directed — Exod. xxx. 23, &c. — " Take 
 thou also unto thee, principal spices, of pure myrrh 
 five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half 
 so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and 
 of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels ; 
 and of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel 
 of the sanctuary ; and of oil olive a hin : and thou 
 shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment 
 compounded after the art of the apothecary : it 
 shall be a holy anointing oil." 
 
 The workmanship reveals the character and at- 
 tributes of the AYorkman. "I will praise thee," 
 says the psalmist, " for I am fearfully and wonder- 
 fully made." Even limiting ourselves to the physi- 
 cal organism, this is most reasonable : and in our 
 material structure, no part is more wonderful than 
 the nervous systems : for whichever we look into, 
 we are soon met with unsolvable problems. What 
 is the relation of the difiierent systems — or parts of 
 the one grand system ? How do the sentient and 
 involuntary nerves operate ? Are they telegraphic 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDINa TO MOSES. 115 
 
 wires ? How does the spirit influence the nerves of 
 motion ? How do the respiratory nerves keep up 
 the proper action of the vital functions indepen- 
 dently on mental action and consciousness ? How 
 do sensations run along these infinitesimal wires ; 
 and upon reaching their grand centre, how do they 
 act upon the sentient mind ? Such questions teach 
 us our ignorance. Still, we see many uses of these 
 mysterious facts ; and our ignorance of modes does 
 not cut us ofi" from innumerable and very happy 
 results. The child in years and the child in knowl- 
 edge are made happy by beholding the beauty of 
 the rose, the lily, and the dahlia ; and by inhaling 
 the odour of the myrrh, the cinnamon, the calamus, 
 and the cassia. The olfactory nerves are also sen- 
 tinels. Placed, in animal economy generally, in very 
 near proximity to the gate by which the materials 
 must enter for the support of life, they stand ever 
 ready to give warning and enter their protest against 
 unwholesome food. Odours acting on these infi- 
 nitely fine ramifications of this nerve, serve as 
 direct and positive means of happiness ; and also 
 as prophylactic remedies against evils. On the the- 
 ory that odours are efiluvia, or small particles em- 
 anating from the odorous body and drawn into con- 
 tact with the olfactory nerves, we see how incon- 
 ceivably minute those particles must be. The vase 
 once saturated with them continues to send them 
 forth for thousands of years ; and yet no perceptible 
 diminution of its bulk or weight has been detected. 
 
116 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 Thus we have practically an idea of infinity ; and 
 that an infinity of felicities : and here is the phi- 
 losophy of the holy anointing oil or unguent. It 
 is the symbol of the Holy Ghost, as the Generator 
 of life eternal in the soul, and of all its graces and 
 felicities in time and in eternity. 
 
 There is another compound of sweet spices, de- 
 scribed in this chapter, ver. 34-38, which is not an 
 ointment, but simply a perfume. It consists of 
 equal parts, as we translate, of " stacte, and onycha, 
 and galbanum — with pure frankincense — and thou 
 shalt make it a perfume, a confection." "Part of 
 it is to be laid up, and put before the testimony in 
 the tabernacle of the congregation." That these 
 are distinct is evident from their composition, the 
 ingredients of each excluding the other; and ac- 
 cordingly they are for different uses. Both are 
 composed of sweet spices ; the ointment, for appli- 
 cation to things and men ; the perfume, to be placed 
 beside the pot of manna in front of the Ark, and 
 to be offered in the censer and on the golden Altar. 
 This is the more sacred and holy ; though, in regard 
 of both, the prohibition against their use for any 
 but the purposes explicitly set forth, is full and ex- 
 press : " Whosoever compoundeth any like it (the 
 ointment,) or whosoever putteth any of it upon a 
 stranger, shall even be cut off from his people," 
 ver. 33. " Whosoever shall make like unto that to 
 smell thereto, shall be cut off from his people," ver. 
 38. Suspension or excommunication is the censure 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 117 
 
 for each or either offence. Their diversity or dis- 
 tinctness seems plainly intimated, when the collec- 
 tion of materials is ordered. Exod. xxv. 6 : " Oil 
 for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet 
 incense." The sacredness of both is seen in the 
 prohibition and penalty. The sweet incense is the 
 prayers of the saints ascending through the agency 
 of our High Priest, and perfumed with his inter- 
 cession. " Let my prayer be set forth before thee 
 as incense ; and the lifting up of my hands as the 
 evening sacrifice," Ps. cxli. 2. 
 
 The holy anointing oil is the Spirit of grace and 
 the Spirit of office, descending upon the person or 
 thing consecrated to the service of God. 
 
 The order to consecrate the tabernacle, and its 
 furniture, and the priests, we have in this same 
 thirtieth chapter of Exodus ; the detail of its cere- 
 monies in Lev. viii. And the first thing to be ob- 
 served is its publicity. "And Moses did as the 
 Lord commanded him ; and the assembly was gath- 
 ered together unto the door of the tabernacle of 
 the congregation," ver. 4. Doubtless the chief of 
 the elders and principal or leading men out of the 
 respective tribes w^ere present to witness the sacred 
 inauguration. The entire mass, of course, could 
 not be present, so as to hear and sec the grand cer- 
 emonies. The people were nearly three millions in 
 number, and the only sense in which they could 
 possibly be assembled at the tabernacle door, was 
 by delegation. We learn from this, that the people 
 
118 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 should be present and express their acquiescence in 
 the ordination of their spiritual rulers and teachers. 
 The matter of the transaction is substantially a 
 covenant, and the parties to it should meet face to 
 face. 
 
 2. The next step is the ceremony of purification : 
 " And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and 
 washed them with water." The laver stood before 
 the door of the tabernacle, and between it and the 
 altar. The extent of this operation — Avhether the 
 entire person was washed or only their hands and 
 their feet, is not absolutely determined. The latter 
 is the more probable opinion. It seems to be sup- 
 ported by Exod. xxx. 19-21 : '' And Aaron and 
 his sons shall wash their hands and their feet there- 
 at." ^' So they shall wash their hands and their 
 feet." And xL 31, 32: "And Moses and Aaron 
 and his sons washed their feet thereat — when they 
 came near unto the altar they washed." So, at 
 the last passover, when Peter, on second thought, 
 expressed the desire to be washed from head to foot, 
 Christ said, " He that is washed needeth not save 
 to wash his feet, but is clean every whit." It is 
 therefore most probable that this lustration was lim- 
 ited to the hands and feet, and not of the whole 
 body, which would scarcely comport with the decen- 
 cies of so public an assemblage. The symbolic 
 meaning of this process is unmistakable : purity, 
 moral purity, in the ministry of mercy is the prom- 
 inent idea. And, as to Aaron, as a typical officer. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACOuRDINU TO MOSES. 119 
 
 its antitype is found in John's washing Jesus on the 
 occasion of his entrance upon the functions of the 
 High Priest's office. 
 
 The 3d step in this process of consecration is the 
 clothing of Aaron in the entire suit prepared, as 
 described in chapter tenth. These splendid and 
 costly garments, these official robes and decorations, 
 these Urim and Thummim, these precious gems and 
 golden crown, being after all but carnal and " beg- 
 garly elements," yet typify and set forth the inim- 
 itable grandeur and glory of our High Priest. 
 Earth's richest materials are thrown together and 
 wrought into the most elegant forms, by heaven-in- 
 spired artizans, for the embellishment of the priest 
 who ministers at the earthly altars and the worldly 
 sanctuary ; and all this to impress the mind of the 
 church with the transcendent grandeur and glory 
 of Him who is to come from heaven and minister 
 in the spiritual tabernacle, and to build up his OAvn 
 spiritual temple, to the glory of his own grace. 
 We dwell not here, because, by reference to 
 chap. X. the reader will see in detail the symbolic 
 meaning of every part of this dress and the unity 
 of its design. 
 
 4. The fourth movement is the anointing of the 
 dedicated things. Lev. viii. 10 : " And Moses took 
 the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and 
 all that was therein, and sanctified them. And he 
 sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and 
 anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver 
 
120 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 and his foot, to sanctify them." The seven sprink- 
 lings of the altar are designed to arrest and fix at- 
 tention upon it. Seven, being a mystic number, 
 which means perfection, an abundant sufficiency, 
 impresses the minds of the Israelites with the su- 
 preme importance of the altar : i. e., the thing 
 symbolized by it, viz., Christ our sacrifice. Thus 
 are they taught the sevenfold importance of this 
 fundamental doctrine, the vicarious sufi"erings of 
 Jesus — his enduring the wrath of God due to us 
 for sin. 
 
 The laver and its foot are here mentioned as being 
 outside, and in some sort as an appendage to the 
 altar ; intimating its use as preparatory to entrance. 
 Moreover, this seems to confirm the remark made 
 relative to its transportation in connection with the 
 grate of the altar. 
 
 In regard to each item of furniture, this anoint- 
 ing teaches the specific consecration of Christ to 
 that particular department of the Mediatorial work 
 symbolized by that particular furniture. And so 
 of the 
 
 5th. " And he poured of the anointing oil upon 
 Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him." 
 As he is an official type of our true and efficient 
 High Priest, his personal consecration prominently 
 sets forth Christ's entire consecration to the office 
 to wliich he was called, as was Aaron : and also his 
 endowment and qualification by the Spirit's being 
 poured out upon him without measure. " God, thy 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 121 
 
 God, hath anomted thee with the oil of gladness 
 above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, 
 and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, 
 w^hereby they have made thee glad," Ps. xlv. And 
 " God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him," 
 Jno. iii. 34. '' For it pleased the Father that in 
 Him should all fulness d^vell," Col. i. 19. "For 
 in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead 
 bodily," ii. 9. And of him ultimately is that writ- 
 ten, "I have found David my servant; with my 
 holy oil have I anointed him," Ps. Ixxxix. 20. In 
 short, all the qualifications of the God-man, for the 
 work of salvation, are covered and sealed by this 
 holy anointing. 
 
 6. One more item only, consisting of three parts, 
 shall I mention, the sacrifices for purifying the altar, 
 the sin-off"ering, the burnt-ofiering, and the ram of 
 consecration. Upon the head of each Aaron and 
 his sons laid their hands, indicative of a transfer of 
 guilt. They are all slain, and their blood variously 
 applied. Of the first, it was put upon the horns 
 of the altar round about, and the rest of the blood 
 was poured out at the bottom of the altar ; of the 
 second, the blood was sprinkled in like manner, and 
 parts of the body were burnt. Of the ram of con- 
 secration, Moses took part of the blood and put it 
 upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the 
 thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of 
 his right foot ; it was also sprinkled upon the altar, 
 and upon the ears, thumbs, and toes of his sons ; 
 u 
 
122 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 and parts of the flesh, along with cakes of unleav- 
 ened bread, after being placed on the hands of 
 Aaron and his sons, and waved for a wave-offering 
 before the Lord, were burnt upon the altar. 
 
 More minuteness of detail is not consistent with 
 our plan. These leading items afford a practical 
 type of Christ's entire consecration, dedication, 
 and preparation for the entire work of redeeming 
 lost men, and glorifying God in their salvation. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 123 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Jlelatioiis of the Ttniths Syniboli»ed to each other and to 
 the Grand System — The SheUinali — The Central Doctrine 
 of Christianity, 
 
 We come now to the fifth and last result of our 
 analysis, viz., to point out the position of the sev- 
 eral doctrines symbolized relatively to each other 
 and to the whole as one system. The importance 
 of this will develope itself as we progress ; yet it 
 may be well to remark, that, as a duty out of place 
 becomes a sin, so a truth out of place becomes a 
 delusion and a falsehood. " To obey is better than 
 sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams ;" 
 yet the sinner who labours at obedience to the law, 
 in hope of life thereby, seeking "to establish his 
 own righteousness," sins against God and his own 
 soul ; and thus also converts the truth of God into 
 a lie. For there is not, nor can be, any holy obe- 
 dience until the heart is made holy — no pure water 
 until the fountain is purified. He that cometh to 
 God must come in the way of his appointment, or 
 he will certainly meet the stern rebuke, " Who hath 
 required this at your hand, to tread my courts ? — 
 brino; no more vain oblations ; incense is an abomi- 
 
1-4 THE TABEKNACLE, OK 
 
 nation unto me." "If thou bring thy gift to the 
 altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath 
 aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the 
 altar, and go thy way ; first be reconciled to thy 
 brother, and then come and offer thy gift," Matt. 
 V. 23, 24. Otherwise the offering is a vain oblation 
 and a sin. 
 
 The traveller in the Arabian desert, oppressed by 
 the scorching heat of the sun, direct and reflected 
 from the parched sands, and his eyes almost bhnded 
 by the combined action of both, his bosom heaving 
 with the swelUng desire, Oh that some shadow of a 
 great rock in this weary land, or even of some 
 friendly tree, would extend its protection over me 
 and snatch me from this impending death, at last 
 lifts his weary and bedimmed eyes, when lo ! in the 
 distance a cloud bigger than a man's hand, seems to 
 throw itself up in the western horizon. Toward it 
 he bends his weary steps, hoping for its shady pro- 
 tection and refreshing shower. Faint, yet pursuing, 
 he presses on, and as he nears it, it seems to rise 
 from the earth and to culminate in the very heavens. 
 Painfully apprehensive that night may cast its dark 
 shade over him in this dread wilderness, he glances 
 his eye toward the fast descending sun, and doubles 
 his diligence to escape before the blackness of dark- 
 ness covers his path. But alas ! too late ; in dark- 
 ness and despair he sinks to the earth in a swoon : 
 but in a moment he rallies, and what do his eyes be- 
 hold ? The cloud has passed away, to which he 
 
THE GOSPEL .ACCORDING TO MOSES. 125 
 
 had so eagerly looked for relief, when lo ! the dark- 
 ness has indeed passed away, "but a light from 
 heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining 
 round about" him, guides his footsteps in the same 
 direction ; and as it is a light without any scorching 
 heat, he arises and presses onward, renewedly anx- 
 ious to learn what he may about this non-consuming 
 pillar of fire. Soon he discovers at its base other 
 objects of interest, of which anon. He finds himself 
 in the vicinity of a vast encampment — thousands of 
 tents spread out in beautiful order, covering milhons 
 of peaceful, happy, and contented people. Passing 
 the sentinels inward toward this brilliant light, he 
 finds its base resting upon the largest and loftiest 
 of the tents ; it stands in the centre of the vast 
 camp. Upon enquiry he learns that in this large 
 tent is an ark containing the compend of moral law ; 
 that covering this ark is a plate of solid gold ; that 
 there are upon it, and over it, and of it, two cheru- 
 bim, shadowing this mercy-seat ; and that the glory 
 of the Lord God of salvation, dwelling between these 
 cherubim, is the symbol of God's gracious presence ; 
 and the non-consuming fiery pillar is but the heaven- 
 ward elongation of this glorious symbol. 
 
 This traveller is every child of Adam — every sin- 
 ner of his race. The sandy desert is this sinful 
 world. The struggles, trials, afflictions, perils of 
 the way, all represent the painful consequences of 
 sin, which ever meet us here, whilst in an uncon- 
 verted state : especially the holy law's influences in 
 11 * 
 
126 THE TABERNACLE, Oil 
 
 the conscience, driving us on with its stern com- 
 mands, and goading to madness and toward despair 
 by its inexorable demand, ''obey and live ;'' and yet, 
 at the same time, making it every hour more plain 
 that this just demand transcends the capacity of the 
 sinner — that no pure stream of holy action can 
 emanate from the corrupt fountain of an unholy 
 heart. The Avild ranging of the traveller's eye all 
 over the boundless expanse of the desert, in quest 
 of relief, of whose cause he is ignorant, is the sinner 
 crying, in the conscious anguish of his convicted 
 soul, What must I do to be saved ? The cloud in 
 the dim distance is the earliest dawn of a confused 
 hope. The fiery pillar, glaring through the dark- 
 ness, like the star of Bethlehem, tells of a God of 
 mercy and where a clearer light may be found lead- 
 ing to ''the Lord our righteousness." Thus too, the 
 moral excellence of the church lures sinners to the 
 ark of safety. "Ye are the light of the world." 
 
 Thus our traveller reaches the central point, not 
 simply of the Israelitish camp, but of the moral uni- 
 verse. There is no other principle, known to man, 
 of equal importance with that set forth in this sym- 
 bol. It gives us the solution of the most important 
 problem ever propounded to the intelligent universe, 
 viz. : How God can justify a sinner. Two other 
 problems, in reference to the fundamental principle 
 of moral government, have been already resolved. 
 This principle is, that righteous action must be re- 
 warded with happiness, and unrighteous action with 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO xMOSES. 127 
 
 painful infliction : the one ensures life, the other 
 death. Its application to righteous beings who ktpi: 
 their integrity and their first estate, secured a sen- 
 tence of justification for the holy angels. This is 
 one problem. Its application to sinning angels, en- 
 sured their damnation ; this the other problem. 
 Both these are solved. The one resulting in the 
 everlasting life and bliss of the obedient — the right- 
 eous ; the other in the eternal death of the unright- 
 eous angels that sinned, and who are reserved in 
 everlasting chains, suffering the vengeance of eter- 
 nal fire. The moral universe had witnessed the ad- 
 justment of these two problems : they had witnessed 
 the fate of the righteous and of the wicked. But 
 now there is an intermediate question. Can God be 
 just in justifying a sinner ? This question is an- 
 swered — this problem is solved, by the ark of the 
 testimony, as we have seen in chapters ii., iii., and 
 iv. : but must now, according to promise, make still 
 more manifest. 
 
 The ark is the grand type of Christ as the fulfiller 
 of law — of law lyreceptive as contra-distinguished — 
 from law i^enal. It has nothing to do directly with 
 penalty. This latter is the precise thing taught by 
 the altar of burnt-offerings ; and we must not con- 
 fuse the symbols. To secure man in the enjoyments 
 of the reward of holy obedience and bring him under 
 the dominion of the law in fact and indeed, include 
 a very large portion of the gospel, viz. : justifica- 
 tion and sanctification : the latter is a necessary con- 
 
128 
 
 sequent of the former, and is therefore rather in- 
 ferred from the symbol meaning of the ark, than 
 expressly taught by it : its grand lesson being 
 Christ's fulfilment of preceptive law for lost men. 
 
 The gospel, of which this is the central thought — 
 the master idea, is a remedial law^ by which "is 
 meant that the scheme of redemption revealed in the 
 Bible, professes to counteract the evils resulting from 
 a former scheme, to make amends for its violation, 
 to provide a remedy for the moral diseases induced 
 through its agency, and so to " heal the hurt of the 
 daughter of my people." 
 
 " The evidence may be found in the professed 
 design of the Saviour. He came to fulfil all right- 
 eousness — to seek and to save that which was lost, 
 to heal the sick, to cleanse those infected with the 
 leprosy of sin, to rescue man from the condemnation 
 of the law, and to restore him to the favour and 
 enjoyment of God, to throw open the prison doors, 
 and to proclaim liberty to the captives, to give sight 
 to the blind, to make the lame walk, and the tongue 
 of the dumb sing for joy. The entire phraseology 
 of Scripture shows that the gospel is a remedy for 
 evils consequent upon some scheme of law which 
 preceded it. It is not a device original, in and of 
 itself, but is manifestly based upon the hypothesis 
 of another covenant having preceded it, at the head 
 of which is another Adam, of whom this second 
 Adam is the anti-type. The actual work accom- 
 plished by the Lord from heaven, is remedial : he 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 129 
 
 restores from the ruin of the fall." See Junkin on 
 Justification, pp. 182, 183. 
 
 But now, " every remedial law establishes the 
 principle of the original institute. This is implied 
 in the term by which I have expressed the idea. To 
 speak of remedying a defect, supposes the existence 
 of the thinoj in which it exists. In human leo'isla- 
 tion, an original institute defines its object, and the 
 principle by which it proposes to accomplish it. The 
 general law for the establishment of schools in a 
 commonw^ealth, specifies its object — the education 
 of the entire mass of the people : it also settles the 
 great principle upon which it shall be done. This 
 is an original institute. But many defects may be 
 developed in the application of its detail. These it 
 may be possible to cure, without abandoning either 
 the object or the general principle by which it is 
 proposed to secure it. Subsequent laws may correct 
 the defects, and such laws are remedial^ and in our 
 legislation are called supi)lements. Should the legis- 
 lature hereafter determine to abandon the object, or 
 the principle, they must pass a repealing act. But 
 moral laws cannot be repealed, even by a divine or- 
 dinance. They are an expose of the divine perfec- 
 tions, and are eternal like their author ; and hence 
 the reason why the Imv given to Adam, could never 
 be repealed, abrogated or set entirely aside. It is 
 a moral law, and can no more be changed, than God 
 himself, of Avhose perfections it is a transcript. By 
 a change in man, it has wrought death, and must 
 
130 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 continue to work deatli, unless the omniscient Legis- 
 lator provide a remedy. The laAV, he can never re- 
 peal ; a supplement remedial he has revealed in his 
 holy word. The obligation upon Adam and his 
 race, to obey God, as w^e have seen, never can cease : 
 the motive to obedience, held out in the promise of 
 life, never can be withdrawn. " If thou wilt have 
 life, keep the commandments." The gospel does 
 not make void the law ; " God forbid ; yea we es- 
 tablish the law." But " what the law could not do, 
 in that it was weak through the flesh — by man's 
 failure — God, sending his own Son, in the likeness 
 of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the 
 flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be ful- 
 filled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after 
 the Spirit." So far, therefore, from the gospel being 
 an original law, defining and fixing its own princi- 
 ples, irrespective of any pre-existing scheme or sys- 
 tem of law, it is simply a remedial scheme; de- 
 signed to confirm, and establish the eternal princi- 
 ples of right, laid down in the law and covenant 
 given by his Creator to man. Material things are 
 subject to mutation. Earth's surface may be the 
 theatre of ten thousand ever shifting dramas, whose 
 last act may be a renovated world, emerging from a 
 deluge of fire. Material suns and systems may be 
 blotted out of existence ; but God's law is immu- 
 table as his own eternal essence. " Think not that 
 I am come to destroy the law or the prophets : I am 
 not come to destroy, but to fulfil ; for verily I say 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCOEDING TO MOSES. 131 
 
 unto jou, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one 
 tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be 
 fulfilled." It is not denied, that the law here in- 
 cludes the Mosaic writings, and the prophets, but it 
 is unquestionably true, that the main substance of 
 the whole, is the moral laiv, which is interspersed 
 throughout the Scriptures." Pp. 183-185. 
 
 The gospel, then, is a remedial scheme — it comes 
 to remedy the evils of a broken covenant. Now 
 this is done by establishing the principle of the 
 former — that life is the just reivard of righteousness 
 — happiness and holiness are inseparable. Jesus 
 came to fulfil all righteousness. Deny this, and the 
 universe is a moral chaos, without a governor; 
 establish it ; and all is order, safety and peace ; the 
 throne of God no longer totters, but is stable as his 
 own eternal being. This is what the ark teaches : 
 to herald this, all the cherubim spread forth their 
 wings ; and, as they fly all abroad, proclaim peace 
 on earth — good-will to man — the fulfilment of law 
 is perfected by the obedience of our ever blessed 
 Surety — the Branch from David's root — " and this 
 is the name whereby he shall be called, the Lord 
 
 OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." 
 
 Now, this fulfilment of law — this perfect compli- 
 ance of our Redeemer with all its preceptive claims, 
 as the title and the only possible title to life eternal, 
 was vicarious. It was not wrought out and per- 
 fected, this righteousness, to secure his own personal 
 justification and to entitle himself to eternal life ; 
 
132 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 but for his people. He has life in himself, and his 
 fulfilment of law for his redeemed, is more honour- 
 able to the law and more abundantly glorifies it, 
 than could the perfect obedience of the whole race 
 of Adam ; yet is it wholly available and passes over 
 to the benefit of all them that believe in his name. 
 Thus they stand complete in him. They are ar- 
 rayed, not in the righteousness of a man, nor yet of 
 an angel ; but, far more glorious, in the " righteous- 
 ness of God" — "which is through the faith of 
 Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." 
 And thus the problem intermediate, is solved. God 
 is just whilst he justifies sinners who believe in 
 Jesus. This central doctrine of Christianity is vin- 
 dicated, whilst the central principle of the moral 
 universe remains unmoved and immoveable. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XVIll. 
 
 JRelative Position — The Brazen Altar — Tlie A-rlt—Tlie Golden 
 Altar. 
 
 Our traveller of the desert, as he approaclies the 
 pillar of the cloud, discovers, directly between him- 
 self and it, another ascending column, of less eleva- 
 tion and of less uniformity, in regard to its hue and 
 steadiness ; sometimes dark ; sometimes bright ; now 
 upright and evenly ; now waving and irregular. As 
 night approaches, its lower part becomes somewhat 
 bright and flickering ; and anon he ascertains its 
 base to be the altar of burnt-offerings ; and itself 
 the column of smoke ascending from the half con- 
 sumed sacrifice. He must pass by this altar before 
 he can enter the most holy place and stand in pres- 
 ence of the ark. Faith in the Lamb that was 
 slain, precedes faith in the Lord our Righteous- 
 ness. When we contemplate the ark, the question 
 arises, how can we put on Christ's righteousness and 
 thus be entitled to eternal life, whilst we are under 
 condemnation and actually dead in sin ? Can a 
 man be justified and condemned at the same time ? 
 Can he be in both states at once ? The relative 
 position of the ark and altar solves this difiiculty. 
 The altar must be passed on our way to the ark. 
 
 12 
 
134 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 Properly speaking, this is redejnption — the pay- 
 ment of the demanded price, for the release of the 
 captive soul under sin. The wages of sin is 
 death, and justice demands their payment : 
 there is no evasion — "thou shalt surely die." 
 The veracity of God in this threatening, as well a3 
 his justice, call for the infliction of the penalty. 
 This truth is brought home to the sinner's heart, by 
 the Spirit and word of God, working in the conscience 
 "a true sense of sin," and, as the heart knoweth its 
 own bitterness, its first, felt necessity is escape from 
 condemnation and the wrath of God, which it sus- 
 pends over the sinner's head. Hence the exclama- 
 tion, "What must I do to be saved ?" This has re- 
 ference to release from the impending curse ; not to 
 the necessity of that righteousness to which life 
 positive is promised. Painful endurance and the 
 present dread of its continuance and increase, under 
 the impulsions of self-love, absorb the whole atten- 
 tion and fix it upon the one fearful idea of God's 
 wrath, now ready to burst in upon the soul and sink 
 it into the abyss of endless woe. How can I escape ? 
 Is there no deliverance ? Must I fall beneath the 
 avenging sword of divine justice ? To this agoniz- 
 ing interrogation the blazing altar furnishes the only 
 true response — the only response that glorifies God 
 and saves man — " Yea, his soul draweth near unto 
 the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If there 
 be a messenger with him, an interpreter, to show 
 unto man his (the Messenger's) uprightness : then 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDINU TO MOSES. 135 
 
 he is gracious unto liim, and saith, Deliver him from 
 going down to the pit ; I have found a ransom." 
 Job xxxiii. 22-24 : " The Son of man came to give 
 his life a ransom for many," Matt. xx. 28. This 
 ransom-price of redemption, lutron, is prominently 
 exhibited in the brazen Altar. See chap. viii. And 
 this is the one grand design of it, as Paul abund- 
 antly declares in Heb. ix. where he proves the inef- 
 ficiency of the typical sacrifices as a price of re- 
 demption for the soul. " But Christ being come a 
 high priest of good things to come, by a greater and 
 more perfect tabernacle, (his own body) not made 
 with hands, that is to say, not of this building ; 
 neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his 
 own blood he entered once into the holy place, 
 having obtained eternal redemption for us," eternal 
 lutrosis, that is release, deliverance from the curse 
 and condemnation of the law. The root idea of 
 this Greek word, is to loose, to untie, unbind, set 
 free from bonds ; and in fact, as Webster intimates, 
 our English word is a derivation from it. The 
 assumption always, that the thing to be released was 
 previously bound : and so sinners are under condem- 
 nation, bound to endure the just sentence of the law. 
 This is the true notion of guilt — liability to j^y^nish- 
 ment — the state and condition of a moral being, 
 on whom judgment unto condemnation has passed ; 
 which is the natural estate of all mankind. "He 
 that believeth not is condemned already." Guilt is 
 the bond that binds the sinner to the stake for ever- 
 
136 THE TABEKNACLE, OK 
 
 lasting burning ; which is confessed by the worship- 
 per who " binds the sacrifice with cords, even unto 
 the horns of the altar," Ps. cxviii. 27. Christ our 
 passover who is sacrificed for us — in our place 
 and room ; and on our behalf, unties this bond 
 — looses the cords of guilt from the sinner, binds 
 them around himself and " suffers, the just for the 
 unjust, that he might bring us to God." Thus, 
 faith in Jesus Christ, who is both our Priest and 
 sacrifice, secures our release from bonds of guilt — 
 snatches us from hell and the grave ; so that " there 
 is therefore now no condemnation to them which are 
 in Christ Jesus :" Rom. viii. 1, and because this 
 change of their legal relations is always accom- 
 panied by a consequential change of their moral 
 character and temperament, they "walk not after 
 the flesh but after the Spirit ;" and so press by the 
 altar into the holiest of all along with their high 
 priest, and there, having been washed at the laver, 
 are enrobed in the glorious garments of the Saviour's 
 righteousness — that is, are justified ; and fitted to 
 sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Thus, 
 Justification is that judicial act, whereby God de- 
 clares the sinner to be possessed in law, of that 
 righteousness, to which eternal life is promised and 
 is therefore justly due ; and that this righteousness 
 is from Christ " imputed to the sinner and received 
 by faith alone." This is the teaching of the ark; 
 that of the altar is different, viz. that the sufi'erings 
 of Christ — his bearing our sins — the pains and sor- 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 137 
 
 rows due to them — in his own body on the tree, re- 
 moves guilt for ever from us ; glorifies the divine 
 justice, which, despite the tears and agony and 
 blood and cries of the holy and the just One, held 
 the terrible cup to his parched lips until it was ex- 
 hausted and he cried, "It is finished." Thus par- 
 don is secured — the forgiveness of sins — the removal 
 of guilt, so that the believing sinner is no longer 
 liable to suffer the punishment of his sins, for they 
 all are blotted out and never can rise in the judg- 
 ment against him. 
 
 This pardon is wholly gratuitous, as to the sinner 
 himself, and as from Jesus ; but it is not gratuitous, 
 as to Jesus from the Father. It is a pardon 
 "bought with blood divine." The lutron — the 
 redemption price which Jesus paid, entitles him to 
 the release of his people from the guilt and ruin of 
 sin. It is no more possible that they should be 
 holden of death and hell and the grave, than that 
 Christ himself should be so holden ; against which 
 idea, Peter concludes by a logic Avhich swept about 
 three thousand souls into the fold of the good 
 Shepherd. 
 
 Moreover herein is taught most significantly the 
 foundation and superstructure of Christ's intercession. 
 The foundation is laid in the symbol meaning of the 
 altar and the ark, and the intercommunication be- 
 tween them. The former two we have had ; the 
 latter now claims our attention. The record we 
 have in detail in cliap. xvi. of Lev. The high priest 
 12 * 
 
138 
 
 is prohibited, on pain of deatli from going into the 
 holy of holies, except on one day in the year ; "In 
 the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, 
 ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, 
 whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger 
 that sojourneth among you ; for on that day shall 
 the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse 
 you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before 
 the Lord. It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and 
 ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever," ver. 
 29, 30, 31. This is the high-day— the great day of 
 atonement. But we must, like Paul, condense Heb. 
 ix. 7. " But into the second went the high priest 
 alone once every year, not without blood, which he 
 offered for himself and for the errors of the people." 
 The sacrifices directed by Moses, were a " young 
 bullock for a sin-offering and a ram for a burnt- 
 offerino;." '' And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the 
 sin-offering, which is for himself, and shall make an 
 atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall 
 kill the bullock of the sin-offering which is for 
 himself. And he shall take a censer full of burning 
 coals from off the altar before the Lord, and his 
 hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring 
 it within the vail. And he shall put the incense 
 upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the 
 incense may cover the mercy-seat that is upon the 
 testimony, that he die not ; And he shall take of 
 the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his 
 finger upon the mercy-seat eastward ; and before 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 139 
 
 the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with 
 his finger seven times." Such are the offices for the 
 priesthood themselves. He is commanded to take 
 of the congregation, two kids of the goats, to cast 
 lots for one of them for the Lord and the other falls 
 to the people, for a scapegoat. " Then, after he 
 has offered the bullock, shall he kill the goat of the 
 sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his 
 blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he 
 did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it 
 upon the mercj-seat, and before the mercy-seat," ver. 
 15. " And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the 
 head of the live goat, and confess over him all the 
 iniquities of the children of Israel * * * g^j^^j 
 the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto 
 a land not inhabited," ver. 21, 22. " In like manner, 
 the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought 
 into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are 
 burned without the camp ; Wherefore Jesus also, 
 that he might santify the people with his own blood, 
 suffered without the gate," Heb. xiii. 11, 12: and 
 Lev. xvi. 27. All the sacrifices and ceremonies of 
 the great day refer to Christ ; let us note, 
 
 1. The high priest's action in laying aside his 
 splendid garments, Lev. xvi. 4, and arraying him- 
 self in the plain linen dress of the common priest, 
 symbolizes the Lord of glory laying aside his robes 
 of eternal light and vailing his divinity in human 
 flesh. 
 
 The priest's offering of sacrifices for himself and 
 
140 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 liis sons is an acknowledgment of their dependence 
 on the great sacrifice offered by the Lord, for the 
 sins of men ; and proves that the blood of bulls and 
 of goats cannot wash out sins. Their repetition 
 every year moreover proves their inefiiciency, that 
 they "can never take away sins." 
 
 3. The offerings of the bullock and ram, and the 
 goat of sin-offering for the people, together with the 
 scape-goat — all these typify Christ as lifting up and 
 removing sin. The two goats are one offering — "a 
 sin-offering," ver. 5. One is slain, and its blood, 
 together with that of the "bullock, is sprinkled 
 upon the altar seven times with his finger, to 
 cleanse," ver. 18, 19 ; but the live goat carries off — 
 removes the sin. Ver. 22 : "And the goat shall 
 bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not in- 
 habited." "Behold the Lamb of God which taketli 
 away the sin of the world." The sufferings of 
 Christ, our High Priest, removes, takes away, and 
 for ever separates sin from the people of his love ; 
 so that they can never "come into condemnation, 
 but are passed from death unto life," John v. 24. 
 Therefore, 
 
 4. The idea that the sacrifice of Christ was made 
 as truly for the damned in hell as for the saints in 
 glory, must be erroneous. Manifestly, if Christ has 
 taken away the sins — all the sins, (unbelief among 
 the rest,) of all men, all men must go to heaven ; or 
 then we have the horrible conception of men going 
 down to eternal death, from whom the Saviour, by 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 141 
 
 his obedience until death, hath taken away all sin ! 
 Blasphemous thought ! ! 
 
 5. The connection between the altar and the ark, 
 by the high priest carrying the blood and fire from 
 the altar, through the blue vail into the most holy 
 place, and there sprinkling the blood before and 
 upon the mercy-seat, most beautifully symbolizes 
 the action of our great High Priest. " For Christ 
 is not entered into the holy places made with hands, 
 which are the figures (types) of the true, but into 
 heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God 
 for us," Heb. ix. 24. "We have an Advocate with 
 the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous : And he is 
 the propitiation (reconciliation) for our sins : and 
 not for ours (Jewish believers) only, but also for 
 the sins of the whole world," 1 John ii. 1, 2. The 
 basis and eflficiency of Christ's advocacy is laid in 
 the perfection of his sacrifice. Because " he hum- 
 bled himself and became obedient until death — even 
 the death of the cross, wherefore also hath God ex- 
 alted him and given him a name which is above 
 every name," Phil. ii. 8, 9. His exaltation as Me- 
 diator, his universal dominion, and the efficiency of 
 his intercession — him the Father heareth always — 
 all depend on and spring from the work done in the 
 days of his humihation, the centre of whose sorrows 
 is symboHzed in the burning altar. But for his 
 payment of the price of redemption, our Advocate 
 has no right to ask the Father for his people's deliv- 
 erance from the pit in which is no water, or to pray 
 
142 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 for the Spirit to be poured out on them. And this 
 suggests 
 
 6. The relation of the golden altar to bofh the 
 ark and the brazen altar. The incense altar, as we 
 have seen, chap, vii., symbolizes Christ as the Inter- 
 cessor — the Advocate with the Father. It stands 
 immediately in front of the ark, but outside of the 
 vail and in a direct line from the ark to the laver 
 and the brazen altar. No perfume, however, can 
 arise — no pillar of a sweet-smelling odour can ascend, 
 until coals from the outer altar are brought in, and 
 the incense sprinkled on them. The prayer of the 
 wicked is abomination to the Lord. True devotion, 
 real heart-prayer starts out from Gethsemane and 
 Calvary. "And they shall look upon me whom 
 they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him" — 
 then the Spirit of grace and supplications flows forth, 
 the incense burns brightly upon the altar of the 
 heart, and the cloud thereof arises between the che- 
 rubim, where God meets with his people for blessing. 
 The poet of nature may talk of kindling his devo- 
 tion at the stars, but one star alone is adequate to 
 such a flame — the Star of Bethlehem — a spark from 
 the altar that consumes our great Sacrifice. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 143 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Jtelative Positions— Tlie leaver— The Candlestick,— The Table. 
 
 The laver, see chap, ix., is the type of our Re- 
 deemer as the purifier of the church. But this 
 function of his office he accomphshes by the agency 
 of the Holy Ghost, who regenerates the souls of the 
 Lord's purchased inheritance, and carries them on- 
 ward in holiness for ever. Its position is directly in 
 front of the door of the tabernacle and between 
 it and the altar of burnt-offerings. It sets forth 
 " the washing of regeneration and renewing of the 
 Holy Ghost," Tit. iii. 5. The use of it, as of the 
 whole tabernacle and all its furniture, was for the 
 priests exclusively. But this very use is vicarious^ 
 that is, the priests and Levites officiate in their ser- 
 vices for and on behalf of the people. An Israelite 
 brings his lamb or goat to the priests at the altar, 
 who slay and offer it as a sacrifice : it is the wor- 
 'shipper, not the priest, who confesses his sin and his 
 hope of acceptance, pardon, and peace through the 
 Lamb of God. So the priests wash at the laver be- 
 fore they proceed in the work at the altar ; all this 
 is vicarious : and thus throughout ; the priests and 
 Levites are the agents as it were ; and their out- 
 
144 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 ward actions are the acts of the people who present 
 the offerings. The believing Hebrew, bj his bloody 
 offering, expresses his faith in Messiah as the Finest 
 and the Sacrifice; and also as the Purifier and 
 Sanctifier of his own soul. His desire and object 
 is to go himself into the holy, yea, into the most holy 
 place not made with hands ; and he knows that until 
 he "is washed, and sanctified, and justified in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our 
 God," 1 Cor. vi. 11, such entrance is impossible. 
 The position of the altar and laver make it evident 
 that other method or way of access into the holy 
 and the most holy places, there is none. 
 
 In chapter vi. it has, we trust, been made evident 
 that the Candlestick typifies Christ as the Teacher, 
 who teacheth as never man taught : as the Great 
 Prophet, by whom all accurate knowledge of the 
 divine perfections — and especially of the divine 
 mercy ^ is made known to lost men. Its position on 
 the south side of the former apartment — the holy 
 place, which ever stands with open doors, ensures 
 its radiance not only within, but all abroad in front, 
 over the laver, and the &.ltar, and the gate of the 
 court, and far eastward : so that for miles distant, 
 the. traveller may behold, and learn from it, the 
 place of sacred service and the way of acceptable 
 approach thereto. 
 
 The lighting of the lamps is official service of 
 the priesthood; but whence the fire is taken the 
 record does not expressly teach. Lucifer matches 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 145 
 
 are a modern invention ; and we know of no fire/" 
 perpetually burning on these premises but that on 
 the brazen altar : " The fire upon the altar shall 
 be burning in it ; it shall not be put out : the fire 
 shall ever be burning upon the altar ; it shall never 
 go out," Lev. vi. 12, 13. It is therefore a neces- 
 sary inference, that here, as in the consumption of 
 the incense, the altar supplies the fire: and here 
 again we have a beautiful illustration and argument 
 as to the infinite importance of the doctrine of 
 atonement — or rather satisfaction rendered to divine 
 justice by the sufi'ering and death of the Mediator. 
 "Put out" this fire — deny the vicarious nature of 
 Christ's sufferings — ^maintain that Jesus did not le- 
 gally, as our Surety, bear our sins — sufier the pen- 
 alty of the lata for his people, and you sweep away 
 the foundation of the sinner's hope for eternity. 
 "Put out" this, and you have no fire to light the 
 lamps that guide the sinner's feet into the holy of 
 holies — you have no fire to kindle the incense of 
 an all prevailing intercession — no Advocate with 
 the Father to present the cries and prayers of a 
 ransomed world, and to sprinkle the memorial of 
 his own blood, as the ground and reason why the 
 Spirit should be sent down to kindle pentecostal 
 fires in the hearts of lost millions. Oh ! what do 
 men that minister mean by tampering with this fun- 
 damental doctrine ? Do they know that they are 
 labouring to extinguish the only fire which can gen- 
 erate the power indispensable to give motion to the 
 
 13 
 
146 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 entire machinery of gospel grace ? Do they mean 
 to turn the Shekinah of glory into a black cloud 
 of divine wrath, soon to burst upon an unredeemed 
 race ? 
 
 In chap. V. we endeavoured to show that the table 
 and its appurtenances exhibited the Saviour to the 
 faith of his people, as the bread of God which Com- 
 eth down from heaven and sustaineth the life of 
 God's people. Its position is on the north side of 
 the sanctuary, or first apartment of the tabernacle, 
 and, of course, opposite to the candlestick. The 
 table and all its contents must be viewed as one 
 symbol, just as the candlestick, its oil and light, is 
 one ; and the incense w^ith its odour is one. It re- 
 mains only to show the teaching of its relative po- 
 sition. It is accessible as food only on the Sabbath 
 morning and days following, and is therefore at 
 least a week old before it can be eaten. Is this de- 
 signed as a dietetic lesson? Does it teach that 
 fresh, warm bread is not wholesome ? 
 
 This bread is accessible only for the priests, who 
 are the representatives of the people : hence, under 
 the gospel, we, the private members of the kingdom, 
 being admitted to its most sacred privileges, are 
 priests unto God. But mainly, it is accessible only 
 by passing the altar, and the laver, as guided by 
 the Candlestick, under whose light it is eaten. That 
 is, Divine teaching must precede actual feeding upon 
 the bread of God. Knowledge of divine truth pre- 
 cedes spiritual nourishment, and must accompany 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 14T 
 
 growth in grace thereby. Before eating, the priest 
 must pass the laver also : i. e., he must be washed, 
 or he cannot eat. Unless he is regenerated and 
 sanctified, he cannot digest this spiritual bread. 
 Food is for living men, and not for the dead. Spir- 
 itual bread is for such as are made alive in Christ 
 Jesus : to all others the experience cannot be real- 
 ized — " My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is 
 drink indeed." . The altar too must be passed. 
 Faith in the great sacrifice precedes the feast upon 
 the bread of faces. The eating is in the presence 
 of God, and after the priest has passed the altar, 
 and has had the blood put upon the tip of his right 
 ear, in token of entire obedience to divine teaching; 
 upon the thumb of his right hand, in token of his 
 active service rendered to God ; and upon the great 
 toe of his right foot, in token of his following in 
 the footsteps of the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. 
 
 From all these, it seems impossible to avoid the 
 inference, in reference to the bread and wine in our 
 sacramental supper, that four things ought to be 
 insisted upon as pre-requisites : viz., 
 
 1. "Knowledge to discern the Lord's body" — an 
 intelligent comprehension of the gospel doctrines. 
 
 2. "Faith to feed upon him" — a candid profes- 
 sion of belief in the leading doctrines. 
 
 3. "Repentance and love" — a reasonable and 
 Scriptural account of religious experience and heart 
 work. 
 
 4. "New obedience" — a life of holiness — ear, 
 
148 
 
 hand, and foot — the enthx consecration of the per- 
 son to God. 
 
 Omit any one of these, and you endanger the 
 soul of the communicant and lead him on to eat 
 and drink damnation to himself; and prepare the 
 way for conduct dishonourable to the church ; and 
 cast a stumbling-block in the way of others. 
 
 Strenuously, but tenderly, sincerely, but kindly, 
 press these four points upon the heart and con- 
 science of enquirers, until they shall have exam- 
 ined themselves ; and so let them eat — and you will 
 save the evils mentioned; and a holy, active, and 
 zealous communion will ensure peace and harmony, 
 and love, and power for good to your whole congre- 
 gation. This will ensure your light to shine forth 
 over the dark deserts of a sinful world, and to di- 
 rect the weary feet of many a wanderer into the 
 path that shineth more and more unto the perfect 
 day. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 149 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 miscellaneous Suggestive Analogies — TJie Sojourn of Israel — 
 JBondage in JEggpt — Forty Years in the Wilderness — Order 
 of March— Westward Movement— Entrance into Canaan. 
 
 The word sojourn describes the state of an in- 
 dividual or company of persons who have removed 
 from their own country and kindred, and are living 
 in a foreign and strange land. " Abraham's so- 
 journ began when he obeyed the Lord's call and 
 left Ur of the Chaldees, because the Lord had said 
 unto him, ' Get thee out of thy country, and from 
 thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall 
 show thee,' " Acts vii. 3. This was in the seventi- 
 eth year of his life, and A. M. 2078. Thirty years 
 after this Isaac was born ; and thus Abraham's seed 
 sojourned four hundred years. Gen. xv. 13 ; whilst 
 the whole sojourn, from the call, was four hundred 
 and thirty years, Exod. xii. 40, 4l, at the end of 
 which, " even the self-same day, it came to pass, 
 that all the hosts of the Lord w^ent out from the 
 land of Egypt." Of these four hm^dred and thirty, 
 two hundred and twenty were pas ^ed at the time 
 of Jacob's descent. From the call to Isaac's birth 
 is thirty, to Jacob's sixty, and to his audience with 
 13 * 
 
150 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 Pharaoh one hundred and thirty. So that from this 
 to the exodus was two hundred and ten years — this 
 is the whole period spent in Egypt : and this was 
 the term of Israel's deepest degradation, and yet, 
 very possibly, of their most rapid advancement in 
 numbers and general improvement — perhaps even 
 in spirituality. 
 
 How well adapted, all this, to impress upon our 
 minds the truth that we are all pilgrims and strangers 
 sojourning in a foreign land, far away from our 
 Father's house ! How long and how painful our 
 subjection to cruelty and oppression, under the 
 bondage of sin and the buffetings of Satan and his 
 task-masters ! And yet how perverse and foolish 
 and disobedient w^e are, to fall in love with our 
 chains, and shrink away from the duty of resisting 
 the adversaries and of breaking loose from our own 
 degradation ! Israel in Egypt is an allegory, illus- 
 trative of man's servitude until he is delivered by 
 divine power, and borne, almost in opposition to his 
 desire, across the red sea, and witnessed its shores 
 strown with the relicts of a dead tyranny. 
 
 But if the bondage sojourn in Egypt is symbol- 
 ical of man's slavery to sin, the additional forty 
 years' pilgrimage in the wilderness is necessarily 
 su2<^estive of the sinner's condition after his chains 
 are broken, and before he settles down into a peace- 
 ful and quiet frame of mind. The inconveniences, 
 exposures, and sufferings ; the windings and turn- 
 intzs, the scorchino: heats and the chillino; blasts, 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 151 
 
 the wild beasts and the poisonous reptiles, — all that 
 is harassing and perilous as to their outward condi- 
 tion, have their counterpart in the uncertainty, 
 the failing of faith, the temptations of the adver- 
 sary of souls; the blindness and darkness; the 
 fights within and the foes without ; the allurements 
 of the world, and all the miseries resulting from 
 those fleshly lusts that war against the soul's peace. 
 All this journey through this great and terrible 
 wilderness symbolizes the religious experiences of 
 the present state, preparatory to our entrance upon 
 the heavenly Canaan. This world is a desert, and 
 through it we must pass. Faith alone can secure 
 us. Manna is provided — heavenly bread: water 
 shall be sure. Twice a miracle was wrought to 
 procure a supply. Here it may be proper to cor- 
 rect a misconstruction of the passage, 1 Cor. x. 
 4 : '' And did all drink the same spiritual drink ; 
 for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed 
 them: and that Rock was Christ." Some people 
 suppose that the stream from the rock at Horeb 
 followed literally the Israelites in all their journey- 
 ings through the desert. But Paul says nothing 
 like this : he, on the contrary, tells us it was the 
 spiritual Rock — Christ — not the natural water, 
 that followed them ; it was the spiritual drinh which 
 the believing fathers drank, not the natural water. 
 "But with many of tliem God was not well pleased." 
 The believing people drank the spiritual drink, and 
 the others "were overthrown in the wilderness." 
 
152 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 The order of march is a pattern for military 
 movements to this day. The whole adult male pop- 
 ulation, exclusive of Levi, was divided into four 
 corps, as military men would now term it, and each 
 corps into three divisions : each division had its cap- 
 tain and proper standard. The whole number of 
 males " from twenty years old and upward, all that 
 were able to go forth to war in Israel," was 603,550. 
 In camp and on the march they were to occupy 
 their proper position. On the march the camp of 
 Judah led off, with Issachar's and Zebulon's di- 
 visions : then followed the second corps, the camp 
 of Reuben, with Simeon's and Gad's. Next to 
 these were the tabernacle and its appurtenances, 
 surrounded by the Levites in established order. 
 Then the camp of Ephraim, with the divisions of 
 Manasseh and Benjamin. The camp of Dan, with 
 the divisions of Asher and Naphtah, forming the 
 fourth corps, closed up the rear. 
 
 If only one out of five was qualified for military 
 duty, the whole population, exclusive of Levites, 
 was 3,017,750 — three millions, seventeen thousand, 
 seven hundred and fifty ; add the Levites, 45,000, 
 and you have the grand total of 3,062,750. 
 
 The wisdom that could muster and march this 
 immense host for forty years must be more than 
 human, and of this the proofs abound. The Cap- 
 tain of the Lord's host that appeared to Joshua on 
 the right bank of Jordan was the sleepless guardian 
 of this vast host, Josh. v. 14, 15. And thus it is 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 153 
 
 with the spiritual Israel. Order and beauty reign 
 in the camp where Jehovah dwells. ^' The king's 
 daughter is all glorious within." 
 
 These hosts of the Lord marched to all points 
 of the compass betimes, yet they entered Canaan 
 from the east ; and the tabernacle always faced the 
 east : so the worshippers always faced and moved 
 westward in their approach to it. This suggests 
 that evangelical truth travels westward. The Star 
 of Bethlehem came from the east. The Sun of 
 Righteousness follows the course of the natural sun. 
 The true church of God has always been moving 
 " from the rising of the sun to the going down of 
 the same." And the facts of history seem alluded 
 to in the language of prophecy. " As the lightning 
 Cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the 
 west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be," 
 Matt. xxiv. 27. " He shall not fail nor be discour- 
 aged till he have set judgment in the earth, and the 
 isles shall wait for his law," Isa. xlii. 4. This is 
 spoken of Messiah, and contains a promise for the 
 West. The Hebrews called all western regions to 
 which they went by water, isles : and many are the 
 allusions to them. " Sing unto the Lord a new 
 song — ye that go down to the sea, and all that is 
 therein; the isles and the inhabitants thereof." 
 " And I will set a sign — to the isles afar off, that 
 have not heard my fame." 
 
 " Westward the course of empire takes its way ; 
 The four first acts already past, 
 
154 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 A fifth shall close the drama with the day ; 
 Time's noblest offspring is-the last." 
 
 Canaan, whither Israel was bound, was given to 
 that pe'ople bj covenant, promise, and oath: and 
 Canaan is the grand type of heavenly rest for the 
 church. Heaven is given to its redeemed inhabit- 
 ants that are and shall be, by promise, covenant, 
 and oath. All exhibitions, therefore, which ignore 
 the doctrine of the covenants, and make heaven a 
 mere free-will offering from God, which he may re- 
 call and change at pleasure, are radically defective. 
 Jesus is the Surety of a better covenant, established 
 upon better promises." "And I will make an 
 everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mer- 
 cies of David." Into this beautiful land, thus 
 guaranteed by the promise, covenant, and oath of 
 Him who cannot lie, the children of the covenant 
 are sure to enter. From Pisgah's top the eye of 
 faith traverses the earthly Canaan, type of that 
 other Canaan which lies beyond the Jordan of death. 
 On its farther shore, oh ! what crowds of bright 
 spirits stand — all arrayed in the fine hnen which is 
 the righteousness of the saints — all bent forward in 
 earnest expectancy of the arrival of some dearly 
 beloved friends from the wilderness of a sorrowful 
 world. When lo ! the cold flood parts, the ark de- 
 scends into the dry channel, closely followed by the 
 hosts of God's redeemed, who soon clasp their now 
 recognized friends in the warm embraces of an ever- 
 lasting love ; and with them scan the heavenly home, 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 155 
 
 and traverse the golden streets of the New Jerusa- 
 lem : and are ushered into the presence of the Lamb 
 that was slain. And now the symbolical ark, and 
 altar, and tabernacle, and all are gone ; the pillar 
 of fire is gone ; and the smoking column is gone ; 
 and the laver is gone; and the incense altar is 
 gone; and the table of shew-bread is gone; and 
 the golden candlestick is gone; "And I see no 
 temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and 
 the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city has 
 no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine 
 in it : for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the 
 Lamb is the light thereof." " Amen, even so come. 
 Lord Jesus." 
 
 Jerusalem, my happy home, 
 
 Name ever dear to me ! 
 When shall my labours have an end, 
 
 In joy, and peace, and thee ? 
 
 When shall these eyes thy heaven-built walls, 
 
 And pearly gates behold ? 
 Thy bulwarks, with salvation strong 
 
 And streets of shining gold ? 
 
 ! when, thou city of my God, 
 
 Shall I thy courts ascend. 
 Where congregations ne'er break up, 
 
 And Sabbaths have no end ? 
 
 There happier bowers than Eden's bloom. 
 
 Nor sin nor sorrow know: 
 Blest seats, through rude and stormy scenes, 
 
 I onwax-d press to you. 
 
15G THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 Why should I shrink at pain and woe, 
 Or feel at death, dismay ? 
 
 I've Canaan's goodly land in view. 
 And realms of endless day. 
 
 Apostles, martyrs, prophets there 
 Around my Saviour stand ; 
 
 And soon my friends in Christ below, 
 AVill join the glorious band. 
 
 Jerusalem, my happy home. 
 My soul still pants for thee ; 
 
 Then shall my labours have an end, 
 "When I thy joys shall see. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 167 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 A cot'rection — The vicat'ious nature of the atoneinent, and its 
 consequences. 
 
 On page 79, there is a small error, which was not 
 detected in time to correct it, and which affects not 
 the meaning, but only the mechanical accuracy. 
 " These corner boards, facing the east, thus consti- 
 tuted a bi-ace and support to the sides north and 
 south, whilst they became door-jambs, of eighteen 
 inches, leaving the door or gateway into the build- 
 ing ten feet and a-half wide." It ought to be 
 twenty-seven inches ; that being the width of each 
 board. Of course, the space of the gateway remain- 
 ing would be nine feet, and the four apertures made 
 by the five pillars, and including their diameter, 
 would be but two and a quarter feet, and not " two 
 and a half feet for each of the four doors," as stated 
 at the bottom of the page. 
 
 As this little book designs to be expository and 
 didactic, and a kind of compend of Christian 
 theology for practical use, it has purposely avoided 
 any extended remarks on disputed points. But, as 
 the brazen altar is the practical starting-point of all 
 the Jewish worship — as without its perpetual fire, 
 
 14 
 
158 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 no bloody sacrifice can be oiFered up ; no sweet per- 
 fume can arise from the golden censer and float 
 upward, drawing the hearts of the worshippers 
 heavenward ; no high priest can enter the holy of 
 holies ; no pious heart can unburden itself by laying 
 his hand on his victim's head and there confessing 
 his sin and expressing his faith, that his offering is 
 accepted for him to make atonement for him — as 
 without this fire to generate it, there can be no 
 active force to put the entire machinery in motion — 
 it seems proper to close with a brief vindication of 
 the grand doctrine taught at the flaming altar — the 
 vicarious substitution of the Son of Man in the law- 
 place and room of his redeemed, and his full pay- 
 ment, by his sufferings, of the debt due for their 
 iniquities when " he bare our sins, in his own body, 
 on the tree." 
 
 Referring the reader back to Chapters VIII. and 
 XVIII., and assuming that he accepts the exposi- 
 tion, w^e aver that its results cannot be declined. 
 But, if Christ suffered for us as a vicarious sub- 
 stitute, it must have been because he was such ; 
 that is, because he put himself, and the Father 
 appointed him to be, legally in our place, bearing 
 our responsibilities ; because he w^as our surety. 
 On any other supposition than this, it is utterly 
 impossible to account for the fact so fully asserted 
 in Scripture, that he suffered by express appoint- 
 ment of the Father, and to justify that appointment. 
 Put, if it be true, that our Lord voluntarily put 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 159 
 
 himself in our law-place and room, so that he be- 
 came sin [a sin-offering] for us, who (personally) 
 knew no sin, then inevitably must he endure the 
 wrath of God due to us. Accordingly, this cup, put 
 into his hand by the Eather, could not be taken aw^ay, 
 but must be drunk. This is what we mean by the 
 assertion, that Christ's sufferings were strictly and 
 truly vicarious. He took away our sins, the sins of 
 all his redeemed, by the sacrifice of himself ; so, that 
 they never can rise and appear in judgment against 
 them. And, if he did not do this — and if, in conse- 
 quence, their sins will rise in the judgment and con- 
 demn them, of course his sufferings did not cleanse 
 them from all sin ; Christ died as to them in vain. 
 There is no stopping-place between the vicarious 
 nature of Christ's sufferings and the rejection of his 
 entire salvation. If he did not, as your surety, dear 
 reader, take away your sin, it still lies upon you 
 and will take you away into everlasting burnings. 
 
 All this seems exceedingly plain. The perpetual 
 fire kept it for ever before the eye of the Jewish 
 believer. The smoke of the brazen altar incessantly 
 reminded him, that access to the holy of holies — 
 type of the heavenly glory — there is none, but by 
 the blood of sacrifice, not his own blood, but that 
 of the lamb substituted in his place, and accepted 
 to make atonement for him. But the believing 
 Israelite never limited his view to the lamb and the 
 burning altar, and the tabernacle, and the ark. 
 The eye of his faith ascended with the smoke 
 
160 THE TABERNACLE. OR 
 
 and beheld the Lamb that was slain for him. 
 Nevertheless, and notwithstanding all this, men 
 there are, who deny the vicarious nature of Christ's 
 sufferings and death. They hold and teach, that 
 he did not in any legal and proper sense, suffer the 
 punishment of our sins ; that he was not so a surety 
 as to become responsible for his people when they 
 failed ; that his sufferings were endured to give an 
 example of patient submission in sorrow and anguish, 
 and were inflicted, as a governmental arrangement, 
 to give an exhibition of public justice. But now, 
 if the design was, to give an example of patience 
 under suffering, and if, as must be the case in their 
 view, his sufferings were not at all of the nature of 
 penal evil and from the curse of God ; he utterly 
 failed, for he cried aloud, " My God, my God, why 
 hast thou forsaken me," whilst the culprits on his 
 right hand and his left gave no such semblance of 
 impatience. And as to satisfying public justice, the 
 difficulty is still greater, for how is public justice 
 met ? Does public justice call for the execution of 
 innocence ? If the infliction of excruciating suffer- 
 ings and unutterable anguish upon a person con- 
 fessedly innocent, who never transgressed law him- 
 self, and who was in no legal sense responsible for 
 the sins of others — if such infliction is an exhibition 
 of public justice, where, out of hell, or in it, shall 
 we look for an exhibition of public injustice ? Oh I 
 how they blaspheme who charge the government of 
 God with such an exhibition of justice ! But now. 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 161 
 
 admit the vicarious nature of Christ's death ; admit 
 that legally, by imputation, " he, his own self, bare 
 our sins in his oayu body on the tree," and all is 
 luminous as the shekinah itself. Christ had as- 
 sumed a suretyship for his redeemed : they failed, 
 and consequently their sins were laid on him, and, 
 therefore, die he or justice must. 
 
 Into this more than insane philosophy above con- 
 troverted, this diabolical justice, men most probably 
 have been driven by two errors of seemingly small 
 importance. First, it is assumed, that at the judg- 
 ment, no sin but unbelief will be regarded as the 
 ground of damnation. Unbelief, under the gospel, 
 is the damning sin. Unbelief is the damning sin ; 
 not, however, because all other sins are lost sight 
 of and escape the eye of the Omniscient Judge, 
 but precisely the reverse, because unbelief spreads 
 them all out in glaring colours before the dread 
 tribunal. Where faith in Christ is, all the sins 
 of the believer are washed out and can never 
 appear to his condemnation ; and, as there is no 
 other fountain adequate to this, he that continues 
 in unbelief, that refuses to wash in this fountain, 
 passes to the judgment with all his sins upon him. 
 This is the obvious reason, why, under the gospel, 
 unbelief is the damning sin. 
 
 It has been argued from this erroneous assump- 
 tion, that the heathen who has never heard the 
 gospel, and who, therefore, could not commit the 
 sin of unbelief, can never be condemned, or at least, 
 
 14 * 
 
162 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 with but a very slight condemnation. And this 
 conclusion is logical from the premise. If you 
 admit that unbelief is the only damning sin, and 
 that a knowledge of the gospel is necessary before 
 a man can commit the sin of unbelief, it will follow, 
 that a knowledge of the gospel is necessary to 
 damnation. Hence, would follow the corollary, 
 that to send the gospel to the heathen is a great 
 crime and a sin against charity. Something like 
 this was the ground taken by the earlier agents of 
 Britain, at Calcutta, before and during the mission 
 of Claudius Buchanan ; and their position was well 
 taken, if the error we expose is not an error, but a 
 portion of gospel truth. 
 
 But the basis of the infidel argument is a glaring ' 
 falsehood. The gospel is not a necessary instru- 
 ment indispensable to the damnation of a sinner. 
 These go away into everlasting fire prepared for the 
 devil and his angels, because they have sinned 
 against the laws of God, just as the devil and his 
 angels did, to whom no gospel was ever offered. 
 
 The second mischievous error alluded to takes 
 its rise partly from the first, and partly from a mis- 
 construction of certain passages of Scripture. As- 
 suming that some knowledge of the gospel is neces- 
 sary to work the sinner's condemnation, they are 
 easily led to put this construction, for instance, on 
 Jno. iii. 19: "And this is the condemnation, that 
 light is come into the world, and men loved dark- 
 ness rather than hght, because their deeds were 
 
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 163 
 
 evil." Thus, they ignore the latter clause; they 
 lose sight of the evil deeds and exclude them from 
 all share in procuring condemnation ; whereas, they 
 are the very cause of the unbelief which prefers 
 darkness to light. Hence, because men could not 
 be condemned, as they suppose, for unbelief, i. e., 
 for rejecting Christ, unless he had died for them, 
 they infer the atonement must be universal ; and 
 then appeal to such general expressions as, ''he 
 gave himself a ransom for all;" " he tasted death 
 for every man," "and not for ours only, but also 
 for the sins of the whole world." They do not con- 
 sider, that in these cases the object is to rebuke the 
 Jews' prejudices and efforts to limit the Messiah's 
 work to the natural seed of Abraham, to the exclu- 
 sion of the Gentiles, among whom are scattered his 
 spiritual seed. The contrast is between the natural 
 and the spiritual seed ; Christ gave himself for the 
 salvation of us Jews ; true, says the Apostle, but 
 also for the salvation of Abraham's children accord- 
 ing to the promise, who are spread over the whole 
 world. 
 
 It is impossible within our brief space to give 
 here the true explanation of all these general 
 expressions. There is no general sacrifice provided 
 at the brazen altar. All sacrifices there are par- 
 ticular. The offering of the individual is for him- 
 self, "to make atonement /or /w'm," Lev. i. 4; or, 
 if the head of a family, "for his household," Lev. 
 xvi. " When a ruler hath sinned, the priest shall 
 
164 THE TABERNACLE, OR 
 
 make an atonement for him," iv. v. 22, 26. So, on 
 the great day of atonement, see Lev. xxiii. 24, &c., 
 " to make an atonement for you before the Lord," 
 for the people of God, specifically and particularly^ 
 "to make an atonement for Israel," " for all Israel. 
 In short, if the reader will take the trouble of 
 spreading open Cruden's Concordance, at the word 
 atonement^ he will find that, in all cases wherein 
 the object of the sacrifice, that is, any person or 
 thing for which atonement is to be made, is men- 
 tioned, it is always particular and never general. 
 No sacrifice is set forth for the world at large, for 
 the heathen, for mankind in general, for the lost in 
 hell : no indefinite atonement was ever made at the 
 altar of God. 
 
 But we are asked, is not the blood of Christ suffi- 
 cient for the salvation of all mankind ? We answer, 
 certainly; yea, for ten thousand sinful worlds like 
 ours ; and his sufi'erings and sacrifice w^ould be the 
 same, if only one sinner was designed to be saved 
 by it. Because the penalty of the law is death. 
 So, in human governments, if a hundred men unite 
 in murdering a single person, they are all and every 
 one deserving of death : and, if one man murders a 
 hundred, he alone dies on the gibbet. Why this 
 apparent inequality? Because the penalty for 
 murder is death — the death of the murderer. 
 
 It is usual, on this question of the extent of the 
 atonement, to say, " sufficient for all, efficient for 
 the elect;" and on this, to base the general gospel 
 
THE GQSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES. 165 
 
 call. The sufficiency, I have just affirmed; but 
 when you make this the basis -of the command, 
 '' Come unto me all ye that labour, &c.," you change 
 the very nature of his sacrifice and its results ; you 
 assume that his death did take away the sins of the 
 non-elect; for how otherwise could it make their 
 sins, and especially their unbelief inexcusable? 
 And this is the very design of the position, " suffi- 
 cient for all," as you present it. But, if his death 
 took away the sin of unbelief, as I have elsewhere 
 observed, and all the other sins of all men, why are 
 not all saved, and the sentence, 'Hhese shall go 
 away into everlasting fire," blotted from the sacred 
 page ? No ! Christ did not take away and for ever 
 blot out the sins of those in hell, as this argument 
 for general atonement assumes. Nor is this at all 
 the ground of the commands, repent, believe, seek 
 the Lord, &c., &c. 
 
 The gospel call is properly analyzed into a com- 
 mand and a ]jromise. The command emanates from 
 the king's authority ; the promise from a brother's 
 love. Accordingly, the evangelical commission is 
 prefaced thus: ''All power is given unto me in 
 heaven and in earth; go ye, therefore, ifec." There- 
 fore he '' commandeth all men everywhere to re- 
 pent." Acts xvii., 30. Obhgation to obey the 
 king's authority is universal, absolute and eternal. 
 Satan is bound by it as much to-day as before he 
 rebelled; and lost men on earth and in hell are 
 equally bound to obey God. And the gospel call 
 
166 THE TABEKNACLE. . 
 
 is first a command : everywhere it addresses us in 
 that form. " Seek the Lord ; turn ye, turn ye ; come, 
 take my yoke ; repent ye; believe on the Lord." 
 
 Moreover, the gospel call is ]jromi8Sory. " I will 
 give you rest ; ye shall find rest ; ye shall be saved ; 
 hath everlasting life ; shall not see death ; shalt be 
 with me in paradise, &c." All these promises 
 originate in love ; and, what is important for us, 
 none of them is indefinite, but all particular ; none 
 of them is absolute, but all conditional. They are 
 all addressed to the believer, the penitent, the obe- 
 dient who submit to the command-call. To none 
 but these is the promise sure. In this sense, faith 
 and repentance, i. e., holy submission, are condi- 
 tions of salvation ; without them, no man is saved ; 
 with them, no man is lost. For, be it well remem- 
 bered, faith and repentance are here not subjectively 
 taken ; not as being our ivoj^ks ; but, as being 
 graces of the Holy Spirit. The king commands all 
 his subjects to return to due allegiance ; he promises 
 life eternal to all who shall and do return ; he sends 
 his Spirit, who works out in the soul the necessary 
 conditions ; then the promise is sure to the day of 
 final redemption. 
 
 Our prime duty and privilege is, to pray for the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost. " If ye, then, being evil, 
 know how to give good gifts to your children, how 
 much more shall your heavenly Father give the 
 Holy Spirit to them that ask him." Luke xi., 13. 
 Amen. 
 
ALPHABETICAL INDEX 
 
 Altar of burnt-offering, 55 — its symbolical meaning, 56 — its consecration, 
 121 — starting point of all Jewish worship, 145. 
 
 Altar, golden or incense, 53 — Christ as intercessor, 54. 
 
 Analysis of general subject, 12. 
 
 Ark of Testimony, 13, 44 — connection with altar, 141. 
 
 Bezaleel, the Architect, 13. 
 
 Bread, unleavened, 47, 122, 146 — Show do., for priests only, 147. 
 
 Breast-plate of High Priest, 72. 
 
 Canaau, type of heaven, 154. 
 
 Candlestick, 50 — Christ as Prophet, 51 — its relative position, 144. 
 Cherubim, 14 — Word and Symbol, 28 — identical with the Zoa and the 
 Seraphim, 30, 38 — and Christian ministry, 31, 32 — Mosaic, 39 — Paradisial, 41. 
 Church moves westward, 153 — Organized by, 108 — Court, 85. 
 
 Desert, traveller in. 111, 133. 
 
 EJpliod, 74. 
 
 Faitlif subjective, does not justify, 21. 
 Flaming sword, 106. 
 
 Croat, scape, 139. 
 Glory, 103. 
 
 Gospel, a remedial law, 128— Saves by fulfilling law, 130 — call, mandatory 
 and promissory, 165. 
 Graces, order of, 123. 
 Guilt, 135— laid on Christ, 136. 
 
 Heatlien, condemnation of, 161. 
 Holiness requisite in ministers, 110. 
 Jews' error in limiting salvation, 163. 
 Justification, 26 — and sanctification inseparable, 27. 
 
 Knowledg^e of gospel necessary to damnation, 161. 
 
 167 
 
1G8 INDEX. 
 
 leaver, Christ as purifier, 61 — its position, 143. 
 
 Laws ceremonial are gospel ordinances, 20 — Moral, not a schoolmaster, 22 — 
 not a negation, 25. 
 Light, symbol of mercy and truth, 125. 
 
 Oil, holy anointing, 114— Odorous, worship, 116. 
 
 Pardon, bought, 137. 
 
 Penalty, enduring it not positively meritorious, 27. 
 
 Pillar of cloud and of fire, 102, 106. 
 
 Population of Israel, 152. 
 
 Priesthood — holy garments, 66 — Origin of, 69, 71. 
 
 Promises of gospel, conditional, 165. 
 
 Purification, 118 — different from consecration, 119. 
 
 Redemption proper, by sacrifice, 60. 
 
 Relative position of tabernacle, &c., 98, 123, 140, 142. 
 
 Rock that followed Israel, 150. 
 
 Sacrifices, origin, 66 — philosophy, 58 — Christ, 140. 
 Salvation, none out of church invisible, 93. 
 Shekinah, 105, 107, 111. 
 
 Taljcx'nacle and its court, 78— its meaning, 87. 
 Tables of stone, 15 — symbol meaning, 17. 
 
 Unbelief the damning sin, 160. 
 
 Vail of tabernacle, 81. 
 Vicarious substitution, 58. 
 
 Wood of tabernacle &c., 14. 
 
BS11%.5 .T2J9 
 
 The tabernacle, or the Gospel according 
 
 Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00046 0958 
 
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 HIGHSMITH #45230