CHAPTER II.

Arrangement and Furniture of the Tabernacle.

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT: WITH ITS SEAT OF MERCY, AND THE CHERUBIM OF GLORY OVERSHADOWING IT: 1. DESCRIBED: 2. INTERPRETED. THE SUBJECT IMPROVED IN FOUR PARTICULARS.

EXODUS XXV. 22.

And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

THESE words relate to the ark of the covenant, from whence, as from the throne of his terrestrial glory, the King of Israel, even Jehovah of hosts, through the intervention of his servant Moses, would dispense his will unto the chosen and peculiar nation. A commandment of a general kind had already been issued to construct a sanctuary, that the Lord God might dwell among them; now, more particular instructions are given respecting the furniture and the various appointments of the holy tent. Of these, the first in order, as being particularly the symbol of Divine majesty and sanctity, is the ark of the covenant, with its simple yet sublime accompaniments.

Before, however, we enter upon the consideration of this article, we will state the prescribed arrangement of the tabernacle, and then specify the furniture especially appropriated to its respective divisions.

And

The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick and light the lamps thereof. thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle. And thou shalt set the altar of burnt-offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein. And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate.... Thus did Moses: according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did he. And it came to pass, in the first month in the second year, (after the departure out of Egypt,) on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars. And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the Lord commanded Moses. And he took and put the testimony 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,

as the Lord commanded Moses. And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail. And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward. 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. And he set up the hangings at the door of the tabernacle. 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-offering: as the Lord commanded Moses. And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water therein to wash withal. And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hangings of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Ex. xl. 1-8, and 16—34.

This description of the tabernacle, given to you in the language of the Sacred Book itself, places the holy tent before you under a threefold aspect: its several compartments, with the appropriate furniture to each, are as follow :

1. The most holy place, or the sanctuary, properly so called, comprehended the space included within the embroidered vail.

2. The holy place, or the immediately adjoining portion of the tabernacle.

And 3. The courts of the tabernacle, formed by curtains of finely woven threads of linen, suspended upon pillars of shittim-wood, and entirely encompassing the holy tent.

The furniture of the most holy place, was simply the ark of the covenant in shrouded and mysterious solitariness.

That of the holy place, was; first, the table for the reception of the shew-bread or bread of the presence; secondly, the candlestick, designed to illuminate the place, and to cast the reflection of its lamps especially upon the memorial-bread of the tabernacle; and, thirdly, the altar of gold whereupon to place the fuming incense, and which was commanded to be set directly before the vail or covering of the gorgeous mercy-seat.

And that of the courts without, namely, first, the altar of burnt-offering; and, secondly, the laver, as put between the tent or most holy place and the altar, in order to wash withal.

Agreeably to this arrangement, it is manifest that there would be three gates or doors of entry to the tabernacle, each succeeding the other in position and convenience; the first admitting into the courts of the tabernacle; the second into the tabernacle itself; and the third into the innermost recess, or the holiest of all. These several entries were covered by vails or hangings, various in material and construction, and suited to their respective uses and situations.

Over all these holy precincts and their sacred adjuncts, there supervened a cloud or congeries of vapour, assuming sometimes probably a spiral form, and therefore termed a Pillar: emitting occasionally a luminous and resplendent light, and therefore also called a Pillar of fire. At other times this supervening cloud might become diffusive in appearance, affording grateful and refreshing shade unto the hosts of Israel amidst their sultry and fatiguing way. At all times, whether stationary or on their journey, the

cloud was indicative of the Divine presence, and promissory of celestial guidance and protection to the favoured nation. Ex. xiv. 24-26. Ps. cv. 39.

And finally, Jehovah himself, in some wonderful and inexplicable form of visible glory, filled the heaven-constructed tabernacle, and took up his abode between the cherubim of the seat of mercy.

Thus, as St. Paul observes to the Hebrews, was there a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shew-bread, which is called the Sanctuary. And after the second vail, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant and over it the cherubim of glory, shadowing the mercy-seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. Ch. ix. 2-5. Whereon I would observe: Although the apostle speaks here of a first and a second tabernacle, we are not thereby to understand that there were two tabernacles; but merely that the tabernacle was divided into parts by a vail or curtain, crossing it from side to side. This remark will farther explain the meaning of the psalmist in Ps. xliii. 3; xlvi. 4; lxxxiv. 1; and cxxxii. 7; in all which scriptures the tabernacle is mentioned in its plurality of form. Moreover, the term Sanctuary, as applied by St. Paul to the holy place, was more generally applicable, as we have already intimated, to the most holy place, as being the most secret and retired, and made the more especial scene of Divine manifestation. Lev. iv. 6, and Ezek. xlv. 3. Hence to worship Jehovah in the beauty of holiness, was to render homage in his glorious sanctuary or sanctuary of glory. Ps. xxix. 2, margin.