Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
God commands the ark to be made, verse 10, and the mercy seat with two Cherubim, verse 17. Second, the table of the showbread, verse 23. Third, the seven-branched candelabrum from a talent of gold, verse 31.
Moses passes from moral and judicial to ceremonial laws. Note: The laws of the Old Testament were threefold, namely moral, judicial, and ceremonial. God prescribed the moral laws in chapter 20, the judicial in chapters 21, 23, 24; the ceremonial He begins to prescribe here.
Therefore in this chapter together with the three following ones, the form of the tabernacle with its vessels and furnishings is described. On this tabernacle see Abulensis here, Bede and Richard of St. Victor in their book On the Tabernacle, and thoroughly Ribera, book 5 On the Temple, and Villalpando in his Description of the Temple.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 25:1-40
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2. Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me firstfruits from every man whose heart moves him willingly, you shall receive them. 3. And these are the things you should receive: Gold, and silver, and bronze, 4. hyacinth and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, goats' hair, 5. and rams' skins dyed red, and violet skins, and setim wood: 6. oil for preparing the lamps: spices for ointment, and incense of sweet odor: 7. onyx stones, and gems for adorning the ephod and the breastplate. 8. And they shall make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in the midst of them: 9. according to the full likeness of the tabernacle which I will show you, and of all its vessels for worship; and so you shall make it: 10. Frame an ark of setim wood, the length of which shall be two and a half cubits: the breadth, a cubit and a half: the height, likewise a cubit and a half. 11. And you shall overlay it with the purest gold inside and out; and over it you shall make a golden crown all around: 12. and four golden rings, which you shall put at the four corners of the ark; two rings on one side, and two on the other. 13. You shall make also bars of setim wood, and overlay them with gold. 14. And you shall put them through the rings that are on the sides of the ark, that it may be carried on them: 15. they shall always remain in the rings, and shall never be drawn out of them. 16. And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. 17. You shall also make a propitiatory of the purest gold; two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth. 18. You shall make also two golden Cherubim of beaten work, on the two sides of the oracle. 19. Let one Cherub be on the one side, and the other on the other. 20. Let them cover both sides of the propitiatory, spreading their wings and covering the oracle, and let them look at one another, their faces being turned toward the propitiatory with which the ark is to be covered, 21. in which you shall put the testimony that I will give you. 22. From there I will give commands, and will speak to you above the propitiatory, and from the midst of the two Cherubim, which shall be upon the ark of the testimony, all things which I will command the children of Israel through you. 23. You shall also make a table of setim wood, having two cubits in length, and a cubit in breadth, and a cubit and a half in height. 24. And you shall overlay it with the purest gold; and you shall make for it a golden ledge all around, 25. and for the ledge itself an intertwined crown four fingers high; and above that, another small golden crown. 26. You shall also prepare four golden rings, and shall put them at the four corners of the same table upon each foot. 27. Under the crown shall be the golden rings, so that the bars may be put through them, and the table may be carried. 28. The bars also you shall make of setim wood, and shall overlay them with gold for carrying the table. 29. You shall prepare also dishes, and bowls, censers, and cups, in which the libations are to be offered, of the purest gold. 30. And you shall set upon the table the showbread in My sight always. 31. You shall also make a candelabrum of beaten work of the purest gold, its shaft, and branches, cups, and bowls, and lilies proceeding from it. 32. Six branches shall come out from the sides, three from one side, and three from the other. 33. Three cups like a nut on each branch, with a bowl and a lily together: and likewise three cups like a nut in the other branch, with a bowl and a lily together. This shall be the work of the six branches, which are to be drawn out from the shaft: 34. and in the candelabrum itself shall be four cups in the shape of a nut, with bowls at each one, and lilies. 35. Bowls under two branches in three places, which together make six, proceeding from one shaft. 36. And the bowls therefore and the branches shall be from the same, the whole beaten work of the purest gold. 37. You shall make also seven lamps, and shall set them upon the candelabrum, to give light from the opposite side. 38. The snuffers also, and where the snuffings shall be put out, shall be made of the purest gold. 39. The whole weight of the candelabrum with all its vessels shall have a talent of the purest gold. 40. Look, and make it according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.
Verse 2: Let Them Bring Me Firstfruits
2. LET THEM BRING ME OFFERINGS. — Because this was the first common offering of the Hebrews, which was made for the construction of the tabernacle.
Theodoret, Question 70, and Abulensis explain it differently: "Offerings," they say, that is, the first and finest things; for these are what must be offered to God.
WHO OFFERS WILLINGLY. — In Hebrew, whom his heart has made spontaneous and generous.
Verse 4: Hyacinth
4. VIOLET. — Properly, hyacinth is a kind of violet; hence it signifies a gem similar in color to a violet: for this is called hyacinth. Third, it signifies wool of hyacinthine, that is, violet and celestial color, which wool was a luxury among the ancients. Hence Homer in the Odyssey, Book 4, speaking of Helen, says: But above it the distaff was extended, having violet wool. Here throughout, hyacinth signifies this violet wool.
Tropologically, the hyacinth represents a heavenly mind and way of life. Hence the Church, and every holy soul, is shod with a violet shoe, that is, a heavenly one. Ezekiel chapter 16, verse 9: "I shod you with violet," or as the Septuagint has it, with hyacinth, that is, with a shoe of violet and heavenly color; so that by this symbol God might signify that the way of life of the Saints who are in the Church is heavenly. Thus shod with violet, St. Paul, treading upon the heavens and stars with the feet of his mind, said: "Our citizenship is in heaven." Thus shod, St. Jerome spoke that Socratic saying: "I ascend to the heavens, and look down upon this earth and sky." For, as the Apostle says: "You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the Saints, and members of the household of God." And again: "You have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, and to the Church of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant," Hebrews 12:22. Wherefore St. Martin, gazing constantly at heaven both in life and in death, when in a burning fever he lay on his back with his face raised to heaven, and his disciples asked him to turn his body for a while until the force of the disease should abate, and rest face down, he said: "Allow me to look at heaven rather than earth, so that my spirit, about to go on its journey to the Lord, may be directed aright." With his eyes and hands therefore always intent on heaven, he never relaxed his unconquered spirit from prayer. Wherefore the Church rightly sings of him: "Martin is joyfully received into the bosom of Abraham; Martin, poor and lowly here, enters heaven rich, and is honored with heavenly hymns."
In like manner, St. Stephen, undaunted amid the hail of crashing stones, said: "I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of the power of God;" and immediately crying out: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," he flew to Him in heaven to be crowned.
And Purple
AND PURPLE. — The purple-fish is a fish, or rather a shellfish, with whose blood they dye wool, which being dyed with this dark red color, is likewise called purple: from which royal garments were formerly made, and are still made; whence its use was also here in the tabernacle.
Kabbalistically, as Valverde reports in his Alphabet of Solomon, they note that argaman, that is, purple, is composed of four initial letters, from which the names of four angels take their beginning, namely Raphael, Gabriel, Michael, Nuriel; which they assert are the names of those living creatures which Ezekiel saw in chapter 1. For God was clothed with that splendor as with royal purple, according to the verse: "Clothed with light as with a garment." See how easily these weavers of trifles weave their angels out of purple — more easily indeed than a spider weaves its web!
And Scarlet Twice-Dyed
AND SCARLET TWICE-DYED. — Scarlet is a dye-grain (whence it is also sometimes called "grain"), growing on the fuller's shrub, which is similar to the holm-oak: this grain produces within itself a small worm of red color, and with its blood wools are reddened, which are therefore called scarlet, and in Hebrew "worm" or "little worm." Of this little worm, or scarlet, it is said in Isaiah 1:18: "If your sins be red as a little worm." Now the wool, in order to be more red, was usually dipped twice in this blood of the worm — first, when it was still only raw wool; and second, when by spinning it had been drawn into threads: whence it was called twice-dyed, and in Hebrew tolaat scani, that is, scarlet or worm repeated. Hence also the word scani, used by itself, signifies scarlet twice-dyed or double-dipped, which the Septuagint call diploun, that is, double.
And Fine Linen
AND FINE LINEN. — Fine linen (byssus), says Jerome Prado on Ezekiel 16:10, page 186, is the whitest and softest linen, or it is the down of a tree, which is something midway between wool and linen; for in origin it is linen, but in softness it is wool, and when woven it resembles linen, says Pollux. It is, I say, the down of a tree enclosed in a pod, which is commonly called gossypium or cotton — the Flemish and French call it coton — from which cotton or byssine cloth was made in Egypt and Palestine, and is still made in Crete, Sicily, and Spain. So from Pollux and Pliny, book 10, chapter 1, Prado in the place already cited.
Whence Prado notes secondly, in the same place, that this down, namely cotton or byssus, was sometimes dyed purple, and is then called here purple; sometimes violet, and is then called here hyacinth; sometimes scarlet, and is then called here scarlet. But it is called byssus when it is dyed with no color, but in its natural state is most white and most soft. He proves this from Deuteronomy 22:11, where it is forbidden to make cloth from wool and linen; therefore here in the curtains and garments of the tabernacle, wool could not be woven with linen, and consequently the byssus of the tabernacle was not linen, but wool or the cotton already mentioned. Second, if byssus were linen, the cloth made from it would not have been smooth and pure; for threads of linen do not absorb the dye of hyacinth or purple so as to shine; but wool or cotton does absorb it, and saturated with color, it gleams.
But Pliny, book 19, chapter 1, distinguishes byssus from cotton, where after first treating cotton linen, he then treats of byssine linen as a different thing; therefore this byssus was not the down of cotton. Again, byssus is here called linen, as is clear from chapter 39, verse 28, in the Hebrew: but scarlet, hyacinth, and purple were wool, as all interpreters teach; indeed Scripture itself plainly distinguishes byssus from hyacinth, scarlet, and purple; therefore the material of byssus was different from that of the other three: namely, the material of byssus was linen, while the material of the others was wool.
I say therefore that byssus here is not silk, which is spun by worms, namely silkworms, and which the common people now call byssus and silk; nor is it cotton, as I have already shown; but it is a kind of the whitest and finest linen, and therefore byssus is the finest linen. And the finest linen, says Pliny, is that which has, first, extraordinary whiteness and luster; second, wonderful fineness; third, an even, dense, sinewy strength and consistency of thread. Linen of this kind, from whatever province it comes, will be byssus, says Alcazar on Apocalypse 1:43, note 11, for it is precious: whence Achaian byssus was sold at the price of gold; and Jewish byssus was superior to Achaian, says Pausanias. This byssus therefore was linen growing in Egypt and Palestine, in the pods of a certain plant (which are similar to poppy pods), and from it they say a cloth is made which, like asbestos, is not consumed by fire but is purified (whence also Pliny compares this byssus to the asbestos stone, which burns and is not consumed), which is still known to the Venetians today, and is similar in whiteness and fineness to our Cambrai cloth. So Delrio on Genesis 43:42, and others.
Hence in Hebrew this byssus is called shesh, that is, most white: whence also marble is called shesh, Esther 1:6, because it is most white; in Latin and Greek it is called byssus from the Hebrew buts. Hence also this byssus, because it was very fine, was twisted and doubled, as the Septuagint have it here and the Hebrew, and our translator in what follows.
To Prado's arguments I reply that in Deuteronomy 22, only private individuals are forbidden to make garments of wool and linen, not priests for the public worship of God. Again, the prohibition is against mixing woolen and linen threads in the weft of the cloth or fabric; but here they were not mixed in the weft: for the warp was of byssus, while the weft was of wool — namely hyacinthine, scarlet, and purple.
What These Four Things Signify
One may ask, what do these four things — namely byssus, scarlet, purple, and hyacinth — from which the tabernacle was made, signify symbolically and mystically?
I reply that they signify the four elements and the whole world; for the tabernacle was a type of the world. For byssus signifies the earth, because it grows from the earth; purple signifies the sea, because it is dyed with sea-shells; hyacinth signifies the air, because it is of an airy color; for the same reason, scarlet signifies fire and the upper air: for all these things represent the majesty of God, and remind us with what reverence and purity the tabernacle and temple should be approached. Second, all these things signify that the priest is the minister of the Creator, and that he intercedes in the tabernacle for the whole creation and the entire world. So St. Jerome to Fabiola on the priestly garments, Philo, Josephus, Theodoret, and Bede.
Tropologically, to our tabernacle, that is, the Church, some bring scarlet twice-dyed, that is, the twofold love of God and neighbor; others purple, that is, the mortification of the body; others byssus, that is, chastity; others hyacinth, that is, the contemplation of heavenly things; others goats' hair, that is, the habit of penance and patience; others violet skins, that is, hope of things above; others reddened rams' skins, that is, fortitude and martyrdom, as the Apostles and Martyrs practiced; others setim wood, that is, purity of heart; others the oil of mercy; others the incense of a good and pious example. See Bede on Origen, chapter 27. Hear also Origen here, homily 9: Faith, he says, can be compared to gold, the word of preaching to silver, patience to bronze, knowledge to imperishable wood, virginity to byssus, the glory of confession to scarlet, the vigor of charity to purple, the hope of the kingdom of heaven to hyacinth.
Goats' Hair
GOATS' HAIR, — from which cloths are made, called camlets, suitable for bearing rain: for they do not quickly absorb water. So Arias, treatise On Noah's Ark. These cloths, because they were made of hair, were therefore called haircloth; yet they were beautiful and neat on the outside: whence women skilled in spinning are said to have spun these hairs, chapter 35, verse 23. So Cajetan.
Verse 5: Rams' Skins and Violet Skins
5. AND RAMS' SKINS DYED RED, AND VIOLET-COLORED SKINS. — For "violet-colored" the Hebrew has tachas, the meaning of which is uncertain; the Jews think it means badger. The badger, which is also called the taxus, is a rough, biting animal, greedy for honey, the size of a fox, hostile to beehives. But who does not see that they are making the Hebrew word tachas into a Latin word, and from the letters alone guessing it to be the taxus (badger), when badger skins are tawny in color, not violet? Therefore more trust should be placed in the Septuagint, who translate tachas as violet-colored; and in St. Jerome, who translates it as ianthine, that is, violet; and in Josephus, who says that both these skins and the preceding ones were not of badgers but of rams and sheep, dyed partly violet, partly red. For just as the same wool was dyed with hyacinthine color and was called hyacinth, or with purple color and was called purple, as I said on verse 4: so some rams' skins were dyed red, others violet, which in Hebrew were called tachasim.
And Setim Wood
AND SETIM WOOD. — Kimchi and other Rabbis understand setim as cedar; but they are mistaken. For St. Jerome on Isaiah chapter 59 says: "Setim is a kind of tree growing in the desert (in the desert of Arabia, and perhaps in the place called Setim, where the children of Israel committed fornication with Beelphegor, Numbers 25:1), having the likeness of white thorn, from which all the wooden implements of the ark and tabernacle were made;" and it is an incorruptible wood, as the Septuagint translate it, and very light, and it surpasses all other woods both in strength and solidity, and in beauty and splendor.
I said that setim wood is similar to white thorn, namely in its leaves and color; whence it came about that setim is called thorn by the Latins and Greeks. Hence also Theodotion and St. Jerome, in Isaiah 41:19 and Joel 3:18, translated setim as thorn. But that setim differs from thorn in size is clear from the fact that setim are large trees, from which wide planks are cut, as is evident here in the construction of the tabernacle; while the white thorn is only a thumb's breadth in thickness and two cubits in height, as experience shows and Dioscorides teaches, book 3, chapter 12.
Rabbi Solomon is telling a fable when he says, according to Lyra: "Jacob foresaw by the Holy Spirit that his descendants were going to build a tabernacle in the desert, and he brought with him seeds into Egypt, and roots of setim trees, and planted and nourished them there, commanding his descendants to carry them along when leaving Egypt." For, as I said from St. Jerome, setim grows naturally in the desert.
Allegorically and anagogically, the tabernacle made from incorruptible setim wood signifies the Church, both militant and more so triumphant, which in every part of itself is incorruptible and eternal: so Bede. Augustus Caesar, when Piso was carefully building a house from the foundations to the roof, said: "You gladden my heart, building as if Rome were going to last forever." In the same way, most truly, God built the Church, which was to be eternal. The Septuagint add, or rather anticipate, sardius stones. But of these we shall hear below.
Verse 7: Gems for Adorning the Ephod
7. GEMS FOR ADORNING THE EPHOD. — In Hebrew, stones milluim, that is, "of fillings," which, as the Chaldean says, fill the settings of the ephod and breastplate, as a gem usually fills the bezel of a ring.
Verse 8: They Shall Make Me a Sanctuary
8. AND THEY SHALL MAKE ME A SANCTUARY, — that is, a tabernacle, which should be like a holy temple in which sacred rites and sacrifices are performed for Me; which should be like My house, in which I am worshipped, sought, and found through the solemn and public worship of all.
Verse 9: According to the Likeness of the Tabernacle
9. ACCORDING TO THE FULL LIKENESS OF THE TABERNACLE WHICH I WILL SHOW YOU. — From this and from the last verse it is clear that God showed Moses on Mount Sinai the pattern of the tabernacle, so that he might construct the tabernacle according to it.
Learn here how great a reverence is owed to temples and places dedicated to God. First, from the fact that God commanded Moses and Solomon to erect and dedicate a temple to Him; and when it had been burned by the Babylonians, He commanded through Haggai and others that it be rebuilt: just as the Blessed Virgin wished to be made heir by John the Patrician, in the time of Pope Liberius, by building a temple in the place which she had miraculously covered with snow on the fifth of August, when the heat in Rome is great — which is now called the church of St. Mary Major.
Second, because the temple is the house of God dwelling among men, just as heaven is the house of God dwelling among Angels and the Blessed. Therefore, just as we must revere God, so also must we revere His temple, and say: "In the sight of the angels I will sing praise to You." Hence the Psalmist says in Psalm 64:5: "Holy is Your temple: wonderful in equity." And in this place God says: "They shall make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in the midst of them." In the temple, therefore, before God, let us be as angels.
Third, because the temple is a house of prayer, and there God hears prayers. For He promised this to Solomon when he prayed and dedicated the temple, 3 Kings [1 Kings] 8.
Fourth, because in temples a place of asylum was established for the accused and the guilty. Hence Jehoiada the High Priest forbade Athaliah to be killed in the temple, but ordered her to be led outside, 4 Kings [2 Kings] 11:15. So also Benaiah, about to kill Joab, ordered him to come out of the tabernacle of the Lord, 3 Kings [1 Kings] chapter 2, verse 30. So also St. Chrysostom protected Eutropius from death when he fled to the temple.
Fifth, because the temple is called a sanctuary: "Fear My sanctuary, I am the Lord," Leviticus 19:30. Again, in Hebrew it is called hechal, that is, basilica, an august, powerful, splendid palace, in which the Almighty dwells.
Sixth, because God is a fierce avenger of a profaned and violated temple. Hence He Himself says in Isaiah 31:9: "The Lord has said, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem;" so that from a temple violated by enemies, He may leap upon them like fire and consume them. So Christ drove out with a whip those selling and buying doves from the temple, and overturned the tables, and on no other occasion showed such zeal, saying: "My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves," Matthew 21:14. And Paul: "If anyone violates the temple of God, God will destroy him," 1 Corinthians 3:17.
Seventh, because He established in the temple the oracle and the mercy seat, and from it, when consulted by Moses and the High Priest, He gave responses, as is clear here in verse 22. Whence Solomon said in wonder: "Is it then to be believed that God should dwell with men upon the earth? If the heaven and the heavens of heavens cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built?" 2 Chronicles 6:18.
Eighth, because the Gentiles honored their shrines and temples with great devotion. For among them a temple was a place marked out by an augur either in the sky or on the earth. Hence "temple" (templum) is derived from "watching" (tuendo), that is, from observing, because it can be seen from every direction, or because from it every direction can be seen, as Donatus says. First they called the sky itself a temple, because we behold it at first sight. On earth, a temple was any place consecrated for the purpose of religious worship. Again, they called a temple a fanum, from fando (speaking), because in it Apollo, or some other of their gods, when consulted, would speak and give responses.
Ninth, this is evident from the examples of Saints and Kings. First, David says: "I will enter into Your house, I will worship at Your holy temple in Your fear," Psalm 5:8. And "We will enter into His tabernacle, we will worship in the place where His feet have stood," Psalm 132:7. Second, Jacob said of Bethel, Genesis 28:17: "How terrible is this place! This is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven." Third, Isaiah chapter 2, verse 3, says: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths." Fourth, Constantine the Great, and St. Helena, both in Rome and in Jerusalem and elsewhere, built very many most magnificent temples. Constantine himself, laying aside his crown and lying on the ground and pouring forth a flood of tears, took up a mattock and dug the earth, and after removing twelve baskets of earth in honor of the twelve Apostles, on the site designated for the basilica of the Prince of the Apostles, he built a church of marvelous workmanship, which St. Sylvester dedicated, whose memorial is now celebrated in the Church on November 18. Fifth, in this matter Constantine was imitated by Theodosius, Charlemagne, Pulcheria, and other most Christian Emperors and Princes. To omit others, hear Crantzius, book 3, Metropolis, chapter 8: There was, he says, in the Diocese of Minden, a noble matron named Hilburgis, who, when she despaired that her husband, who had set out by vow for Palestine, would return from there, spent her entire fortune on building one convent and nine churches. Not long after, her husband returned, and she, wishing to appease him, went to meet him and, after greeting him, said: "I have borne you nine daughters in your absence; but they have not yet been reborn in Christ." The pious man understood that nine churches had been built, but not yet consecrated, and he ratified what his wife had done and held it approved. Sixth, St. Ambrose stood firm for the temple of God even to the point of death and martyrdom. For when the Arians, through the Arian Empress Justina, demanded that it be given to them, and Justina had persuaded her son the Emperor Valentinian to do so, Ambrose resisted him to his face, saying: "Palaces and walls belong to the Emperor; churches belong to the Bishop." See his extensive writing on this matter in his letter to his sister Marcellina. Seventh, St. Chrysostom, when the Emperor asked him to yield one of the Catholic churches to the Arian general Gainas, replied: "Do not, Emperor, promise him this, nor order holy things to be given to dogs. For I will never allow those who praise God with hymns night and day to be expelled from a church, and that church to be given to those who speak blasphemies against Him."
Verse 10: Frame an Ark of Setim Wood
10. FRAME AN ARK OF SETIM WOOD. — Note first: The ark was like a small square, or rather rectangular, chest. For the ark was a cubit and a half high, and a cubit and a half wide, but two and a half cubits long. Second, the ark was made of setim wood covered with gold, for the purpose of storing in it the tablets of the Decalogue, given by God to Moses. For that these alone were stored in the ark is clear from 3 Kings [1 Kings] 8:9, and therefore there was the greatest reverence and veneration for the ark, and hence it was called the ark of the covenant, or of the testimony, as I shall say on verse 16. Therefore the ark was placed in the Holy of Holies. For the ark was the glory of Israel: whence the wife of Phinehas said, 1 Kings [1 Samuel] 4:21: "The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured." Again, the ark is called the strength and beauty of Israel, Psalm 78:61: "And He delivered their strength into captivity, and their beauty into the hands of the enemy" — that is, He delivered the ark into the hands of the Philistines. Third, the ark was open at the top; but above it had the mercy seat, like a lid, made not of setim wood but of solid gold. Fourth, two Cherubim were above the mercy seat, so that by their outstretched and joined wings they presented as it were a throne for God, while the mercy seat with the ark was like the footstool of His feet. Fifth, the ark was encircled above by a crown all around, of which I shall speak on verse 11; and on each side it had two golden rings, through which two gilded bars were inserted, by which the ark was carried by the priests on their shoulders when the camp was to be moved. Sixth, the ark was placed on the floor of the Holy of Holies; yet it is likely that this floor was spread with some carpet or covering: or rather this ark had its own feet — namely four balls or spheres at the four corners, on which it rested as on four wheels. For this is how the Hebrew of verse 12 can be translated. Hence the ark was like the chariot of God, or the royal and triumphal car of God over the defeated Egyptians, and this chariot Ezekiel saw in chapter 1. So Jerome Prado in the same place, of which more on verse 18.
And for this reason the ark is called the glory of the Lord, because in it God displayed to the Hebrews His presence, His help, and His glorious triumph; and this is what is said in Deuteronomy 4:7: "There is no other nation so great that has gods so close to it, as our God is present at all our supplications;" and Psalm 26: "I have loved the beauty of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells." Hence also Eli was not struck down by the double death of his sons, nor by so great a slaughter of the people, but collapsed at the news that the ark was captured, and his daughter-in-law gave birth saying: "The glory has departed from Israel." Seventh, this ark, after the temple was built by Solomon, was placed in it in the Holy of Holies, and remained there as long as it stood, namely until the Babylonian captivity. For then Jeremiah carried the ark and the tabernacle to Mount Nebo, from which Moses saw the promised land, and hid it with the altar of incense in a certain cave, as is said in 2 Maccabees 2:4 and following, saying: "The place shall be unknown until God gathers together the congregation of the people." Hence Epiphanius in his Life of Moses, Dorotheus in his Synopsis, in the chapter On Jeremiah, and others report that the ark was not in the second temple, which the Jews built after their return from Babylon, but that it was to remain hidden until the end of the world, and then to be revealed for the conversion of the Jews. Certainly Josephus, in his own time when the temple was destroyed by the Romans, expressly states in book 6 of The Jewish War, chapter 6, that there was absolutely nothing in the Holy of Holies; Josephus's words are: "The innermost part of the temple was twenty cubits. It was likewise separated from the outer part by a veil, and there was absolutely nothing placed in it;" therefore neither the ark nor the Cherubim; "it was held to be inaccessible, inviolate, and invisible to all, and was called the Holy of Holies." Therefore those are mistaken who think the ark was led in triumph by Titus and is still preserved in Rome in the Lateran church, because on the triumphal arch of Titus in Rome there appears to be depicted an ark in the triumphal procession; for that is not the ark, but the table of showbread, as Josephus asserts, who was a spectator of Titus's triumph. Finally, Epiphanius in his Life of Jeremiah has this about the ark: At the resurrection, he says, the ark will rise first and will come forth from the rock and be placed on Mount Sinai: Moses will open it, and all the Saints will flock to it, to receive the Lord there and put the enemy to flight. This rock is in the wilderness, where the ark was originally made, in the midst of the mountains where Moses and Aaron lie buried, and there at night a little cloud shines like fire. The credibility of these things rests with St. Epiphanius.
Allegorical Meaning of the Ark
One may ask, what did the ark signify allegorically? Rupert answers that the ark signifies the humanity of Christ; and St. Gregory, in his last homily on Ezekiel, says: "The ark within the veil is our Redeemer."
But I say: Properly and genuinely the ark, which was in the Holy of Holies, which represented heaven, signified the Blessed in heaven, among whom the Blessed Virgin especially stands out: hence not unfittingly she is called the ark of the covenant by St. Bernard, sermon On Blessed Mary, and by others. Hear the same author in the Sentences: "The Author of wonders, God, worked three certain wonders in Mary. First, He wonderfully raised up the integrity of purity, so that the ark of the covenant was covered with the purest gold. Second, He powerfully made virginal purity fruitful, so that the burning bush would not be consumed. Third, He ineffably joined the lowest things to the highest, so that by means of Jacob's ladder earthly things were united to heavenly things." The length of the ark is the long-suffering and wisdom of the Saints; the width, charity; the height, contemplation and the desire for eternal goods. These have the measure of a cubit, which is perfect, because in the Blessed all things in every direction are whole and perfect.
Second, the ark was made of setim wood, because the Blessed after the resurrection will have immortal bodies; it was covered with gold, because both the souls of the Saints will shine with the ineffable brightness of the divine vision, and their bodies with admirable splendor. In it are the tables of the law, because the Saints formerly meditated on the law of God day and night, and now continually delight in it. Hear St. Jerome, to Eustochium, on virginity: "The Spouse of Christ is the ark of the covenant, gilded within and without, the guardian of the law of the Lord. Just as in that ark there was nothing else but the tables of the covenant, so in you let there be no outward thought. Upon this propitiatory, as upon the Cherubim, the Lord wills to sit." And St. Gregory, book VII of the Register, epistle 30: "What is a priestly heart, but the ark of the covenant? In which, because spiritual doctrine flourishes, without doubt the tables of the law lie."
Third, the ark had the propitiatory above it, because the Saints have Christ the Redeemer above them, Romans III, 21.
Fourth, the ark is surrounded by Cherubim, because the Blessed are encircled by holy angels.
Fifth, the crown of the ark signified the crowns of the Saints, as those who are victors, triumphers, kings and priests of God: likewise the special crowns of Virgins, Martyrs, and Doctors. The rings and poles of the ark signified the gifts of the Holy Spirit, by which the holy soul is made movable and agile for every good: therefore the four golden rings are the four gifts that pertain to the intellect, namely wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and counsel; the two poles are the remaining three, namely piety, fear, and fortitude, which pertain to the will. The poles must be inserted into the rings, because unless the will is moved, the movement and illumination of the intellect avails little.
Finally, before the ark was the urn with manna, because the Blessed always remember the heavenly bread of the Eucharist, by which they were nourished in the desert of this life. Before the ark was the rod of Aaron, which by budding confirmed the priesthood to Aaron; they remember the priesthood of Christ, who by the sacrifice of His own body took away the sins of the world, and for this they ceaselessly praise Christ and God: these and more in Ribera, book II On the Temple, chapter III.
Why then do we not pant after this ark, after these crowns? "We count paradise as our homeland," says St. Cyprian, tract. On Mortality, "we have already begun to have the patriarchs as our parents. A great number of our dear ones awaits us there; a frequent throng of parents, brothers, and children yearns for us, already secure in their immortality, yet still anxious for our salvation. There is the glorious choir of Apostles, there the number of exulting Prophets, there the innumerable host of Martyrs crowned for the victory of their struggle and passion; there triumph the virgins who subdued the lust of the flesh by the strength of continence."
And St. Bernard, On the Reward of the Heavenly Homeland: "The Blessed will see God at His will, will possess Him for delight, will enjoy Him for joy. In eternity he will flourish, in truth he will shine, in goodness he will rejoice. Just as he will have the eternity of remaining, so the ease of knowing, the happiness of resting. For he will be a citizen of that holy city, of which the angels are citizens, God the Father is the temple, His Son the splendor, the Holy Spirit is charity." The same in a sermon: "O blessed region of paradise, O blessed region of delights, for which I sigh from the valley of tears! Where wisdom without ignorance, where memory without forgetfulness, where understanding without error, where reason will shine without obscurity. Blessed are those who dwell there! They will praise God forever and ever, amen. The kingdom of God is granted, promised, shown, received: it is granted in predestination, promised in vocation, shown in justification, received in glorification." And St. Augustine: "There are the hymn-singing choirs of angels, there the fellowship of the citizens above, there the sweet solemnity of those returning from the sad labor of this pilgrimage, there festivity without end, eternity without blemish, serenity without cloud."
Symbolically, St. Thomas, III, Question CII, article 4, reply 6: The three things, he says, that were in the ark or beside the ark signified three attributes of God, namely the tables of the law signified wisdom, the rod power, the manna the goodness of God. Again the ark, that is the Church and the commonwealth and its leader, should have the tables of the law, the rod of discipline and correction, the manna of sweetness in governance: so St. Gregory, epistle 25, book I. Hence the Samaritan, he says, pours oil and wine on the wounded man, "so that by the wine the wounds might be stung, by the oil they might be soothed. Let there be love, then, but not softening; let there be vigor, but not exasperating." See the same author, Part II of the Pastoral Rule, chapter VI, and book XX of the Morals, chapter VIII. Bees have honey, and they also have a sting with which they defend their hives. So let whoever rules the commonwealth have honey, that is, the sweetness of clemency; and let him have the sting of justice, by which against wicked men he may protect the commonwealth. That most prudent king indicated this, who wished to have a pomegranate as his emblem of governance, which has sweetness mixed with sourness. "In governance," says St. Gregory, "mildness must be mixed with severity, so that when smiling he should be feared, and when angry he should be loved, lest excessive joy render him contemptible, or immoderate severity render him odious." Now let us return to the text.
Verse 11: And You Shall Overlay It with Gold
Verse 11. AND YOU SHALL OVERLAY IT WITH GOLD — with golden plates, not with gold leaf; this is sufficiently clear from the fact that in the Hebrew, instead of "you shall overlay," it says "you shall hide, cover, and clothe it with gold": and this both within and without, so that tropologically it signifies that the soul of the just person ought to be holy both interiorly and exteriorly, and to be surrounded on every side with the gold of charity. St. Jerome objects against Rufinus that "inwardly he is a Nero, outwardly a Cato," that he lives privately in luxuries, but publicly displays severity in dress and bearing: this is hypocrisy displeasing to God and men. Let a holy person, both within and without, be not a Cato, but a Paul, a John, an angel.
AND YOU SHALL MAKE ABOVE IT A GOLDEN CROWN ALL AROUND. — This crown of the ark was not round, but square; for the ark itself was square, and this crown surrounded it on all sides like a border. So Hugh. This border, then, was exterior, and rose and was raised above the ark. The Septuagint translates: you shall make golden cymatia, revolving or rather twisted; I am surprised that the Complutensian translator renders it as "you shall make golden undulations": for cymatia signify not only small waves and billows, but also, by a metaphor drawn from waves, they signify in Vitruvius the uppermost part of the epistyle or capital on columns — which the Septuagint fittingly imitated when they called the projecting border of the ark cymatia, and indeed twisted ones, that is, fixed indeed, but worked with twisted craftsmanship, like twisted torques. So St. Augustine, Question CIV.
Verse 12: And Four Golden Rings
12. And four golden rings. — These were rings at the four corners of the ark, and poles were inserted into them, so that by these the ark could be carried magnificently on the shoulders of four priests: for it was not fitting that the ark be pulled or conveyed by a cart. Moreover, the poles extended along the length of the ark, not along the width; and the ark was carried and borne lengthwise, not widthwise or crosswise, as Cajetan holds; Josephus indicates this when he says: "From each of the two longer sides the rings enter," through which the poles were inserted for carrying the ark. God moreover directed in verse 15 that the poles should never be drawn out of these rings, lest the priests should ever think themselves freed from the care and burden of carrying the ark, says Arias.
WHICH YOU SHALL PUT AT THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE ARK. — For "corners" the Hebrew has pa'amotav, which properly signifies steps and feet; whence it seems that the ark was not on the ground, but had four feet, that is, globes and small spheres, on which it rested, which had the appearance of small wheels: for the ark was the chariot of the glory of God, as I shall say at verse 18.
The cubit here must be understood not as the larger or royal cubit, which contains 27 fingers, as Herodotus attests, book I; much less the greatest, that is the geometric cubit, which contains six common cubits, as St. Augustine teaches from Origen, book XV of the City of God, chapter XXVII; but the common cubit, which is that length which extends from the bend of the arm to the tip of the finger called the index finger, and contains twenty-four transverse fingers, or two spans; a span is the space between the thumb and the index finger when the hand is extended, and it contains twelve transverse fingers. This is clear from Josephus, book III of the Antiquities, chapter VI, and Bede, book I On the Tabernacle, chapter IV. "The length of the ark," says Josephus, "was five palms, and the height and width three palms;" for the palm in Greek is spithama, which I said contains twelve fingers. So that two and a half cubits make five palms or spans.
Verse 16: And You Shall Put in the Ark the Testimony
16. AND YOU SHALL PUT IN THE ARK THE TESTIMONY — that is, the law, or the tables of the law: for the law is often called the testimony or attestation, because it contains the attestation of the divine will, and by it God left a formal record of what He wills to be done by men.
Hence it was called the "ark of testimony," that is, of the law, and the "ark of the covenant," that is, of the pact: for it contained the law, which was the condition of the covenant entered into between God and the Hebrews; consequently the tabernacle was named after the ark it contained, the "tabernacle of the covenant" and the "tabernacle of testimony;" indeed, hence even the ark itself is called the "testimony," chapter XXX, 6; Numbers XVII, 4; Leviticus XXIV, 3, and this by metonymy, because the ark contained within itself the testimony, that is, the tables of the law. Moreover, that only the tables of the law were in that ark, for which there was such great reverence among the Hebrews, and not the urn with manna or the rod of Aaron, Scripture expressly teaches, 3 Kings VIII, 9, and 2 Paralipomenon V, 10, and Josephus, book VIII of the Antiquities, chapter II. Hence both the urn with manna and the rod of Aaron are narrated in the Pentateuch to have been placed not in the ark, but in the tabernacle before the Lord, that is, before the ark, as is clear from Exodus XVI, 33; Numbers XVII, 4. See what was said at Hebrews IX, 4.
Verse 17: And You Shall Make a Propitiatory
17. AND YOU SHALL MAKE A PROPITIATORY OF THE PUREST GOLD. — Note first: The propitiatory was the cover of the ark, or a slab covering and roofing the ark, as is clear from verse 20; whence it was of equal length and width with the ark: hence it is also called by the Septuagint epithema, that is, something placed upon, namely upon the ark, that is, the cover of the ark, which was joined to the ark by golden hinges, as Josephus teaches, book III of the Antiquities, chapter VI: "The ark had a cover fitted with golden hinges, projecting on no side."
Second, the propitiatory was a slab made not of setim wood overlaid with gold, as was the ark, but of pure gold.
Third, the propitiatory is called in Hebrew kapporet, which signifies both the propitiatory and the cover of the ark. Whence the Septuagint translates it as hilasterion epithema, that is, the placatory or propitiatory cover.
Fourth, it was called the propitiatory, as if a place of appeasement, because there God appearing to Moses and speaking with him was appeased and made propitious to the people; in the propitiatory, then, was the oracle of God, as is clear from verse 18, and chapter XXXVII, 6, and Numbers VII, last verse: "And when Moses entered the tabernacle of the covenant to consult the oracle, he heard the voice of One speaking to him from the propitiatory, which was above the ark of the testimony between the two Cherubim;" and therefore God was said to sit upon the Cherubim: for they covered the propitiatory. Hence that part of the temple, or the Holy of Holies, in which the propitiatory stood, was called the oracle, because from there God gave oracles.
Fifth, the propitiatory with the two Cherubim was like a seat and throne of God; the ark was the footstool of His feet, as is clear from Psalm XCVIII, where it says: "Adore the footstool of His feet," that is, adore the ark, prostrate yourselves before the ark. Whence some probably hold, such as St. Thomas, Cajetan, Delrio, and a Castro in Lamentations II, 1, that the propitiatory was elevated and raised high above the ark by the Cherubim: for otherwise it could not have been the seat of God, so that the ark would be the footstool of His feet. More truly, however, Abulensis, Alcazar, Ribera, and others hold that the propitiatory was immediately and directly placed upon, touching and covering the ark itself.
Allegorically, the propitiatory signifies Christ, "whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood," Romans III, 21. First, then, the propitiatory was above the ark, because Christ surpasses all the Blessed in grace and glory; yet the ark is joined to Him by hinges, because all the grace and glory of the Saints descends from Christ and Christ's merits. Second, it was entirely of gold, because Christ's humanity does not subsist in itself, but in the divinity, namely in the Word; and therefore in Him "all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily." And, as St. John says: "We saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Third, Christ is the cover of the ark, because He is encircled by the glory and crowns of the Saints, says Origen, and the Saints themselves place and offer their crowns to Christ. Fourth, Christ is the oracle of the Father, declaring the things He saw hidden in the bosom of the Father from the foundation of the world. Fifth, the humanity of Christ was like a seat and throne, indeed a footstool, of the divinity of the Word. "Christ," says St. Bernard, sermon 22, "has been made for us wisdom in preaching, justice in the absolution of sins, sanctification in His manner of life, redemption in His passion." And St. Gregory, homily 4 on Ezekiel: "Our Redeemer was made man by being born, a calf by dying, a lion by rising, an eagle by ascending to heaven."
Wherefore St. Ambrose: "All things we have in Christ, and Christ is all things in us. If you desire to be healed of a wound, He is the physician: if you burn with fevers, He is the fountain: if you are burdened by iniquity, He is justice: if you need help, He is strength: if you fear death, He is life: if you flee darkness, He is light: if you desire heaven, He is the way: if you seek food, He is nourishment."
For Christ was the true Noah, who made us rest from our labors and burdens.
Our propitiatory, then, to which we must flee in every difficulty, is Christ suffering and crucified. "The Passion of Christ sustains heaven, rules the world, pierces hell; by it the angels are confirmed, the peoples redeemed, the enemies crushed, beings are established, the living are animated, the sentient agree, the intelligent are illuminated," says Rabanus, On the Praise of the Cross.
And so let our hope, our love, our refuge always and everywhere be Christ. Thus Theodore the Martyr replied to Publius who asked: "Would you rather be with your Christ, or with us?" He answered: "With my Christ I both am, and was, and shall be: and therefore I do not fear your torments." Thus Charles the Fifth turned that saying of Julius Caesar, "I came, I saw, I conquered," around, saying: "I came and I saw, but Christ conquered." Thus Paul: "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
Verse 18: Two Golden Cherubim
Verse 18. AND YOU SHALL MAKE TWO GOLDEN AND HAMMERED CHERUBIM FROM EACH SIDE OF THE ORACLE.
The question is asked here first, what were these two Cherubim? Note: Moses barely expresses or indicates the appearance of these Cherubim, and this lest the Jews, prone to idolatry, should make and worship an idol of them. First, then, Philo, in the book On the Cherubim, says that the Cherubim are symbols or signs that signify and represent the outermost circumference of the whole heaven. Second, Josephus, book III of the Antiquities, chapter VI: "The Cherubim are winged living beings, of a novel appearance, and never seen by any human, which Moses had seen depicted on the throne of God."
But I say first, these two Cherubim had a human appearance and form. So the Hebrews and Christians commonly teach; and this is clear from 2 Paralipomenon III, 13, where of the Cherubim it is said: "They stood with feet erect." I say second: It is probable that these Cherubim, besides the appearance of a man, also had the appearance of other animals. For Ezekiel, chapter 1, expressly teaches that the Cherubim had the appearance of four animals, namely of a man, an eagle, a lion, and a calf.
Therefore the Cherubim were golden effigies, in the appearance of a winged and beardless youth, so that by this appearance they might represent the vigor, liveliness, and eternity of the angels, who are like princes always attending and standing before God.
Position of the Cherubim
Their position was such that partly with their wings, partly with their bodies they covered the whole propitiatory. For one Cherub was on the south side of the propitiatory, the other on the north, so that by the thickness of their bodies they covered those sides representing the width of the propitiatory: but the eastern and western sides, which were the sides of the length of the propitiatory, they covered and veiled with their wings spread toward each other; just as if two men were looking at each other and holding hands.
These two Cherubim were not fastened to the propitiatory, but were produced from the propitiatory itself by hammering; for this is what "hammered" signifies, and more clearly the Hebrew which has, "from the propitiatory you shall make them." Whence it follows that the Cherubim were made of solid gold.
I say therefore: it seems truer that the Cherubim did not support the propitiatory, but stood upon it with their feet, so that with their outspread wings they partly covered the propitiatory like a roof or canopy, whence they are called by the Apostle "overshadowing the propitiatory," Hebrews IX, 5; and partly so that with the same wings they provided a seat for God, who is therefore said to sit upon the Cherubim: so that the ark with its cover, namely the propitiatory, was the footstool of God's feet.
This is proved from Josephus, who expressly asserts, book III of the Antiquities, chapter VI: "There were placed upon the cover (of the ark, that is, the propitiatory) two figures, which the Hebrews call Cherubs."
Note here that these Cherubim had the appearance not only of standing, but of flying: for they had their wings spread, because by these they signified angels, who fly most swiftly, of whom the Psalmist says, and St. Paul: "Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire." Hence also God is said to fly upon the Cherubim, Psalm XVII, 11.
Allegorical Meaning of the Cherubim
The Cherubim are, as it were, the bodyguards of God. Hence they bear the four coats of arms and insignia of the Lord their God: for the likeness of the eagle signifies God's wisdom; the likeness of man signifies God's goodness, gentleness, and clemency; the ox signifies God's justice, the worship and devotion owed to Him; the lion signifies God's strength and power. These attributes the Cherubim themselves, that is, the angels, participate in and represent from God. For they are eagles through swiftness and contemplation; they are lions through fortitude; they are men through gentleness; they are oxen through patience and labors. So says St. Dionysius, Celestial Hierarchy, chapter 15.
Allegorically, this chariot of the Cherubim signifies the triumphal chariot of Christ the redeemer of mankind; which chariot is the Church, of which it is said in Canticles 1, verse 4: "To my cavalry, I have compared you." The four wheels are the Apostles, Pastors, and Doctors, who powerfully and swiftly, like lightning, drive and spread the chariot of the Gospel and the Church throughout the entire world. Hence the Cherubim bear the four insignia of Christ: for the likeness of man signifies Christ's incarnation; the likeness of the calf signifies Christ's death and immolation on the cross; the likeness of the lion signifies Christ's fortitude in the resurrection; the likeness of the eagle signifies Christ's ascension into heaven.
Allegorically, St. Gregory, homily 26 on the Gospels: The two angels whom Magdalene saw in the sepulcher of Christ, and the two Cherubim of the ark, are the two testaments: the mercy seat is Christ incarnate. "And while the Old Testament announces that this is to be done, which the New Testament proclaims as having been done by the Lord, the two Cherubim, as it were, look at each other, while they turn their faces toward the mercy seat: because when they see the incarnate Lord placed between them, they do not differ in their view, who harmoniously narrate the mystery of His dispensation."
Etymology of Cherubim
You ask whence the Cherubim are so called, and what Cherubim means in Hebrew? They are called Cherubim from the multitude of strength, glory, knowledge, and wisdom, as St. Dionysius teaches, chapter 7 of the Celestial Hierarchy. Furthermore, Cherub signifies a multitude of knowledge, from the root nachar, that is, "he knew," and rab, that is, "much." Or rather, and more simply, from ke and rab, that is, "like a rabbi," that is, like a wise, powerful, honored, and glorious man. By metathesis, Cherub alludes to recheb, that is, chariot: for the Cherubim attended and adorned the chariot of God's glory; and to rocheb, that is, riding, a prince, director, and governor. Such are the angels, who rule the world, and direct, move, and drive it as a chariot of divine providence.
The name Cherub also alludes, by metathesis, to cabbir, that is, manifold. Finally, by the Hebrew anagrammatic device ethbash, kerub is the same as kannescer, that is, like an eagle. Thus Cherub, both by its form and by its name, includes and expresses in itself the likenesses of the four animals.
The Cherubim as Symbol of Wisdom
Morally, the Cherubim are the symbol of wisdom, which excels all other things, and which alone is suited for governance. For the wisdom of God, in governing this universe, "reaches from end to end mightily, and disposes all things sweetly." This is the model of the best governance. Do you wish to govern in the best way? Govern as God does, mightily and sweetly.
Plato said that commonwealths would be blessed if either wise men ruled them, or their rulers devoted themselves to wisdom. And Aristotle says: "It belongs to the ruler to be wise." Apuleius: "The wise man is neither puffed up in good fortune, nor cast down in adversity." And Seneca, epistle 60: "The wise man is fortified and alert against every attack: neither poverty, nor grief, nor disgrace, nor pain will make him retreat if they assault him. He will go fearlessly against them and among them. The wise man is full of joy, cheerful, calm, and unshaken, he lives on equal terms with the gods."
Cicero, book 3 of the Tusculan Disputations: "To the wise man nothing in human affairs can seem great, to whom all eternity and the greatness of the whole world are known." Do you then wish to be wise? Despise time and temporal things, think on eternal things and eternity.
St. Gregory, book 10 of the Moralia, chapter 27: "The wisdom of the just is to feign nothing through ostentation, to reveal one's meaning in words, to love true things as they are, to avoid false things, to display good things freely, to endure evil things more willingly than to do them, to seek no revenge for injury, to count insult for the sake of truth as gain."
Lactantius, book 3, chapter 30: "He who wishes to be wise and blessed, let him hear the voice of God, learn justice, know the mystery of his birth, despise human things, look up to divine things, so that he may be able to attain that supreme good for which he was born. The highest wisdom therefore consists in this one thing: that man should know and worship God."
Verse 21: In Which You Shall Place the Testimony
Verse 21. IN WHICH YOU SHALL PLACE THE TESTIMONY. — That is, the law, namely the tablets of the law. See what was said on verse 16.
Verse 22: From There I Will Command and Speak
Verse 22. FROM THERE I WILL COMMAND AND SPEAK TO YOU ABOVE THE MERCY SEAT. — From this it is clear that Moses the leader and lawgiver of the people entered more often into the Holy of Holies, to consult God about uncertain matters, or to hear God there warning and commanding, as is said here. Therefore what God commands in Leviticus chapter 16, that the high priest should enter the Holy of Holies only once a year, does not apply to Moses, who was not a high priest, but God's ambassador and intermediary.
Verse 23: You Shall Make a Table of Setim Wood
Verse 23. YOU SHALL ALSO MAKE A TABLE OF SETIM WOOD. — Note: This table was made to receive the twelve loaves to be set before God; hence this table was before the Holy of Holies, in the Holy Place, next to the altar of incense: for the Holy Place had these three things, namely the altar of incense, which on its northern or left side had this table, and on its southern or right side had the candelabrum. Hence the table is called in Hebrew schulchan, meaning "sending" or "dispatching," because on it these loaves were sent forth to God.
The table was made of setim wood overlaid with gold. It was two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high: from this it is clear that the table was not round, but rectangular. The table had a lip, that is, a golden rim around it; on the lip itself was an openwork crown of four digits, on which another smaller crown was placed for ornament, and so that the crown would be higher, and so that it would better contain the loaves lest they fall off. The table had four legs, and at the top of each leg it had a golden ring, so that through four rings placed on the sides, not of the length, but of the width, two carrying poles would be inserted, by which the table would be carried on the shoulders of four priests. So says Ribera, based on Josephus.
Allegorically, the Holy Place is the Church on earth, the Church Militant, striving toward the Holy of Holies, that is, toward heaven: in which some devote themselves to almsgiving and works of charity: these are signified by this table of loaves; others devote themselves to teaching and the holy life: these are signified by the candelabrum; others devote themselves to prayer, the praise of God, and contemplation: these are signified by the altar of incense. Just as this table was in the Holy Place next to the Holy of Holies, in which was the throne of God, so "almsgiving," says St. Chrysostom, homily 9 on Matthew, "stands as a friend of God, and is always near to Him: for whomever it wishes, it easily obtains a gift, it dissolves the bonds of sins, drives away darkness, extinguishes fire: for this one the gates of heaven are opened with much confidence, and as if a queen were entering, none of the doorkeepers, none of the guards who attend, dare to say: Who are you, or whence? but all receive her from every quarter. She is a virgin having golden wings, adorned on all sides with beauty, but girded, having a fair and gentle countenance, she is winged and light, and always stands before the royal throne."
Again, this table signifies the table of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. So say Rupertus and St. Jerome on 1 Malachi, and Damascenus, book 4, chapter 14, and Cyril, Catechesis 4, Mystagogical. Of this table the Psalmist sings in Psalm 115, verse 4: "What shall I render to the Lord, for all that He has rendered to me? I will take the chalice of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord." And Psalm 22, verse 5: "You have prepared a table before me against those who trouble me. You have anointed my head with oil, and my cup that inebriates, how excellent it is!"
Verse 24: A Golden Lip All Around
Verse 24. AND YOU SHALL MAKE FOR IT A GOLDEN LIP: — "lip," that is, a rim all around.
Verse 25: An Openwork Crown Four Digits High
Verse 25. AND ON THE LIP ITSELF AN OPENWORK CROWN FOUR DIGITS HIGH. — In Hebrew: on the lip itself, or rim, you shall make a border, that is, another rim that encloses the edges of the table, lest the loaves fall from it. Vilalpando describes this openwork as follows: If you place a board four digits thick, of which the two middle ones are recessed inward and made rougher with various carvings, this is openwork; while the remaining two digits, namely one below and one above, will be a cymatium (molding) for the board itself.
AND UPON IT, ANOTHER SMALL GOLDEN CROWN. — This was the third rim of the table, placed on top of the second. Our translator calls this crown an aureola (little golden crown), not as though it were not made of pure gold, but because it was small, and therefore contained less gold than the others. Hence the Scholastics are thought to have taken the name aureola, to signify by it certain accidental endowments of blessedness, which will properly belong to Virgins, Martyrs, and Doctors, so hold Ribera and others.
Verse 27: Carrying Poles
Verse 27. THAT THE CARRYING POLES MAY BE PUT THROUGH THEM. — It is likely that these carrying poles were inserted into rings and extended, not along the length, but along the width of the table, so that the heavy table could be carried by four men on their shoulders. So says Abulensis.
Verse 29: Bowls, Cups, Censers, and Goblets
Verse 29. YOU SHALL PREPARE ALSO BOWLS, AND CUPS, CENSERS AND GOBLETS, IN WHICH THE LIBATIONS ARE TO BE OFFERED, OF THE PUREST GOLD. — "Bowls" (acetabula), in Hebrew, dishes; the Septuagint renders them as side-dishes, platters, or bowls, namely for receiving and containing the fine flour, when it had to be offered; likewise for receiving the sacrifices of the frying pan and the oven, about which see Leviticus chapter 2.
CUPS. — These are small and concave vessels, well-known in more noble banquets; in Hebrew they are called cappoth, from the curve of the palm of the hand, which they imitate. These cups were prepared for pouring out wine and other libations in sacrifices. These vessels allegorically signify the measure of preaching, so that it may be adapted and given to each person according to the capacity of their character and intellect.
St. Gregory, homily 6 on the Gospels, takes the cups as the more learned, and the goblets as the less learned and wise. "In the tabernacle, not only cups, by the Lord's command, but also goblets were made. By cups indeed is designated overflowing doctrine, but by goblets small and narrow knowledge. Therefore, placed in God's tabernacle, that is, in the Church, if you are quite unable to minister cups through the teaching of wisdom, insofar as you suffice by divine generosity, give your neighbors goblets of the good word. Also draw others along with you, desire to have companions on the way of the Lord: if you are tending toward God, take care that you do not arrive at Him alone."
CENSERS — namely for preserving both the incense that was to be burned, and the frankincense that was to be placed on the showbread, as is said in Leviticus chapter 24, verse 7.
Verse 30: Loaves of Proposition
30. AND YOU SHALL PLACE UPON THE TABLE THE LOAVES OF PROPOSITION IN MY SIGHT ALWAYS. — Note "loaves of proposition," which are so called because they are proposed, or placed, before the Lord, or in the presence of the ark and the propitiatory, in which God shows Himself present. Hence in Hebrew they are called lechem panim, that is, "bread of the face." Concerning these loaves I shall say more at Leviticus xxiv, 5.
Note: Just as candelabra and lights in Christian churches correspond to the Mosaic candelabrum, and especially the lamp burning before the Blessed Sacrament (for this is our Holy of Holies); and just as our censers and the incensing at the sacrifice of the Mass correspond to the altar of incense: so the table of the Holy Spirit, as they call it, corresponds to the table of the loaves of proposition, which in many places is set out in churches on Sundays full of loaves, so that these may be distributed to the poor, and this according to the ancient rite of the Church. For St. Paul, I Corinthians chapter xvi, verse 2, commands that a collection of alms be taken up in the church on the Lord's day, to be distributed to the poor.
Verse 31: The Candelabrum of Beaten Gold
31. YOU SHALL ALSO MAKE A CANDELABRUM OF BEATEN WORK OF THE PUREST GOLD. — Note first: This candelabrum was one of three things that were in the Holy Place, and it was to the right of the altar of incense. This candelabrum was of beaten work, that is, produced by hammering and shaped by fashioning from one talent of gold: for it was hollow and small. Second, the middle shaft of the candelabrum on each side had three branches, or arms, that is, six in all, which all rose equally in height with the shaft: hence the candelabrum was seven-branched; and at the top of both the shaft and of each branch it had a lamp; it therefore had seven lamps. Moreover, all these parts were not inserted or attached, but were of beaten work, produced by hammering from one mass and talent of gold. Third, the branches were adorned with a triple, and the shaft with a quadruple arrangement of cups, spherules or globes, and lilies alternately succeeding one another. Fourth, these lamps illuminated the tabernacle or Holy Place, the altar of incense, and the table of the loaves of proposition, but only at night, as I shall say more fully at chapter xxvii, verse 21. Fifth, the candelabrum had its snuffers, likewise censers or vessels, in which what had been snuffed was extinguished. Sixth, the candelabrum placed in the Holy Place was set obliquely, so that the lamps faced toward the south and east. So Josephus. Seventh, in the tabernacle there was only one candelabrum; but in the temple of Solomon there were ten candelabra, five on the right and five on the left, as is clear from III Kings vii, 49.
Symbolically, this candelabrum was an image of the celestial sphere with its seven lights, that is, of the seven planets. For the tabernacle bore the type of the world, while the Holy of Holies represented the empyrean heaven of the Blessed. So Philo and Josephus.
Allegorically, the candelabrum is Christ, or rather the Church, Apocalypse chapter 1, last verse, which is the light and teacher of truth. First and most fittingly, the candelabrum is the faith and doctrine of the Church shining forth to the whole world and illuminating it. Second, its seven lamps are all the doctors, who shine throughout the entire night of the present age by their life and teaching. Third, the cups signify thirst for God and divine things, the spherules contempt of earthly things (for a sphere or globe touches the earth only at a point), and the lilies the beauty of virtues and the fragrance of a good life. All these things were made from gold, because the virtues already mentioned must flow from charity. Again, the candelabrum is of beaten work, not cast, because doctors must be hammered and polished by many temptations and persecutions before they reach the summit of virtue.
Fourth, this candelabrum illuminated the table, the altar, and the entire Holy Place at night, because the faith and doctrine of the Church must illuminate and direct prayers, works of mercy, and all the holy works of the faithful in this life. Fifth, the snuffers represent disputations and explanations by which errors are removed and its own light is restored to truth. Sixth, in the tabernacle there was one candelabrum, in the temple ten, because the light of doctrine and the knowledge of divine mysteries is greater in the Church than it was in the Synagogue.
Morally, therefore, doctors and doctrine are the light and candelabra of the Church. Let this be their first rule: "A doctor," says St. Bernard, "should be a basin, not a channel" — that is, he should first receive knowledge and fill himself with it, so that when full he may then pour it out upon others; he should teach himself before teaching others. Third, he should imbue not only the intellect but also the affections, "for the teaching of the spirit does not sharpen curiosity, but kindles charity," says St. Bernard. Fourth, he should teach by deed before word. For thus Jesus first began to do, and then to teach. "Doctrine," says St. Gregory, "is taught with full authority when it is practiced before it is spoken."
Verse 33: Three Cups in the Form of Nuts
33. Three cups in the form of nuts in each branch. — He calls "cups" the parts of the candelabrum protruding like nuts, or, as the Hebrew has it, almonds (for the almond is a species of nut), with regard to the curvature of the sides.
AND A SPHERE TOGETHER WITH A LILY. — For "sphere," the Hebrew has caphtorim, that is, apples, little globes or spherules like apples. Whence it appears that in this candelabrum there was some likeness of a tree, inasmuch as it spread branches and arms on each side, and was laden with flowers and fruit.
AND A LILY. — Philo records that these lilies were at the top of the branches, and that the lamp was placed upon these lilies. Finally, as is said at verse 31, all these things were "proceeding from the same" — for from the trunk or shaft of the candelabrum all parts were drawn out and fashioned by the hammer; no parts made elsewhere were overlaid.
Verse 34: In the Candelabrum Itself
34. But in the candelabrum itself — in the shaft itself or trunk of the candelabrum, whence the branches proceed, there shall be four arrangements of cups, spherules, and lilies.
Verse 35: Spherules Beneath Two Branches
35. SPHERULES BENEATH TWO BRANCHES IN THREE PLACES, WHICH TOGETHER MAKE SIX, PROCEEDING FROM ONE SHAFT — as if to say: In the shaft there shall be three places from which three sets of two branches shall arise, and beneath each place and set of two branches there shall be a spherule. To see this clearly, here was the arrangement on the shaft itself: at the bottom, at the foot of the shaft, was the first cup, and then the first spherule; after this, the two longest branches ascended on each side. After these first two lowest branches, ascending on the shaft, came the first lily, after this the second cup and the second spherule; after this spherule followed the two middle branches. After these came the second lily, after this the third cup with the third spherule, after which came the two last and shortest branches. After these the third lily, and finally the fourth cup, the fourth spherule, and the fourth lily, with the lamp at the summit.
Tropologically, after the spherules the branch follows, because the holy doctor is a spherule, that is, of round and even countenance and disposition always, in joyful and sad times; whence like a branch he rises up on high, so as to give light to others.
Verse 37: That They May Give Light
37. THAT THEY MAY GIVE LIGHT FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE — Toward the table of the loaves of proposition, which was in the opposite, namely the northern, part of the tabernacle: for this table was the table of God, at which God as it were dined; and at an evening meal a candle or lamp is placed to illuminate the table, so that those eating may see what they eat.
Verse 38: Snuffers
38. THAT WHAT HAS BEEN SNUFFED MAY BE EXTINGUISHED — namely vessels which receive the snuffed ashes of the wicks, so that they may be extinguished there, lest scattered through the tabernacle they defile it and infect it with a foul odor. The Chaldean calls these vessels censers.
Verse 39: A Talent of Gold
39. THE WHOLE WEIGHT OF THE CANDELABRUM, ETC., SHALL HAVE A TALENT OF GOLD. — A talent, says Josephus, book III, chapter VII, was a weight of 100 minas; which Ribera understands of the Hebrew mina, which contained sixty shekels, that is, 240 drachmas. But at chapter xxxviii, verse 23, I shall demonstrate that the Hebrew talent contained only three thousand shekels; and since the shekel contained 4 Attic drachmas, that is, 4 gold pieces, it follows that the Hebrew talent containing three thousand shekels weighed and was worth twelve thousand gold pieces. I speak of a talent of gold; for a talent of silver was of equal weight, but of unequal value, as is obvious. From one talent a candelabrum could be made, because it was small and hollow, so as to signify the inner Spirit of God, who intimately communicates Himself to the Church and its Doctors.
Verse 40: Make It According to the Pattern
40. LOOK, AND MAKE IT ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN THAT WAS SHOWN TO YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN. — "Make according to the pattern" — in Hebrew is added "of them," namely of the candelabrum and the tabernacle with its vessels, which is described to you by the living voice of God during these 40 days on Mount Sinai, and at the same time is proposed for viewing through some sensible representation. For St. Stephen teaches that these words are to be understood literally of that ancient type of the tabernacle, Acts VII, 44.
Second, from the Apostle, Hebrews VIII, 5, it seems clear that here also God showed an anagogical pattern, namely heavenly realities and the spiritual tabernacle which was signified by this material one, as if Moses is here commanded to build his material tabernacle according to this pattern, namely so that it may correspond to that spiritual tabernacle as its antitype, and aptly signify and represent it. So Bede understands it here. Hence St. Justin, in his Exhortation to the Greeks, near the end, thinks that Plato derived his theory of ideas from this passage of Moses.
Tropologically, St. Gregory in book I on Kings chapter x says: This is the form of chosen obedience, that in everything we do outwardly, we look to the power and wisdom of the Creator as a pattern everywhere present. Again, look upon the pattern of obedience, patience, fortitude, charity, humility, contempt of the world, and all virtues, which was shown to you on Mount Calvary by Christ, and which Moses foreshadowed through his altar of holocausts and incense, and through the tabernacle, sacred vestments, and victims — express and imitate that pattern; and so you will build in your soul a tabernacle adorned and perfected with all virtues for God. For, as St. Augustine says, in the book On True Religion, chapter xvi: "The whole life of Christ was a discipline of morals. The servants of pleasure ruinously desired riches: He chose to be poor. They gaped after honors and power: He refused to be made king. They thought carnal children a great good: He despised such marriage and offspring. They most proudly dreaded insults: He endured every kind of insult. They thought injuries intolerable: what greater injury than for a just and innocent man to be condemned? They abhorred bodily pains: He was scourged and tortured. They feared death: He was punished with death. They thought the cross the most ignominious kind of death: He was crucified. All the things which, by desiring to have, we were living wrongly — by going without them He made them cheap; all the things which, by seeking to avoid, we were turning aside from the pursuit of truth — by enduring them He cast them down."
St. Francis constantly gazed upon this pattern of Christ crucified in order to express it in himself, and therefore received not only in his mind but also in his body the sacred stigmata divinely impressed upon him. St. Bonaventure writes in his Life, book I, chapter XIII: "There had grown in him an insuperable fire of love for the good Jesus, burning like lamps of fire and flame. When therefore he was being carried upward toward God by the seraphic ardor of his desires, one morning around the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, while he prayed on the side of a mountain, he saw a Seraph having six wings, as fiery as they were splendid, descending from the heavens. When it had arrived at a place in the air near the man of God, there appeared between the wings the figure of a man crucified. Seeing this he was vehemently amazed, and a joy mixed with sorrow struck his heart. He understood at length from this, the Lord revealing it, that he was to be transformed entirely into the likeness of Christ crucified, not through martyrdom of the flesh, but through the fire of the mind. The vision therefore, departing, left a marvelous ardor in his heart; and also impressed upon his flesh an image of signs no less marvelous. For immediately in his hands and feet there began to appear the marks of nails; his right side also, as if pierced by a lance, was covered with a red scar, which often, pouring forth sacred blood, would sprinkle his tunic and undergarments."
Finally St. Bernard, in the treatise On the Solitary Life: "A house of God's beauty is to be built by everyone, which is shown to him in the height of the mind and pious meditation, as if in a pattern, so that he may build according to the form of poverty — not houses for dwelling in, but tabernacles for leaving behind — so as thus to arouse in himself contempt for all outward things and love of inward and heavenly things."