Beda Venerabilis (Bede the Venerable)

De Tabernaculo et Vasis Ejus, ac Vestibus Sacerdotum

(On the Tabernacle and Its Vessels, and the Vestments of the Priests)

Table of Contents

• Book One
  • Chapter I: Moses Ascending the Mountain
  • Chapter II: The Forty Days on the Mountain
  • Chapter III: The Firstfruits and the Sanctuary
  • Chapter IV: Description of the Ark
  • Chapter V: The Propitiatory and the Cherubim
  • Chapter VI: Description of the Table
  • Chapter VII: The Bread of the Presence
  • Chapter VIII: The Lampstand
  • Chapter IX: The Lamps, Snuffers, and the Pattern on the Mountain
• Book Two
  • Chapter I: Description of the Tabernacle and the Temple
  • Chapter II: The Ten Curtains
  • Chapter III: The Eleven Curtains of Goat Hair
  • Chapter IV: The Third and Fourth Coverings of Skins
  • Chapter V: The Boards of the Tabernacle
  • Chapter VI: On the Arrangement of the Boards of the Tabernacle
    • The Bars and Rings of the Boards of the Tabernacle
  • Chapter VII
  • Chapter VIII: On the Veils and Columns of the Tabernacle and the Mercy Seat above the Ark
  • Chapter IX: On the Curtain at the Entrance of the Tabernacle and Its Columns
  • Chapter X: The Bar That Reached from Corner to Corner
  • Chapter XI: The Altar of Holocaust and Its Vessels
  • Chapter XII: The Grating of the Altar of Holocaust, Its Rings and Poles
  • Chapter XIII: The Court and Vessels of the Tabernacle
• Book Three
  • Chapter I: Description of the Oil to Be Offered for the Lamp
  • Chapter II: On the Priesthood of Aaron and His Sons
  • Chapter III: On the Vestments of Aaron and His Sons
  • Chapter IV: On the Ephod
  • Chapter V: On the Breastplate
  • Chapter V (continued): The Tunic of the Ephod
  • Chapter VI: On the Pomegranates and Bells
  • Chapter VII: The Golden Plate
  • Chapter VIII: The Linen Tunic and the Tiara
  • Chapter IX: On the Vesting and Consecration of the Priests
  • Chapter X: On the Four Colors of the Priestly Vestments, the Four Elements, and the Consecration of Priests
  • Chapter XI: On the Altar of Incense
  • Chapter XII: On Burning Incense upon the Altar
  • Chapter XIII: On the Price for Individual Souls When the People Are Numbered
  • Chapter XIV: Description of the Bronze Laver

Book One

Chapter I

Moses, ascending into the mountain of God with Joshua, left the governance of the people to Aaron and Hur.

As we are about to speak, with the Lord's help, concerning the figure of the tabernacle and its vessels and furnishings, we must first examine and attentively consider the situation of the place and the circumstances of the events — how they came about and when these things were commanded to be done. For all things, as the Apostle says, happened to them in figure, and were written for our sake (1 Cor. 10). All things, that is — not only the deeds and words contained in the sacred writings, but also the situations of places, hours, and times, and indeed the very circumstances of the events in which things were done or said.

(Exod. 24.) The Lord said to Moses: Come up to Me on the mountain, etc. Therefore, the Lord, about to give the law to Moses, first calls him to the summit of the mountain, so that, lingering on high with Him, he might more freely hear the precepts with which, returning to those below, he was to instruct the people; and at the same time, from the height of the place, he might gather how lofty and how far removed from human teachings is the law he receives, and how it can only be perfectly understood or kept by those who have separated themselves from earthly defilements by living more sublimely and more perfectly. Hence He also commanded the people to wait below until Moses should return — to suggest typologically that the secrets of His law are indeed heavenly and are grasped only by the more perfect, yet that the weak are not denied occasion of salvation if they earnestly strive to listen humbly to the wisdom of their elders.

So also in the Gospel, the Lord, calling the new heralds of grace together on a mountain, instructed them with saving precepts — so that even from the situation of the place it might be evident that He was giving them sublime things: both commandments for living and promises of reward, according to that saying of the Psalmist: Your justice is like the mountains of God (Ps. 33). And after His resurrection, appearing to them again on the holy mountain and sending them to preach — not to one people of Israel only, but to the whole world — He said: Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you (Matt. 28). Therefore the Lord gave both the precepts of the Law and of the Gospel on a mountain, to commend through this the sublimity of both Testaments.

But since the Scripture of the Law was then to be entrusted to one people of Israel alone, while the grace of the Gospel was to reach all nations throughout the world through the apostles' preaching, rightly did Moses alone ascend the mountain to learn and receive the Law, while the teaching of the Gospel was heard by all the apostles together, stationed on the mountain with the Lord, with the crowds also listening. Moreover, at the coming of the Holy Spirit, by which this same grace and truth of the Gospel was more manifestly given to the Church, not only the apostles, but also a very great throng of the faithful gathered in the upper room on Mount Zion received it — and this in the distribution of various tongues, so that by such a miracle the Church might be signified as one that would praise God in the languages of all the nations throughout the world.

And I will give you, He says, two tablets of stone, and the law and commandments, etc. Similar to this is that saying from the Gospel which we cited above: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Therefore neither Moses, nor the apostles, nor any of the teachers ought to teach the people of God other precepts than those which the Lord Himself taught, which He prescribed for us to observe in the eternal decree of His counsel, and in the observance of which He willed that we should have eternal life — just as teachers ought not to omit anything of those things He commanded to be done, but must commit to their hearers all things whatsoever He commanded. Moreover, He wrote these things on tablets of stone, because He established them to be kept with firm intention in the hearts of the elect, strong in faith. When He sets forth their examples for us to imitate, He shows, as it were, the statutes of His law written in stone.

For Daniel also saw the Lord in the figure of a stone cut from the mountain without hands, crushing the pomp of the worldly kingdom, so that His kingdom alone might remain without end (Dan. 2). And Peter admonishes the faithful, saying: And you, like living stones, are being built up into spiritual houses (1 Pet. 2).

Moses and Joshua, his minister, arose. Joshua, the minister of Moses, designates the Lord and Savior both by his name and by his action. He is rightly called the minister of Moses, because appearing in the flesh, He deigned to receive upon Himself the ceremonies of the Mosaic law — for He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. He follows in the footsteps of Moses in all things, because in everything that Moses speaks or writes, He is designated either typologically or manifestly and, like an inseparable companion, is found if one searches well. Hence He says to the Jews: If you believed Moses, you would perhaps believe Me also, for he wrote of Me (Matt. 5).

And Moses, ascending the mountain of God, said to the elders: Wait here until we return to you, etc. Aaron is interpreted as mountain of strength, Hur as fire or light. Hence Aaron designates the Lord and Savior, Hur the Holy Spirit — for of the latter Isaiah says: And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the summit of the mountains (Isa. 2). And He appeared upon the apostles in the light of fire. Therefore Moses, ascending to the Lord, left Aaron and Hur — that is, the mountain of strength and the light of fire — in the lowlands for the governance of the people. And if we cannot follow our leaders to the heights of divine contemplation, let us take anxious care that no temptation draw us away from the vicinity of the mountain of God; but according to our own measure let us persist in works of virtue, clinging with steadfast heart to the sacraments of our Redeemer with which we have been imbued, and taking care to preserve undefiled in ourselves the grace of His Spirit with which we have been sealed. And if any trouble of adversity assails us, let us at once invoke the help of that same Redeemer of ours, who is accustomed to protect His faithful ones from all evils through the gift of the Holy Spirit, and to deliver them. Nor should we doubt that, if we persist in what we have begun, through the mountain of strength our weakness and lowliness may be confirmed and exalted, and made stronger against all the assaults of the enemy; and through the light and fire of the Holy Spirit, our ignorance may be illumined, and our spirit may be set ablaze with love for that same merciful Creator.

And when Moses had ascended, a cloud covered the mountain. Just as the mountain on which Moses received the law designates the height of perfection that was to be written in that same law, so the cloud with which the mountain was covered suggests the grace of divine protection — which each one enjoys the more abundantly, the higher he ascends with the eyes of his heart unveiled to search out the wonders of the law of God. For the cloud did not cover only the mountain on which Moses ascended, but also overshadowed the people walking through the desert, who were by no means able to ascend to higher things — a cloud sent from heaven nonetheless shaded them.

Hence it is written: He spread out a cloud for their protection, since indeed the Lord protects all who fear Him — the small together with the great — with heavenly blessing. And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Sinai, etc. It should be known that not only the height, but also the name of the mountain on which the law was given, figuratively proclaims the perfection of that law. For Sinai is interpreted as My measure or My amphora. Therefore it was divinely arranged that the mountain on which the law was to be given should be called My amphora — as if the Lord Himself were signifying by this word that His law would promulgate a perfect rule of living for all, and would render to each one according to his works, in accord with what He Himself says: For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged (Matt. 7). And: With what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you (Mark 4).

And it is well said that, as Moses ascended, the cloud and the glory of the Lord covered the mountain for six days, but on the seventh day called him to the higher parts of the mountain. For in the law we are commanded to work for six days and to rest on the seventh. And as Moses ascended the mountain, he was covered for six days by the cloud and the glory of the Lord — to suggest mystically that whoever carries out the commandments of the Lord through just works is indeed worthy of divine protection. For the same Lord who commanded Moses to ascend the mountain also surrounded him as he ascended with His cloud and brightness — because He who grants us the gift of doing good works Himself illumines us as we do good works, lest we fail, and protects us lest we be scorched by the assaults of the ancient enemy, as by the burning heat of the sun.

But on the seventh day the Lord calls Moses to the higher regions, because after the perfection of works, the law promises us eternal rest — so that we who have taken care to stand before the Lord at the height of right action may now merit to ascend to the vision of Him and to converse with Him, according to that saying of the Psalmist: Indeed, He who gave the law will give a blessing (Ps. 83). They shall walk from virtue to virtue; the God of gods shall be seen in Zion. This is also known to have been granted to some of the elect even in this life: that after the perfection of the active life, they ascended to the grace of contemplation — such as it is and however small it may be for men still clothed in flesh. This was granted to very many of the patriarchs and prophets, and above all to Moses himself, of whom it is specifically said that he spoke with God face to face, as a man is accustomed to speak with his friend (Exod. 33).

Hence it can also be specifically understood of him that for six days he was protected on the mountain by the cloud and the glory of the Lord, and on the seventh day, called to converse with Him, he ascended the higher parts of the mountain — because indeed through the good works he had received by the Lord's gift, he merited to be more illumined by Him and to be overshadowed from all the assaults of evil, and thus he arrived at the more sublime gifts of vision and conversation with Him. For the midst of the darkness from which he is said to have been called does not signify that there are any shadows in God, but that He dwells in inaccessible light (1 Tim. 6), and as the same Apostle says: Whom no man has seen, nor can see (Ibid.). For that darkness is the obscurity of heavenly mysteries — inaccessible indeed to earthly hearts, but penetrable to Moses and to the rest of the blessed who are pure in heart, when divine grace opens the way. To them it is said in the Psalm: Draw near to Him, and be enlightened (Ps. 33). For His light is inaccessible to our own powers, yet it is approached through His own gifts. To which is aptly added:

Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a burning fire, etc. For the appearance of the glory of the Lord appeared like a burning fire, because He both illumines the hearts of the elect with the gift of heavenly knowledge and sets them aflame with the ardor of His love. Therefore the glory of the Lord was seen in the cloud, in darkness, and in fire. In the cloud, indeed, because He protects us from the heat of temptations. In darkness, truly, because the power of His majesty can be fully comprehended by no creature. For the peace of God surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4). But in burning fire, because He both irradiates the minds of the faithful with the knowledge of heavenly goods, and kindles them with hope and love. And indeed the children of Israel behold this glory of the Lord from afar and from below, but Moses penetrates it by ascending higher — because indeed the perfect see the hidden things of divine mysteries perfectly and sublimely. But let us, mindful of our own frailty and sluggishness, even if we cannot enter to comprehend, at least take care to remain near and to gaze by believing, hoping, and loving. For the children of Israel have their eyes upon the mountain of God and upon the sight of His glory from afar, when the weak in the Church, desiring with utmost eagerness to see God, keep the eyes of their mind diligently fixed on the remembrance of eternal brightness. They dwell, as it were, in the vicinity of the mountain of God, to which they knew Moses had ascended, when they restrain themselves with that moderation of living by which they never drag the step of their activity far from the imitation of the greatest men, even though they cannot yet fully follow in their footsteps to perfection.

Chapter II

Moses, called on the seventh day to the higher parts of the mountain, stays there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights.

And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and ascended the mountain, and was there forty days and forty nights. Moses entered the midst of the cloud and ascended the mountain — that is, when preachers of the divine law, among whom Moses himself was preeminent, penetrate into the sublime contemplation of the hidden and secret things of divine wisdom, at the Lord's invitation and guidance. Now Moses was with the Lord forty days and nights, so that by this number of time he might learn that only those could fulfill the Decalogue of the law, which he had received with his people, whom the evangelical grace of truth — which was to be described in four books — would assist. For four times ten makes forty. Or certainly, that the time would come when those same precepts of the Decalogue, which he then received with the one people of the children of Israel, would be spread by the bounty of divine grace to the knowledge of all nations contained in the four parts of the world, and all nations through the observance of these precepts would attain eternal salvation.

But since we have briefly learned by what a wondrous ascent Moses arrived to receive the law, let us now turn our ears and minds alike to hearing what he heard, and to expounding those very commandments of the law according to our own capacity. It follows:

The children of Israel are commanded to offer firstfruits to the Lord and to make a sanctuary.

Chapter III

(Exod. 25.) The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, that they may bring offerings, etc. We too offer the firstfruits of our goods to the Lord when, if we do anything good, we truly attribute the whole of it to divine grace, and from our inmost heart profess that we cannot have even the beginning of a good action, or any good thought, except from the Lord; while our evil deeds, always begun and completed by ourselves at the instigation of the devil, we confess cannot be forgiven except by the Lord's gift. The Pelagians refuse to offer the firstfruits of their goods to the Lord, but wish to keep them for themselves to possess, because with foolish presumption they suppose that they can have some good from themselves without the grace of God. And it is well commanded to Moses to accept firstfruits from a man who offers freely. For God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9). And the Apostle commands us to do good not from sadness or from necessity, but from a purpose of the heart (Ibid.). Knowing this of himself, the prophet glories in the Lord, saying: I will sacrifice to You voluntarily (Ps. 53).

Now these are the things which you shall receive: gold, silver, and bronze, etc. All these things which the Lord commands to be materially offered to Him by the former people for making a sanctuary — we also, who desire to be spiritual children of Israel, that is, imitators of the people who saw God, ought to offer in spiritual understanding, so that through such voluntary offerings we ourselves may merit to make a sanctuary for Him in us, and He may deign to dwell in our midst — that is, to consecrate a dwelling for Himself in our hearts. To Him we offer gold when we shine with the brightness of true wisdom, which consists in right faith. Silver, when from our mouth also confession is made unto salvation. Bronze, when we rejoice to spread abroad that same faith by public preaching. Hyacinth, when we lift our hearts upward. Purple, when we subject our body to suffering. Scarlet twice-dyed, when we burn with twofold love — that is, of God and of neighbor. Fine linen, when we preserve the chastity of the flesh. Goats' hair, when we put on the garment of penance and mourning. Rams' skins dyed red, when we behold the very leaders of the Lord's flock baptized in their own blood. Hyacinth-colored skins, when we hope that after death we shall have spiritual bodies in heaven. Setim wood, when, having cleared away the thorns of sins, we serve the Lord alone with clean flesh and soul. Oil for preparing the lamps, when we shine with the fruits of charity and mercy. Spices, ointment, and incense of sweet odor, when we spread the good reputation of our deeds far and wide as an example of good living for many. Onyx stones and gems for adorning the ephod and the breastplate, when we proclaim with worthy praise the miracles of the saints, by which they adorned their thoughts devoted to God and their works of virtue. And we take up all these things in aid of our faith, where there is need.

For since we are accustomed to bear burdens on our shoulders, rightly by the ephod — that is, the shoulder-garment — the works of the just and the pious labors undertaken for the Lord are suggested. And since the seat of thoughts is in the breast, rightly in the breastplate, which is the garment of the priestly breast, the pure thoughts of the elect are expressed. Onyx stones and gems adorn the ephod and breastplate when to the outstanding actions and thoughts of the greatest Fathers are joined also the tokens of miracles. Nor does anything prevent us from understanding in the onyx stones — which are said to be of a blood-red color — the merits of martyrdom added to good works. Concerning each of these things, more must be said in its proper place, with the help of God's grace.

And they shall make Me (He says) a sanctuary, and I will dwell in their midst, etc. The Lord showed Moses the tabernacle on the mountain and the vessels consecrated for its worship, because to him, lingering with Him for so long a time, He manifestly demonstrated with how great piety, humility, and purity the angelic powers rejoice to obey their Creator. They are His perfect tabernacle in all things — He who has never ceased to remain and dwell in them since they were created. The likeness of their life and their common manner of living before the Lord is also promised to us in the resurrection: all of us who now, having left behind the defilements of this world, strive to imitate their life on earth — namely, in praising and loving the Lord, and in loving and helping our neighbor also in God, and in provoking even our enemies to the love of God through the offices of piety. Such were those to whom the Apostle says: But you, brothers, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Rom. 8).

The tabernacle, therefore, which was shown to Moses on the mountain, is that heavenly city and homeland above, which at that time is believed to have consisted of the holy angels alone; but after the passion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven of the Mediator between God and men, it received also a great and abundant multitude of holy souls. The vessels of that tabernacle are each and every person among the blessed spirits, from all of whom that Jerusalem which is the mother of us all consists in true peace and unity. And it should be noted more carefully that the children of Israel are commanded to make a sanctuary for the Lord, not partially similar, but according to the complete likeness of the tabernacle which He showed to Moses, and of all its vessels for its worship. For if we aspire to the company of the angels in heaven, we must imitate their life on earth, as much as harmful bodies do not hinder, and earthly limbs and dying members do not dull us — always to imitate them. But if perhaps you ask: In what way can you, an earthborn man, a carnal creature, imitate this heavenly tabernacle of spiritual beings? They love God and their neighbors: imitate this. They come to the aid of the wretched — if not of angels, who are all blessed, then certainly of men: imitate this. They are humble, they are meek toward one another, they are at peace, they obey the divine commands: imitate this as far as you are able. They speak, do, and think nothing evil, nothing idle, nothing unjust; tireless in divine praises, they stand before Him in word and mind: imitate this as much as you can, and you will have built a sanctuary for the Lord, according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain, and the Lord and Savior, coming with the Father, will make His abode with you. Indeed, after this life He will introduce you into that tabernacle which you were imitating, blessed forever. It follows:

Chapter IV

Description of the Ark.

And thus you shall make it: construct an ark of setim wood. The ark, which is commanded to be made first of all things in the tabernacle, not unfittingly designates the very incarnation of our Lord and Savior, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2). This ark is well commanded to be constructed of setim wood. For setim wood is said to be of a light and imperishable nature, not far different in quality from white thorn. Therefore the ark was made of setim wood because the Lord's body consisted of members free from every stain of vice. And these same woods are very similar to thorns, because although He came not in sinful flesh, yet He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, as the Apostle says (Rom. 8). It follows:

Its length shall have two and a half cubits, etc. Some are accustomed to ask of what size the cubit should be reckoned which Moses employed either in Noah's ark or in the construction of the tabernacle. This question, if we consult the words of Josephus, will easily be resolved. For one should not suppose that a man of Jewish and priestly descent, of the most excellent intelligence, and most learned in both divine and secular Scriptures, could in any way have been ignorant of this. He says therefore: The ark was made five palms in length and three in width (Antiquities, book 3, chapter 8). From which it is clearly evident that he designates the cubit which two palms make up.

Mystically, the length of the ark suggests the long-suffering patience of our Lord and Redeemer, with which He lived among men. The width suggests the very breadth of the love with which He willed to come to us and to dwell among us. The height suggests the hope of future exaltation, because He foresaw that either He Himself was to be glorified after His passion, or that He would glorify. Hence the length of the ark was fittingly two cubits, on account of the teaching and the works by which He shone in the world. For the evangelist Luke also writes that he composed his account concerning the things which Jesus began to do and to teach (Acts 1). And His fellow citizens, marveling, said: Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? (Matt. 13.) Referring wisdom, indeed, to the wondrous things He said, and mighty works to the things He did.

Moreover, that the ark had a half-cubit beyond the two cubits in its length can be referred to the slowness of human frailty, which was not yet able to grasp the sublime words or works of the Savior as was fitting. Hence also of certain mystical acts of His it is openly said: His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified (John 12). Similarly also of His more sublime sayings: And this word was hidden from them, and they did not understand the things that were said (Luke 18). The ark had two cubits of length, because the Lord in the flesh appeared glorious in word and in deeds. It also had a half-cubit, because He also bore with long-suffering the slowness of His disciples, who could not yet perfectly grasp the things He said or did.

The width of the ark was one cubit, on account of the dispensation of the Lord's own love, by which He took care to unite His elect in God. Hence, praying to the Father for them, He said: I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us (John 17). And shortly after: And I have made known to them Your name, and will make it known, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them (Ibid.). It also had a half-cubit beyond the one cubit, namely to signify our frailty, by which, while still placed in this life, we are not yet able perfectly either to love God ourselves or to comprehend the love which God has toward us; but rather, as the Apostle testifies (1 Cor. 13), we know in part and we prophesy in part, so indeed we also love in part. The ark therefore has one cubit and also a half, because the Lord with singular affection loves us as those to be united with Himself and the Father, and also embraces the capacity of our love, such as it can be in this life, with equally tender kindness, until we merit to enter into the vision of Him, where we may love Him with our whole heart, whole soul, and whole strength.

The height of the ark was also most fittingly one and a half cubits, namely to signify the unique hope with which either the Lord Himself, while He was in the flesh with us, awaited the event of His future resurrection and subsequent glory, or He always admonishes us to rejoice amid the adversities of this world on account of the rewards of future goods. The ark therefore has a full cubit in height, because our Lord and Savior knew most fully — even while still living in corruptible flesh — how great a glory was stored up in the future both for Himself and for His members, which we are. It also has a half-cubit of height, because He also willingly received in His body the devotion of our smallness — we who with pious intention love the future homeland, but cannot yet perfectly grasp what its happiness is; yet what we do grasp, we have from none other than Him.

And you shall overlay it with the purest gold, etc. The ark is overlaid within and without with the purest gold, because the human nature assumed by the Son of God was both inwardly full of the power of the Holy Spirit, and outwardly displayed openly the works of the Holy Spirit to men. And indeed, a golden crown is well commanded to be placed around the top of the ark, because the Son of God, appearing in the flesh and coming for the redemption of the human race, awaited the appointed time and hour when He would overcome the death He undertook for us together with the very author of death, and would ascend victorious to the Father in heaven. Concerning this crown, the Apostle says: But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death (Heb. 2). Concerning this crown, John says in the Apocalypse: And I saw, and behold a white horse, and he who sat upon it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering that he might conquer (Rev. 6). The white horse, indeed, is the Church; the rider who sat upon it is the Lord, who had a bow because He came to wage war against the powers of the air. And to Him was given the crown of victory, who overthrew the kingdom of death by dying.

And four golden rings, etc. The four golden rings are the four books of the Gospels, which are rightly golden on account of the brightness of the wisdom with which they shine, and rightly compared to rings because the very wisdom of God which they proclaim is eternal. Neither beginning in time nor ceasing to be is the eternal divinity which Christ the man received. Hence, as the hour of His passion drew near, He prayed to the Father, saying: And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory which I had with You before the world was made (John 17). The ark has four corners because the sacrament of the Lord's incarnation never ceases to be celebrated throughout all the regions of the world in which the holy Church is spread. And through those same four corners, four rings are placed, because in all the ends of the world the Gospel of Christ is preached to the hearts of the faithful for their salvation.

Two rings are on one side and two on the other: either because two evangelists were attached to the company of the Savior while He preached in the flesh and worked miracles, while two others came to the faith after His resurrection and ascension into heaven; or because in the figure of the four living creatures, two — who are designated by the man and the calf — presented the signs of His sufferings and death, while two — who are prefigured by the lion and the eagle — displayed the tokens of the victory by which He destroyed death. For the Lord appeared as a man, made mortal through the incarnation. He stood as a calf offered for us on the altar of the cross. He became a lion by powerfully conquering death, and an eagle by ascending to heaven. And therefore two rings are on one side and two on the other, because indeed two evangelists, through their figure, suggest the assumption of human frailty in the Lord; and two others suggest the victory by which He triumphed over that same assumed frailty and death. For the left side of the ark, as it were, had two rings, since two evangelists figured the Lord's incarnation and passion. Likewise, two rings were on the right side, because equally two evangelists figuratively express His resurrection and ascension, which pertain to the glory of the life to come.

You shall also make poles of setim wood, etc. The poles by which the ark is carried are the holy teachers, who by preaching bring the Lord into the hearts of their hearers. These poles are commanded always to remain in the rings, because it is indeed necessary that whoever preaches the heavenly sacraments to others should never themselves withdraw their mind from the remembrance of sacred Scripture, nor their hands from the observance of the divine commandments. And what follows is well said:

And you shall place in the ark the testimony, etc. Because we ought to speak and believe concerning the incarnation of the Son of God only those things which the Lord Himself has deigned to reveal to us through the authors of sacred Scripture. But if you wish to know what that testimony is which Moses received from the Lord to be placed in the ark, hear the Apostle: But behind the second veil, he says, was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on every side with gold, in which was the golden urn having the manna, and Aaron's rod which had budded, and the tablets of the covenant (Heb. 9).

The golden urn in the ark containing manna is the holy soul in Christ, having in itself all the fullness of divinity. Aaron's rod which, though cut off, had budded, is the unconquerable power of His priesthood, of which the prophet says: The scepter of equity is the scepter of Your kingdom (Ps. 44). This rod, after it had seemed for a time to be cut down by death, was found at the dawning of the morning of the resurrection to have blossomed forth more vigorously, and it became known that it would remain forever inviolable and unfading. For Christ, rising from the dead, dies no more; death shall no longer have dominion over Him (Rom. 6). The tablets of the covenant in the ark designate all knowledge of the Father's secrets in Christ, and the power of His judgments. For in the tablets of the covenant, both the faith of the eternal divinity — which created and governs the world — was inscribed, and the commandments by which God must be served, and the discernment of judgment by which He would justly condemn those who hate Him and reward those who love Him with fitting mercy.

This, therefore, is the testimony which the Lord gave to Moses to be placed in the ark, when He sealed for us to confess the truth of flesh, soul, and the Word in Christ — and showed that this very flesh, glorified by resurrection after the suffering of death, was exalted with the dignity of the eternal King and High Priest. He taught that He alone is privy to the Father's secrets, as being truly of one and the same majesty with the Father, and that He Himself is the judge of all ages.

Chapter V

Description of the Propitiatory and the Cherubim.

You shall also make a propitiatory, etc. It is customary to ask what the propitiatory means, with which the ark is to be covered. But since He commands it to be made of gold, and of as great a length and width as He had commanded the ark to be made, it is beyond doubt that He wished a golden plate to be made of a size sufficient to cover the ark. This propitiatory designates none other than the Lord and Savior, but more specifically the depths of His mercy — of which the Apostle says: Whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood (Rom. 3). And it is therefore placed on top, because mercy triumphs over judgment. Hence the Psalmist says: The Lord is sweet to all, and His mercies are above all His works (Ps. 144).

Two golden Cherubim also, etc. That Cherubim is the name of angelic powers, the prophet Ezekiel manifestly declares, and he indicates that they also appeared to him with wings, according to the pattern by which they are here commanded to be made, saying: And the sound of the wings of the Cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, as the voice of the Lord speaking (Ezek. 10). From the knowledge of divine cognition, when the Lord revealed this about Himself to Moses, which He had not indicated to the patriarchs. Now in the singular number it is called Cherub, but in the plural Cherubim, and the noun is of the masculine gender, but Greek custom placed Cherubin in the neuter gender, changing the letter m to n. But our translator, following the Hebrew idiom, used the masculine gender. "You shall make two Cherubim of gold, beaten work" — not "two Cherubim golden and beaten," which I believe was corrupted in his translation through the carelessness of scribes, so that Cherubin was written instead of Cherubim after the manner of the ancients. Cherubim, or Cherubin, is interpreted as "multitude of knowledge" or "understanding of knowledge" — a name which indeed befits the angelic powers all the more fittingly, inasmuch as they are perfectly free from every impulse of impure thought and cling to the vision of their Creator.

For this reason Moses is commanded to make wings, whether in the figure of the Cherubim, or the prophet testifies that he saw them in their very appearance, which even the license of painters is accustomed to imitate — so that the angels might be represented as having their seat on high and as being able to travel everywhere with swift flight, having no slowness but being instantly present wherever they wish. This same thing is also undoubtedly promised to us after the resurrection, when we are clothed with a spiritual body. The Cherubim therefore spread their wings and cover the mercy seat, because the angels offer all the power of their nature — by which they have merited to dwell on high and to pass through all the places of that heavenly fatherland with swift and joyful passage — in the service of their Creator, and as it were looking upon the mercy seat they overshadow it, that is, they honor it by veiling it, because they attribute the whole state of perpetual happiness that they possess to the grace of Him from whom they received the gift of being unable to will anything evil.

There are two, moreover, to signify the fellowship of angelic peace, because charity cannot exist between fewer than two. Hence they are also commanded to look upon one another and to have their faces toward the mercy seat, because in the glorification of the divine vision they are in harmony with one another. Likewise, through the two Cherubim the two Testaments can be represented, of which one proclaims the Lord's incarnation as future, the other as accomplished. And they look upon each other, because in their attestation of the truth which they preach, they disagree with one another in nothing. They turn their faces toward the mercy seat, because they greatly commend the mercy of the Lord, in which alone is the hope of the world. And therefore they are on each side of the oracle, because they fill both the times preceding the Lord's incarnation and those following it with the preaching of spiritual knowledge.

The name "multitude of knowledge" or "multiplied knowledge" also befits them, because sacred Scripture is full of spiritual and divine knowledge, and this same knowledge, from the time Scripture itself began to be composed, never ceases to grow and be multiplied. Hence the angel said to Daniel: Many shall pass through, and knowledge shall be manifold (Dan. 12). For the Lord Himself testifies that Moses received greater knowledge than the patriarchs, He who appeared to him and said: I am the Lord, who appeared to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but My name Adonai I did not make known to them (Exod. 3). Knowledge of divine cognition was therefore multiplied over time, when the Lord revealed to Moses about Himself what He had not made known to the patriarchs.

David, who meditated on the law of the Lord day and night — let us see whether he perceived that he understood something more about the Lord than Moses himself who wrote the law. How I have loved Your law, O Lord, he says, it is my meditation all the day (Ps. 118). And he immediately added: I have understood more than all my teachers. Hence he also boasts elsewhere in the Lord, saying: The uncertain and hidden things of Your wisdom You have made manifest to me (Ps. 50). Likewise the Lord Himself declares that the apostles know greater things than the prophets, He who speaks to them saying: Many prophets and just men desired to see what you see, and did not see; to hear what you hear, and did not hear (Luke 10). But to these same ones He promises after His resurrection and ascension a still greater grace of knowledge, saying: I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now; but when the Spirit of truth comes, He will teach you all truth (John 16). To them He also promises to reveal in the future things greater than all that can be known in this life, saying: He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and I will manifest Myself to him (John 14).

Rightly therefore the Cherubim are called "multiplied knowledge," because in both Testaments knowledge of the truth has become more and more known to the faithful over time. Rightly are the Cherubim of glory said to overshadow the mercy seat, because as the testament grows through time and knowledge is multiplied, they proclaim to us the propitiation of the Lord our Savior; and they never cease to honor this with voices of grace as it were spread out, with wings fitted for flight. For since the words of those who converse reach the hearts of listeners, as it were flying through the air from the mouths of the speakers, they are fittingly represented by the spread wings of the Cherubim, fitted as it were for flight.

From there I will command and speak to you, namely above the mercy seat, etc. The Lord speaks above the mercy seat to Moses all the things that He commands the children of Israel through him, because it was through the grace of God's propitiation that He deigned to appear to men after the guilt of their transgression, and to show them the way of truth after their error. He speaks from the midst of the Cherubim, because God appeared and spoke to Moses through an angelic vision, and not in His own substance, as the apostle attests: The law was set in place because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made, ordained through angels by the hand of a Mediator (Gal. 3). Likewise the Lord speaks from the midst of the two Cherubim, because through the harmonious words of both testaments He instructs us by one voice in the faith of truth. Or certainly He speaks from the midst of the Cherubim, because through His Only-Begotten Son, who appeared in the flesh in the midst of the two Testaments, God the Father deigned to make His will manifest to the human race. In which sense also that saying of Habakkuk can be understood: In the midst of two living creatures You shall be known (Hab. 3). Moreover, the holy Church can also be understood figuratively in the ark, which is built from imperishable wood, that is from holy souls, and in the faith of the holy Gospel throughout the four regions of the world, stretched out, it awaits from God the eternal crown of life, having in it the tablets of the Testament in continual meditation on the law of God, having also the golden urn with manna in faith in the Lord's incarnation, having also the rod of Aaron which had budded, in participation in the kingdom and priesthood of the Lord, as the apostle Peter says: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2). Having the mercy seat above, so that it may remember that it has received all the good things it possesses through the bounty of divine grace. Having also the Cherubim of glory on the mercy seat — that is, the angelic protections by which it is always aided by a propitious God, or the Testaments by which it is instructed how to live and how to seek the aid of right living from divine propitiation. But the Cherubim are placed above the mercy seat in the same way that the city of Christ, that is the holy Church, is said to be established upon the mountain, that is upon Christ Himself — not because His city can be higher than He, but because it advances sustained by His support. The ark has the Cherubim above the mercy seat, because the angelic ministries and divine utterances aid the Church all the more truly inasmuch as they stand firm upon the foundation of the highest truth.

Chapter VI

Description of the Table.

You shall also make a table of acacia wood, etc. The table made of acacia wood is sacred Scripture, constructed from the strong words and deeds of the holy Fathers, which, while it shows us what are the joys of eternal blessedness and how to attain them, indeed provides us with the food of salvation and life. This table has length, when it suggests to us perseverance in the religious life we have begun; breadth, when it suggests the amplitude of charity; height, when it suggests the hope of perpetual reward. And fittingly the length is two cubits, because our active way of life consists chiefly in two virtues, namely mercy and innocence, as the apostle James says: Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself unspotted from this world (James 1).

For in commanding us to visit orphans and widows in their tribulation, he shows all the things we must do mercifully toward neighbors in need; but in admonishing us to keep ourselves unspotted from this world, he expresses all the ways in which we ought to live chastely ourselves. The Lord Himself also declared that these two cubits of good action are present in the table of His words, when He said: Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning (Luke 12). The loins girded, that is, so that we may remain free from the contagion of this world. The lamps burning, so that through works of mercy we may shine brightly before the Lord. For what follows — And you yourselves be like men waiting for their master, when he shall return from the wedding — pertains to the height of the same table, that is, to the hope of future reward.

That the table has one cubit in breadth figuratively declares the unity of that love which the entire series of the Old and New Testament commends to us: for charity is one, that is, a simple and pure devotion of mind, by which we are commanded to love both God and our neighbors and even our enemies, although with a great distance and most right distinction in that love. We ought to love God in the first place, our enemies in the last. Even toward our neighbors an unequal measure of love must be extended according to the difference of their merits, just as we know from the testimony of Scripture that the patriarch Jacob, although he loved all his sons, nevertheless loved Joseph above the rest on account of his singular merit of innocence. Hence beautifully in the Song of Songs the Church says to Christ: He brought me into the wine cellar; he ordered charity in me (Song 2).

Furthermore, that the height was a cubit and a half — the cubit, as in the breadth, suggests the unity of our heavenly hope itself, by which we await our Lord, when He shall return from heaven, to reward the servants whom He finds watchful with loins girded and lamps of good works burning. For even though on account of the diversity of merits there are many mansions in the Father's house (John 14), there is nevertheless one kingdom of heaven in which all the elect are received. But the half that remains indicates the beginning of the contemplative life, of which certain saints even while still placed in the flesh merited to enjoy, indicates: to whom it was given not only to hope for heavenly rewards, but even to taste them beforehand by partially seeing them, such as Isaiah and Micah and the other prophets, who saw the Lord sitting on the throne of His glory, with the army of angels standing around (Isa. 6); such as Peter, James, and John, who saw the Lord glorified between Moses and Elijah on the holy mountain (Matt. 17); such as the teacher of the nations, to whom, before he paid the debt of the flesh, it was given to be caught up to paradise and the third heaven, and to hear secret words which it is not lawful for a man to speak (2 Cor. 12). In these and similar servants of Christ, therefore, the table of the tabernacle — that is, the divine Scripture by which the holy Church is ceaselessly refreshed — adds a half above the cubit of common hope in its height, because it shows that the joys of heavenly blessedness were shown to them beforehand rather than already granted. This foreshadowing, because it appears fleetingly and in passing to the minds of the saints, is rightly figured by half a cubit and not by a full cubit.

And you shall overlay it with the purest gold. The table of the tabernacle is overlaid with gold, because sacred Scripture shines bright with the meaning of heavenly wisdom, and those prophets who composed it were illustrious in life and speech.

And you shall make for it a golden rim all around, etc. A golden rim is made for the table all around, because the teaching of sacred speech is served to us through the most pure mouths of faithful preachers. Nor did the speech of those who transmitted to us the divine mysteries in any way consent to be contaminated by words of human chatter; rather they took care to bear heavily upon and to rebuke not only harmful but even idle words of men. Or certainly a golden rim is made for the table all around, because sacred Scripture, when rightly understood, from every part of its speech sounds forth to us the brightness of heavenly wisdom. To this rim, indeed, a crown is added, because the tongue of preachers promises to its hearers the reward of eternal life. And fittingly this crown is commanded to be four fingers high, because the loftiness of the everlasting crown is shown to us through the four books of the holy Gospel, or because through the keeping of evangelical faith and practice, we ought to attain the crown of life. And beautifully through the fingers the books are signified, because indeed the tablets of the law are reported to have been written by the finger of God; and in the Gospel the Lord, about to temper the severity of the law, wrote with His finger on the ground, saying about the woman taken in adultery whom the Pharisees and scribes were accusing: If any one of you is without sin, let him cast the first stone at her (John 8). The finger of God is understood to mean the Spirit of God. Hence that which Luke reports the Lord to have said: If therefore by the finger of God I cast out demons (Luke 11). Matthew, explaining more clearly, said: By the Spirit of God (Matt.). Thus a golden crown four fingers high is placed upon the golden rim of the table, because the most pure words of the holy preachers await the hope of heavenly blessedness, which is contained as described by the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the four books of the holy Gospel.

Not only do the preachers themselves receive the reward of their labor in heaven, but they also promise to all who obey them the same crown of life with the certain authority of evangelical truth. And fittingly this same crown is commanded to be carved in openwork, because indeed the reward of the eternal kingdom is not given indiscriminately to all, but is distributed to each individual with a distinction determined by divine examination according to the quality of the recipients. For the golden crown of the Lord's table would be plain and not openwork if the brightness of the future reward of the just were revealed as equal for all — like this earthly sun, whose splendor God makes to rise indiscriminately upon the good and the evil. But because as star differs from star in brightness, so also shall be the resurrection of the dead. The crown of the Lord's table is set with various distinguished carvings, but fittingly arranged. For eternal life is indeed promised to all the just in the future, but within it the glory of each individual is manifold according to the diversity of their merits.

After the first crown is described, there follows: And upon it another little golden crown. This can rightly be understood as referring to the reward of those who surpass the general commandments of sacred Scripture by a voluntary choice of a life of perfection, and therefore await a special reward beyond the other faithful for their voluntary offering. For the golden crown four fingers high is placed upon the golden rim of the table, when through the Gospel eternal life is promised to those who keep the commandments of the divine law, the Lord saying to the rich man: If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 19). But upon this same crown another little crown is placed, when immediately it is added: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me (ibid.).

To this crown pertains that new song which only virgins are reported to have sung before the Lamb, who were purchased from among men as first fruits for God and the Lamb. To this pertains also that they shall follow the Lamb by faith wherever He goes (Rev. 14). Or certainly a golden crown is placed upon the rim of the Lord's table, when in the words of sacred Scripture we say that souls departing from the flesh are to be received into eternal rewards in heaven. And upon it another little golden crown is added, when in the same Scripture it is repeated that a more sublime glory is reserved for them at the end of the age, also in the reception of immortal bodies.

You shall also prepare four golden rings, etc. These things, as we explained above concerning the ark, are to be understood here as well. For the four golden rings are the four books of the Gospels, through whose faith it came about that all sacred Scripture was read and understood throughout the whole world. The table has four legs, because the entire series of divine utterances is distinguished by a fourfold method. For in all the holy books one ought to discern what eternal things are signified therein, what deeds are narrated, what future events are foretold, and what actions are commanded or counseled.

Likewise the table of the tabernacle has four legs, because the words of the heavenly oracle are customarily received in either the historical sense, or the allegorical, or the tropological (that is, moral), or certainly the anagogical. For history is when some event is related in plain speech according to the letter as it was done or said — as, for example, the narrative of how the people of Israel, saved from Egypt, made a tabernacle for the Lord in the desert. Allegory is when by mystical words or things the present sacraments of Christ and the Church are signified — by words, for instance, as Isaiah says: A branch shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from his root (Isa. 11). Which is to say openly: The Virgin Mary shall be born from the stock of David, and Christ shall arise from her stock. By things, however, as the people saved from Egyptian slavery through the blood of the Lamb signifies the Church, freed from demonic dominion by the passion of Christ.

Tropology, that is, moral speech, looks toward the instruction and correction of morals, whether set forth in plain or figurative language. In plain language, for instance, as John counsels, saying: My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth (1 John 3). In figurative language, as Solomon says: At all times let your garments be white, and let not oil be lacking upon your head (Eccl. 9). Which is to say openly: At all times let your works be pure, and let charity not be lacking from your heart. Anagogy, that is, speech leading to higher things, is that which discusses future rewards and the life to come which is in heaven, whether in mystical or plain language. In plain language, for instance: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matt. 5). In mystical language: Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city (Rev. 22). Which is to say clearly: Blessed are those who cleanse their thoughts and deeds, that they may have the power of seeing the Lord Christ, who says: I am the way and the truth and the life; and through the teaching and examples of the preceding fathers they may enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Under the crown there shall be golden rings, etc. Fittingly the rings shall be under the crown, because we use the books of the holy Gospel in this life, but we hope for the crown of the heavenly life to come in heaven. Through these rings, namely, bars are inserted to carry the table, because holy teachers, in order to refresh the hearts of their hearers with the words of sacred speech, must themselves in all things keep their minds fixed on the evangelical reading, so that they may direct the whole intention of their interpretation and teaching toward its faith and meaning, and diligently take care that they teach nothing else to be done, hoped for, or loved in all the Scriptures than what is found in the four books of the Gospel. When they refer all the words of the Scriptures to the faith and love that is written in the Gospel, they carry, as it were, the whole table of the Lord with its bread and its vessels in the four rings.

Description of the Vessels of the Table and the Bread of the Presence.

You shall prepare also bowls and cups, etc. The various vessels that were made for offering libations are the various distinctions of divine speech, suited to the unequal capacity of hearers. For one and the same teaching cannot suit everyone: the wise must be taught one way, the foolish another; the rich one way, the poor another; the healthy one way, the sick another; the old one way, the young another; men one way, women another; the celibate one way, the married another; superiors one way, subjects another. Yet all these vessels belong to the table of the tabernacle, all pertain to the offering of libations, because whatever diverse things a prudent teacher speaks according to the diversity of his hearers, all are found in the rule of sacred Scripture, and all stir the hearts of hearers to offer the Lord the vows of good works.

This fitting diversity of holy preaching was signified by the mouth of the Lord Himself, when He said: Who do you think is the faithful and prudent steward, whom the Lord has set over his household, to give them their measure of wheat in due time (Matt. 24)? For the faithful and prudent steward gives his fellow servants their measure of wheat in due time, when the discerning minister of the word not only observes the opportune time for speaking, but also diligently inquires into the character and understanding of his hearers, and tempers the manner of his discourse according to their differences.

And you shall place upon the table the bread of the Presence, etc. The bread of the Presence, always placed upon the table, represents the spiritual teachers who, meditating on the law of the Lord day and night, offer to all who enter the Church the refreshment of the heavenly word. They are rightly called bread of the Presence, because the word of salvation ought always to be openly available to all the faithful, and the word of consolation ought never to be lacking in the Church for devout hearers, which the Lord, setting it before the world through the heralds of truth, willed to appear always in His sight and to abound unceasingly until the end of the age for those who hunger and thirst for justice.

Concerning these loaves, it is more fully reported in Leviticus how many and of what kind they were to be made, and how they were to be arranged, with the Lord saying to Moses: You shall also take fine flour, and bake from it twelve loaves, each of which shall contain two-tenths, and you shall set six of them on each side upon the most pure table before the Lord; and you shall place upon them the brightest frankincense, that the bread may be as a memorial of the offering of the Lord. On each Sabbath they shall be changed before the Lord, received from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant; and they shall be for Aaron and his sons, that they may eat them in the holy place (Lev. 24).

Here clearly, in the first place, even by the very number of the loaves, the pattern of the twelve apostles is prefigured, whom the Lord, appearing in the flesh, first chose, through whose ministry He would give the food of life to all nations. Finally, when the crowds were hungry in the desert, He says to these same disciples of His, namely our apostles: Give them something to eat yourselves. And when five thousand men had been fed from five loaves, they themselves gathered twelve baskets of fragments (Mark 6, Luke 9, John 6), because indeed it belongs to the apostles and apostolic men to comprehend the sacraments of the Scriptures which the crowds cannot.

Chapter VII

The twelve loaves on the table of the tabernacle, therefore, are the twelve apostles and all who follow their teaching in the Church. Since they never cease to refresh the people of God with the nourishment of the word until the consummation of the age, the twelve loaves of the Presence never depart from the Lord's table. And fittingly these same loaves are commanded to be made not from any ordinary flour, but from fine flour, because indeed whoever ministers the word of life to others must first give themselves to the fruits of virtue, so that what they counsel in preaching they may also commend by doing, conformed to the example of Him who said of Himself: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone (John 12).

Fittingly also these same loaves are commanded to be set in rows of six on each side upon the table, on account of the harmony of charity and fellowship, for the Lord is also said to have sent His disciples out to preach in pairs, figuratively suggesting that holy teachers never differ from one another either in asserting the truth or in the practice of love. And that the brightest frankincense is placed upon the loaves signifies the power of prayer, because the same teachers commend both the ministry of their preaching and the devotion of their work to the Lord. For the Psalmist testifies that prayer is signified by incense, who says: Let my prayer be directed as incense in Your sight (Ps. 140). And the brightest frankincense is placed upon the loaves as a memorial of the Lord's offering, when pure prayer is added to the holy deeds and teaching of the saints, so that through these two things duly united, the memory of the sacred offering may always appear in the sight of the supreme Judge.

And fittingly the loaves are commanded to be changed before the Lord on each Sabbath; for the loaves that had been placed on the Lord's table during the six working days are changed for us on the Sabbath, when the teachers of holy Church, having completed the time of their holy labor, are rewarded with eternal rest in heaven, and leave behind others after them for the same work of laboring in the word, under the same hope of recompense. And so it comes about that the Lord's table is never without bread, but rather as soon as one loaf is removed, another is substituted in its place, since as ministers of the word succeed one another in order, the Church never lacks those who in apostolic fashion show both the faith of devotion and the purity of action in both words and deeds — that most beautiful saying always enduring which is spoken in praise of the same holy Church: Instead of your fathers, sons have been born to you; you shall make them princes over all the earth (Ps. 44), as if in other words it were said to the tabernacle of the Lord: Instead of your old loaves, new ones have been prepared for you; you shall set them as refreshment for spiritual hearts among the faithful throughout the whole world.

Loaves, then, were changed for loaves, but the table always remained the same in the tabernacle, because teachers of the word go and come, and as some depart, others succeed them in their order. But sacred Scripture stands, not to be abolished through any ages, until at the end of the world, when the Lord appears, we shall no longer need either the Scriptures or their interpreters, when that most longed-for prophecy of the Lord is fulfilled, in which He says: And no one shall teach his neighbor, and no one his brother, saying: Know the Lord, for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest (Jer. 31).

Now the loaves were baked before the Sabbath, as Josephus writes (Antiquities, book 3, chapter 13), divided two by two before the Sabbath; and on the Sabbath morning, being offered, they were placed on the sacred table in rows of six facing each other, with two golden dishes placed on top, full of frankincense, which remained until the next Sabbath. And then other loaves were brought in their place, and those were given to the priests; and with the frankincense burned in the sacred fire in which all the burnt offerings were made, other frankincense was placed upon the other loaves. And what is written in the Book of Kings — that David entered the tabernacle and received the holy bread from the priests — happened on the Sabbath morning. For he came to the tabernacle at the hour when the loaves of the preceding week had been removed from the Lord's table, so that the new loaves might be placed, which had been baked the day before; and so he received the holy bread, so that not even for a moment of an hour would the Lord's table remain without bread.

Hence it is well to consider still more carefully that the loaves were commanded to be changed on each Sabbath: for they were changed in such a way that each of them was placed on the table on the Sabbath, and on the Sabbath again removed to serve as food for the priests; and for the six working days they appeared set out on the table, but on the day of the Sabbath — that is, of rest — they were placed on the table, and again on the following Sabbath taken from the table. In this order of placement, what else is to be understood mystically by us, unless that the holy teachers, indeed all the just, both arrive at rest after the good works by which they were distinguished in the Church, and are kindled to delight in doing good by the hope of future rest and blessedness?

The loaves were therefore placed on the Lord's table on the Sabbath, with the intention of those who placed them that, after the Sabbath passed, they would remain there for the six working days; and when these too had passed, at the arrival of the following Sabbath, they would be consumed as refreshment for the high priest and his sons. Because indeed at the very beginning of our life devoted to God, rest and eternal life are promised to us, yet on the condition that through the labors and good works of temporal life we must attain to it.

In what way the fact that the high priest and his sons ate the bread of the Presence pertains to the entrance into heavenly life will be more fittingly discussed in its proper place in the exposition of the following verse. These same loaves were received from the children of Israel, because from the assembly of God's spiritual servants must be chosen and ordained those who undertake the rank of the priesthood or of teaching.

And what is added in conclusion — And they shall be for Aaron and his sons — can be understood in two ways through its mystery. For Aaron eats with his sons the holy bread taken from the table of the tabernacle, when our High Priest takes His elect, snatched from this life, into the increase of His body which is in heaven — that is, He brings them into that supreme multitude of the elect. Or certainly, the holy bread shall be for Aaron and his sons, when all bishops and the people subject to them in the Lord are nourished unto eternal life by the examples of their preceding fathers.

Chapter VIII

The Lampstand.

You shall also make a lampstand of beaten work from the purest gold. The lampstand of the tabernacle, like the table, represents the universal Church of the present age. For they are placed before the veil, within which the ark of the testament was set, because it has not yet merited to be admitted to the vision of its Redeemer in heaven. But it is a table, because it daily provides heavenly food to those who hunger and thirst for justice, lest they fail in temptations. It is a lampstand, because it shows the path of light to those who wander. It is both table and lampstand, because, instructed in the holy writings, it has learned both to satisfy the hungry soul with good things and to supply the lamp of the word to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.

To this lamp indeed the Church humbly subjects itself — restraining itself from its own pleasures in order to do what the word of God commands, raising itself above visible joys in order to hope for the rewards and to love the things He has promised — and so it becomes, as it were, His lampstand, because it sets the heavenly kingdom above all its own pleasures, and humbling itself, it displays the brightness of the word of God to all, both by preaching and by doing.

Its shaft, its branches, its cups, etc. The shaft of the lampstand should be understood as He Himself who is the Head of the Church, the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Concerning His body, which we are, the Apostle says, as though speaking of branches proceeding from the shaft: From whom the whole body, supplied and built up through its joints and connections, grows into the increase of God (Col. 2), because indeed our almighty God and Redeemer, who has nothing in Himself in which He can increase, still has daily increase through His members. The branches proceeding from the shaft, therefore, are the preachers who, appointed by the Lord, produced a sweet sound in the world, namely the new song. The branches are all the sons of the Church who willingly obey Him (as the prophet says: Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth [Ps. 31]), resounding the praise of the Lord and saying: And He directed my steps, and He put into my mouth a new song, a hymn to our God (Ps. 39). Since cups are usually filled with wine, not unfittingly through them are signified the minds of the hearers, which are filled with the wine of knowledge at the voice of the preachers. And since the hearts of the faithful, inebriated with the same wine of interior love, strain toward God with untiring desire, fittingly after the cups on the lampstand knobs are made: for a sphere rolls in every direction, because indeed the minds of the elect can neither be held back by any adversities of the world nor corrupted by its prosperities, but in all things that befall them they advance toward God through holy desires. And fittingly after the branches, cups, and knobs, lilies are represented on the lampstand, because after the grace of preaching, after the intoxication of the spiritual drink, after the irrevocable progress of holy action, that verdant fatherland follows, which blooms with eternal flowers — that is, with holy souls.

Six branches go out from the sides, etc. The number six, in which the world was made, is certainly known to signify the perfection of works. But since it is placed in the description of the branches in such a way as to be divided into twice three, we should speak more of the number three. For three branches go out from one side of the shaft, and three from the other, because there were teachers before the Lord's coming in the flesh who designated the faith of the Holy Trinity with mystical speech, and preached it insofar as those still untaught could receive it. Hence that saying of the Psalmist: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their power by the spirit of His mouth (Ps. 32). For by the name "Lord" he designates the Father; by the name "Word," the Son; and the Holy Spirit He calls by His own name, "the spirit of His mouth." He signifies that there is one power, one will, and one operation of this Holy Trinity, when he asserts that both the heavens were established by the word of the Lord, and all their power by the spirit of His mouth.

There are now teachers who preach this same faith of the Holy Trinity openly, so that all who belong to Christ must be consecrated with the same faith, the Lord saying to His apostles: Go therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28). Hence Paul also, praying for the faithful and desiring that they be strengthened by the received faith of the Trinity, says: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Cor. 13).

Likewise three branches come forth from one side of the lampstand, and three from the other, because both before and after the Lord's incarnation there were three ranks of those who faithfully served the Lord in the Church: namely the married, the continent, and the rulers. The prophet Ezekiel mystically describes their distinction when, at the approach of the afflictions, he predicted that only three men — namely Noah, Daniel, and Job — would be delivered (Ezek. 14). For in Noah, who steered the ark through the waters, he shows the leaders of the Church; in Daniel, who strove to live continently in the royal court, the continent or virgins; in Job, who, placed in the married life, offered to all a wondrous example of patience, he shows the life of the good among the married.

Likewise, the Lord suggests the distinction of these same ranks in the New Testament under the figure of those who shall be found in bed, in the field, and at the mill on the day of judgment (Matt. 24; Luke 17). Of these He says that one of each pair shall be taken, and one left behind. For in the bed is expressed the repose of the continent; in agriculture the industry of preachers; in the turning of the mill the labor of the married. And because in all these ranks some are to be chosen and some rejected, rightly it is said of each: "One of the two shall be taken, and the other left behind."

Since indeed among the elect the merit of preachers is more exalted than that of those who devote themselves only to continence and not also to the work of teaching, and likewise the way of life of the continent is more exalted than that of the married: rightly the uppermost branches, which proceeded from the shaft on each side, represent those who in both Testaments devoted themselves to the pursuit of teaching among their other virtues. Rightly the middle branches, which proceed equally from each side of the shaft, represent the life of the continent devoted to God; rightly the lowest branches, also sprung from the stem of the one lampstand, typologically demonstrate the life of the good among the married, faithfully serving the one and same Lord in the time of both Testaments.

From different positions, therefore, the branches proceed from the shaft, yet all of them, each curved upward in its own place and order, arrive at one summit, so that they may maintain an equal position of lamps above them. Because indeed the elect, even though they are distinguished by degrees of merit, are imbued with one faith of truth and destined to arrive at one light of eternal truth in heaven. And the more closely anyone has striven to cling to Christ in this life, the nearer he enjoys the vision of Him in that life, so that of some it is said on account of their great merit of virtue: These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev. 14). Of whom a little before, as if speaking of the branches nearest the lampstand, it was premised: And they shall sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders (ibid.). Where it is shown that all the saints sing a new song of joy to the Lord through the streets of that heavenly city. But those are especially exalted there above the rest in the joy of the song, who here surpassed the common life of the faithful by the privilege of sacred virginity.

Three cups shaped like nuts, etc. That the nut is customarily used as a figure of the present Church, Solomon testifies, speaking in the person of faithful teachers: I went down, he says in the Song of Songs, to the garden of nut trees, to see the fruits of the valley (Song 6). For just as a nut indeed has a sweet fruit within, but cannot show it outwardly unless the hardness of the shell is broken, so the present life of the just preserves the sweetness of spiritual grace in the inmost heart in such a way that how great it is cannot in any way be perceived by those near them, until, when the dwelling of the body is dissolved, their souls freely behold one another in the heavenly light, and how greatly each one shines with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and how greatly each one is loved by the other, remains hidden to none at all. And cups are made on the lampstand in the manner of a nut, when any of the elect, desiring to be filled with the wine of wisdom, strive to form themselves after the example of the preceding just, whom they know to have been filled with the great sweetness and love of invisible goods. That there were three cups, spheres, and lilies on each branch signifies the three distinctions of times in which the elect lived devoted to God both before and after the Lord's incarnation. For there were just ones before the law, there were just ones under the law, and there were just ones in the times of the prophets. Likewise, after the Lord's ascension, the primitive Church was gathered from Israel; the Church is now being gathered from the Gentiles; and it is yet to be gathered at the end of the world from the remnant of Israel.

The first branch on one side therefore had three cups, spheres, and lilies, because among the doctors before the Lord's incarnation there were three orders of those who thirsted for a draught of heavenly grace like cups, who ran most promptly in the way of the Lord like spheres, and who joyfully awaited the gift of heavenly reward like the brightness and fragrance of lilies: that is, before the law, under the law, and under the prophets. The second branch likewise had three cups, spheres, and lilies, because the continent ones of that time equally had three orders of saints in the aforementioned distinction of times, desiring spiritual drink, running in the way of the Lord's commandments, and awaiting heavenly rewards. The third branch similarly had three cups and spheres and three lilies, because there were many married people before the law, many under the law, and many in the days of the prophets, who rejoiced to hear the word of the Lord, to run in His way, and to await from Him the rewards of good works.

Likewise from the other side of the shaft, both the first branch, the second, and the third had three cups and spheres and also three lilies, because in the New Testament as well — among the doctors, the continent, and the married who are devoted to God — there were three orders of distinct times: that is, in the primitive Church from Israel, in our election from the Gentiles, and in the final gathering of the remnant of Israel, all of whom in their own time desire to be intoxicated with the word of life, to hasten into the way of peace, and to see the brightness of perpetual light.

And on the lampstand itself there shall be four cups, etc. We have said that the lampstand itself, that is, the middle shaft of the lampstand from which the branches proceeded, designates the Lord and Savior, from whose grace the just have received whatever good they possess. Hence He Himself said in the Gospel, when He had told His disciples: I am the vine, you are the branches, and immediately added: As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me (John 15). As if He were saying in other words: "I am the lampstand, and you are My branches: just as a branch cannot raise itself to support a lamp unless it remains fixed in the shaft of the lampstand, so neither can you, unless you remain in Me, bear the light of truth and faith within yourselves." In this lampstand, indeed, four cups were made, because in the four books of the holy Gospel, which were written concerning the Lord, we find the taste of new wine, that is, of heavenly doctrine, which not old wineskins — that is, minds still clinging to earthly desires — but only the hearts of the faithful, renewed through the Spirit of grace, are able to receive.

There are spheres and also lilies fashioned at each cup, because the same Lord who offered us the cup of spiritual wisdom also showed us the course of pious action, unimpeded and prompt, that we should possess. And so that we might be able to possess it, He Himself will grant it; and lest we should run in vain, He promised us the brightness of the heavenly homeland toward which we should strive, and He opened the way to it for us by His grace. Or certainly, since under two branches cups, spheres, and lilies are commanded to be made in three places, we can interpret this mystically as follows: to the three grades of the faithful, of which we have often spoken — namely, the married, the continent, and the virgins — He both opened the doctrine of truth, commanded the course of good work, and promised and bestowed the blessing of an ever-unfading and incorruptible inheritance.

And fittingly the cups, spheres, and lilies of the lampstand are commanded to be not above the branches, but beneath the branches; because the hearts of preachers — indeed of all the elect — are sustained by the Lord's gifts, commandments, and promises, lest they should slip down to the lowest things, and they are raised up to love and seek heavenly things. For hence the holy Church, namely the bride of Christ, glories in Him, saying: His left hand is under my head, and His right hand will embrace me (Song of Songs 2). The left hand of the bridegroom is placed under the head of the bride, because by temporal benefits the Lord raises the minds of the faithful to hope for and desire perpetual goods. And His right hand will embrace her, because the revealed vision of His divine majesty glorifies her without end.

Fittingly the cups, spheres, and lilies are beneath two branches, because in both Testaments the same devotion of serving the Lord was commanded to the faithful, although the ceremonies differed, and the same glory of the heavenly kingdom was preserved. But the fourth cup, sphere, and lily, which were above all the branches near the top of the lampstand itself, properly belong to the Lord and Savior, who not only bestowed upon His elect the knowledge, practice, and reward of virtues, but also in Himself — the same man Christ — showed the figure of the cup when He declared Himself full of the Holy Spirit; He exhibited the form of the sphere when, appearing in the world without any obstacle of clamoring things, He rejoiced as a giant to run His course (Psalm 18); He displayed the appearance of the lily when, rising from the dead and ascending to heaven, He was glorified with the glory which He had before the world existed with the Father (John 17). And rightly this cup, sphere, and lily stood higher than the branches, because indeed the gifts which God the Father conferred upon the Mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, transcend every measure of human capacity. For to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. But in Christ Himself, as the Apostle says, the whole fullness of divinity dwells bodily (Ephesians 4). And well does it continue:

And the spheres therefore and the branches from it, etc. For the entire work of the lampstand — that is, both the middle shaft and the branches proceeding from it, with all their ornamentation — is made of gold; because the Lord Himself, specially immune from sin and illustrious in all works of justice, appeared in the world; and His members in this present life imitate the same innocence and justice as much as they can, and in the future they advance by truly adhering to Him. And fittingly the same gold was beaten, for beaten gold is produced by hammering; because our Redeemer, who from His conception and birth existed as perfect God and man, endured the sufferings of the Passion and thus arrived at the glory of the Resurrection. And all who wish to live piously in Him suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3), because they too, like metal expanded by hammering, advance through the insults of suffering to the grace of immortality. Hence also in the fourth Psalm, which is titled "In Songs," in which the Church says to her Redeemer through the mystical branches of faith: In tribulation you have enlarged me. As if beaten gold were saying to its craftsman: "By the smith's blows you have amplified me, and by striking you have given me greater progress."

The Lamps of the Lampstand and the Snuffers.

You shall also make seven lamps, etc. The seven lamps are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which both always remained in their entirety in our Lord and Redeemer, and were distributed among His members — that is, all the elect — according to His will. Seven lamps are therefore placed upon the lampstand, because upon our Redeemer, the firstborn from the root of Jesse, rested the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord filled Him (Isaiah 11). And as He Himself speaks through the same prophet: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me (Isaiah 61). And what is said, That they may shine from the opposite side — this is what the prophet subsequently added: He has sent Me to announce good tidings to the meek, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the imprisoned; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God.

For the lamps of the lampstand shone from the opposite side and illuminated the tabernacle of the Lord, when the Lord, being full of grace and truth, bestowed upon us all from His fullness, and grace for grace; when He entrusted the word of the Gospel to the meek and the poor in spirit; when He conferred the marrow of mercy upon the penitent; when He declared that now is the time for pleasing the Lord, but that the day of universal judgment is to come. The number and position of the lamps agrees with what John says in the Apocalypse: And I saw, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as though slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth (Apocalypse 5). For if the seven horns there, or the seven eyes of the Lamb, can signify the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, why should not the same seven lamps of the lampstand also be rightly believed to designate them?

Indeed, just as in the horns and eyes it is rightly signified on account of the omnipotence of power by which He governs all things and the fullness of knowledge by which He perceives all things, so also the same sevenfold Spirit is fittingly expressed through the figure of the lamps, on account of the light of grace by which He illumines the darkness of our blindness in the night of this age. And hence it is fittingly added:

The snuffers also, and the vessels where the snuffed things may be extinguished, etc. For there are certain precepts in the divine Scriptures that must always be observed by perpetual right both in this life and in the future: such as, You shall not have strange gods before Me (Exodus 20); and, You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with all your strength; and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22, Luke 10). There are others which are commanded to be observed throughout the whole time of this life, but which receive the eternal reward of their observance in the future life: such as the Gospel saying, Make friends for yourselves from the mammon of iniquity, that they may receive you into eternal tabernacles (Luke 16). For here alms are to be given for a time, but there the fruit of almsgiving is to be received forever.

Chapter IX

There are still other precepts which in the time of the Old Testament were diligently observed at the Lord's command, but now that the Gospel shines throughout the world, they are commanded to be observed in the Church not according to the letter but according to their mystical sense — such as the keeping of the Sabbath, the rite of sacrifices, the blood of the paschal lamb, and other things of this kind. These, solemnly kept by the people of God in their own time, burned like wicks in the lamps of the lampstand, infused with the oil of pious devotion and kindled by the fire of the heavenly word. But when it was preached by the apostles and apostolic men that the Lord had put an end to these and similar observances, all these things are to be kept in the Church spiritually rather than according to the letter. Thus the wicks of the lampstand were trimmed so that, repaired, they might shine better, because when understood more sublimely through the Spirit, they provided the holy Church with the light of saving doctrine.

Concerning this renewal of the lamps of the tabernacle — that is, the more sublime understanding of the divine Scriptures — the Lord promises His people in Leviticus, saying: You shall be multiplied and I will establish My covenant with you. You shall eat the oldest of the old, and shall cast out the old when the new comes upon you. For when the children of Israel were multiplied, God's covenant with them was confirmed; and when the Gentiles also were called to the faith, the grace of the New Testament was planted with firm root in the hearts of the elect. And we eat the oldest of the old when we retain in the sweet memory of our hearts the old commandment that was given from the beginning to the human race: loving the Lord our God with our whole heart, our whole soul, and all our strength, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. And we cast out the old when the new comes upon us, when we cease to observe the typical statutes of the Mosaic law according to the letter; but we keep those very same things, more graciously understood through the spirit, with hearts renewed in the hope of the heavenly kingdom: according to the Apostle's saying, If anyone therefore is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold all things are made new (2 Corinthians 5). And in the Apocalypse, And He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new (Apocalypse 21).

Now the snuffers by which these things were done are the very words of sacred Scripture, by which it is clearly indicated that the letter of the law is to be loosened in most things and is to be kept only with its spiritual sense. Among these is that passage in the Acts of the Apostles where the believing Gentiles were forbidden to be circumcised and were commanded to obey evangelical grace without the ceremonies of legal sacrifices. And what the Apostle, expounding a verse of the Psalm, says to the Hebrews, stating above: Because You did not desire sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings for sin, nor were You pleased with those things which are offered according to the law; then I said, Behold, I come to do Your will, O God (Hebrews 10). He takes away the first in order to establish the second: in which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ Jesus.

The snuffers, therefore, and the vessels where the snuffed things are extinguished, are made of the purest gold; because the words by which the cessation of legal ceremonies is proclaimed are divine, and the hearts of those in whom the figurative foreshadowing of the law reaches its end are illuminated by God's grace, so that the succeeding truth of the Gospel might shine more brightly upon the world. For it is established that the first apostles in the Gospel loosened the Sabbath before the Lord's Passion, and after the Lord's ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit, they completely put an end to legal sacrifices and changed most decrees of the letter of the law by the grace of evangelical liberty. In these, therefore, the wicks that were trimmed were extinguished: in these the completed literal observance displayed the beginning of grace shining more brightly upon the world.

Likewise, because when mortal life ends and immortal life succeeds it, the works or gifts of light which we now use will for the most part cease, so that the rewards of eternal light may follow in the presence of the divine vision. Those testimonies of Scripture which testify that these things are to come are indeed golden snuffers, distinguished by the hope of future glory. The vessels also in which the snuffed things are extinguished are surely the immortal bodies and hearts of all the just. And therefore they are most rightly compared to gold, in which this most desired transformation will take place, so that after the temporal benefits of God they may arrive at eternal ones.

Finally, the Apostle provides us with golden snuffers of God's lamps and places where the snuffed things may be extinguished, when he speaks of the difference between present and future goods, saying: Whether prophecies, they shall be made void; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it shall be destroyed; for we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away with. And a little later: We see now through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I have been known (1 Corinthians 13).

The whole weight of the lampstand... a talent of the purest gold. The whole weight of the lampstand with all its vessels is the entire body of Christ, with our Head Himself, the Mediator between God and men, and all His elect from the greatest to the least — from those of whom "there is none greater among those born of women" to those of whom He says: See that you do not despise one of these little ones who believe in Me (Matthew 18). All of whom indeed, in their various grades, ages, sexes, conditions, talents, and times, cling to one and the same author and giver of perpetual light, each in their own time and place, as if attached to a golden lampstand by the fixed root of their mind, so that they may become partakers of that same light.

This lampstand is rightly said to weigh a talent of the purest gold, for a talent is a full and perfect weight: Because the Lord is just in all His ways (Psalm 144); and He who bestows His grace upon the faithful in this life so that they may work well, Himself returns the crown of justice in that life for their good works. Against this, the prophet Zechariah describes iniquity sitting upon a talent of lead (Zechariah 5); because He will also repay the reprobate in the same just examination according to their deeds: Because You render to each one according to their works (Psalm 61). But it makes a difference whether one brings gold or lead to the divine examination. For those who shine like gold with good works advance into the lampstand of the Lord, because they become partakers of the glory of their Creator. But those who appear weighed down by sins in the strict examination are plunged like lead into the strongest water, because by the merit of their crimes they fall into the abyss of crushing punishment. Yet both lead and gold alike have the measure of a talent, because both in condemning the wicked and in saving and crowning the elect, the sentence of our Creator is just.

Look, and make it according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain. The mystery of this command is most easily apparent from what has been explained above. For the pattern of the lampstand that he was to make was shown to Moses on the mountain, because in the height of intimate contemplation he clearly learned the manifold sacraments of Christ and the Church. Yet he did not wish to set these forth openly to the people whom he was teaching, but rather signified them typically through the figure and work of the lampstand and its vessels, until our Lord and Redeemer Himself should come in the flesh, who would open the interior sense of that same figure to His Church by granting the grace of the Holy Spirit. Thus by dying on the cross He tore the veil of the temple and laid open the secrets of the saints that had been hidden; and appearing to the disciples after His resurrection, He opened their understanding so that with the eyes of their minds spiritually unveiled, they might perceive these and other secrets of the Scriptures.

But also every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, when he is commanded both to diligently follow himself and to teach others what he has learned in the holy writings concerning the Catholic faith or pious action — what else is he commanded but to look and to make according to the pattern that was shown to him on the mountain? For he diligently examines the pattern shown to him, and returning to lower things, acts according to it, when he carefully scrutinizes in his heart those things which through the sublimity of the divine word he understands are to be believed or done within. And he always shows the pattern of these things to his hearers both by the execution of right work and by the word of saving doctrine — He who lives and reigns with the Father and the Son together with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Book Two

Chapter I: Description of the Tabernacle and the Temple

"And the tabernacle you shall make thus." The tabernacle made by Moses in the wilderness, just as the temple which Solomon built in Jerusalem, designates the state of the holy universal Church, which partly already reigns with the Lord in heaven and partly still sojourns away from the Lord in the present life, as its members depart and are succeeded. And indeed in the construction of both buildings, this is the principal distinction of figures: that the tabernacle designates the building of the present Church, in which she is daily exercised in labors, while the temple designates the rest of the future Church, which is made perfect by the daily reception of souls departing from here after their labors. For indeed Moses built the tabernacle while still on the road with the people of God, traveling to the promised land; but Solomon constructed the temple in the promised land itself, having gained the kingdom in it.

Moses built the tabernacle in the wilderness, Solomon the temple in Jerusalem, which is interpreted "vision of peace"; because here indeed the Church is built in the toil and hardship of this fleeting life, in the thirst and hunger for the everlasting kingdom; but there she is perfected in the vision and attainment of true peace. Hence it was well said in the construction of the temple that no hammer or axe or any iron tool was heard in it while it was being built, all the stones and timbers having been prepared outside Jerusalem and properly fitted to their appointed order, so that there each piece, most easily and without doubt returned to its place, would be joined by mortar or nails. For indeed in the peace of heavenly blessedness our faith is not to be tested by tribulations nor our life put to the proof, but what was chastened in the present age and regularly fitted for heavenly seats is there to be joined together by the bond and ties of mutual charity, never to be dissolved forever, even in the sight of its Creator and King.

For when in this life the multitude of believers is of one heart and one soul, and all things are common among them, what else but living stones are squared for the building of the future house of the Lord, who, being transferred from here, are inserted into their proper orders without any slowness of labor, and are joined to one another by the bond of both divine and mutual love? Likewise the figure of each sanctuary can be generally distinguished thus. The work of the tabernacle signifies the time of the synagogue, that is, of the ancient people of God; while the work of the temple signifies the Church — that is, the multitude of the elect who came to life after the Lord's incarnation. For indeed Moses completed the tabernacle with the Hebrew people alone, but Solomon completed the temple with a gathered multitude of proselytes, with the help also of the king of Tyre and his craftsmen, who were neither Jews by birth nor by profession.

For it is certain that for the earlier people of God, no teachers presided over them except from their own nation; but indeed the first rulers of the Church were from the Hebrews, yet soon as she grew and spread throughout the world, builders arose from among the Gentiles as well, so much so that even the evangelist Luke himself, and Timothy and Titus, apostolic men from the calling of the Gentiles, attained to her governance. But if we examine each thing more diligently, the building of both structures mystically describes the state of the entire present Church, which from the beginning of the world's creation to the last person elected to be born at the end of the age never ceases to be built; and it also depicts with a wonderful truth of figures the glory of the future life, which she now enjoys in part, but after the end of this age will enjoy in all her members forever.

Whence, as we are about to say something about the tabernacle with the Lord's help, first invoking Him, we also beg with humble prayer that the eyes of our heart may be opened, so that we may consider the wonders of His law, and in the beauty of precious metals and garments understand that the adornment of conduct, shining with faith and devotion, has been commended to us. For that apostolic saying cannot otherwise apply to us, in which he says: "For you are the temple of the living God" (2 Corinthians 6), as God says: "I will dwell among them and walk among them" (Leviticus 26). And what John heard — a great voice from the throne saying: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them" (Apocalypse 21) — than if we imitate the material ornament of the tabernacle or temple with a devout worship of purity of heart and body.

But before we discuss the spiritual sense, let us first look briefly at the material letter of the text itself. The tabernacle was a house consecrated to the Lord, having thirty cubits in length, ten in width, and likewise ten in height, with a level roof throughout, as is the custom of building houses in Egypt and Palestine. Its three walls — the southern, northern, and western — were constructed of wooden boards, gilded on both sides. Moreover, on the eastern side there was a single bar from which the entrance was made, which ran through the middle of the boards from corner to corner — that is, from the top of one wall to the top of the other wall. Upon this rested the curtains of the tabernacle and the roof, where also a tent-covering was hung upon five columns.

The house was covered both above and on every side with curtains woven with marvelous variety, which was properly called the tabernacle. This was also covered on every side with goat-hair cloths reaching to the ground. There was also another covering for the roof made of red-dyed ram skins. And upon this again another covering was made of hyacinth-colored skins. There was also a veil, varied with embroidery work, hung upon four columns, by which the sanctuary and the holy of holies were divided: within which was placed the ark of the covenant, and opposite the ark outside the veil was the altar of incense. Likewise in the middle of the sanctuary itself, the lampstand stood on the southern side. The table stood on the northern side; the altar of burnt offering was outside before the entrance of the sanctuary; the bronze laver between this altar and the tabernacle. And surrounding everything was the courtyard of the tabernacle, having a hundred cubits in length and fifty in width.

Having therefore briefly touched upon these things for the sake of clarification, let us look at the very words of the narrative so that through them we may arrive more deeply and openly at the allegorical sense. When the Lord, on Mount Sinai, was handing down to Moses — who remained with Him for forty days and nights — the ceremonies of the law and the rule of life, He said among other things:

Chapter II: The Ten Curtains

(Exodus 26.) "And the tabernacle you shall make thus," etc. Let the tabernacle of the Lord be of curtains variegated with a diverse array of colors; because the holy universal Church is built from many persons of the elect, from many churches throughout the world, and from various flowers of virtues. Her entire perfection is contained in the number ten; because in whatever direction the Church is spread throughout the world among diverse nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, she subsists entirely in the love of God and neighbor alone, which is comprehended in the Decalogue of the law. Nor can anyone truly belong to the members of the Church unless with an undivided heart he has learned to love both Him by whom the Church is built and those in whom the Church is built — that is, God and His elect.

Now the varied beauty of colors with which the same curtains are distinguished represents the grace of various virtues, with which the holy Church, composed by a wonderful and truly heavenly art, shines in the sight of her Author. With this very variety, and as it were with embroidery work, the blessed Peter strove to build the tabernacle of God, when he said: "As each one has received a grace, ministering it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4). Paul saw this same grace to be present in the curtains of the tabernacle — that is, in the minds of the faithful — when he says: "To one indeed through the Spirit is given the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge" (1 Corinthians 12), and the rest of that passage.

And indeed that fine linen (byssus), which is placed first, designates the beauty of virtues — as John testifies in the Apocalypse, saying: "For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself, and it was granted to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and shining" (Apocalypse 19): for the fine linen represents the justifications of the saints. Solomon says of the same wife of the Lamb, that is, the Church of Christ: "Fine linen and purple is her clothing" (Proverbs 31). But John, by explaining the figure of one color, indicates that the others are also to be interpreted figuratively.

Fine linen, then, which indeed grows from the earth but once pulled from the earth, through the long process of drying, beating, cleansing, boiling, and spinning, customarily loses its grassy color and takes on a white hue, designates bodies resplendent with the beauty of chastity. Those born with the enticements of the flesh sweat out, as it were, their natural moisture by the great labor of continence, and arrive at the beauty of a purity worthy of God through the diligent practice of fasting, vigils, prayers, reading, patience, and humility.

Of whom the apostolic saying can rightly be spoken: "Do you not know that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you?" (1 Corinthians 6). This fine linen is twisted into curtains of the tabernacle, because we gird not only the loins of our flesh but also, as Peter admonishes, the loins of our mind in sobriety (1 Peter 1), so that we may restrain both the flesh from wanton movements and the heart from enticing thoughts.

Hyacinth, since it imitates the appearance of the air and sky, signifies the minds of those same elect seeking heavenly things with every hope and desire. The Apostle, commending to us the sacrament of this color, says: "If you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" (Colossians 3).

Purple, because it shows the color of blood — and true purple is also dyed with the blood of shellfish — designates the devoted hearts of those who can say with the Apostle: "I am prepared not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21). And with the prophet David: "For on account of You we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded as sheep for the slaughter" (Psalm 43).

Scarlet, because it has the appearance of fire, is rightly compared to the most burning love of the saints. Hence certain ones among them, who had conceived this love with the Lord present and accompanying them, said: "Was not our heart burning within us while He spoke on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24). Against which it is said of the reprobate: "And because iniquity will abound, the charity of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24). This is, as it were, twice dyed, when it blazes with the love of God and neighbor — when we love Him with our whole heart, our whole soul, and all our strength, and our neighbor as ourselves.

And so in these four colors of the curtains, four justifications of the elect are expressed: in the twisted fine linen, the flesh retaining chastity; in the hyacinth, the mind desiring heavenly things; in the purple, the flesh subject to sufferings; in the twice-dyed scarlet, the mind shining with the love of God and neighbor amid sufferings.

"The length of one curtain shall have," etc. In the length of the curtains, the long-suffering patience of the holy Church is expressed; in the width, the breadth of charity, which is accustomed not only to love the one who loves, but to love God and neighbor in return — and also to receive the adversary who hates her in the open embrace of her sweetness, and to commend her persecutors to the Lord with knees bent in prayer, saying: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7). This width was fittingly four cubits, because there are four books of the Gospels in which we are taught by the examples and words of our Lord and Redeemer how that same charity is to be maintained. There are four virtues in whose exercise the same charity is to be practiced: temperance, fortitude, justice, and prudence — so that charity toward God may be kept incorrupt and entire, which is the work of temperance; that it may be broken by no hardships, which is the work of fortitude; that it may serve no other, which is the work of justice; that it may be watchful in discerning things, lest deceit or guile gradually steal in, which is the work of prudence.

Now the length of the curtains was twenty-eight cubits, which is the number four multiplied by seven; and by the number seven, on account of the Sabbath day, the eternal rest of the saints is customarily figured. The length of the curtains, then, extends to four times seven cubits, because through faith and the keeping of evangelical doctrine, and through the exercise of the spiritual virtues of which we have spoken, the long-suffering patience of the holy Church tends toward eternal rest.

There is also another mystery in the number twenty-eight, equally pertaining to the number seven. For if you wish to count in full order all the numbers from one to seven, you will complete twenty-eight; for one, and two, and three, and four, and five, and six, and seven make twenty-eight. Because therefore the number twenty-eight is found in the component parts of the number seven, the length of the curtains is rightly contained in it, since the faith and patience of the saints, distinguished by a variety of virtues, in all that it does or suffers, looks not for the glory of human favor but for the blessedness of heavenly rest.

For hence it is that the psalm of this number is entitled "at the dedication of the tabernacle," which is known to have been sung entirely about the perfection of the holy Church, especially in that which is said in it: "Worship the Lord in His holy court." And again: "And in His temple all shall speak glory" (Psalm 28). For Psalm 28 is fittingly inscribed "at the dedication of the tabernacle," because indeed the perfection of the Church sojourning in this age consists in this: that through faith and good works she tends toward the rest of the age to come. And well does it continue:

"All the tent-cloths shall be of one measure." For although the curtains differed from one another in the variety of their embroidery, they were all nevertheless regulated by one and the same measure of length and width. Even though the elect have different gifts according to the grace that has been given to them, yet there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

"Five curtains shall be joined to one another," etc. Josephus relates (Antiquities III, 6) that the tablets of the Covenant were inscribed with the Decalogue of the law in such a way that each tablet contained five commandments. Hence fittingly also the ten curtains, which when joined together completed the beauty of the tabernacle, were at the appropriate time separated so that five would remain together on each side, in order that the ministers of the holy things, looking upon them together with the people of God, might be reminded always to observe the law, which was indeed comprehended in ten words on two tablets, distinguished in groups of five on each tablet.

But on account of this meaning we can also discuss the twice-five number of curtains in this way: that they signified the followers of God in both Testaments. And indeed the first five, which protected or formed the front and first part of the tabernacle, bore the type of the ancient people of God, who fulfilled the decrees of the law according to the letter in the sacrament of circumcision, sacrifices, and the various observance of ceremonies. But the following five curtains, which covered the rear part of the tabernacle, or even formed it by their covering, designated us, who, born after the Lord's coming in the flesh, keep the books and sacraments of the law spiritually, with Him Himself revealing and bestowing them.

And indeed all the curtains were of one workmanship and were painted with the same colors, but five were joined to one another; because all the worshipers of both Testaments believed in one and the same God and served with the works of one and the same piety and chastity, but in the celebration of the sacraments each people, being distinct, played its own part. For the sacrament of the Lord's Passion, by which both peoples have been redeemed — they celebrated in the flesh and blood of victims, while we celebrate in the offering of bread and wine. They believed and confessed the coming birth of the Lord in the flesh, His preaching, the working of miracles, His temptation, passion, burial, resurrection, ascension, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the faith of the Gentiles; we believe and confess that all these things have now been accomplished, and are not to be done again.

Nevertheless, at the time when the tabernacle was raised, all the curtains were bound together; because when the entire beauty of the Catholic Church is extended from the beginning to the end of the age, it is indeed as though one connection of the ten curtains adorns the tabernacle of the Lord.

"Hyacinth-blue loops on the sides and at the tops," etc. We have said that hyacinth, since it is of an airy color, corresponds to the signification of heavenly goods. The curtains are therefore joined to one another with hyacinth-blue loops, because the one hope of heavenly blessedness unites all the hearts of the elect throughout the world in one and the same devotion. These loops are fittingly said to have been made not only on the sides of the curtains but also at the tops — that is, at the extreme ends of the corners.

For not only does the life and activity of the saints hasten along the common road of right intention toward perfection, but even the very beginning of the good life, which is carried out through the confession of faith and the reception of the heavenly sacraments, is by no means different from one person to another, but all share it connected by an equal and unvarying grace of truth. We all also share in common, with the certainty of one and the same hope, the end of temporal life, when we close our eyes in death, trusting that, having first received the viaticum of the heavenly mystery, we shall soon be found in true life and shall remain in it forever.

It is fitting for this passage that in the book of Numbers the children of Israel are commanded to make fringes for themselves on the corners of their garments, placing hyacinth-blue ribbons on them. For the children of Israel have fringes and hyacinth-blue ribbons on the corners of their garments when all the elect, who desire to see God, labor to clothe themselves in works of justice in such a way that they do not place the goal of these works in the praise of mortals — lest perhaps it be said of them, "They have received their reward" (Matthew 6) — but rather seek in them the eyes and eternal rewards of the interior Judge. Hence it is immediately added there by way of explanation: "Which when they shall see, they shall remember all the commandments of the Lord, and shall not follow their own thoughts and eyes, going astray after various things." And we too must make use of these words.

We say this in connection with the explanation of the hyacinth-blue loops, so that we might say that the curtains were joined with loops of this kind in order that the children of Israel, having these things before their eyes, might be reminded of heavenly commandments, and that we who now read these things might remember that while living in this life as children of eternal promise, we are separated from one another by both time and place; but in heaven is the fatherland which will join its citizens, gathered from the four winds of heaven, in an indivisible fellowship forever.

"Each curtain shall have fifty loops," etc. We read that the fiftieth year was commanded in the Law to be called the jubilee, that is, the year of release or consecration, in which all the people would rest from every labor of the land, and all debts were to be forgiven. And in the New Testament we know that the grace of the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles at Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth day of the Lord's resurrection, and consecrated the beginnings of the nascent Church by His coming. From this it is clear that by this number can rightly be figured either the grace of the Holy Spirit, or the joy of future blessedness, to which one arrives through the gift of the same Spirit, and in the reception of which alone one truly rests and rejoices. And fittingly the curtains had fifty loops by which they were linked to one another; because it is only by the gift of the Holy Spirit that the elect are bound to one another in the fellowship of peace, which is the bond of perfection: no other thing than the hope and remembrance of future fellowship and peace makes the servants of Christ, separated in this life by time or place, harmonious in a single devotion.

It is also well said that the curtains had loops on each side, so that each individual curtain might embrace the curtains nearest to it on either side, as though stretching out its arms in both directions. For it is surely necessary that we embrace all the faithful — both those who went before us in Christ and those who followed after — with the open arms of sincere devotion; and that we venerate with one and the same affection in Christ both those who instructed us in Christ and those whom we ourselves, by Christ's gift, have instructed. For thus it is fitting that we hasten by good living to see the face of our Creator, so that we by no means abandon the neighbor who runs alongside us, but strive to arrive together with him before the sight of divine glory: because the individual curtains so stretched upward by means of the supports of the boards, and so shone within at their upper parts with the variegated bloom of their embroidery, that they by no means abandoned the curtains that were either carried upward together with them or shone when set on high. In their likeness, it befits us both to help with counsel and examples those faithful who advance alongside us in the service of God, and in whatever virtue we have been able to progress, to treat with worthy veneration those who share in that same virtue.

Therefore loop meets loop, so that one can be fitted to another, when the just are bound to one another by a harmonious and equal quality of virtues.

"You shall also make fifty golden clasps," etc. This passage is explained more fully in what follows, when it says: "And he cast fifty golden clasps which would grip the loops of the curtains, and it would become one tabernacle."

The number fifty therefore designates true governance in the Holy Spirit; and because a circle appears to have neither beginning nor end, and gold is more precious than other metals on account of its brightness — what is expressed by the fifty golden clasps but the perpetual brightness and bright perpetuity of supreme rest? The clasps grip the loops of the curtains so that one tabernacle is made from all of them, when the glory of the heavenly kingdom so pours itself into the pure minds of the faithful that by such a bond of saving inspiration, one Church of Christ is perfected from both peoples, indeed from all the elect.

Chapter III: The Eleven Curtains of Goat Hair

"You shall also make eleven curtains of goat hair," etc. This passage is repeated in what follows thus: "And he made eleven curtains of goat hair to cover the roof of the tabernacle." The curtains, therefore, by which the tabernacle is covered, are the rulers of holy Church, by whose diligence and labor the beauty of the same Church is protected and fortified with unceasing care, lest the life and faith of the elect be corrupted by heretical seduction, lest it be defiled by the wickedness of false Catholics, lest it be contaminated by the filth of tempting vices, or lest it be brought to sorrow by a lack of temporal resources. The more attentively these rulers gird themselves to sustain or repel the violent assaults of rushing temptations, the greater freedom they grant to their subjects for serving the Lord; and they provide, as it were, the opportunity for the inner curtains to shine, while they themselves, like the outer coverings, endure the storms of affliction outside.

And rightly are these same curtains said to have been made both of goat hair and eleven in number; because holy preachers, the higher they are in merit, the more humble they ought to be in spirit, according to the saying of the wise man: "The greater you are, humble yourself in all things." For the number eleven, which exceeds ten but does not reach twelve — that is, the apostolic number — signifies the transgression of the decalogue of the Law. And in the eleventh Psalm, the Prophet complains that the saints have failed and the sons of men have exchanged truths for vanities and deceits, saying: "Save me, O Lord, for the holy one has failed," etc., tacitly indicating by this number as well that such people of double tongue and heart neither keep the legal precepts of the decalogue nor are able to receive the apostolic grace of the Gospel.

Sackcloth is also the garment of penitents, as the Psalmist testifies when he says: "But I, when they troubled me, clothed myself in sackcloth" — that is, I assumed the garment of penance and humility, by which I might either bear the fury of my persecutors more lightly with a calm spirit, or even appease them. For if goats, or goat hair, or goatskins always signified the stench of sinners and never the humility of penitents, then this animal would by no means be counted among the clean animals, nor would it be said in praise of the bride: "Your hair is like a flock of goats."

The curtains, therefore, which represent holy preachers, are both of sackcloth and eleven in number; because the more zealously they purify hearts by faith, the more faults they find in which to reproach themselves. Hence they humbly confess: "For in many things we all offend"; and: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

Yet how great is the perfection of their hearts, the following words mystically declare, in which it is said: "The length of one curtain shall have," etc. Behold, here you have for the length not the number eleven, but ten, and this multiplied by three: by which is openly indicated the virtue of those who fulfill the decalogue of the Law in the faith of the Holy Trinity, which works through love — a perfection than which there can be none higher in this present life. And you have four cubits of width, by which we said before is signified the breadth of sincere charity, that is, of the charity which is both commended and given to us in the Gospel through Jesus Christ.

Therefore eleven curtains cover the roof of the tabernacle, and these are made from goat hair, yet having thirty cubits in length and four in width; because those supreme preachers who protect the life of the faithful with their exhortations, intercessions, daily solicitude, vigils, fasts, and their own poverty, do indeed humbly confess themselves sinners when they contemplate the excellence of heavenly purity. Yet, insofar as the measure of human perfection is concerned, they appear pure and exalted among men.

"The measure of all the curtains shall be equal," etc. There shall be one measure for all the curtains, because there is indeed one faith in which the whole Church is saved, and one and the same life toward which it hastens eternally. Hence also those who entered the Lord's vineyard to work at different hours are all rewarded with the same single denarius. The division of the curtains into five and six can be understood in the same way as what we explained above regarding the curtains divided into five; namely, that they designate the teachers of both Testaments. For the five curtains are fittingly compared to the ancient teachers of God's people, either because they preached the sacraments of the Mosaic Law alone (although they also prefigured the mysteries of evangelical truth), or because they lived in the five ages of the world.

In the six curtains, however, the teachers of the New Testament can be not unsuitably understood; because they take up, as spiritually understood, everything that divine Scripture reports as done or said in the six ages of the world, as an aid and example for their preaching; because they openly proclaim to their hearers that the Lord's passion, by which the world was redeemed on the sixth day of the week, is to be believed and confessed, and they attest that through this sacrament alone can people be saved.

Hence it is rightly commanded that the sixth curtain be doubled at the front of the roof, on account of the confession and imitation of the same Lord's passion. For it is not enough for believers merely to be baptized and consecrated in the confession of the Lord's death and resurrection, unless each baptized person also strives, insofar as he is able, to be conformed to the likeness of the Lord's death by living continently and suffering for Him, so as to merit to share in His resurrection. Indeed, according to the literal sense, the front of the roof refers to the entrance of the tabernacle: where not boards, as we briefly said above, but columns and a crossbar stretched from one corner of the boards to the other were commanded to be placed; and therefore, as far as the form of the work itself is concerned, there was greater need for a doubled protection of curtains where the solid firmness of a wall was absent.

But in the mystical sense, the sixth curtain is doubled at the front of the roof when all who enter holy Church are so initiated by faith and the sacraments of the Lord's passion that they understand they must always live in imitation of it as well. For it is as though the sixth curtain is doubled for us at the entrance of the sanctuary, when we are both consecrated by the sacraments of the Lord's passion and instructed by His examples. For Peter says concerning the reception of the sacraments: "Who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." And he says concerning the imitation of His sufferings: "Since Christ therefore has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind."

"You shall also make fifty loops on the edge of one curtain," etc. These things can be understood here as well, just as we explained above regarding the fine curtains; namely, that the remembrance of heavenly rest, which is customarily expressed by the number fifty, unites the hearts of the saints with the bond of peace. Or, if one delights to hear something new, since the goat-hair curtains designate the humility of exalted men — because they desire more to remember their own offenses than to proclaim their virtues, and strive more to be moved with compunction over the virtues they have not yet grasped than to glory in those they have already attained — the number fifty of the loops or clasps can designate the very humility of their compunction. For the fiftieth is the psalm of penitence. And rightly so, because the gift of repentance is granted only by the Holy Spirit bestowing it, and the gift of pardon is given to penitents only by the grace of the same Holy Spirit administering it. And well do the fifty loops or clasps bind the curtains to one another; because no virtue more than humility binds the faithful in the one bond of charity. For the more each person perceives himself to be weak, the more zealously he seeks the help of his neighbor by which he may be strengthened.

And well are the clasps made of bronze; because bronze is known to be a very resonant metal, since surely the humble conscience of the just has a great voice before God. Hence that Davidic poor man, when he was in anguish and did not cry out in the ears of men but poured out his prayer in the sight of the Lord, said: "O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto You."

"But what remains over in the curtains which are prepared for the roof," etc. In order that these things may be understood more fully, it is necessary to discuss at somewhat greater length the entire arrangement of the tabernacle itself. We said that the walls of the tabernacle, which consisted of boards and columns, had a length of thirty cubits, a width of ten, and a height likewise of ten. If anyone therefore wished to encircle the house widthwise with a cord — for example, from the base of one board on the southern side to the base of the board that is opposite it on the northern side — it is clear that this cord would need to be thirty cubits in length: that is, having ten cubits of ascent on the southern wall, another ten of level span between the walls, and a third ten of descent on the northern wall.

Likewise, if you wished to stretch a cord along the length of the house — that is, from the bases of the columns upward, and along the entire length of the house to the western wall, and then downward to its bases — that cord would have fifty cubits of length: namely, ten of ascent beside the columns, thirty of level span along the length of the house, and ten again of descent beside the boards of the western wall.

With these things considered, then, examine the measurements of the fine curtains with which the house was to be covered, and how they could correspond to the aforementioned measurements. There were ten curtains, each having twenty-eight cubits in length and four in width, which when joined together and assembled into one, filled the tabernacle with their combined width of forty cubits. Hang therefore the curtains, which have twenty-eight cubits of length each, and place them in a house whose measurement across is thirty cubits, and you will see that the curtains will have ten cubits in the level span between the walls; but in the ascent or descent beside the walls, they will have nine cubits. And so it happens that the top edge of the curtains cannot touch the ground, but is one cubit higher than the ground.

Likewise you will see that the curtains have thirty cubits in level span along the length of the house; but in the ascent or descent at the eastern and western ends of the house, five cubits. Therefore the same side-edge of the curtains by no means reaches down to the ground, but is five cubits higher than the ground. Hence it is necessary that those five cubits of the curtains which remain beyond where the walls end be drawn toward each other on both the eastern and western sides, and joined to one another, and so it is achieved that the curtains cover the house on every side except for one cubit near the ground.

So much for the fine curtains. The goat-hair curtains, moreover, had thirty cubits of length and four of width; and because eleven were joined to one another along their sides, they filled forty-four cubits. Place these also in the house: and because the length of the goat-hair curtains matches the cord by which you were measuring the house across, it happens that their edge reaches all the way to the ground. For they will have ten cubits of level span between the walls, and equally ten cubits of ascent or descent on each side. And this is what Scripture says, that one cubit hung down on one side and another on the other side — the excess in the length of the goat-hair curtains protecting each side of the tabernacle. For by 'tabernacle' it properly means the construction or assembly of the fine curtains, which the goat-hair curtains exceeded by one cubit on the southern side of the house and another on the northern. And therefore they reached to the ground, because the goat-hair curtains had thirty cubits of length while the fine curtains had two less.

Likewise, the measurement of the goat-hair curtains along the length of the house extended to forty-four cubits, having thirty cubits in the level span from the front of the house to the top of the boards on the western side, and seven cubits hanging down from the front of the house, and likewise seven hanging down on the western side.

And so it happened that the measurement of the goat-hair curtains on the western side exceeded the measurement of the fine curtains by two cubits; because the fine curtains, coming from above, as we also mentioned earlier, covered five cubits of that same western wall and left three untouched. And this is what is now said: "But what remains over in the curtains which are prepared for the roof," that is, one curtain — you shall cover the back of the tabernacle with the half of it that is extra. For the half of a curtain is two cubits in width, from which half the back of the tabernacle — that is, of the fine curtains which were properly called the tabernacle — was covered, because the last goat-hair curtain, extending downward, exceeded them by two cubits, as we said.

And likewise the goat-hair curtains coming from above covered only seven cubits of the western wall; yet the remaining three cubits, which were left bare, were not exposed to the assaults of storms down to the ground; rather, when the curtains of seven cubits that remained beyond where the walls ended were drawn together from each side, the back of the house was most firmly covered all the way to the ground by these. Nor could these merely reach each other and, like the fine curtains, just touch at the middle of the wall; but since they were seven cubits each, they exceeded the middle of the wall by two cubits in each direction and were joined by being laid one over the other. We believe this should be understood in exactly the same way also for the eastern side of the house, and for this reason it was commanded above that the sixth curtain be doubled at the front of the roof.

These matters, which are most difficult, we have taken care to explain briefly, insofar as we seemed to have understood them, ready to learn more accurate things in these matters if anyone should wish to teach us. In all of these things, however, the transparent meaning of the allegory is clear. For the goat-hair curtains protected the fine curtains both from above and below and on every side; and so that those inner curtains might shine within with the free display of their beauty, the outer curtains rendered them immune from every assault of storms, rains, and heat outside. Because indeed the perfect overseers of holy Church are accustomed to watch over the life of the faithful committed to them with such diligent care that neither the supports of the flesh nor the aids of spiritual life are lacking to them. Let the dogmas of heretics and the wicked examples of false Catholics be kept away. Let saving doctrine be present, strengthened by which they can both wisely repel the words of those who teach wrongly, and patiently endure the deeds of those who inflict evils upon them. Let the heavenly life of the overseers themselves be present, confirmed by which — even when their tongue is silent — the faithful may use it as a living lesson always.

For the goat-hair curtains repel rains, resist storms, ward off the heat of the sun; they vigorously drive away all things that oppose from without, so that the beauty of the fine curtains within may remain inviolate. So Augustine dispels the poisons of heretics that could disturb the faith; so Gregory explains the temptations of the ancient enemy that attack good morals; so Cyprian strengthens the weak with pious exhortations lest they falter in martyrdom; so other venerable bishops and doctors drive far away whatever could disturb the Church and with diligent inquiry provide whatever may be profitable for salvation, so that on every side the secure religious life of the faithful may with a free heart devote itself to virtues, and shine brightly in works before the sight of their Creator, and may also be able to direct the eye of the mind to the contemplation of Him.

But because among holy preachers those are most worthy of honor who, in addition to serving the office of preaching and the governance of peoples, also shed their blood for Christ, there rightly follows:

Chapter IV: The Third and Fourth Coverings of Skins

"You shall also make another covering for the roof of rams' skins," etc. By the term 'rams,' holy teachers are sometimes understood, because they are the leaders of the Lord's flocks that follow them. Hence the Psalmist beautifully says: "Bring to the Lord, O sons of God, bring to the Lord the sons of rams." Which is to say openly: Bring to the Lord, O angels of God, to whom the care of this office has been entrusted — bring to the Lord into heaven the spirits of the faithful who, by the imitation of the life and faith of the blessed apostles, have merited to become their sons. Hence it is that the sixth encampment of God's people after leaving Egypt is called Elim, that is, 'of rams,' where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees: so that both by name and appearance it might bear the figure of the apostles and apostolic men.

And the rams' skins are dyed red for covering the roof of the tabernacle when apostles or apostolic men do not cease to press forward with the word of doctrine even to the suffering of martyrdom: so that they may more safely protect their subjects from the looming dangers of temptations, while they themselves do not shrink from enduring persecution for justice's sake even unto death. And the dyed red rams' skins cover the Lord's tabernacle and defend it from the assault of storms, when holy preachers fortify the hearts of the weak by the example of their own passion and patience, lest they fail under the pressures of tribulations.

And since among the chief members of Christ and the Church, sacred virginity holds an eminent place, it is fittingly added, after the variegated beauty of the fine curtains, after the defenses of the holy sackcloth coverings, after the dyed red rams' skins, that there is yet: "Another covering of hyacinth-blue skins." For hyacinth is a heavenly color, and skin is a part and sign of a dead animal. And what is expressed by hyacinth-blue skins but the virtue of those who, having mortified to the utmost all the allurements of carnal desire, lead a heavenly life, as it were, on earth, and, placed among men, imitate rather the purity of angels — and what is promised to all the elect in the time of future immortality, that they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be equal to the angels of God — these, still held in mortal flesh, strive to anticipate?

Hence for so great a virtue there rightly remains a great reward, because as the prophet attests: "Thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who have kept My sabbaths, and have chosen the things that I willed, and have held fast to My covenant: I will give them in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be taken away." Of which place and name the evangelist John, who was himself one of them, reports that he heard them singing a new song before the throne of God which no one else could sing. And he immediately added: "These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins; these are they who follow the Lamb wherever He goes."

Rightly therefore the hyacinth-blue skins hold the highest place in the house of God, and the heavenly color has been allotted the seat nearest to heaven, so that the virginal choirs — who will follow the Lamb in a special closeness of both soul and body, and will sing praises and hymns to Him — may be fittingly represented.

It is well said of the veils of the fine curtains and the goat-hair curtains that, although placed on high, they nevertheless hung down toward the ground, though the fine curtains were unable to reach all the way to the ground. The columns and boards of the tabernacle also, although they were erected upward, still had their bases placed on the ground. But regarding the red-dyed and hyacinth-blue skins, it is said that they covered the roof on high; that they were bent down to the ground is not added. Because the other kinds of virtues seem to have something in common with those who are still held on earth, but the struggle of martyrdom and the glory of virginity dedicated to God are known to be, as it were, suspended from lowly and earthly things and specially joined to the citizens of heaven.

For the martyr, placed in torments, intends nothing else with his whole soul than to leave behind as quickly as possible everything that is in this world, and the world itself along with it, and, freed from all pains, to arrive at the sight of the Creator of the world and to possess the joys that lie beyond the world. And the celibate, while transcending the common law of the human race, by which it was said: "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth," in view of a greater reward, rightly choose for themselves, as it were, a seat higher than the other faithful — indeed, higher than the world itself — and so live in the Church that they surpass the social life of the Church by the honor of a more sublime merit. Hence John rightly writes of such: "They were purchased from among men, the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb." Rightly such persons are called in the Latin language either virgines, as if distinguished by virtue (virtus); or coelibes, as if blessed by heaven (coelum) — that is, those who imitate on earth the life of heaven's citizens.

Chapter V: The Boards of the Tabernacle

"You shall also make the standing boards of the tabernacle," etc. The shittim wood, from which the tabernacle was made, is of an incorruptible nature, of outstanding whiteness and lightness, and not very different from the white thorn except in size. Hence Jerome, both at times in his book of Hebrew Names and in his other works, interpreted 'shittim' simply as 'thorns.' For example, Abel-shittim means 'mourning of thorns.' This type of wood is not easily found except in the deserts of Arabia, where the tabernacle was built. Hence the Greek and Latin translators were unable to give it any name other than the Hebrew one, since knowledge of it was nonexistent among them; although some, wishing to express the quality of its nature, translated it as 'incorruptible wood.'

The boards of the tabernacle therefore designate the apostles and their successors, by whose preaching the Church has been spread throughout the world. For the width of the boards is the expansion of the faith and sacraments, which previously lay hidden among the single Israelite people, but through their ministry reached the fullness of the whole world. Although rightly in the width of the boards the very expansion of the hearts of the saints can also be understood, by which they are accustomed to be sublimely kindled to despise the world and to desire heavenly things, by which they rejoice to love not only friends in God but even enemies for God's sake.

Let us then consider one of the boards of the tabernacle, namely the Apostle Paul, and see how he indicates that he was expanded in both ways. He says of the interior, that is, the expansion of the heart: "Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians, our heart is enlarged; you are not straitened in us, but you are straitened in your own hearts. As to children I say, be enlarged yourselves also." And he says of the other kind, which he was accustomed to employ for the advancement of the tabernacle, that is, of holy Church: "So that from Jerusalem round about, as far as Illyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ."

These boards were made from shittim wood, that is, from thorns. Thorns, according to the words of the Savior, are the cares of this world, and deceitful delights and pleasures. But the stings of sins are also not unfittingly compared to thorns. Hence it is written: "For thorns spring up in the hands of a drunkard" — that is, sins arise in the works of a fool. Because, therefore, holy preachers strove both to cleanse themselves from the pricks of vices and to strip themselves of all worldly cares and delights, so that with a free mind they might be expanded in the love of God and neighbor, and might range far and wide to preach the word — it is rightly said that the boards of the tabernacle were made from thorn-wood: for they were made from thorns, but from thorns that had completely shed all their thorny prickles and shone with whiteness alone.

For all the saints as well, though shining with virtues, were nevertheless conceived and born in the sin of the first transgression, and to them also pertains that general condemnation by which it was said to the sinning Adam: "Your land shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you." But by the grace of God through Jesus Christ they have been stripped of the barbs of all sins and fitted by the worthy exercise of virtues for the structure of His house.

"Each board had ten cubits in length," etc. The length of the boards is their height, which had ten cubits: because holy teachers strive toward perfection through the observance of the decalogue of the Law; because they labor in Christ's vineyard for the reception of the daily denarius — that is, they press forward with the word of doctrine with this intention: that they may restore in themselves, by His gift, the image of their Creator and King which they lost when Adam sinned, and that they may recover by right living His name which they had lost by sinning. For a king's name and image are customarily contained on a denarius.

But also the fact that the denarius received its name from being made up of ten coins is fittingly suited to the condition of our future blessedness, which is perfected in the true love of God and neighbor. For God is often figured by the number three on account of the Trinity which He is, and man by seven; because the body consists of four well-known elements, while the substance of the soul, that is, of the inner man, is customarily comprehended in Scripture under a threefold distinction. Hence it is that we are commanded to love the Lord with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole strength.

Well therefore do the boards, by which the entire tabernacle is held upright and standing, have ten cubits of height; because the teachers and rulers of holy Church serve God with this intention: that they may merit to see Him, immortal and blessed in soul and body forever. To this end of life they strive always to urge and, as it were, to lift up all their hearers, both by word and by deed.

As for the boards having a cubit and a half in width, that full cubit shows the perfection of good works; the half-cubit that remains shows the beginning of divine knowledge. Because indeed the just in this life can perfectly devote themselves to almsgiving, apply themselves to prayer, discipline themselves with fasting, and give their effort to other religious acts of this kind. But God we know meanwhile by faith, and we hope for the full knowledge of Him in the future, since our God and Lord Jesus Christ Himself says: "If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you shall know the truth." And again He says to the Father: "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Hence the Apostle also says: "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part." Does he say: we labor in part for Christ, we press forward in part with the word of preaching, we serve in part with good works? The elect therefore have a full cubit of good works in this life; but the cubit of blessed reward they have only in part, insofar as they can foretaste with heavenly desires the joys of the everlasting kingdom and the presence of their Creator.

And they are blessed by the fulfillment of that cubit when the word that He promised to the whole people of the elect would come at the end shall be fulfilled, saying: "I will deliver him, and I will glorify him; I will fill him with length of days, and I will show him My salvation."

"Let two tenons be made in the sides of each board," etc. The tenons in the sides of the boards designate the virtue of humility in the minds of the just, by which they are especially joined to one another in fraternal charity. For when each of them prepares in himself, with a contrite and humbled heart, a receptacle for the love of his neighbors, and shows himself deserving of being loved by the brethren through the merit of piety and devotion, all the boards of the tabernacle are, as it were, coupled to one another by the bond of the tenon-joints. And indeed, when the tabernacle is erected and the framework of the boards is properly arranged beforehand, the shape of the tenon is not visible. Yet how great is the power by which it has united the boards to one another, the firm stability of the unshaken wall itself shows: because surely the humility of heart of the saints, by which they are bound to one another, cannot be seen outwardly by men, but what it accomplishes within is manifest to all from the most peaceful state of holy Church itself.

Through this humility, by the wondrous dispensation of divine grace, it comes about that we, upon whom the ends of the ages have come, love with sincere affection even those who were faithful in the beginning of the world, and receive into the embrace of our love no less those ancient ones than those who live with us in the present, and believe that we too are to be received by them through the embrace of charity. That two tenons are commanded to be made in each board, that is, on each side of them, can be taken figuratively in two ways: both that we may keep inviolate the bonds of charity toward our brothers in prosperity as well as adversity, walking by the weapons of justice, after the example of the Apostle, on the right hand and on the left; and that, holding the greater and the lesser — that is, both those who preceded us in Christ and those who followed — all in the arms of one and the same love, we may strive toward the summit of perfection. There follows:

Chapter VI: On the Arrangement of the Boards of the Tabernacle

"Of which there shall be twenty on the southern side," etc. How great the length of the tabernacle was is not specifically stated; but it is indicated from the fact that its walls were constructed from twenty boards, and each of these is said to have had one and a half cubits of width. For twenty cubits plus twenty half-cubits complete the sum of thirty cubits, which Josephus also records as having been the length of the tabernacle. And well is the length of the tabernacle expressed by this number, because there are three virtues in which principally the entire perfection of holy Church consists, namely faith, hope, and charity: these are multiplied by ten to complete the number thirty, when good works — which are contained in the decalogue of the Law — are joined to the virtues of the mind, lest anyone think that faith, hope, and love toward God can suffice for him without the performance of works.

That the number of the boards is twenty also contains a mystery of the saints' great perfection; for four times five makes twenty. And since the Mosaic Law is contained in five books, while the grace and truth of the New Testament is contained in the four volumes of the holy Gospel, the holy teachers are rightly expressed by the number twenty; because by a wondrous agreement of truth, they both reveal the hidden things of the Law as disclosed and fulfilled in the Gospel, and declare that the sacraments of the Gospel were prefigured in the Law. And while they teach that the Old Testament has been illuminated in the New and published in a broader sense, and they indicate that the New was foreshadowed in the Old and prefigured by the manifold revelation of types, they demonstrate, as it were, in the breadth of their speech that both four has been multiplied by five and the number of five boards by four.

The bases by which the boards were supported are the words and books of the Law and the Prophets, by which the apostles and evangelists proved that what they wrote and preached was true and divine. Hence that phrase so frequently repeated in the Gospel: "Then was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet"; and: "All this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." And the apostle Peter, bearing testimony about the Lord, added: "And we have the more firm prophetic word, to which you do well to attend."

And well are two bases placed under each board, so that the agreement of prophetic attestation in all things that the apostles said may be shown. Or indeed two bases are placed under each board at its two corners, so that with the corners well supported, the whole board can stand rightly and unwaveringly; because of all apostolic and evangelical teaching, both its beginning and its end are found prefigured in the prophetic writings. The entire life of the apostles and their successors, from the beginning of faith to the end of the present life, is known to be contained in the same mystical pages of the Old Testament.

And well were these same bases made of silver, on account of the splendor of the heavenly word: "For the words of the Lord are pure words, silver tried in the fire," etc.

"On the second side also... there shall be twenty boards," etc. The southern side of the tabernacle, which faced toward the south, designates that ancient people of God which, having long since received the light of legal knowledge, was accustomed to burn with love for its Creator. But the second side, which faced north, represents the multitude of the Gentiles which had not ceased to languish in the darkness and cold of unbelief until the time of the Lord's incarnation. Of its calling, the Lord speaks beautifully through the prophet: "I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not hold back." Which is to say openly: I will say to the people of the Gentiles, long shivering without faith, Give up your children, that they may come to the faith and love of My confession. And I will say to the Israelite people, which already enjoyed the light of My knowledge, Do not forbid the Gentiles to be received into the lot of election.

I will say to Cornelius and his household: Receive the faith and baptism of Christ. I will say to the Jews: Do not compel believers from the Gentiles to be circumcised, for whom, once consecrated by the font of baptism, faith and the confession of truth suffice for salvation. Both sides had boards of the same number, measurements, and workmanship; because indeed one and the same faith, hope, and charity is preached to both peoples through the apostles, and both are called to the same promises of the heavenly kingdom, and concerning both they receive the general command of the Savior: "Going into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature" — that is, to both the circumcision and the uncircumcision. Where it is also added without any distinction: "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved."

"On the western side... six boards," etc. Josephus writes concerning the tabernacle that it had ten cubits of width; he also writes that its boards were raised four fingers' breadth above the ground. From which he seems to wish it to be understood that the bases of the boards were made of that height.

Concerning this chapter and concerning the bars of the boards, Josephus speaks thus: The rear wall, measuring nine cubits, was formed by six boards, to which were joined two other boards made from half a cubit, which they placed as corner boards after the manner of the larger boards. Each board had golden rings projecting along the outer faces, fastened as if by certain roots in order, facing one another around the circuit, and through them gilded bars were inserted, each having a length of five cubits, and these served for joining the boards, and the head of each bar entered into the head of another bar, as in the fashion of a shell. And behind the walls set lengthwise there was one row running through all the boards, by which the sides of each wall were held together by hooks, made and inserted into one another in interlocking joints. This was so carefully devised so that the tabernacle would neither be moved by winds nor disturbed by any other cause, but would be kept immovable in secure rest. This is from the literal text of Josephus.

But according to the allegorical sense, the western side, which receives both walls into itself and completes the structure of the tabernacle, rightly designates the fulfillment of the entire holy universal Church, which is perfected at the end of this world, to which the faith and righteous work of both peoples will persevere, as the length of the twin wall extends to reach it. For it is not credible that before the time of the Lord's incarnation there were never any from the Gentiles who believed, or that now, although the Jewish people have been severely condemned for their faithlessness, there are not some among them, however very few, who, living among Christians, daily come to salvation through believing. But if anyone should presume to deny this, let us say what can in no way be denied: namely, that the spiritual teachers and interpreters of both Testaments, who according to the Lord's word bring forth from their treasure things new and old, will remain in the holy Church until the end of the age.

And fittingly the tabernacle is completed on the western side, where the sun is accustomed to close the day and all the stars to set; on account, that is, of either the death of each individual elect person, or the general end of the whole age. For the sun, as it were, sets for him who passes from this temporal light through the darkness of transitory death to the joys of eternal light and life. The sun, as it were, sets for the whole Church in the west, so that it may more truly rise in the east when the darkness has passed, since when the life of the present age is ended at the coming of the Lord, soon the true morning of the age to come, the true day of eternity, will appear to the just. And because then, while the just reign with the Lord, the reprobate perish forever, it is rightly said of this side of the tabernacle in what follows, that it looked toward the sea.

It signifies the Red Sea, in which Pharaoh was drowned with his army, and from which Israel, saved by the Lord, went up to Mount Sinai, where he would make the tabernacle. The western side of the tabernacle therefore looks toward the sea, when the holy Church, crowned after the perfection of her works, will in Christ freely behold the vices or punishments of the wicked, which she avoided with His help, as Isaiah attests, who says: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I make to stand before Me, says the Lord, so shall your seed and your name stand." And shortly after: "And they shall go out and see the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against Me. Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched" (Isaiah 66).

For indeed the waves of the sea, deep, bitter, and turbulent, can signify both the sins by which the reprobate, wickedly delighting in this life, perish, and also the abyss of future perdition, when at the last judgment they shall be sent into eternal fire with the devil. Nor should it be passed over that when the tabernacle was being built on Mount Sinai, it had the Red Sea to the west; but when it was brought by Joshua into the promised land and placed at Shiloh, the same quarter of the sky had the Great Sea.

Concerning which we can mystically understand that the saints, serving the Lord in this life and making a tabernacle for Him in their hearts, despise with fixed mind the proud boasting of the wicked as something that will soon pass away; and that even in the future homeland, placed with the Lord, they behold the perpetual punishment of those without any interruption of their own happiness; so that they may render Him all the greater thanks, because they not only enjoy the good things which He bestowed, but also behold the evils from which He delivered them.

And well did the western side of the tabernacle, or the side said to look toward the sea, consist of six boards; either because perfection of good work is customarily expressed by the number six, since the Lord in that number completed the adornment of the world, in that number created man in the beginning, and in that number restored the human race by His passion; or because there are six ages of this world, in which it is necessary for us to be perfected by good works, so that we may attain to eternal rest in the future and to the glory of the resurrection.

For the fact that two other boards, in addition to the first six, are commanded to be erected in the corners behind the tabernacle, to receive the wall coming from the eastern side and join it to the wall of the western side, pertains to the reward of the future life, which is secure after the labors and times of this present age. This is divided in two ways: into the sabbath rest, that is, the repose of holy souls after their release from the body, and into the glory of the resurrection and the reception of incorruptible bodies. Both these allotments of reward, common to both peoples, are never terminated by any end. For the rest of souls, when the time of resurrection comes, receives no diminishment of itself, but rather an increase, and the very conjunction of immortality, of our flesh and spirit in heaven, remains always inviolable.

And well is it added concerning the same boards: "And they shall be joined from below to the top," etc. Because indeed the whole life of the elect, with one and the same faith and charity, tends toward heavenly things; it arrives at one and the same end of the divine vision; and in one and the same voice of right doctrine, the preaching of all the holy preachers agrees. For the framework of the boards would gape apart from each other if what one prophet or apostle had said, another denied. But because the harmonious word of the divine utterances raises up the structure of the Church, surely one bond joins together all the boards of the tabernacle and does not allow them to be separated from one another.

"For the two boards also... a similar joining shall be observed," etc. The corner boards are joined in every way to the boards of the walls, because the glory of future rest and immortality is most firmly connected to our present way of life through faith, hope, and charity. Indeed, our present way of life endures, stable and unshaken, precisely because it believes, hopes in, and loves the gifts of future reward; because it is sustained by the frequent help of the citizens of heaven, lest it fall by the turbulent blasts of unclean spirits. And these boards, which designate either the perfection of our good action or the future rewards for good deeds, are each supported by two bases; because the holy prophets foretold with concordant voice that all these things too would be in harmony with the confirmation of evangelical and apostolic preaching.

The Bars and Rings of the Boards of the Tabernacle

"You shall also make bars of acacia wood," etc. The five bars which hold together the boards of the tabernacle are the five books of the Mosaic law, by whose protection the holy Church is wonderfully guarded from every assault of tempting sins and wicked spirits. And this on each side, because not only did the letter of the law instruct the former people of God toward faith and good works, but also us who serve God in the time of the new testament — the same letter, spiritually understood, with a greater grace of sweetness — both trains us in the present toward faith and the practice of virtues, and in the future kindles us to the hope of perpetual reward.

Bars of the same number are also on the western side, because the law, rightly understood, also proclaims to us the very completion of good work, when we depart from the flesh to future rewards. Hence to the rich man who asked and said: "Good Teacher, what shall I do to have eternal life?" the same good Teacher replied: "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19). And He added to him no other commandments than those of the law.

"And you shall overlay the boards with gold," etc. The boards of the tabernacle shine with gold when the whole life and every word of the holy preachers displays the light of heavenly wisdom, and nothing else is seen in them but the beauty of virtues. The golden rings through which the bars held together the boards designate the very blessedness of heavenly life, which is rightly compared to gold on account of the glory of its brightness, and rightly to a circle on account of its eternity. Hence the Apostle says of it: "There is laid up for me a crown of justice" (2 Timothy 4). Each board had five rings — not because the heavenly homeland has a fivefold distinction, but because the same perpetual brightness and bright perpetuity of that kingdom is contained written in Genesis, the same in Exodus, the same in Leviticus, the same in the Book of Numbers, and the same in Deuteronomy. And five golden rings were fixed to each board of the tabernacle, because the hearts of the just, greatly expanded through love, read in all the books of the Mosaic law not only the correction of works, but also the perpetual light of heavenly reward.

"And you shall cast golden rings for them," etc. The bars hold together the boards through the golden rings when the words of sacred Scripture, through the promise of the heavenly kingdom, strengthen the state of the holy Church, so that the more certainly she has learned of the stability of perpetual reward, the less she fears the disturbances of the world. And well is it added concerning the same bars:

"Which you shall cover with plates of gold." The bars are indeed covered with golden plates when in the words of the divine law, which seem strong according to the literal sense and most apt for strengthening the life of the faithful, a higher understanding — that is, one shining forth with evangelical brightness — is shown to be present. For, to give one testimony as an example: when we read the history of holy Noah, how he miraculously escaped the flood which destroyed the wicked, preserved with his family in the ark, it is clear to all in this that God, who loves justice and hates iniquity, knows how to rescue the pious from temptation and to punish the wicked with just severity.

Chapter VII

And therefore such a reading, like the incorruptible bars, holds together the tabernacle of the Lord, because it fortifies the minds of the faithful, fixed by the words of truth, against the assault of temptations (1 Peter 3). But the wooden bars are, as it were, clothed with golden plates when this same reading is shown through spiritual understanding to be full of more sacred mysteries: when the ark is recognized to signify the Catholic Church; the water of the flood, baptism; the clean and unclean animals, the spiritual and carnal people in the Church; the planed and pitched timbers of the ark, teachers strengthened by the grace of faith; the raven that went out from the ark and did not return, those who fall into apostasy after baptism; the olive branch brought into the ark by the dove, those who were indeed baptized outside, that is, among heretics, but because they possess the richness of charity, they deserve to be brought into Catholic unity through the grace of the Holy Spirit; the dove that went out from the ark and returned no more, those who, freed from the flesh, fly to the free light of the heavenly homeland, never again to return to the labors of earthly pilgrimage.

And so the bars of acacia wood are surrounded with gold when the most firm testimonies of Sacred Scripture are proven through mystical interpretation to be radiant with these and similar heavenly and spiritual meanings.

"And you shall erect the tabernacle according to the pattern," etc. The pattern of the tabernacle was shown to Moses on the mountain, because dwelling in secret with the Lord, he saw the sublime life of angelic purity and immortality, according to whose likeness he was commanded to establish human conduct on earth, insofar as it was possible for mortals to imitate, so that by devoting ourselves on earth to mutual love of God after their example, to divine praise, to unanimous peace, to sincere chastity, and to other such virtues, we might deserve to be their companions in heaven also, according to the Lord's promise, who says: "But those who shall be accounted worthy of that age and of the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor take wives, for they can no longer die, for they are equal to the angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection" (Matthew 22).

For Moses showed us the pattern of the angelic way of life, which he saw on the mountain of contemplation, through the legal precepts, by the observance of which we ourselves, born from the earth, might attain to the fellowship of the angels in heaven. He also provided us with the same pattern of a more perfect life and blessed reward in the figure of the tabernacle and of the priestly and Levitical ministry which he describes. The tabernacle is erected according to the pattern that was shown to him on the mountain when all the elect compose their work and mind in imitation of the angelic purity which he himself deserved to contemplate in secret. Thus far the southern, northern, and western walls of the temple have been explained as the Lord has given; in what follows, the eastern side also, and how it was constructed, is shown. But first Scripture judged it fitting to reveal the middle partition wall, which divided the Holy of Holies from the outer tabernacle.

Chapter VIII: On the Veils and Columns of the Tabernacle and the Mercy Seat above the Ark

"You shall also make a veil of blue," etc. Josephus reports that this veil, by which the tabernacle was divided in the middle, was so placed that twenty cubits of the length belonged to the outer dwelling and ten to the inner. This is clearly consistent in all respects with the measurements of the temple that was afterwards built by Solomon. Since that was sixty cubits in length and twenty in width, it had a third of its length, that is, twenty cubits, separated for the inner dwelling, which is the Holy of Holies, so that the length and width of the same inner dwelling were the same. Thus the inner part of the tabernacle had a similar length and width, namely ten cubits each.

What this same veil figuratively expresses, the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews manifestly declares, where he also equally expounds for the allegorical sense why the priests always entered the first tabernacle, performing the duties of sacrifices, but into the second only the high priest entered once a year, not without blood, which he offered for his own and the people's ignorance. This veil is interpreted as heaven.

That the priests entered daily throughout the year with sacrifices into the first tabernacle, he explains concerning the state of this life, where the saints, serving the Lord without ceasing, expiate the daily failings of their frailty — without which they can in no way exist in this life — by the daily sacrifices of good works, by the daily libations of their tears, as true priests of God and of His Christ.

But the high priest, who once a year entered the Holy of Holies with the blood of victims, he understands to be the great Pontiff, to whom it was said: "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 109). He, once offered for our sins, Himself both priest and victim, entered into heaven itself through His own blood, that He might now appear before the face of God for us.

And as for the fact that this same veil was woven of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed and fine twisted linen in beautiful variety, who would not see that even according to the letter it corresponds to the beauty of the heavenly vision? For if you consider the beauty and flames of the stars, the manifold appearance of the clouds, the rainbow itself drawing a thousand varied colors against the sun, would you not seem to yourself to observe far more numerous and more beautiful paintings of colors implanted in the sky than were woven into the veil of the tabernacle?

The four columns, before which this veil was hung, are the hosts of heavenly powers, distinguished by the four eminent virtues about which we have also spoken above, namely fortitude, temperance, prudence, and justice. These virtues are indeed observed in one way by us in the labors and hardships of this life, and in another way in heaven by the angels and holy souls. For there it seems that everything that reigns is subject to justice. And this is altogether immortal justice: to place no good thing before God, or to equate anything with Him, belongs to prudence; to cleave most firmly to God, to fortitude; to take delight in no harmful defect, to temperance.

But here — what justice does in relieving the wretched, what prudence does in guarding against snares, what fortitude does in bearing hardships, what temperance does in restraining wicked pleasures — none of that will exist there where there will be nothing at all of evil. And well are these columns made of acacia wood, either because angelic spirits are created incorruptible by nature and immortal, or because, created without sin, they always guard the inviolate purity of their condition. Concerning whom it is fittingly added:

"Which shall themselves be overlaid with gold," etc. The columns before which the veil was to be hung are indeed overlaid with gold, because the angelic virtues placed within the veil of heaven are clothed with the grace of supreme brightness. They have golden capitals, because the mind by which they are governed is illuminated by the presence of divine knowledge and vision. They also have silver bases, because their whole nature rests, as on a foundation, specifically on this: to sing hymns of praise to their Creator, and to relate the will of that same Creator to their fellow citizens, namely to us still making our pilgrimage on earth, as if placed outside the veil.

Hence we ourselves from the earth, congratulating them on their praises with diligence, are accustomed to say, as with an exhortatory voice: "Bless the Lord, all you His angels, mighty in strength, who do His will" (Psalm 102). For in the Scriptures, the splendor of wisdom is customarily shown by gold, and the brightness of words by silver.

"The veil shall be inserted through rings," etc. Rings, which appear to have neither beginning nor end, are sometimes used in Sacred Scripture to represent eternity. And fittingly the veil, by which heaven is figured, is said to be hung by rings; either because it was in the eternal counsel of the Divinity when the world would be created, in which the heavenly nature holds the first and most excellent place; or because the firmament of heaven was so made that its structure will never be dissolved. For what the Lord says, "Heaven and earth shall pass away" (Matthew 24), is to be understood of the ethereal heaven.

Concerning which Jeremiah says: "The kite in the sky knows its season" (Jeremiah 8). For that heaven is to perish by fire in the judgment which is established to have perished in the flood, as Peter attests, who says: "The heavens existed formerly and the earth, standing out of water and through water by the word of God, through which the world at that time, flooded with water, perished. But the heavens that now exist and the earth have been stored up by the same word, reserved for fire on the day of judgment" (2 Peter 3).

Within this veil of the temple was placed the Ark of the Covenant, because the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who alone is privy to the Father's secrets, after His passion and resurrection from the dead, ascending above the heavens of heavens, sits at the right hand of the Father. By this veil the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies are divided, since the Church, which is composed of holy angels and human beings, partly still wanders as a pilgrim in the lowest places, and partly reigns in the eternal homeland in the heights above, still having her citizens separated from one another by the dividing veil of heaven.

"And you shall place the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony," etc. Fittingly the mercy seat is said to have been placed upon the ark, because the Mediator between God and men was specially given by God the Father so that He might be the propitiation for our sins. Hence Paul also says: "Jesus Christ, who died, indeed who also rose again, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us."

"And the table outside the veil, and opposite the table the lampstand," etc. The table and the lampstand of the tabernacle designate the temporal benefits of God, by which we are refreshed and illuminated in the present, so that meanwhile, strengthened and aided by these as the grace of merits increases, we may be able to enter to eat the bread of angels in heaven and to see the true light of the world. Both of these are outside the veil, since only in this life do we have need of either the holy Scriptures and teachers, or the other sacraments of our redemption. But in the age to come, where the Lord will openly proclaim the Father to us — that is, will openly show the Father to us — and where, as John says, "we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3), there will no longer be need of any external aid to salvation, since almighty God, dwelling within His elect, both illuminates them inwardly as the light of life and satisfies them as the bread of life, whom He exalts with perpetual blessedness by leading them into the joy of His kingdom.

We have said above that the southern side of the tabernacle signified the ancient people of God, who first received the light of divine knowledge and the fervor of divine love; while the northern part of the same tabernacle indicated the Church gathered from the Gentiles, which had remained longer in darkness and in the shadow of death. Hence, by a right distinction, the lampstand, which is placed on the southern side, can also represent the grace that was given to the first people; while the table, which stood on the northern side, designates the benefits of God that have been granted to us.

Rightly is the lampstand said to be placed opposite the table, because indeed the Scripture of the law and the prophets looks in all things toward the grace of the Gospel, bearing testimony to it and signifying that it is through the Gospel that it is to be revealed in its spiritual sense.

Chapter IX: On the Curtain at the Entrance of the Tabernacle and Its Columns

"You shall also make a curtain for the entrance of the tabernacle," etc. Having completed the narrative about the veil which divided the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies, he returns to explain the eastern side of the sanctuary, which he seemed to have set aside for a time while he described its other sides, namely the southern, northern, and western. The curtain at the entrance of the tabernacle, woven in a beautiful variety of colors, is therefore the glory of the primitive Church, made glorious with the diverse flowers of virtues. About this Luke writes: "The multitude of believers was of one heart and one soul, and there was no division among them at all; nor did any of them say that anything he possessed was his own," etc. (Acts 4).

For it contained blue, because the primitive Church was accustomed to think of heavenly things and to lead a heavenly life on earth. It contained purple, because it was prepared to die for Christ. It contained scarlet twice-dyed, because it burned with love of God and neighbor. It also contained fine twisted linen, because it rejoiced in continence of the flesh and chastity.

"And you shall overlay five columns of acacia wood with gold," etc. The columns by which the curtain was hung are the holy teachers, of whom Luke consequently adds: "And with great power the apostles gave testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord" (Acts 4). The more robustly the mind of these teachers is raised to things above, the more firmly it suffices, by teaching, to lift others also to the love of heavenly things.

For just as apostles and apostolic men can rightly be designated by boards, on account of their breadth — whether of doctrine, by which they go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature, or of charity, which they extend not only to friends but even to loving their very enemies and pursuing with prayers and kindnesses those who hate them — so also, on account of the unconquerable strength of their hearts and their intention always raised toward heavenly things, they are not unfittingly figured by the name and structure of columns, as the Apostle attests when he says: "James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars" (Galatians 2).

These columns were indeed well made to be five in number on account of the same number of books of the law, with which it is necessary that the holy teachers fortify their word of preaching, and especially those who were to establish the primitive Church, which, gathered from the Hebrew people, knew how to be established by the sole authority of the Mosaic law, since the evangelical and apostolic Scripture had not yet shone forth throughout the world. And well are the same columns commanded to be made of acacia wood but overlaid with gold, to indicate that the holy preachers ought to be both inwardly whole in strength of heart and failing in nothing, and outwardly conspicuous in the brightness of their works.

Or certainly the columns of acacia wood are overlaid with gold when those same teachers teach that the strength of their action must always be protected by divine help, when in all they do they seek the glory of the Father who is in heaven, and when in all they say they rejoice to proclaim Christ, saying: "For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ our Lord" (2 Corinthians 4). Concerning whom it is fittingly added:

"Whose capitals shall be of gold, and whose bases of bronze." The golden capitals designate Him of whom the Apostle says: "All things hold together in Him, and He is the head of the body of the Church, who is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead" (Colossians 1). Nor should it seem incongruous that through the five capitals of the columns, the one head of the Church, Christ, is figured; for there were as many capitals as columns, because indeed the same Lord Christ is the head of all the saints, remaining in Himself always equal and indivisible, but dividing the grace of His Spirit to each and every one of the elect according to the capacity of those who receive it.

Hence not only the whole Church in general, but also each of her members individually, is permitted to proclaim with confidence that prophetic word: "Now He has exalted my head above my enemies" (Psalm 26). And it fittingly corresponds to the signification of this head that the same capitals of the columns are commanded to be made not gilded, like the columns and boards, but of solid gold, because all the saints indeed have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit and heavenly grace, but He Himself was full of grace and truth; and as His precursor said of Him: "For God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand" (John 3).

The bronze bases are the prophets, by whose attestation the preaching of the apostles is confirmed. And rightly bronze, either on account of the unconquerable confidence of the prophetic mind, or because their words, even as the world grows old or passes away, can never be worn out by any age. For the Lord did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. The columns of the tabernacle have bronze bases and golden capitals, because the apostles and apostolic men were confirmed in faith by the words of the prophets, and raised by desire for heavenly things to see the face of their Creator.

Likewise the capitals are golden, but the bases bronze, because whatever they received as given to them by the Lord with heavenly authority, they learned that all these sacraments had long ago been foretold by prophetic speech. Since we are now speaking of the eastern side, it seems opportune to mention something about the explanation of that singular bar, which we have already said extended from the corner of the boards to the corner of the other wall, and held together the entire firmness of the walls so that they could not be shaken by the force and violence of storms or bent this way and that. It is written in the following portions of the sacred history, where Moses is narrated to have completed everything that the Lord had commanded.

Chapter X: The Bar That Reached from Corner to Corner

"Another bar, which through the middle of the boards," etc. (Exodus 36). This bar, therefore, is to be believed to have been stretched from the top of the first boards to the top of the other side, across the ten cubits of the tabernacle's width, with each end firmly set upon the boards, so that by this means even that side of the tabernacle which consisted not of boards but of columns would remain no less fixed than the others, even when the wind drove against it.

If you also desire to know the mystery of this bar, it without any ambiguity figuratively proclaims our Redeemer Himself, who, as it were, reached from corner to corner, because from the Jewish people, whom He first chose, He graciously extended Himself to save the multitude of the Gentiles as well. Hence rightly, just as in the prophets He is called the cornerstone (Isaiah 28), so also in the law He can rightly be called the corner bar. The cornerstone, that is, on account of the temple which is built for God from living stones; but the corner bar, on account of the tabernacle which is built for Him from incorruptible wood, that is, from the souls of the elect who are free from the stain of corruption.

Chapter XI: The Altar of Holocaust and Its Vessels

"You shall also make an altar of acacia wood," etc. (Exodus 27). This altar, which was properly called the altar of holocaust, designates the hearts of the elect, which are consecrated by His gift for offering to God the sacrifices of good works. It is fittingly commanded to be made of acacia wood, because it is fitting that the hearts and bodies in which the Spirit of God dwells be pure and incorrupt. It has five cubits in length and the same in width, when each of the faithful strives to exercise all the senses of his body in the length of patience and the breadth of charity: so that in all his sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, he may always remember that he has been dedicated to the divine service, according to the words of the Apostle: "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever else you do, do all things for the glory of God." It also has three cubits in height, when those same hearts of the elect reach toward heavenly things through faith, hope, and charity.

"Horns on the four corners," etc. The altar of holocaust has four corners because the holy Church is spread throughout the four regions of the world, and on account of the one heart and one soul of the whole multitude of believers, it is rightly designated by the structure of one altar. From this altar four horns are made, when the hearts of the just are fortified by the four virtues often mentioned before. Concerning these it is said in praise of wisdom: "For she teaches sobriety and prudence, and justice and virtue, than which nothing is more useful in the life of man" (Wisdom 8).

These horns are produced from the altar itself, when the faithful do not display the defenses of virtues merely in appearance and for the face of men, but generate them from the inmost root of their heart with God as witness. The horns are four at the four corners of the altar, when in all the boundaries of the world the Church, by the spiritual power of virtues, remains inviolable against all the snares of enemies — indeed, it becomes stronger than all who attack it.

This altar is indeed covered with bronze when the virtue once begun by the faithful is perseveringly held firm to the end; for since the metal of bronze is accustomed to endure incorruptibly for a long time, the virtue of perseverance can rightly be designated by it. But if anyone is troubled according to the literal sense as to how the wood of the altar could remain unburned with so great a fire nearby, let him accept the response of blessed Jerome to this question: "The woods of the altar," he says, "which are from the trees of paradise, are not consumed by the neighboring fire, but are rendered more pure." Nor is it surprising to believe this about the sanctuary and the inner parts of the temple and the altar of incense, since even asbestos, which is a kind of wood or has the likeness of wood, the more it burns, the cleaner it is found to be.

"And you shall make pans for its use, to receive the ashes," etc. The various vessels of the altar should be understood as either the diverse persons of the faithful, or certainly the manifold actions or thoughts of those persons, disposed for the service of their Creator. And indeed first it is commanded to make pans for receiving the ashes. That the ashes of the sacrificial victims are to be received as a great mystery is attested by the ashes of the red heifer that were sprinkled, which also, as the Apostle witnesses, sanctified the defiled for the cleansing of the flesh (Hebrews 9); in which he understands the sacrament of the Lord's passion to have been prefigured.

The ashes of the burned heifer designate the time and acceptance of the passion of Christ, which, purifying us forever, saves us. Therefore the burning of the red heifer signifies the mystery, already fulfilled, of that very passion which was preserved for the cleansing of the unclean, by which we are daily expiated from our sins. Since therefore all the sacrifices and victims that were burned on the altar figuratively proclaim either the Lord's passion or the devotion of His saints burning with the flame of charity, the ashes of the holocausts fittingly express either the consummation of the Lord's passion, or certainly the perfection of the virtue of the just — when, wholly offered into God's service through the fire of the Holy Spirit, they have already deserved to finish their good works and to be caught up to receive the rewards of those works in eternal life.

That this may become more clear, let us see what Moses says about the ashes of the holocaust: "This is," he says, "the law of the holocaust: it shall burn on the altar all night until morning. The fire shall be from the same altar. The priest shall be clothed with a tunic and linen undergarments. And taking up the ashes which the devouring fire has consumed, and placing them beside the altar, he shall strip off his former garments and, clothed in others, shall carry them out beyond the camp; and in a most clean place he shall cause them to be consumed to the last ember. The fire on the altar shall burn always" (Leviticus 6).

The holocaust therefore burns on the altar when in the heart of each elect person who has vowed himself wholly to God — both in body and in heart — a good work is accomplished by the burning fire of charity. This happens all night until morning, when a person does not cease to persist in good works throughout the whole time of this life, until, snatched from the body, he shall have deserved to see the morning of the age to come. The fire shall be from the same altar, because we ought to burn only with that charity which the Lord bestows on His Church through the Holy Spirit.

Finally, the sons of Aaron, because they wished to offer strange fire to the Lord and not the fire that had once been given from heaven, were soon struck dead by heavenly fire; because indeed whoever performs heavenly works not with the intention of heavenly reward but with a view to temporal favor or advantage, is struck by the sentence of heavenly wrath.

"The priest shall be clothed with a tunic and linen undergarments": the priest who offers the holocaust is the Lord, because He Himself is accustomed to kindle in us the fire of His charity and through this to make the sacrifices of our good action acceptable to Himself. And doing these things He is clothed in linen garments, because in order to stir us to works of virtue, He sets before us the examples of His incarnation, passion, and death, which it has often been said can be signified by linen.

The same priest takes up the ashes which the devouring fire has consumed and places them beside the altar, when the Lord puts an end to laborious works and commands the just, snatched from this life, no longer to strive for eternal life but to receive the crown of justice in eternal life. For placing the ashes beside the altar, he is stripped of his former garments, when, bringing back to the memory of the just the good things they have done, He no longer shows them the habit of His passion to be imitated; but He puts on other garments, namely those about which He Himself says in the Gospel: "Amen I say to you, He will gird Himself and make them recline at table" (Luke 12); that is, He will prepare Himself for eternal recompense and will make them be refreshed in eternal rest.

Clothed in other garments he carries the ashes outside the camp, when the Lord, prepared to reward the labor of His elect, causes whatever good they had done to be seen already taken away from here into that other life. Nor is it unreasonable that the place set outside the camp should figure the entrance into perpetual life, since the Lord also says: "If anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pastures" (John 10). And the Psalmist: "The Lord guard your entrance and your exit" (Psalm 120): the entrance, that is, into this life of the Church; the exit, into that life where the pastures of eternal satisfaction are found.

Therefore we not unfittingly understand that the place set outside the camp refers to that other life, especially since it is said that the place there is most clean, which it is clearly impossible to be the case in this life. The most clean place outside the camp, then, is the very soul of the just who have been taken from this life and who rejoice in the other life. In this place the ashes of the holocaust are consumed to the last ember, when in that place where the reward of good works is rendered, all labor is wholly brought to completion; according to the words of the Apocalypse of Saint John, who, having spoken of the recompense of rewards — "Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and the Lord Himself will be with them as their God" (Apocalypse 21) — immediately added concerning the abolition of all labors, and said: "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither mourning, nor crying, nor shall there be pain any more, because the first things have passed away."

And because, when the labor of good works ceases, the very charity through which they worked will never cease — indeed, it will burn more ardently, since He whom we love will be seen for eternity — it is rightly added: "The fire on the altar shall burn always." And shortly after: "This is the perpetual fire, which shall never fail from the altar." Therefore, when the holocaust has been consumed to the last ember, the fire will never fail from the altar; because, when every kind of labor has been perfectly consumed, charity alone will burn perpetually and never be extinguished. We have spoken at greater length about the law of the burnt offering on account of the pots of the altar, which were ordered to be made for receiving the ashes of the sacrifices. The pots, therefore, receive the holy ashes when any of the faithful either devoutly reflect on the examples and sacraments of the Lord's passion for their own protection, or carefully observe the end of the righteous who went before them, who, having accomplished great struggles for the Lord, now that their race is finished, rejoice without end in the prize already received, so that by considering the virtues of their forebears, they themselves may become great, according to the command of the Apostle, who says: "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you; considering the outcome of their way of life, imitate their faith" (Heb. 13).

After the pots, however, tongs and forks and fire-pans were ordered to be made. The tongs are to be believed as having been made for tending the fire of the altar. By them the holy preachers are rightly designated, who are accustomed to kindle in us the fire of charity, as on the altar of God, by their exhortations. For they, like tongs with twin teeth, arrange the firebrands on the altar to kindle this fire: when they instruct us with the harmonious pages of both Testaments, and place the words of truth in our heart, by which we may be more greatly inflamed with desires for eternal things. Or certainly with the tongs, that is, the twofold instrument, the priests tend the fire of the altar, when in all that they teach, the holy preachers pour into us the virtue of twofold charity, and by its grace command us both to burn and to shine at the same time.

The forks, which are called in Greek creagrae, were kept for the ministry of the altar so that the cooked flesh of the sacrificial victims might be brought out from the cauldrons by them, and carried for the eating of those who were to be refreshed by them. Their use equally befits the role of the holy preachers, whose ministry it is to refresh the souls of the faithful with the word of faith, and according to the rule of apostolic discretion, to give to those still beginners the reasonable and pure milk of simple doctrine, but to minister the solid food of higher doctrine to the more perfect (1 Pet. 2). For whoever knows how to recognize the sacraments of Christ in summary and to take them up for imitation, these are satisfied as if cut from the flesh of the saving sacrifice (Heb. 5).

And because it belongs to spiritual teachers to discern most skillfully which mysteries should be entrusted to each person for hearing, Moses was rightly commanded to make forks for the priests, with which they might arrange the flesh of the sacrifices as was fitting, and offer some indeed to men — but clean ones — for eating, while leaving other parts to be consumed by the fires of the altar: because there are some things in the words of God which He has deigned to reveal to our lowliness, to grant for the feast of our refreshment; but there are likewise other things of such profundity that they lie open only to the knowledge of the Holy Spirit, and wholly transcend the measure of our capacity.

Furthermore, the fire-pans were appointed for the purpose that through them the holy fire might be carried from the altar of burnt offering to the altar of incense evening and morning, for placing incense; and these likewise plainly hold the figure of the teachers, who as it were carry fire from the altar of burnt offerings to the altar of incense, when they teach their hearers to advance always from virtue to virtue, and with increasing merits to penetrate gradually into the higher and more interior mysteries of the divine vision.

But all who, seeing the hearts of their neighbors burning with piety, hasten to imitate them, become as it were fire-pans; because they strive to kindle in their own minds also the flame of the heavenly sacrifice which they perceive in their brethren. All these vessels are indeed made of bronze, since the devotion of the faithful perseveringly attends to obeying the divine commands; or certainly since that which it rightly does, it also proclaims to its neighbors as something to be done, with the clear voice of diligent exhortation, and bronze, as has often been said, customarily signifies both the perseverance of the faithful mind on account of the long duration of its incorruptibility, and the voice of the teachers on account of its clarity of sound.

Chapter XII: The Grating of the Altar of Holocaust, Its Rings and Poles

"You shall also make a grating of bronze in the form of a net," etc. The entire altar was commanded to be made hollow, as is more clearly taught in what follows. But in its middle it had a grating throughout, formed in the manner of a net, on which the flesh of the victims was placed to be burned; and beneath it a small hearth, on which the fire burned with arranged wood, always ready to consume the burnt offerings placed above. For there was a door opposite the hearth in the eastern wall of the altar, through which either wood could be inserted to feed the fire, or coals and ashes could be removed, as we have seen expressed in the illustration of Cassiodorus the senator, which he himself mentions in his exposition of the Psalms: in which he also gave four feet to each altar, both that of the burnt offering and that of the incense. We believe that he learned both of these, as well as the layout of the tabernacle and the temple, from the teachers of the Jews.

The altar of God therefore has a grating in its middle, prepared for receiving burnt offerings; because the elect prepare a place for the Lord in the innermost affection of their heart, where they may set their devout thoughts for Him. It has a small hearth beneath the grating, in which it receives the wood and fire of the burnt offerings; because those same hearts of the elect prepare in themselves a receptacle for hearing the heavenly words, by which, warmed — indeed, inflamed — through the gift of the Holy Spirit, they may offer to God the pleasing vows of pious thoughts.

For the priest places wood on the small hearth of the altar, when any teacher supplies to the minds of the faithful, who desire and eagerly seek, the testimonies of the holy Scriptures, by which they may be further strengthened in faith and love. He also adds fire to the wood, when he teaches that the understanding of the word and the efficacy of pious works must be sought from God. And the wood burns on the altar, when the love of God is poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. And the burnt offering placed upon this fire is consumed, when all that we have resolved to do well, by the gift of the grace of the Holy Spirit, is rendered acceptable to God through the power of love. Hence rightly the grating, which the burnt offerings bears, is commanded to be made in the form of a net: so that through its frequent openings the fire placed beneath may freely penetrate to consume all parts of the sacrificial victims. For so indeed it is altogether necessary that we by no means harden our hearts, nor shut them after the manner of the Pelagians against the grace of God; but diligently open them, and as though with many doors thrown open at once, earnestly pray that through all the good things we begin or desire to do — as through each piece of His sacrificial victims — He Himself may deign to illumine us with His mercy and kindle us in love of Himself.

For the Pelagians, who presume that they can accomplish something good without the grace of God, do not place upon the sacred fire in the altar of their heart a grating full of openings in the form of a net; but rather interpose as it were a solid wall between themselves and the fire of the Holy Spirit, lest they ever be warmed in love.

Moreover, the four bronze rings, which are ordered to be made at the four corners of the altar, are the four books of the Gospels, which are fittingly likened to rings because they promise an everlasting crown of life to their hearers. They are fittingly of bronze, because "their sound has gone out into all the earth." They are fittingly placed at the four corners of the altar, so that, spread throughout all regions of the world, they may strengthen the Church of the faithful with the word of faith and truth. They are fittingly fixed beneath the hearth of the altar, so that they may raise up the spirits of the humble with the protection of their consolation.

"You shall also make two poles for the altar of acacia wood," etc. The poles by which the altar was carried are the teachers who are accustomed to carry, as it were, the holy Church, while they strengthen the faith and sacraments of truth either by preaching to those who did not know them, or by confirming them in those who had already known and received them. Since they do not preach their own things but those which are of Jesus Christ, not following learned fables but making known to the world the power of our Lord, recognized by heavenly oracle.

The poles are fittingly inserted into the rings in order to carry the altar; for to carry the altar of the Lord by poles through rings is for the holy teachers to raise up the hearts of the faithful by exhortation through the words of the Gospel, which will not pass away even when heaven and earth pass away. Moreover, there are two poles, so that the word may be preached to both peoples, that is, to the Jew and to the Gentile. This very point is also established by the words that follow, when it is added:

"And they shall be on both sides of the altar," etc. For there will be teachers who call Judea, and there will be those who call the gentile nations, into one and the same grace of faith with harmonious voice and work. Or certainly the poles will be on both sides of the altar for carrying, when the holy preachers teach the minds of the faithful to hold unshaken constancy of virtues both in prosperity and in adversity, lest either the former exalt them by flattery, or the latter disturb them by terror.

"Not solid, but empty and hollow," etc. Therefore the altar was commanded to be made not solid, but empty and hollow, so that it might have an ample place where it could receive either the most sacred fire, and the wood for the fire, or the burnt offerings that were to be consumed by fire. After its example, you too, if you wish to be an altar of God, empty yourself and evacuate yourself from all contamination of worldly things, so that in you the wood of heavenly words and the fire of virtues may be able to have a sufficient place. And may you receive the flame of the Holy Spirit, by which those same sacrifices may be consecrated to the Lord and brought to the firm end of perfection. Where fittingly it is added in conclusion:

"As it was shown to you on the mountain." For all the things which Moses signified to us as needing to be done mystically in the construction of the altar and the entire tabernacle, he first perceived in that heavenly conversation in which he remained with the Lord for forty days, being done by the heavenly citizens in tireless and perpetual observance. Nor indeed should it be doubted that he was able to see before the throne of God that most sacred altar which Isaiah merited to see, most full of living coals of interior charity, and the holy tongs (Isa. 6); which the same prophet saw, and from which with one of them an angel had taken a coal from the altar to purge his lips — and by the same grace of the Spirit, by which the angels are inflamed to love God always in heaven, both sins are forgiven to men on earth and gifts of virtues are granted.

And so the altar is ordered to be made hollow and empty, as it was shown to Moses on the mountain; because just as the angels and spirits of the just in heaven are empty of sins and full of piety and justice, so we too on earth ought, according to our measure, to decline from evil and to do good. This very thing we are always taught to do, both by the open exhortations of the heavenly words, and by the mystical figures of the tabernacle and its vessels and ceremonies.

Chapter XIII: The Court and Vessels of the Tabernacle

"You shall also make the court of the tabernacle," etc. Just as the holy of holies designates that part of the holy Church which is in heaven, and the first tabernacle typologically signifies the perfect life of the faithful dwelling at least in this present age; so the court of the tabernacle, which was on the outside, demonstrates the first rudiments of beginners. Whence rightly the hangings of that same court were made of twisted fine linen; because the first care to be given to beginners is that they restrain the allurements of the flesh and of the spirit alike, according to that saying of the Apostle, which he added when speaking of the children of adoption: "Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit" (2 Cor. 7).

For fine linen, as has often been recalled, grows green from the earth, but once pulled from the earth it is dried, beaten, boiled, twisted, and by great and long labor brought from its green to a white color; so too our flesh, in order to attain the virtue and beauty of chastity, must necessarily subdue itself by the strict labors of fasting, prayers, vigils, and total continence, by which we may dry up its natural and, as it were, inborn pleasures, and kindle ourselves to that dignity of virtue which we desire. Moreover, the fine linen is twisted so that it cannot easily be unraveled, just as not only is the luxury of the flesh restrained, but its entire memory is also rooted out from the innermost heart.

"One side shall extend a hundred cubits in length," etc. It is well established that the number one hundred, which in the counting of fingers is transferred from the left hand to the right, sometimes has in the Scriptures the figure of the heavenly life, which just as the right hand is rightly preferred to the left, so is it preferred to the present life. Indeed, a frequent mystery of this number is found in the divine Scriptures. Noah completed the building of the ark in the hundredth year; because the Lord perfects in the future life the holy Church which He builds in this present life meanwhile. To Abraham at a hundred years old the son of the promise, Isaac, is born; because indeed the blessing of the inheritance, which is promised in his seed to all the families of the earth, will be rendered in the future and heavenly fatherland. He himself sojourned for a hundred years in the land of promise; because we who are made children of Abraham through faith must lead a pilgrim life in the present Church in the hope of the heavenly inheritance.

And so Isaac sowed in Gerar, which is interpreted as "sojourn," and found a hundredfold in that same year; because whatever good things we, as children of the promise, accomplish while sojourning in this life, we receive forthwith upon departing from the body in the heavenly life. In which figure also the seed of the Gospel word, which fell on good ground, having sprung up produced fruit a hundredfold, and whoever leaves temporal goods for the sake of Christ and for the Gospel receives a hundredfold in the present, and in the age to come eternal life — that is, the joy of fraternal fellowship now in the hope of heavenly life, and then in the very reality of the heavenly kingdom.

The side of the tabernacle therefore measures a hundred cubits in length; because all who belong to the members of the Church must necessarily take upon themselves the labor of temporal patience and continence for the sake of eternal life in heaven. Moreover, the pillars by which these hangings are suspended on high are the holy teachers, who draw out the hearts of their hearers from earthly contaminations and raise them to desire heavenly things. And they carefully stretch these out like a garment of the Lord, lest anything of duplicity be able to exist in them; but with simple and pure intention they may shine before the Lord like hangings of fine linen.

These pillars, namely, were of bronze but clothed with silver, as is more clearly stated in what follows. Of bronze indeed, on account of perseverance in virtue, or on account of the sound of preaching itself. But clothed with silver, because they sound nothing other than the word of God. Whose brightness is often figured by silver; they show nothing other in their manner of living and actions than the observance of the divine utterances. Not only were they overlaid with silver, but they also had entirely silver capitals; which is properly characteristic of teachers, to subject themselves entirely to the words of sacred Scripture, and to devote mind and body to these by meditating, preaching, and acting.

For just as our members cannot subsist and live without the head, so those who esteem the divine utterances as their life should never cease to carry them by obeying, and to exalt themselves by humbling themselves. But what should we understand more fittingly by the bronze bases of the pillars than the beginning of wisdom, the fear of God? Of which the son of Sirach also says: "The root of wisdom is to fear God." And he beautifully added, "For its branches are long-lived"; because indeed the manifold shoots of virtues, which spring from the bases like the work and carvings of the pillars through the fear of God, will never lack the fruit of their reward.

But why there were twenty pillars on one side of the court has already been explained above, where boards of the same number were commanded to be made on one side of the tabernacle.

"Likewise on the north side along the length there were hangings of a hundred cubits," etc. The same things are repeated concerning the north side that had already been stated about the south side; because the heralds of both Testaments raise us to heavenly things with harmonious voice; even though they had different ceremonies of the sacraments according to the changing requirements of the times, indeed in this time of the New Testament, whoever from either people attain to salvation, have not only the same faith, confession, and practice, but also the same sacraments for the cleansing of sins and the reception of heavenly life, in the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

"In the breadth of the court, which faces the west," etc. The breadth of the court, which faces the setting of the sun, where after the day's labor has ended the slumber and grace of night succeeds, rightly signifies that time when, after the active life ceases at death, the rest of the elect and their eternal reward follows. Indeed those who labored in the vineyard of the supreme master of the household, when evening had come, received the rewards of their labor; because indeed each one of the just, when they reach the end of this life, then obtain entry into the true life.

Whence John in the Apocalypse: "I heard a voice from heaven saying: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord" (Rev. 14). "Henceforth, says the Spirit, they may rest from their labors." On account of this rest, the western side of the court rightly had hangings of fifty cubits, and ten pillars; for the number fifty customarily signifies the fiftieth year in the law, which was wholly consecrated to liberty and to remission, on account of which it was also commanded to be called the jubilee (Lev. 25). For "Jobel" is interpreted as "releasing" or "changing."

It is also agreed that the number ten designates these same heavenly rewards, where human nature, immortally raised up in both its substances, rejoices in the presence of the divine vision. For God is a Trinity. Our body subsists of four elements. Our inner man is comprised in the number three, when we are commanded to love God with our whole heart, whole soul, and whole strength. And when our fourfold nature is joined eternally to the vision of the Holy Trinity, according to that saying of the Psalmist: "But for me it is good to cling to God" (Ps. 72), this is indeed the denarius which the workers of the Lord's vineyard receive as their reward when the labors of the day are completed.

Therefore, because the holy preachers promise us, when this life is ended, the presence of our Creator and eternal rest, by these promises they also raise our desires from the appetite for the lowest things to seeking heavenly things, as though ten pillars lifting up and raising the hangings of fifty cubits in length on the western side of the court.

"In that breadth of the court also, which faces the east," etc. That breadth of the court which faces the east signifies the beginning of our good way of life, which begins from faith. This is rightly said to face the east on account of the first reception of heavenly grace, according to that saying of blessed Zechariah: "The Rising Sun has visited us from on high: to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death" (Luke 1). In this side, indeed, there shall be fifty cubits; because at the very entrance of conversion, all who are catechized are taught to hope for the remission of sins and eternal rest. For the number fifty also pertains to the remission of sins. Whence also in the psalm of that same number, penitence, confession, and the remission of sins are described; so that he who had sinned against the Lord and had done evil before Him, by recognizing his iniquity, was washed by Him against whom he had sinned, and made whiter than snow, and again received the joy of the salvation of God — that is, of the Lord Jesus, whom he had offended — and was strengthened by His sovereign Spirit, so that he might not fall further.

And so the eastern breadth of the court has fifty cubits, since the first confession of faith rejoices in the remission of sins and in the hope of future rest and peace in Christ. Indeed in the Creed of the Apostles we confess that we believe in the holy Church, the remission of sins, and the resurrection of the flesh. This the universal council of the later Fathers wished to express more fully, saying: "I confess one baptism for the remission of sins; I hope for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come."

By the fifty cubits of the eastern side, then, the beginnings of believers are generally designated, who are celebrated for the remission of sins and the hope of future blessedness. Of these, however, another special distinction is immediately introduced, which when well considered refers to one and the same end. For it follows:

"In which hangings of fifteen cubits shall be assigned to one side," etc. For fifteen, which consists of the numbers seven and eight, rightly designates the joys of eternal life, which, beginning from the sabbath rest of souls, is perfected in the resurrection of bodies. For the Lord, resting in the tomb on the seventh day, the Sabbath, rose from the dead on the eighth, that is, after the seventh day of the Sabbath.

Moreover, the three pillars with as many bases on the side of fifteen cubits designate the holy preachers, preeminent in faith, hope, and charity, and placing their mind most firmly in the stability of the fear of God. One about to enter the court of the tabernacle also has on each side hangings of fifteen cubits suspended on three pillars each; because whoever is about to enter the holy Church and has resolved to learn the sacraments of faith, whether he turns the gaze of his mind to the Synagogue or to the Church of the Gentiles, in each portion of the faithful he will find teachers strong in faith, sublime in hope, fervent in charity, founded in the fear of the Lord, promising to their hearers the rest of the blessed souls and the resurrection of immortal bodies.

They as it were hang the curtains of twisted fine linen upon themselves, when they teach those same hearers by their own example to seek the things that are above, not the things upon the earth, and to keep their spirit whole, and their soul and body without complaint unto the day of the Lord.

"At the entrance of the court there shall be a hanging of twenty cubits," etc. At the entrance of the court there are four pillars; because no one can enter the unity of the holy Church except through the faith and sacraments of the Gospel, which are contained in four books. Whence a beautiful custom anciently grew up in the Church itself, that for those who are to be catechized and initiated in the Christian sacraments, the beginnings of the four Gospels are recited, and they are carefully instructed about the figures and order of these at the opening of their ears; so that they may know and remember thenceforth who and how many are the books by whose words they ought especially to be instructed in the faith of truth.

At this entrance a hanging of twenty cubits is also commanded to be made, which number is the same as four multiplied by five. Now there are five well-known senses of our body: sight, namely, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Rightly then at the entrance of the court a hanging of twenty cubits is suspended on four pillars; because all who enter the holy Church must conform both their faith and their actions equally to the rule of the Gospels; so that, abstaining from carnal allurements, they may subject all the senses of their body to the divine commands.

For not only is this hanging raised by four pillars, but it also has in its length the number five multiplied by four, since any humble and pious hearers coming to the faith, not only imbued with the words of the Gospel but also themselves desiring to live a Gospel life, expend all the senses of their body in obedience to charity.

Rightly, however, this hanging at the entrance of the court is not made, as in the rest of the court, of twisted fine linen, but of four most noble colors — namely hyacinth and purple, and scarlet twice-dyed, with the twisted fine linen itself — in embroidered work; because to those who are being catechized, the beautiful face of the Church gleams outwardly, but its far more splendid dignity and virtue will appear to those who merit to enter it through the sacrament of baptism. For no one becomes perfect all at once, but it is necessary that we advance step by step from lesser things to more perfect ones.

But we have said often that hyacinth signifies the hope of heavenly goods, purple the endurance of temporal evils, scarlet twice-dyed the ardor of perfect love, and twisted fine linen the restraint of carnal pleasure. These colors, namely, are variegated with each other in embroidered work; since each virtue of the faithful shines forth more greatly through the fellowship and, as it were, a certain kinship with the virtues neighboring it. Although also each of the aforesaid colors can apply to individual persons among the elect; because one merits to contemplate heavenly things more highly, he is hyacinth; another, because he suffers more things for the sake of justice, is purple. This one, who blazes with a more fervent love toward God and neighbor, is scarlet twice-dyed. That one, who is especially white with the purity of virginal flesh, is twisted fine linen. And when the just rejoice mutually in each other's virtues in one and the same faith and evangelical piety, they adorn as it were the hanging at the entrance of the Lord's court, woven with a beautiful variety of changing colors.

"All the pillars of the court round about shall be clothed with plates of silver," etc.

Book Three

Chapter I: Description of the Oil to Be Offered for the Lamp

He reiterates more diligently the things he had said, so that he may earnestly admonish the reader that no one can be counted among the teachers of truth -- that is, the pillars of the heavenly court -- who has not learned to have invincible patience amid adversities like bronze, who has not taken care to fortify and adorn himself on every side with the observance and proclamation of the heavenly words as with plates of silver, who has not striven to place himself under the divine precepts in complete subjection as under a silver capital; who has not stood in the fear of God as upon a bronze base.

"In length the court shall occupy a hundred cubits," etc. The Church has a hundred cubits in length; because she raises her hands to good works for the sake of eternal life. Fifty in breadth; because she hopes for everlasting rest in the grace of the Holy Spirit; which He willed to designate by the number fifty, when He deigned to consecrate Pentecost -- that is, the fiftieth day of the Paschal festival -- by His coming.

The height shall be five cubits according to the number of the senses of our body; because then each one shall receive according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. But in the court of the house of the Lord, the figure of only those is expressed who have done good in the body, for which they merit to be introduced into the rest of everlasting life; who now in the works of justice which they do with chaste body and heart shine as twisted fine linen, and then in that same body, exalted with the glory of immortality, they rejoice having received the rewards of justice for all eternity.

But in the Gospel parable there is mention of both parties at once, where five virgins who had come to the bridegroom with works of light immediately enter with him to the wedding feast; five others, who had exercised the works of chastity but without a chaste spirit, were driven away with their darkness, cast far from the gates of the kingdom (Matt. 25). For there were five and five, because each group was judged according to what it had done in the flesh.

The entire length and breadth of the court, then, is stretched out at a hundred and fifty cubits. It has five cubits in height; because it is necessary that we who have the promise of rest and the heavenly fatherland cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit; and not only cleanse ourselves from defilement, but also perfect holiness in the fear of God; so that when the hour of the promised retribution appears, we may merit to rejoice in the love of God not only in spirit, but also in the flesh.

On account of this foundation of both our substances -- that is, both soul and flesh -- in the fear of God, what had also been said above is subsequently repeated, so that it may be more diligently committed to memory: "And it shall be made of twisted fine linen, and shall have bronze bases." And then it is added:

"All the vessels of the tabernacle for all its uses," etc. The vessels of the tabernacle prepared for all its uses and ceremonies are the people of the Church serving the Lord in various merits and degrees; all of which vessels are commanded to be made of bronze -- bearing, as has often been said, the figure of that mystery -- so that if anyone is struck by adversities, he may persevere to the end and not lose through sloth the salvation promised to him; or, so that he may not fear to confess openly the faith he has learned even against opposing enemies, but may also remember to diligently proclaim to friends the gifts he has received. For bronze is resonant and of a nature that lasts long.

Moreover, the pegs of which he speaks, of the tabernacle or the court, were made for this purpose: that, fixed into the tops of the pillars, they would project outward, and with the ropes of the curtains or hangings placed upon them, would thus lift them up and suspend them from the ground. By their construction and position, the very tongue of the teachers can not unfittingly be designated, which by preaching touches the hearts of the hearers, and by touching raises them up.

For by ropes holy Scripture is sometimes accustomed to be designated. Whence it is written: "A threefold cord is not easily broken." Because indeed Scripture, which is accustomed to be interpreted in the historical, allegorical, and moral sense, cannot be corrupted by any perversity of heretics or pagans.

Moreover, the hangings or curtains themselves, in order to be able to receive the ropes, necessarily had in their upper parts loops or rings, through which those same ropes might be inserted. And you, if you wish to become a hanging of God, prepare in your heart a receptacle for His words, by which you may be suspended toward things above.

Let the ropes of the hangings be placed upon the pegs of the pillars, so that thus stretched out and raised on high, they may complete the beauty of the tabernacle. Let the holy preachers entrust the divine utterances to the hearts of the faithful, and through these admonish them to be raised from the lowest things after their own example. Let the curtains or hangings, stretched out by ropes and raised up, display far and wide to all the wondrous beauty of their workmanship, which they could not do when rolled up.

Let the faithful show forth the amplitude of their good work, the beauty of mind and interior grace which they had received by the Lord's gift; so that their neighbors, seeing their good works, may glorify the Father who is in heaven, and say: "How lovely are Your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord" (Ps. 83).

(Exod. 28.) "Command the children of Israel to offer you oil," etc. With all the furnishing of the tabernacle arranged, the light of the lamp is consequently also provided for, so that its admirable beauty, just as it is illuminated by sunlight during the day, may also be illuminated by the flames of lamps at night; lest ever in the house of God any place of darkness, any hour of shadows be able to creep in. But according to the mystical senses, the Lord declares in the Gospel what the light of the lamp signifies; when He had said in parable: "Neither do they light a lamp and place it under a bushel, but upon a lampstand, so that it may shine for all who are in the house," He immediately added openly: "So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works" (Matt. 5). The lamp, therefore, shining in the house of God, is the works of the just, which illumine the minds of those who behold them by their examples.

But it must be observed more carefully that in order for the lamp to be able to burn always in the tabernacle of God, the children of Israel are ordered to offer oil, while Aaron and his sons are ordered to arrange the lamp itself. What then is this distinction, that the people should offer oil for nourishing the light in the house of the Lord, and the priests should arrange the lamp? Unless perhaps this is figuratively commanded, so that faithful and devout hearers may bring hearts ready to obey the faith, while the teachers minister to them by preaching the fire of the heavenly word, by which they may be illumined to know and inflamed to love God.

For by the richness of oil, by which both weary and infirm limbs are restored and the grace of light is provided, the interior love of the mind and the work of mercy are often designated. Whence the Psalmist says: "But I, like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of my God forever and ever" (Ps. 51). As if he were openly saying: Because I have shown the fruit of mercy to the needy, I too have hoped that the grace of mercy will be repaid to me from God for all eternity.

Therefore let the children of Israel offer oil, and let Aaron and his sons, with fire brought, arrange the lamp so that it may burn in the tabernacle of God. Let humble hearers offer the devotion of a pious mind, and let the teachers by the ministry of the word teach them the secrets of heavenly knowledge; so that, regularly instructed, they may both burn with the fire of charity in the sight of their Creator, and show forth outwardly to men the light of good action.

But it should be noted that the children of Israel are not commanded indifferently to offer oil, but with the specification that it be oil from olive trees; and furthermore it is added: "most pure and beaten with a pestle." For oil is accustomed to be made from nard, from radish, from walnut or from wood, and from various other kinds of material, but none is permitted to be offered to the tabernacle of God except what is produced from olive trees: just as no fire other than that which descended from heaven should burn in the holy lamps or be kindled on the altar of God: "For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful."

Therefore let the children of Israel offer oil for the lamp of God, not of just any kind, but from olive trees, and this most pure and beaten with a pestle. Let good hearers offer to spiritual teachers a pure conscience, fruitful with the grace of charity, and thoroughly cleansed from all admixture of wickedness by the pestle of diligent testing; which may delight solely in the intention of pleasing and serving the Lord upon hearing His word.

Let Aaron with his sons offer fire not foreign, but sent from above, for lighting the lamp; just as the teachers preach the word for completing burnt offerings and making incense fragrant -- not their own word, but the Lord's, declaring with confidence: "For we are not, as many, adulterating the word of God, but from sincerity, but from God, as before God we speak in Christ" (2 Cor. 2). They use this fire to illumine the hearts of hearers with the knowledge of faith; they use it to accomplish and consecrate to God the burnt offerings of their good works; they use it to kindle the incense of holy prayers.

And rightly it is said: "That the lamp may burn always in the tabernacle of the testimony"; because never in the holy Church should the light of preaching be absent, nor should the pure humility of hearers, which willingly receives this light -- indeed, diligently seeks it out -- ever be lacking.

Rightly it is added: "Outside the veil which is hung before the testimony." For within the veil of heaven they have no need of the lamp of the Scriptures, where the ark of the Lord is, and the Cherubim of glory overshadow the mercy seat -- that is, where the hosts of the heavenly army proclaim with harmonious voice the glory of the incarnate Son of God, whom God appointed as a propitiation for our sins.

Rightly it follows: "And Aaron and his sons shall arrange it"; because it does not belong to all to preach the sacraments of faith among the people, but only to those who prove themselves to belong to the sons of the supreme priest -- that is, of the Lord and our Savior -- by both the purity of faith and the exercise of good works.

Moreover, whoever either strays from the purity of faith by perverse teaching, or stains the integrity of the faith he has known and kept by the wickedness of evil works: such a one, even if he seems to hold preeminence by the name or person of a priest, will nonetheless hear from the Lord: "Why do you declare My statutes, and take up My covenant upon your mouth? But you have hated discipline," and so forth (Ps. 49). Such persons James also with kind exhortation draws back from arranging the lamp of God -- that is, from the word of preaching -- saying: "Do not many of you become teachers, my brothers, knowing that you will receive a greater judgment" (James 3). That judgment, namely, which we have already mentioned as announced beforehand by the voice of the Psalmist.

And rightly still it is added: "And until morning it shall burn before God." For when the night of this present age has passed, and the morning of the future age has dawned, of which the prophet says: "In the morning I shall stand before You, and I shall see" (Ps. 5), we shall no longer need the lamp of books, when the true light of the world appears and illumines us, of whom the prophet also says: "But to you who fear My name, the Sun of justice shall arise" (Mal. 4).

"It shall be a perpetual observance," etc. And this clause, like the preceding ones which have been spoken about the tabernacle and its vessels and utensils, is to be understood and explained in a spiritual sense rather than a carnal one. For how could the worship of the priestly office be considered perpetual according to the letter, when both the priesthood itself and the tabernacle in which it was conducted, and the people for whom it was conducted, have long since ceased to exist? Whence it is clear that this word must be fulfilled in the holy Church, where, with teachers and likewise hearers of the truth succeeding one another in order, there will never be lacking spiritual children of Israel who offer gifts of piety in the house of the Lord, and children of Aaron -- that is, of our true priest -- who minister to them the light of the word, until, when the state of this age is completed and the entire tabernacle of God itself -- that is, the whole multitude of the elect -- has been transferred to the heavenly kingdom, there will no longer be men to be taught by men, since God will be all in all.

Chapter II: On the Priesthood of Aaron and His Sons

(Exod. 28.) "Bring to yourself also Aaron your brother," etc. Having described the construction of the tabernacle, consequently the priests who are to minister in it are appointed.

The ordering and attire of these things rightly corresponds to the priests of the Church: so that everything which shone outwardly bright in the ornaments there, this understood spiritually may stand forth loftily within the minds of our priests themselves, and this may shine forth gloriously in their actions beyond the merits of the other faithful.

Hence Moses is fittingly commanded to bring to himself Aaron his brother with his sons from the midst of the children of Israel, to minister in the priesthood before the Lord. For it is necessary that whoever are to be promoted to a higher rank in the holy Church should apply themselves to the law of God with greater diligence of mind, that is, should be joined with more zealous spirit than others to the observance of the divine commandments. For this is what it means for those who are to exercise the priesthood to be brought from the midst of the children of Israel to Moses: that the leaders and teachers of the holy Church should transcend the common life of the elect by the singular height of their minds, and should attend with intimate examination to what the law speaks generally to all the elect, and what it speaks specially to the few who are more perfect; so that by a higher excellence of merits, they may attain to higher rewards.

For the fact that Moses is commanded to ordain his brother with his sons into the priesthood, what else does it mystically commend to us, except that all who obtain the office of teacher ought to cling to meditation on the divine law with such zeal and love that they seem to be joined to it by a brotherly kinship? Nor does the fact that the first sons of Aaron after their ordination, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, perished by heavenly fire, deviate from signifying our own miserable times; when certain men who have obtained the position of priests and teachers, which is sufficiently grave and sorrowful to say, while they set the fire of cupidity before the fire of divine love, are consumed by the fire of divine vengeance. Their perpetual damnation was prefigured by the temporal death of Aaron's sons.

Although by a more excellent figure of mystery, just as the tabernacle with its ornaments and vessels designates the holy Church, distinguished by the most beautiful variety of virtues and of faithful persons: so also the high priest of that same tabernacle holds the figure of the true pontiff Jesus Christ, who offered Himself as an oblation and sacrifice to God for us as a sweet fragrance. He also can rightly be called the brother of Moses: for who is more joined to another by a brotherly covenant than Christ to Moses, grace to the law, the New Testament to the Old? Since Moses himself gives such testimony concerning Him, saying to the people whom he taught: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from your nation and from his brothers, like me; him you shall hear." And shortly after, in the person of the Lord: "I will raise up for them a prophet from the midst of their brothers like you, and I will put my words in his mouth" (Deut. 18). To His wonderful works, which no one else has done, Aaron's garment distinguished by wondrous variety is rightly compared; or certainly Aaron's manifold vestments designate the whole assembly of the elect adhering to Christ in the varied distinction of persons and merits, as the Apostle testifies, saying: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3).

But when we understand the Lord Savior as figuratively represented in the person of Aaron, what shall we say that the sons of Aaron, who were themselves also anointed for the priesthood, signify, except the apostles of Christ, and the successors of the apostles, and all teachers of the faithful? These things can indeed be understood principally of the Lord; but it is more fitting for us to consider in them those things which pertain to the significance of our pious way of life in the Lord, and which look to the correction of our morals. There follows:

Chapter III: On the Vestments of Aaron and His Sons

"And you shall make a holy garment for Aaron your brother," etc. The holy vestments of Aaron which Moses made for him are the works of justice and holiness which Scripture commends to the teachers of the sacred law as things they must possess, and whose examples to imitate it shows in those who have preceded them in Christ. The wise of heart, whom God filled with the spirit of prudence for making these same vestments, are the prophets and apostles themselves, and the other teachers of truth, who show us most clearly how priests should live and how ministers of the altar should teach, whether by the example of their actions or by the word of exhortation. Among these is that saying of the Apostle to Titus: "For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not proud, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for shameful gain; but hospitable, kind, sober, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with doctrine" (Titus 1).

"These are the vestments which they shall make," etc. How each of these was made is explained more fully in what follows. The breastplate is the garment of the chest, the ephod is for the shoulders; the tunic and linen undergarment, that is, the shirt, cover the whole body; the mitre adorns the head; the girdle fits both tunics together with the ephod more closely to the body. To these six garments a seventh and eighth are added below, namely the linen breeches to cover the flesh of shame, and the golden plate above the mitre, which stood higher than all the rest with the inscription of the Lord's name. He calls it the close-fitting linen garment because it clung to the body and was so tight with its close-fitting sleeves that no wrinkle at all was in it. It descended to the legs, whence it was called in Greek "poderes," that is, reaching to the feet. With these eight types of vestments the high priest was accustomed to be clothed at the time of sacrifice. Of these, four were also granted to priests of the lesser order, namely the breeches, the linen undergarment, the girdle, and the mitre. For it was fitting that the more distinguished one's rank, the more one should shine with admirable acts of virtue. All these things are made of gold and precious colors; because nothing base or sordid should appear in the speech or work of a priest; but all that he does, all that he speaks, all that he thinks, ought to be illustrious before men and glorious in the sight of the inward Judge.

Chapter IV: On the Ephod

"They shall make the ephod of gold," etc.

Since we are accustomed to carry burdens on our shoulders, what is shown by the ephod of the high priest except the labors of good works, which he ought to bear continually before the Lord? And fittingly the first command is given about making the ephod; because whoever is to be promoted to the priesthood and teaching office of God's people, his works must first be known, so that when what is outwardly manifest to all has appeared blameless, then the integrity of his heart and the sincerity of his faith may also fittingly be examined in due course. Let us therefore understand the ephod which the high priest wore on his shoulders as that evangelical burden, of which the Lord says: "For my yoke is sweet, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11). Which He commended to us more clearly elsewhere, saying: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Mark 8).

This same ephod is made of gold and blue, and purple, and scarlet twice-dyed, and fine twisted linen. Of gold, to be sure, so that above all else the understanding of wisdom may shine forth preeminently in the attire of the priest. Blue, which gleams with an airy color, is added to it; so that through everything it penetrates by understanding, it may rise not to base flatteries but to the love of heavenly things; lest while it is fed incautiously on its own praises, it be emptied even of the very understanding of truth. Purple also is mixed with the gold and blue, so that the priestly heart, while it hopes for the highest things which it preaches, may also repress within itself the suggestions of vices, and may resist them as if by royal authority, so that it may always look to the nobility of its inner regeneration and defend for itself the character of the heavenly kingdom by its conduct.

Although, as has often been said above, by the purple color can be understood the shedding of blood for Christ, or the endurance of various afflictions. For this is the cross which we who follow the Lord are commanded to bear daily. Hence such a material rightly shines among the others on the shoulder of the priest, to teach him to be always prepared for enduring adversities. To the gold, blue, and purple, twice-dyed scarlet is added, so that before the eyes of the inward Judge all the goods of the virtues may be adorned with charity; so that all things which gleam before men, the flame of intimate love may kindle these in the sight of the hidden Judge. This charity, by which one loves God and neighbor alike, shines as if from a double dyeing.

But when the mind is stretched toward the precepts of charity, it undoubtedly remains that the flesh should be mortified through abstinence. Hence twisted linen is added to the twice-dyed scarlet. For linen springs from the earth with a shining appearance. And what is designated by linen, if not the gleaming beauty of bodily chastity? This earthly beauty is woven into the ephod; because chastity is then brought to the perfect brightness of purity when the flesh is wearied through abstinence. Concerning the scarlet, which shines with the appearance of fire, this too can not unfittingly be said: that perhaps it was commanded to be dyed twice because fire customarily has a double power, namely of burning and of giving light. The bishop ought to imitate this nature in the word of saving doctrine, so that he may take care both to open the light of knowledge to those who desire it, and to burn away by rebuke the rust of sins in those who despise it.

For when he expounds to his hearers the sweetest mysteries of the Scriptures, or miracles, or the evangelical parables of the Lord, he shows, as it were, the brilliance of light in his vestment. But when he strikes the way of the proud by recalling eternal punishment, he displays, as it were, the terror of a devouring flame to those who behold him. For whoever speaks the word to the people ought not to devote himself solely to rebuking the crimes of the wicked, nor solely to unlocking the secrets of the Scriptures, lest either by disputing only about the correction of sins he perhaps be heard less willingly, or by only opening the hidden things of mysteries he perhaps benefit less those whom he ought to have corrected. But when he tempers his discourse from both, both by spreading before his hearers the sweetness of heavenly secrets, and by persuading them to the correction of morals through which they may become partakers of these things, the high priest, as it were, displays the brightness of twice-dyed scarlet in his vestment.

"It shall have two edges joined at each side of the tops," etc. Concerning this it is said in what follows: "He made therefore the ephod of gold, blue, and purple." And shortly after: "And two edges joined to each other on each side of the tops." From which it seems likely that with the garment folded, the edges of each part were joined together on each side from top to bottom; so that half of the garment appeared outwardly to the eyes of beholders, while the other half lay hidden on the inside; but the edges of both, joined together, descended to the lowest corners at the bottom.

In this, what else is to be understood by us typologically, except that when we show good works outwardly to our neighbors, we should preserve them inwardly intact before the Lord? Lest either a lesser perfection of pious action follow upon the chastity of pure thought, or the intention of the mind partly abandon the perfection of the work that appears more imperfect. But as the two edges of the ephod are joined to each other, so all the good things we display outwardly, we carry out inwardly with a pure and simple intention of pleasing God. And this on each side of the ephod, so that amid both adversity and prosperity we may always serve our Creator with harmonious action and thought.

For the shorter edge deserts the wider one, and they cannot return to unity when their measure is discordant, if while we are seen outwardly to do good for the sake of eternal reward, we are entangled in the secret of our mind by the intention of pleasing men, and we seek the rewards of human favor rather than those of the invisible life.

"And the very weaving and all the variety of the work shall be of gold," etc. Gold was not in one part of the ephod, blue in another, and yet other colors in yet another part, but all the colors were woven throughout entirely with the gold itself; because assuredly in priestly action no great virtue should ever be interrupted even for an hour, but the priest or teacher of the faithful should always be bright with the gold of wisdom, always raised up with the blue of hope toward things above, always great-souled with the purple of the heavenly kingdom against the wars of vices, always aflame with the twice-dyed scarlet of twofold love, always radiant with the twisted linen of mortified flesh.

"And you shall take two onyx stones, and you shall engrave," etc. For three reasons Aaron always carried the names of the patriarchs on his shoulders during the sacrifices, just as also on his breast: namely, so that he himself might remember to imitate the faith and life of the patriarchs; so that he might be mindful in his prayers and sacrifices of the twelve tribes that were born from them; and so that the same people, seeing the names of the fathers written on the vestment of their leader, might take care diligently not to decline from their merits and fall into the contagion of errors. For this is the purpose of what was said: "And you shall place on each side of the ephod a memorial for the children of Israel."

Now also the high priest bears on his ephod the names and deeds of the patriarchs, when any teacher or bishop of the Church, in all that he does, considers the deeds of the preceding fathers, and strives to direct his life in imitation of them and to bear the burden of evangelical perfection. These names of the fathers were fittingly commanded to be engraved on precious stones; for precious stones are the works of spiritual virtues. The priest has precious stones on his shoulders, with the names of the fathers inscribed on them, when he himself has stood forth as admirable to all by the brilliance of his good works, and has taught that this same brilliance was not newly invented by himself, but was handed down to him by the ancient authority of the fathers.

For a twofold reason he carries these on his shoulders: both so that he himself may walk humbly subject to the Lord's commandments, and so that he may always set before his hearers heavenly examples, whether his own or those of the fathers, which they should follow. Fittingly also these same stones are commanded to be set in gold and surrounded by it. For by gold, as was said above, either understanding or certainly charity is signified, because just as gold surpasses other metals, so charity surpasses other virtues. The precious stones are set in gold and surrounded by it, when the practice of the virtues is so examined on every side with a pure understanding that nothing vicious is permitted to lurk in them, nothing sordid to remain; when the virtues themselves are so held together by the bond of charity that by no change of circumstances can they fall from their position, never by the sluggishness of the mind's guard can they slip from the priest's vestment. And what follows is fitting:

"And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord," etc. For the priest carries the names of the fathers on each shoulder as a memorial, when diligently weighing at every hour the life of the preceding saints, he is always fortified with the ornament of virtues both in adversity and prosperity; so that according to the voice of Paul: "Walking with the weapons of justice on the right and on the left," while he strives only for the things that lie ahead, he may not be bent in any direction by base love (2 Cor. 6).

"You shall make hooks of gold," etc. The hooks he speaks of were skillfully fastened at the uppermost corners of the ephod. The chains, which he adds next, were attached not to the ephod itself but rather to the breastplate, that is, at its upper corners, through golden rings, so that when the high priest was being vested, the chains that hung from the breastplate could be attached to the hooks of the ephod, so that both garments might hold together in firm mutual position.

For it is written more clearly in what follows: "They made in the breastplate chains linked to each other of the purest gold, and two hooks, and as many golden rings. Moreover they placed the rings on each side of the breastplate, from which two golden chains might hang, which they inserted into the hooks that projected at the corners of the ephod." The figurative meaning of these will be better treated in the exposition of the breastplate.

Chapter V: On the Breastplate

"You shall also make the breastplate of judgment with embroidered work," etc. By embroidered work, he means work of many kinds. Just as in the ephod the perfection of works is expressed, so in the breastplate of judgment, by which the priest's breast was both covered and adorned, the chastity of his heart and thoughts is expressed. And fittingly after the ephod, the breastplate of judgment follows; so that when one has appeared before men as innocent in his hands, he may strive all the more to stand with a pure heart in the sight of the supreme Judge, exercising all diligence so that whatever he does or judges outwardly toward his neighbors, all of it may shine forth as tested by the rule of internal reason and pleasing to his Creator.

Likewise the priest is commanded to wear the breastplate of judgment on his breast, because the ruler must always distinguish good from evil with careful examination, and must studiously consider what things are fitting for which persons, when, and in what manner. The breastplate was made double, so that it might more easily sustain the weight of the stones. But this doubling of the garment on the breast of the typical legal priest reminds us that both the invisible Judge within should approve the reasoning of our examination, and human estimation without should never rightly despise it. Or certainly we bear a double breastplate of judgment on our breast when both the things we speak or think concerning the faith of truth and the invisible life rest on fixed reason, and also the things we do visibly, or arrange to be done, are equally proved to be weighed by the judgment of just discretion.

That it had the measure of a span on each side shows the untiring and perpetual effort of pious intention. For he who measures something with a span shows his hand stretched out with fingers spread to the utmost extent, so that he can hold the measure he seeks fully and without any scruple of doubt. Hence rightly, just as by the hand is expressed action, so by the span is expressed the very unbending striving of good work, while each one strives to extend his right hand into all the notable virtues he is capable of. And fittingly the same breastplate is commanded to have the measure of a span both in length and in breadth; because whether it raises the mind's desire upward to the length of eternal life, or inclines its affection toward the breadth of charity in care for the neighbor, the priestly heart must by all means never remain sluggish and idle, but must always be stretched out with ardent zeal to grasp the prize of God's heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

"And you shall set in it four rows of stones," etc. This arrangement of the various gems in the breastplate designates the manifold operation of the various virtues, which ought always to appear in the heart of the priest, arranged in harmonious order.

The individual stones are inscribed with the individual names of the fathers, when the ruler, examining the life of the saints, searches with diligent inquiry into which works of virtue they most flourished in; and he strives to gather all these things by meditating in the hidden depths of his breast, and to bring them forth by practice. For it was not without a definite sacramental reason that each garment was adorned with precious stones and marked with the names of the fathers in this way: that the same names were inscribed on the ephod on two stones of one and the same kind, but on the breastplate on twelve stones of different kinds. The fact that the fathers were engraved on precious stones of one undifferentiated kind signifies clearly that one faith in God, the same charity, and a common hope of heavenly life fills the hearts of all the fathers. But the fact that the same names were inscribed on stones of different kinds proclaims figuratively that the variety and grace of good works, by which the aforementioned faith, hope, and charity of the saints shines forth confirmed, is manifold.

The fact that there were four rows in the breastplate, and each of these had three stones, what did they intimate to us typologically, except that in the virtues which are distinguished into four, we should hold the principal and unfeigned faith in the Holy Trinity? For the priest has four rows of gems on his breast, when everything he thinks is circumspect through prudence, firm through fortitude, distinguished through justice, and separated from all evils through temperance. But these same rows have three gems each, when the same prudence, fortitude, justice, and temperance have been consecrated by faith in the Holy Trinity.

For since our life in the present consists of faith and right action, the priest fittingly carries four rows of gems on his breast, that he may be preeminent in action. And that he may be pure with the sincerity of faith together with works, he has three gems in each row, so that to all who behold him he may always show both the confession of true faith and examples of good action, so that they too may deserve to become members of the supreme Priest by imitation of right faith and action.

We can indeed understand in the varied beauty of the stones not only the manifold brilliance of priestly action and thought, but also the spiritual gifts of virtues and miracles of healing. Concerning which the Lord Himself said to the apostles: "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons" (Matt. 10). And again: "These signs will follow those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them" (Mark 16). But whether they designate this, or that, or both, the number twelve is rightly commanded to be in the breastplate; so that we may know that only the acts and miracles of those who follow the unity of apostolic faith, doctrine, and charity are acceptable to God. For the rest, if anyone speaks in tongues, if anyone distributes all his possessions to the poor, if anyone gives his body to be burned, if he does not have the unity of catholic charity, it profits him nothing (1 Cor. 13).

Rightly also the two onyx stones on the ephod were engraved with the same number of twelve fathers' names, to signify that the doctrine and faith of the apostles would benefit both peoples, namely of the Jews and of the Gentiles. According to what the Lord manifestly promised to that same spiritual Jerusalem, that is, to His Church, through the prophet, saying: "For to the right and to the left you shall spread, and your seed shall inherit the nations" (Isa. 54). Since the onyx is said to be of a red color, having little sparks of fire girded with white bands, who does not see that it designates either the ardor of charity or the light of knowledge accompanied by the band of chastity? A priest wears the names of the fathers inscribed on stones of this kind when, following the example of preceding just men, he devotes constant zeal to charity, chastity, humility, teaching, and the other works of virtue. And this on each shoulder, so that whether someone from the Jews or from the Gentiles is present, he may always behold in the teacher the brightness of truth and piety, through which he himself may advance to better things.

"You shall make chains in the breastplate," etc. The order of the work, as far as it seems to us, was this: There were two hooks placed above at the two corners of the ephod, and opposite them two rings at the two upper corners of the breastplate. From these hung two golden chains, which at the time of vesting were inserted into the hooks that projected at the corners of the ephod, as is written more clearly in what follows, so that the ephod and the breastplate might be bound to each other. The upper connection has been described thus far. There follows the lower connection, which was beneath the armpits. Scripture adds thus:

"You shall also make two golden rings," etc. What it says, "And in the edges which are opposite the ephod," does not mean in the edges of the ephod, but in those edges which are opposite the ephod, that is, in the edges of the breastplate, which edges are opposite the ephod. For those rings which were at the last and lowest corners of the breastplate had opposite them on each side of the ephod equally other rings, to which they were joined by binding ribbons. Concerning which it is subsequently added:

"And also two other golden rings," etc. He says "opposite the face" of the lower junction; because he had spoken before about the upper junction, which was above the shoulders. Between these junctions there was this difference, that the upper one was made with chains, while the lower one was made with binding ribbons. Hence there is fittingly added:

"And let the breastplate be fastened by its rings to the rings," etc. But it should not be thought that both garments ended at the same point. For the breastplate, which had the measure of a span in height as well as in width, was not sufficient to cover much more than the breast alone. But the ephod extended down to the girdle, as is most clearly shown in what follows, where it is written: "These fitted together both in front and behind, so that the ephod and the breastplate were bound to each other, drawn tight at the girdle and more firmly joined by rings, which a blue ribbon connected, lest they hang loose and be separated from each other." These things have been said according to the letter about the very connection of the ephod and the breastplate.

Since indeed, as has been said more often, the ephod pertains to the accomplishment of good works, while the breastplate pertains to signifying the purity of thoughts, the connection which joins these to each other rightly signifies figuratively that diligence of mind by which the understanding and faith of faithful teachers is joined with action. For the skillfully made junction remains, so that the breastplate and the ephod cannot be separated from each other, since the ruler excels with such learning and such zeal in work that he leaves nothing imperfect of those things he has recognized as needing to be done; nor does he deprive of the power of righteousness, through carelessness of heart, any of those things which he is seen to do rightly.

For the garments of the high priest flow apart and are moved from each other if either a lesser guard of the heart soils the beauty of good work, or the integrity of perfect action does not follow the chastity of pure thought. But lest these things be dissolved from each other, let the priest have in his breastplate two chains of the purest gold, that is, a continuation of chaste and unfeigned love firmly fastened to his heart; which may never allow his hands and tongue to disagree with the fairness of pure understanding. And well are there two, so that both in those things which pertain to the worship of divine service and in those which pertain to the aid of fraternal necessity, he may walk fitly adorned.

And indeed the work of charity is clearly expressed by the golden chains; because just as a chain is woven as one from many slender rods of gold, so charity is perfected from the manifold operation of virtues. Explaining these very rods, the Apostle says: "Charity is patient, is kind: charity does not envy, does not act wrongly, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not think evil, does not rejoice over iniquity; but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Cor. 13).

They also have golden rings, from which those same chains may hang; that is, the constant memory of perpetual and never-ending glory in the heavenly fatherland, from which memory alone it usually happens that the continuous bonds of charity may remain with us. He had two hooks projecting at the corners of the ephod, into which the chains might be inserted, that is, at the very beginning of every good action he should have a firm intention of pleasing God, which may be suited in all things to receiving and containing within itself the love of God and neighbor; so that whether prosperous or adverse things occur, he may never loosen the most salutary restraints of pious devotion.

For this is what it means for the priest to have hooks on each shoulder to receive the chains of the breastplate: that both in prosperous and in harsh events he should maintain a fixed zeal of pleasing God, and by the intention of this zeal should be strengthened in love both of God and of neighbor. The hooks of the ephod therefore insert themselves into the golden chains which are offered from the top of the breastplate; when the eagerness of working well gladly embraces and receives what the mind reasonably tastes from the inward light of charity, lest perhaps the most beautiful garment of the breastplate slip too quickly from the priest's breast, if the persevering hook of good work does not seize and hold it.

Let blue ribbons also be added to aid those same chains, by which both garments of the priest may be joined to each other; that is, the strongest bonds of heavenly desire, which, inserted into the golden rings, bind the ephod together with the breastplate; when, having recognized the light of the eternal fatherland, we sigh for that ineffable glory; assuredly, that we may deserve to enter it, we strive to serve the Lord always with harmonious faith and life, work and profession, in the tabernacle of the present Church.

That the ephod was drawn tight by a girdle is indicated more clearly in what follows, where the high priest was being clothed; and he says, "He placed the ephod upon him, and binding it with the girdle, he fitted it to the breastplate." Who does not see that the most faithful guardian of good works is the virtue of self-control? Concerning which the Lord says in the Gospel: "Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning" (Luke 12). Loins girded, that is, through self-control; lamps burning, that is, through the practice of virtues.

"And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment," etc. Indeed the priest ought always to carry the memory of the fathers in his breast; but especially then, when he ascends to the altar to minister before the Lord, so that the more sacred the ministry, the more carefully he may cleanse himself with all zeal, adorning himself with all diligence of mind and body, and may look to the examples of the saints; and being a diligent imitator of these, may take care to present himself fit for the divine gaze.

Likewise Aaron bears the names of the children of Israel upon his breast as a memorial before the Lord forever, when every faithful bishop never ceases to have care for those over whom he has been placed; but strives constantly to strengthen their lives by exhorting, rebuking, and consoling, and to commend them to the Lord in frequent prayers for their strengthening and protection.

"And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment doctrine and truth," etc. Doctrine and truth were placed in the breastplate of judgment, whether impressed with letters or set there only by the sacrament of the name, so that the high priest, clothed in that same garment, might remember that he had been consecrated through his received priesthood to the pursuits of seeking doctrine and truth, not to caring for and prying into secular affairs; so that what shone outwardly as a type in the garment might gleam within his heart, truly expressed.

Likewise doctrine and truth were placed in the breastplate, so that it was openly prefigured that that garment did not only clothe the legal high priest, but also foretold the Gospel, that is, the Lord Himself, of whom it is written: "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1). Or certainly His apostles, indeed all the heralds of that same grace and truth.

"And he bore the judgment of the children of Israel on his breast," etc. The priest bears the judgment of the children of Israel on his breast in the sight of the Lord, when he examines the cases of his subjects with the sole intention of the inward Judge, so that nothing of human partiality may mingle itself in that which, placed in the role of God, he administers.

Chapter V (continued): The Tunic of the Ephod

"You shall make the tunic of the ephod entirely of blue." He calls it the tunic of the ephod, no small part of which was covered by the ephod, to distinguish it from the tunic which was the inner linen one; he likewise mentioned both above, saying: "These are the vestments they shall make: the breastplate and the ephod, the tunic and the close-fitting linen garment." The inner one was the linen or byssus garment, which is known to be the most noble kind of linen. The outer tunic was entirely blue, admitting absolutely no other color.

Whose appearance plainly teaches what the priestly life, being uniform, ought to be: that is, ceaselessly intent only upon heavenly desires, and having its conversation according to the Apostle in heaven, and from thence eagerly awaiting the coming of its Savior (Phil. 3). This tunic, just like the linen one, extended down to the feet; whence each was called in Greek "poderis" (reaching to the feet), to show that nothing base or sordid should remain in the priestly life, but everything he did, as if most beautiful with an ethereal color, ought to cover all his members from head to foot with the grace of virtues.

Likewise the priest is clothed in the full-length tunic entirely of blue, to be admonished that heavenly work must not only be begun but must also be persevered in to the end by all who wish to be saved. For to be clothed in the blue tunic down to the feet is to persist in good works to the very end of one's life, as the Lord commands and promises: "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Rev. 2). And so, since we shall arrive at the perfection of good action only by an insatiable resolve, if we begin it with the fixed intention of heavenly reward, it is rightly added concerning that same tunic:

"In the middle of which at the top there shall be an opening," etc. For the opening of the blue tunic has a very firm edge, woven from itself, so that it may not easily be torn; since the beginning of our good action is proved to be supported by the strong root of divine fear and fortified against all the snares of the ancient enemy. For such an edge clothes and adorns the neck of the priest all around, when it gives the ruler the greatest confidence for speaking to his subjects and preaching heavenly things: namely, that he himself has not only lived rightly in the course of his life, but has also begun from rectitude at its very outset, following the example of the blessed prophets Samuel, Jeremiah, and John, who were filled from infancy itself with the grace of the Holy Spirit and set apart in the order of teachers.

The voice indeed is in the throat, and therefore by the throat the use of right speaking is rightly expressed. Fittingly, when the edge of the opening was commanded to be woven around, it was immediately added: "As is customarily done at the outermost parts of garments." For just as works correspond to garments, so the very completion of works can not unfittingly be figured by the outermost parts of garments. Or certainly the outermost parts of garments are our final cares, by which all the faithful, when they are compelled to end this life, strive more intently to purge themselves from the stain of all evils.

Chapter VI: On the Pomegranates and Bells

Taking care with fear and trembling, lest being brought before the strict Judge, they be cast out for the sordid garment of vices, and be hurled into eternal darkness; but rather may they appear clothed, as the chosen saints and beloved of God, with the bowels of mercy, kindness, humility, modesty, patience: and above all these things charity, which is the bond of perfection. And therefore this is truly the wedding garment, which our King and Judge delights to find at His banquet, that is, in the holy Church.

The blue tunic of the priest therefore has a woven edge at its opening, as is customary at the outermost parts of garments; since every outstanding teacher begins the work of virtues from such great perfection as any other person, laboring for the longest time, scarcely ever attains: since he walked solicitously with the Lord his God (Mic. 6) at every hour with such great fear of service, according to the word of the prophet, as anyone who is about to die and enter upon the final judgment of his Lord can scarcely suffice to have.

But since the whole perfection of the priest consists in works and in the teaching of truth, according to what the blessed Luke says in his Gospel that he wrote an account of all that Jesus began to do and to teach (Acts 1); there is rightly added: "And at the bottom, at the feet of the same tunic, all around," etc. For at the bottom at the feet of the tunic there are made, as it were, pomegranates and bells all around, when the priest has arrived at such an excellence of devotion to God in his way of life that nothing else may be seen in him but splendor and grace, and, so to speak, the varied flower of good works: and nothing else may be heard from him when he opens his mouth but the sweetest sound of these.

For since in a pomegranate many seeds are covered within by one rind on the outside, by the pomegranates is rightly designated the manifold operation of virtues, covered on every side by the one protection of charity. The likeness of the same pomegranates is made of blue and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and, as is found in what follows, also of twisted linen; what variety of virtues is signified by these four colors has been impressed upon us more often.

Among these bells are interspersed in the middle, since neither does the priest's work ever differ from the sound of the word he speaks, nor does the sound of his tongue, terrified by adversities, disagree with the rectitude of his work. Hence it is beautifully added: "So that one bell is of gold," etc. For golden bells are inserted into the blue tunic of the high priest and are surrounded on every side, since all his speech resounds with the brightness of heavenly light, and that same sound, as if firmly set into the blue tunic, is commended to the minds of his hearers also by the sublimity of his works.

And two pomegranates are placed around each bell, and two bells around each pomegranate, since both everything he speaks is confirmed by good actions and is fixed more firmly in the hearts of his hearers, and everything he does, how reasonable it is, is made known by the measured sound of his speech. And what follows is fitting:

"And Aaron shall be vested in it for the office of ministry, that the sound may be heard," etc. For the priest entering or departing dies if the sound is not heard from him, because he provokes the wrath of the hidden Judge against himself if he walks without the sound of preaching. Now if we wish to attend to the words of Josephus, who says that there were seventy-two pomegranates on the tunic of the high priest and the same number of bells, this agrees with the figures of the mysteries: just as he was commanded to bear the apostolic number on his shoulder and breast, so also he would have the number of the seventy-two disciples assigned around his feet. For it is established that just as the number twelve of the apostles inaugurated the grade of episcopal dignity, so the seventy-two disciples, who were themselves also sent by the Lord to preach the word, marked by their election the grade of the lesser priesthood, which is now called the presbyterate. Hence their number was figured in the last part of the priestly garment, while the other was figured in the first. For it was fitting that those who were to be greater in rank in the body of the high priest -- that is, in the Church of Christ -- should typically hold a more elevated place in the garments of the typical high priest.

But if anyone wishes to interpret mystically the numbers themselves of each order: Aaron bore twelve gems on his breast to signify that the time was at hand when the faith of the Holy Trinity would be preached to the human race in all parts of the four-cornered world. Or certainly, as we have taught above, he wore twelve gems -- that is, three times four -- to admonish all teachers that the works of justice, which are principally comprehended in the four virtues, together with the faith of truth which is in the Trinity, they should both always possess themselves and commend to their disciples. He also carried seventy-two golden bells along with the same number of pomegranates, to show mystically that this same faith and practice of justice would lead the whole world from the darkness of errors to the true light. For three days and nights contain seventy-two hours. And because the visible sun traverses all parts of the world in seventy-two hours, illuminating above and below in three circuits, fittingly this number of bells and pomegranates of diverse color was placed on the tunic of the high priest, to teach figuratively that Christ, the Sun of Justice, would illuminate the entire world and bestow upon it the gift both of true faith -- which consists in the knowledge and confession of the Holy Trinity -- and of good works, which consist in the flower and splendor of various virtues.

We can indeed also understand this as figuratively expressed in the number twelve of the gems of the breastplate: that the same Sun of Justice would fill all our times and all regions of our world with His light, after the example of the earthly sun, which is accustomed to traverse the zodiacal circle through twelve months and to encompass the whole world. For also the fact that the four rows in the breastplate had three stones each agrees with the order of the revolving year, which is divided into four seasons by groups of three months. Moreover, that in the Scriptures the whole time of our salvation -- during which we strive for eternal reward -- is called a "year," the Savior Himself testifies, who according to the word of Isaiah was sent to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of recompense (Isaiah 61). And the Psalmist sings of the same year, saying: "You shall bless the crown of the year of Your goodness" (Psalm 64). For to those to whom He has given in the present the goodness of right faith and works, He will give on the day of recompense the crown of perpetual blessing.

Chapter VII: The Golden Plate

"You shall also make a plate of the purest gold," etc. The golden plate on the forehead of the high priest, on which "Holy to the Lord" or "Holy of the Lord," as it is called in the following passages, was engraved, was more sacred than his other garments. And deservedly so, because just as divine power is supreme over all that He created, so it was fitting that His name, surpassing the rest of the high priest's attire and adornment, should stand forth more prominently and, as it were sanctifying all things, should hold a distinguished place on his forehead. It signifies that very confidence of our profession which we bear on our forehead, each of us saying with the Apostle: "But far be it from me to glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6). And rightly this one thing alone in the whole attire of the high priest was made of gold alone, to show the purity of heart or body in which we ought to keep and bear the mysteries of our redemption. Or certainly the priest bears "Holy of the Lord" inscribed in gold on his forehead, to intimate mystically that we ought so to venerate and embrace the Passion of our Lord and Savior, through which we were redeemed, that we also recognize that we must equally confess the glory of divine majesty in Him, through which we were created: so to confess the death of the humanity assumed by Him, that we also acknowledge that the same humanity soon rose from death to eternal glory.

Now "Holy of the Lord," which is commanded to be engraved on the plate, signifies His holy and venerable name, which among the Hebrews is customarily written with four vowel letters -- that is, YHWH -- whose interpretation in their language sounds "ineffable," not because it cannot be spoken, but because it cannot be encompassed by the sense or understanding of any creature. And because nothing can be said of Him worthily enough, He is most rightly called ineffable, according to that word of the Apostle: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts" (Philippians 4). And the Psalmist says: "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and of His greatness there is no end" (Psalm 144). And well was that same name of the Lord written in four letters on the forehead of the high priest, on account of the significance of the same number of parts of the Lord's cross, which we were to bear on our foreheads -- that is, the top, the right, the left, and the bottom.

Likewise, we bear "Holy of the Lord" engraved in gold on our forehead when, having been purged from the filth of vices which we inherited from our first parent, we receive again in ourselves the image and likeness of our Creator, in which we were created; and we do not conceal in secret that we have received this, but openly proclaim it to all by our deeds and our voice, according to the word of the Apostle: "As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Corinthians 15). Speaking to the Colossians, he explains this more clearly, saying: "But now lay aside all anger, indignation, malice, blasphemy, and foul speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, stripping off the old man with his deeds, and putting on the new, him who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him" (Colossians 3). Concerning this "Holy of the Lord," John also writes in the Apocalypse: "I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads" (Apocalypse 14). And again, describing the glory of the heavenly homeland, he says: "And the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads" (Apocalypse 22). Since therefore all who follow the Lamb -- that is, all the faithful -- ought to bear that same name of most sacred veneration on the very forehead of their profession, how much more is it necessary that those who, having received the priesthood and spiritual authority, have obtained the leadership of the Lord's flock, should show in themselves an example of virtue to all?

The plate which contains "Holy of the Lord" is bound with a ribbon of hyacinth to the tiara of the high priest; because we are strengthened in faith by the hope of heavenly goods, which the hyacinth signifies, and we strive all the more closely to preserve inviolate either the sacraments of our redemption or the image and likeness of our Creator and Redeemer, the more we have recognized that there is no other path of salvation. The figure of the tiara will be discussed in its proper place in what follows.

But since a priest of such diligence must be of such merit before God that he is able to correct and chastise the sins of the people by his exhortation, rebuke, and admonition, and to wash them away by his prayers, there rightly follows: "And Aaron shall bear their iniquities," etc. For the high priest bears the iniquities of those under him -- that is, he carries them away and removes them -- when either by teaching he provokes them to repentance for their offenses, or by interceding for the penitent he wins for them the grace of the just Judge. He does this through the gifts and offerings which they themselves have offered to the Lord and sanctified, when on account of good works and fruits worthy of repentance -- that is, alms and other works of justice which they have performed -- he absolves the penitent from the guilt of the crimes they once committed.

These things to be carried out in this manner, divine institution both mystically figured in the garments of the high priest and openly taught in the words of sacred Scripture. But how differently, alas, some of the prelates act, who wish to receive -- indeed, to demand -- gifts and offerings from the people, yet take no care to labor for their iniquities, that these might be carried away and corrected and that they might receive pardon. They should accept temporal gifts from their subjects only because they have corrected them from error by preaching eternal goods and have led them to the way of truth, in imitation of the first teachers of the holy Church, who confidently said to those from whom they received temporal support: "If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great matter if we reap your material things?" (1 Corinthians 9).

But since every bishop or minister of the word can labor effectively for those under him -- whether by preaching the word or by supplicating the Lord -- only if he is ever mindful of the divine name itself, there fittingly follows: "And the plate shall always be on his forehead," etc. For if the plate inscribed with the name of the Lord is always on Aaron's forehead, the Lord will be favorable to the children of Israel; because when the teacher himself has faithfully submitted himself with a pure mind to divine service, soon also those under him, kindled by his examples and admonitions, themselves strive to live rightly and to merit the grace of the interior Beholder.

Chapter VIII: The Linen Tunic and the Tiara

"You shall gird the tunic with fine linen." This is the inner tunic, which he above calls the close-fitting linen garment. Why it was called a close-fitting linen garment, or why it is commanded to be girded with fine linen, has already been explained above; and now this must be added: soldiers are accustomed to have linen garments, which they call shirts, so fitted to their limbs and close to their bodies that they are unencumbered either for running or for battle -- for casting javelins, holding shields, wielding swords, and wherever necessity may lead. Such a garment Joab is recorded to have had when he killed Amasa (2 Kings 20), close-fitting to the measure of his frame. Therefore the priests also, prepared for the ministry of God, use this tunic so that while having the beauty of vestments, they may move about with the swiftness of the unclad.

This tunic, because like the hyacinth one it reached down to the feet, was itself called in Greek "poderis," that is, reaching to the ankles, whose mystical meaning is ready at hand. For since it is established that by linen or fine linen the continence and chastity of our body is signified, as has been frequently explained above, the priests have a close-fitting linen garment -- that is, a tunic of fine linen -- when they guard the resolution of continence not feebly and with a wavering mind, but with such earnest persistence that the flesh wages no war of concupiscence against the spirit, nor the spirit against the flesh. They have a close-fitting linen garment when, with the soul wholly desiring and longing, their heart and flesh together exult with kindred fellowship in the courts of the Lord, in the living God. This linen garment is not only close-fitting but also reaching to the feet -- that is, descending all the way to the feet -- when continence is not violently imposed on any one member but is delightfully perfected throughout the whole body.

For this linen garment should bind the hands and arms of the priest, so that they do nothing unless it is useful; the breast, so that it thinks nothing vain; the belly, so that by craving delicacies beyond measure he does not presume to make God serve his gluttony; also the members below the belly, so that by indulging lust they do not corrupt the entire beauty of the priestly garment; the knees, so that they do not grow sluggish from the pursuit of prayer; the legs and feet, so that they do not run toward evil. Let the priest therefore first be clothed in the close-fitting linen garment, so that he may restrain both his body from wicked works and his mind from depraved thoughts. Then let him receive the hyacinth garment, so that after the discipline of salutary continence, he may equally adorn both body and soul with the garment of spiritual virtues.

But since there are five senses of the body -- sight, taste, smell, hearing, and touch -- of which the first four properly belong to the head and the last is common to the whole body, this tunic, which we have described, properly signifies both the continence of touch and justice. Consequently, how the innocence of the other four senses must be guarded and their sanctification sought is shown by the figurative garb of the high priest, when it says: "And you shall make a tiara of fine linen." For the tiara, which was also called a turban and a mitre, covered and adorned the head of the high priest, so that by this garment he might be reminded to keep all the senses of the head consecrated to God: that his eyes should not see vanity, nor his ears readily receive reproach against his neighbor by willingly listening, nor his mouth abound in malice and his tongue fashion deceit; nor should his heart be weighed down with surfeiting and drunkenness, nor his sense of smell embrace the bed of a harlot sprinkled with myrrh, aloe, and cinnamon.

Rather, his eyes should see equity, his ears should be inclined to hear words of wisdom, the words of the Lord should be sweeter to his palate than honey and the honeycomb, as long as breath remained in him he should not speak iniquity nor depart from his innocence. Care must also be taken regarding the fifth sense, which is common to the whole body, so that that prophetic word may be fulfilled: "Depart, depart, go out from there, do not touch what is unclean" (Isaiah 52). And as the Apostle admonishes: "Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7).

How this tiara was made, Josephus teaches (Antiquities III, 2), saying: "Upon his head he wears a cap in the shape of a small rod or helmet, which extends above the crown of the head and slightly exceeds the middle of the vertex; and it is such that it appears to be made from a weave of linen, having bands which, wound around repeatedly, hold it together and do not easily slip off." This same Josephus relates that upon this cap was added another larger covering which concealed the entire surface of the head, fitted perfectly so that it would not fall off while the priest was laboring at the sacrifices; though he does not indicate what color it was. And these things indeed concern the cap of the lesser priest.

Concerning the tiara of the high priest, he testifies in this manner: "The high priest has a cap worked in the same way as the first, just like the other priests, and another sewn on and decorated with hyacinth. And a golden crown encircles it, made in three tiers, above which rises in the middle of the forehead a kind of golden cup, resembling the plant which among us is called 'acharon,' which the Greeks call 'Hyoscyamus.'" And shortly after, having described its marvelous variety, he added, saying: "It has flowers resembling plantain, and all around the whole crown is engraved with these flowers, from the back of the head to each temple; but on the forehead it does not have this -- rather, there is a golden plate on which is inscribed the name of God in sacred letters."

Concerning this second covering and the golden crowns of the high priests, Holy Scripture seems to be silent. But it made brief mention of the crowns in what follows, saying: "They also made tunics of woven work for Aaron and his sons, and mitres with their little crowns of fine linen" (Exodus 39). But it did not say of what material they were made. For when it says: "And mitres with their little crowns of fine linen," one could understand that both were made of fine linen, had not Josephus indicated that the crowns were golden -- he who, while the temple still stood and the legal observances were still celebrated, being of priestly lineage, was most easily able to know every detail of the priestly vestment, not only by reading but also by seeing.

But whether the little crowns were of fine linen or of gold, since it is established that they were made together with the mitres, let us speak briefly about their figurative meaning. Priests have mitres with little crowns of fine linen who guard their sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch in the beauty of chastity in such a way that they hope to receive for this same guardianship the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him. For whoever devotes himself to continence or good works in such a way that he neglects to seek the eternal rewards of recompense for these, appears indeed to have a fine linen mitre on his head, but does not have the little crowns; because he presents the image of virtue before men, but does not find the reward of virtue with the Lord.

Whether therefore the little crowns were golden, they signify the brightness of perpetual light; or whether they were of fine linen, they figuratively announce the very immortality of our body, which will be everlasting. And rightly the priest wears crowns added above the fine linen vestments, so that both in his own continence he may continually meditate on eternal rewards, and in the sanctification of continence or of good works he may at the same time promise to his hearers those same joys of heavenly blessedness; lest, if he impose the burden of labor without the hope of recompense, he make the yoke of Christ, which is sweet, and His burden, which is light, harsh and hard for his hearers.

When the Lord commanded the tiara to be made, He added: "And a belt of embroidery work." Concerning the making of this belt, it is written more clearly in what follows: "They made the girdle of twisted fine linen, hyacinth, purple, and scarlet twice-dyed, in embroidered work." This girdle, as Jerome writes from Josephus, was woven in the round in the likeness of the skin of a snake, which it sheds in old age, so that you would think it a rather long purse. It was woven under a covering of scarlet, purple, hyacinth, and a warp of fine linen, for beauty and strength, and so distinguished with embroidered art that you would think the diverse flowers and gems were not woven by the hand of a craftsman but added separately.

It had a width of four fingers, and this girdle was used properly by the high priest, and by it the hyacinth tunic and the ephod at the same time were fastened. For in what follows it is openly stated concerning the joining of the ephod and the breastplate: "These fit together both front and back in such a way that the ephod and the breastplate were mutually bound, fastened tightly to the belt and more firmly joined by rings, which a hyacinth ribbon connected so that they would not hang loosely or move apart from one another." But there is no doubt that the belt or girdle, to which the ephod was fastened, girded the hyacinth tunic, which was also called the tunic of the ephod; for all that has been said thus far pertains to the garments of the high priest. From here the belts and other garments of his sons are consequently set forth, when it says:

"Moreover, for the sons of Aaron you shall prepare linen tunics and belts," etc. Nor is it determined concerning their belts, whether they too should be made in embroidery work or of a single color, anything is determined. We must therefore speak first about the belt of the high priest, which was made of those four most noble colors worthy of God; because it was fitting that the high priest should have such a belt, he who always needed to be girded with the singular beauty of virtues. Fittingly the high priest walked girded with the varying flower of shining colors, because just as any other person must be girded with the diligence of continence lest the flesh, warring against the spirit, ever disturb the inner peace of the mind, so the high priest and teacher of the faithful, having now subdued every concupiscent motion of soul or body, ought to be clothed with the very glory of the virtues, so that, according to the example of that flower which sprang from the root of Jesse -- that is, of the Lord and Savior -- justice may be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.

As for the linen tunics, belts, and tiaras that were commanded to be made for the sons of Aaron for glory and beauty, what inner beauty and glory they commend to us can very easily be understood from what has been set forth above. For the priests have linen tunics when they dedicate their whole body to the brightness of chastity. They gird the tunics with belts when they guard that same chastity with a vigilant custody of mind, lest awareness of it make them more lazy regarding the exercise of good works, and lest through boasting of chastity they lose the very merit of chastity itself. For one who walks dressed in a full-length tunic without a belt -- the tunic hangs loose and, leaving the body, gives room for winds and cold to enter; indeed, it also slows down one's ability to walk by entangling the steps, and it even becomes a cause of falling for those who tread upon it.

Thus indeed chastity of the flesh often takes away from some people chastity of heart, since they take all the less care to persist in good works the less they perceive that the guardianship of chastity avails nothing without the increase of other goods -- which, however, when good deeds are joined to it, wins great glory for the one who possesses it. Indeed, for the foolish virgins the chastity of the flesh availed nothing, since when the bridegroom came they lacked the light of inner purity. Let the sons of Aaron therefore be girded in their linen tunics, so that they may have chastity. Let the priests be girded with belts, lest this chastity be lax and negligent; lest it give the wind of pride an opening to blow through the soul; lest, as iniquity increases, it cause their charity to grow cold; lest the boasting of their presumption impede the steps of good works; lest, with the course of virtues hindered, that very chastity itself, polluted with the filth of earthly concupiscence, become worthless, and in the end drive its possessor to ruin through pride.

Let the priests, thus girded, also receive tiaras on their heads, so that after the watchful and circumspect guardianship of bodily chastity, a custody and care worthy of God may also be maintained over sight, hearing, taste, and smell.

Chapter IX: On the Vesting and Consecration of the Priests

Aaron and his sons were indeed to be vested with all these garments, but with this distinction: that Aaron himself should use all of them, while his sons should use only the last three, which are specifically assigned to their name, when it says: "Moreover, for the sons of Aaron you shall prepare linen tunics and belts and tiaras for glory and beauty."

But what follows -- "You shall also make linen breeches," etc. -- pertains to both alike, namely both Aaron and his sons, as the very words themselves clearly demonstrate. And thus it comes about that Aaron himself is clothed with all eight garments that are mentioned: namely linen breeches, the linen tunic, the hyacinth robe, the ephod, the breastplate, the belt, the tiara, and the golden plate. But his sons use only four of these: the breeches, the close-fitting linen tunic, the girdle, and the tiara.

But since the others have been treated above, these breeches, which are commanded to be made for covering the shame of the flesh, properly designate that portion of chastity which restrains from the desire for conjugal union, without which no one can either receive the priesthood or be consecrated for the ministry of the altar -- that is, unless he has either remained a virgin or has dissolved the bonds of his marital union. This kind of virtue is not necessarily imposed upon anyone by the law of God, but is to be offered to the Lord by voluntary devotion, as He Himself says of this: "Not all receive this word" (Matthew 19). Yet He soon invites with kindly exhortation those who can, saying: "He who is able to receive it, let him receive it."

And shortly after, to those who have left either wife, or other relatives, and the entanglements of this world for His sake, He promises a hundredfold reward in this life and in the age to come eternal life. Hence, by a notable distinction, Moses is not commanded to vest Aaron and his sons with this garment, as is said of the former ones: "You shall vest your brother Aaron with all these, and his sons with him." But He says: "You shall make linen breeches to cover the flesh of their shame." Let them, He says, cover the flesh of their shame; you shall make the breeches for the high priest and his sons; you shall teach the rule of chastity; you shall intimate to those who are to exercise the priesthood that they must abstain from marital embrace.

Yet you shall impose upon no one the violent yoke of this kind of continence; but whoever wish to become priests and serve at the ministry of the altar, let them of their own accord cease to be slaves of wives. Once they have accomplished this and, having taken up the resolution of continence, consent to be ministers of the sanctuary and the altar, divine law will be at hand, which, as if imposing upon the priests the rest of the garments befitting them, will abundantly teach them how they ought to live and teach, and, rejoicing together in their voluntary devotion, will add the adornment worthy of the priesthood: wisdom, patience, gentleness, mercy, spiritual zeal, humility, fear of the Lord, and other ornaments of this kind. Otherwise, guilty of iniquity, they die.

For one incurs the most certain death of the soul if, living luxuriously, he presumes to usurp for himself the priestly grade. This meaning is also confirmed by the Lord's subsequent words, in which He shortly adds:

(Exodus 29.) "And when you have washed the father with his sons in water," etc. For here too nothing is commanded about breeches to be received from Moses; from which it is clearly evident that Aaron and his sons had first clothed themselves with this kind of garment, and thus came to the hand of Moses to be washed, to be clothed, anointed, and consecrated. And here it should be noted that Moses, about to consecrate them, first washed them with water and then imposed on them the garb of their sacred rank; because it is surely necessary that he who is to be promoted to the office of the altar should wash himself with greater than usual streams of tears or compunction at the time of his dedication, so that the cleaner he comes to receive the rank, the more perfectly he may fulfill what he has received.

One could understand in this washing the baptism of the sacred font, if there were a logical sequence: that someone elected to the priesthood would then for the first time be washed with the water of baptism for the remission of sins. But the Apostle contradicts such an ordination, saying: "Do not ordain a neophyte, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the judgment of the devil." But the high priest, once clothed with the sacred vestments, is immediately poured over with the oil of anointing, so that the consecration may be perfected through the grace of the Holy Spirit -- not that we can have the aforementioned garments of virtues without the grace of God, but because a greater help of grace must necessarily be granted by the Lord where one has either ascended to a greater rank or been placed over the governance of many.

It should be noted meanwhile that while in this book of Exodus Aaron is declared to be clothed with eight garments, in Leviticus a ninth seems to have been added -- namely a sash with which the linen tunic was girded before he put on the hyacinth robe. For thus it is written: "And when he had washed them, he clothed the high priest with the linen undergarment, and girding him with the sash, and clothing him with the hyacinth tunic; and he placed the ephod over it, which, fastening with the girdle, he fitted the breastplate to it" (Leviticus 8). But how this was done is clearly apparent from the things that have been explained -- the figure of the intellectual vestment.

Chapter X: On the Four Colors of the Priestly Vestments, the Four Elements, and the Consecration of Priests

But because we have briefly touched upon the priestly garb, following the sayings of the Fathers, we have thought it noteworthy that those four distinguished colors, of which it was made, are matched by a fitting comparison with the same number of elements of the world. Fine linen or flax corresponds to the earth, because they are born from it; purple to the waters, because it is dyed from marine shellfish; hyacinth and scarlet to the air and fire because of the similarity of color. And the scarlet was twice-dyed because fire is endowed with a twofold power: that of giving light and that of burning.

And the Hebrews say that the reason the high priest bore in his garb the figure of all the elements was that he was obliged to offer sacrifice and pray not only for Israel but for the whole world. To which we may perhaps not unfittingly add that in every individual human being is contained the figure of all the elements: fire in warmth, air in breath, water in moisture, earth in the very solidity of the limbs. Hence man is also called by the natural philosophers in Greek "microcosmos," that is, a "lesser world." And if you ask what the gold in the same garment signifies according to this understanding, understand by it the rational virtue of the inner man. Hence it was on this part in particular that "Holy of the Lord" was inscribed: because it is only through this rational power that anyone ascends to the knowledge of his Creator. For the Apostle says that Christ dwells through faith in our hearts in the inner man (Ephesians 3).

And therefore Scripture shows us the high priest of the Old Testament thus clothed, so that the high priest of our own time too may know that he ought to intercede for the entire human race, but especially for those who have known the truth and bear the sign of faith upon their forehead, with the Apostle admonishing and saying: "I urge therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings, and for all who are in positions of authority" (1 Timothy 2).

But if in the high priest whom Moses consecrates we understand the Lord and Savior, He rightly bears in His garb the figure both of the whole world and of man. For He is, as the Apostle says, the brightness of glory and the figure of the substance of God the Father, and upholding all things by the word of His power. He is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world; He is the priest forever, illustrious with every ornament of holiness -- not one that He merited after being born in the flesh through the exercise of labor, but one that He received all at once when incarnate in the womb of the Virgin, with the grace of the Holy Spirit coming upon Him (Hebrews 1).

Most beautifully commending the intercession of His priesthood on our behalf, the Apostle says: "But because He remains forever, He has an eternal priesthood; hence He is also able to save forever, approaching God through Himself, always living to intercede for them" (Hebrews 7). And equally commending the garments and ornaments of His virtues, he added: "For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens" (Hebrews 7). He indeed had the golden plate upon His head, on which was engraved "Holy of the Lord"; because He came in the name of the Father, saying: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me"; and, "He who sees Me sees the Father also" (John 14).

Thus far the heavenly oracle has designated what the garb of Aaron and his sons ought to be. There follows from here also the manner of consecration by which either they themselves or the tabernacle with all its furnishings ought to be dedicated.

Namely, with a bullock offered to the Lord, etc. All these things, indeed, figuratively demonstrate that whether the devotion of good works and the purity of faith, or the grace of divine illumination, they are consecrated through priests alone. For who does not know that the immolation and blood of those animals designate the death and sprinkling of the blood of our Lord, through which we are both to be absolved from sins and to be confirmed in good works? And what mystery of the Savior the unleavened bread contains, the Apostle teaches, saying: "Therefore let us feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

The cakes and wafers were sprinkled or smeared with oil, so that we might be admonished to have works not only corrected from the leaven of malice and wickedness, but also enriched with the richness of charity, worthy of the divine sight. Or certainly we offer to the Lord a cake sprinkled with oil for our consecration when all that we do grows rich through the inward grace of the Holy Spirit in the devotion of our heart. We offer wafers smeared with oil when we also show men outwardly, beyond doubt, as an example of living, that the things we do are worthy of the Spirit. By these offerings our consecration is accomplished, when through good works and pure thoughts we gain for ourselves the merit of holiness, the Lord granting it. And when the commands of this consecration of Aaron and his sons are fulfilled, Scripture returns to prescribe also the making of the altar of incense, upon which the same Aaron was to burn daily incense.

Chapter XI: On the Altar of Incense

(Exodus 30.) "You shall also make an altar for burning incense," etc. If the altar of holocaust, about which we spoke above, generally designates the life of the righteous, who are accustomed to crucify their flesh daily with its vices and concupiscences and to offer themselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord, what does this altar made for burning incense signify, if not the special life of certain perfect ones? For it was not in vain that on the one altar the flesh of animals was burned, and on this one incense was offered; but because on the former were figured those who do not walk according to the desires of the flesh, but as if immolating these to the Lord, dedicate all the senses of their body to His will through the fire of the Holy Spirit; while on the latter is expressed the type of those who, with a greater perfection of mind, having utterly extinguished and subdued all the allurements of the flesh, offer to the Lord only the vows of their prayers -- having nothing of the flesh to assault them, nothing of the consciousness of sin to trouble and frighten them, but with a profusion of sweet tears desiring to come and appear before the face of God.

Hence fittingly this altar was placed inside near the veil and the ark, while the other was placed outside before the tabernacle; because the latter group certainly shine forth before all in the sight of the holy Church as an example of virtues, while the former, by the ardor of a loftier desire, draw not a little near to the contemplation of future blessedness even while detained in the body. Fittingly the one is commanded to be covered with bronze, the other with gold: for bronze is more resonant than other metals and long-lasting, while gold, as much as it is surpassed in sound, so much does it excel bronze in splendor. Hence certainly the bronze altar, on which the flesh was burned and the blood of victims was poured, bears the type of those who, having subdued the pleasures of the flesh and as it were immolated them to God, perseveringly follow through on the way of truth which they once began, and also sound forth to their neighbors that they should walk this way, by frequent preaching.

Furthermore, the golden altar is fittingly adapted to those who are more abundantly illuminated by the grace of heavenly brightness, but who reveal less by speaking to others what they taste in secret of that inward sweetness: they are less able to express by speaking forth how great is the sweetness with which they themselves are refreshed within, in the hidden place of God's countenance. Fittingly also, the altar of incense, as much as it excelled in the brilliance of its metal, was that much smaller in size; because the holier people are in the Church, the fewer they are. Fittingly both altars are commanded to be made of the same setim wood, which we have said is similar to white thorn and incorruptible: because there is one sincerity of unfeigned faith with which the hearts of all the elect must be fortified and prepared to receive the fire of charity and to offer libations of virtues to God. For the Apostle speaks generally to all, small and great alike, saying: "Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7). Which is to say in other words: Let us cut away and remove from ourselves the thickets of vices and the stinging thorns of temptation, which the earth of our body has been accustomed to produce for us from the sin of the first transgression, and as if with a certain double-axe of diligent correction, let us vigorously cultivate both our inner and outer man, so that he may become worthy, having received the fire of the Holy Spirit, to offer a sacrifice of virtues in the sight of his Creator. Fittingly one and the same fire burned the victims on this altar and the incense on that one; because there is one Spirit who gives life to the minds of all the faithful with the varying grace of His gifts.

The altar of incense was square, having one cubit in length and another in width, but two in height. The length pertains to the long-suffering of patience, as was said in the exposition of the altar of holocaust; the width to the amplitude of charity; the height pertains to the loftiness of hope, through which in the endurance of temporal labors and in the cheerfulness of charity we rejoice with a sincere mind. The length and width of the altar are each one cubit, when the highest and most perfect men in the Church, with an eye to nothing other than eternal recompense, both bear temporal evils with equanimity and bestow through charity whatever good things they can upon their neighbors.

Likewise, because "charity is patient and kind." Patient, that is, to bear the injury inflicted by a neighbor; kind, so that it may also show offices of loving-kindness to the one whose adversities it bears, when that person is in need. Rightly the altar of incense is commanded to be made square in length and in width, to intimate that the soul of the perfect, with its virtues allied to one another, is as able to bear a brother as it is to love him, and as much as it can endure his trouble through patience, so much can it bestow upon him the kindness of its loving devotion.

It has two cubits in height because the elect hope to receive a twofold reward in the future life: one of the rest of souls, when, putting off this corruptible and mortal body, they shall have entered the heavenly kingdom; the other when, having received back the same body now incorruptible and immortal, they will exult more perfectly in the presence of their Creator, the prophetic promise being fulfilled which says: "In their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs" (Isaiah 61).

"The horns shall proceed from it," etc. In the Scriptures, horns customarily designate the eminence of faith and virtues, by which we ought to blunt and overcome the attacks of the ancient enemy that come against us, saying with the prophet to the Lord: "Through You we will toss our enemies with our horn" (Psalm 48). And he soon declared what he meant by this horn, adding: "And in Your name we will despise those who rise up against us." Just as, on the contrary, sometimes the wars of vices, which strive to overthrow us, are customarily indicated by the name of horns. The Lord, embracing both briefly through the prophet, said: "And I will break all the horns of sinners, and the horns of the righteous shall be exalted" (Psalm 75). Hence it is well determined in the law that only horned animals are clean and fit for the people of God to eat. For the animals that chew the cud and have cloven hooves are also known to be horned; so that it is mystically shown that only those can be incorporated into the Church of God by spiritual union who are proved unconquered by the strength of faith in the battles against vices. Moreover, the horns proceed from the altar of incense itself, because the elect display their works of virtue not merely in outward appearance before the faces of men, but exercise them from the inner root of the mind, with a fixed and immovable disposition. But on the contrary, hypocrites, as if with horns borrowed from elsewhere, having the appearance of piety, deny its power. To them Aesop's fable aptly applies, in which he relates that a crow adorned with peacock feathers wrapped around it boasted in vain of its beauty, and was nearly stripped by the jealous rage of the peacocks of all the virtue of its feathers and of its very life.

The altar is clothed with the purest gold when all the perfect shine with the true light of interior wisdom, when in all that they do they display the splendor of charity as if it were the glory of their daily attire, when they show to all who see or hear them that the memory of perpetual brightness is always present within them, when they make manifest that they think of and seek above all things the kingdom of God and His justice. And it is well that the grate of the altar, as well as the walls and the horns, are commanded to be clothed with gold. For the grate was indeed inside in the middle of the altar, prepared to receive the incense. The walls, however, were visible on the outside, and the horns, also projecting outward, rose higher with a special peak. Now the grate is gilded when in our inner man the grace of Christ shines through faith. The walls are gilded when that same grace of the Lord's love extends itself outward through good works. The horns too are gilded when that very confidence of the fortitude of the righteous, by which they have learned to bear the adversaries of truth bravely through patience, or to refute them prudently through wisdom, or to correct them, gleams with the splendor of interior light in all things.

And since such men can now say: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of justice" (2 Tim. 4), it is rightly added: "And you shall make for it a little golden crown round about." For the little golden crown is made around the altar of incense when the saints await eternal rewards for the deeds they remember having done on our behalf. And the crown is well placed all around the altar, so that all that they have done may be shown to be worthy of heavenly recompense, and nothing may remain in such persons that, after release from the flesh, would need to be purified by purgatorial fire. Likewise the altar of incense has a golden crown round about even for those who, although they are lesser in merits and do not dare openly to declare that a sure reward for their good fight and preserved faith is laid up for them, nevertheless do all that they do with the intention of pleasing God and the hope of receiving that same heavenly reward. It follows:

"And two golden rings under the crown," etc. In these rings, by which the altar was carried, just as was explained above regarding the altar of burnt offering, the ark, and the table, the four books of the Gospels can fittingly be understood, by whose faith and teaching the saints are carried and, lifted up from earthly thoughts, are borne through the desert of this life by the daily progress of good works toward their heavenly homeland. But because there four rings are clearly commanded to be made, two on one side and two on the other, while here, with the number four left unspoken, two rings are made on each side: certainly there the number of the evangelists shines more openly, but here there is also some other spiritual mystery that pertains especially to the love of God and neighbor. For on each side the altar is encircled with golden rings, because the heart of the elect is strengthened on both sides by the love of God and neighbor.

Which is well compared to rings, because when prophecy has been abolished at the end, knowledge destroyed, and tongues have ceased, charity itself will never cease. There are two rings on each side, because each commandment of charity is distinguished by a twofold virtue. For the love of God is perfected through sincerity of faith and purity of life (Heb. 11); for without faith it is impossible to please God, and faith without works is dead (James 2). The prophet embraces both in a single verse, saying: "The righteous shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2); openly intimating that one will come to life only if he has had works of justice together with faith in the truth. So also fraternal love consists in a twofold virtue, namely patience and kindness, as the Apostle testifies, who says: "Because charity is patient, it is kind" (1 Cor. 13). Whence the Lord also says: "Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you" (Luke 6); namely, in forgiving debts, teaching patience; in giving necessities, the grace of kindness. In the one, that we may bravely bear the troubles of our neighbors; in the other, that we may joyfully bestow our goods upon our neighbors.

The altar therefore has two rings on each side, because the saints are girded with the twofold perfection of charity, both for the honor of their Creator and for the care and service of their neighbor. And gilded poles are inserted into those rings so that the altar may be carried, because such persons receive with the ready embrace of their minds the most illustrious sayings of the preceding Fathers, by which, suspended more and more from earthly things, they are carried away to the love of eternal goods. For the fact that such persons draw near to heavenly things in mind and merit is mystically indicated also by the following words, when it is said:

"And you shall place the altar before the veil," etc. For the ark, as was explained in its proper place, represents the Lord and Savior; the veil that hung before the ark signifies heaven itself, whose heights the Lord, having conquered death, penetrated; so that, as the Apostle says, He might now appear before the face of God for us (Heb. 9). And the altar stands before the veil that was hung in front of the ark, because the entire intention of the righteous is directed toward the entrance of the heavenly kingdom. It stands before the mercy seat, by which the ark is covered, because they draw near to the vision of their Creator by purity of mind, even though in body they still have their manner of life in heavenly things.

Chapter XII: On Burning Incense upon the Altar

"And Aaron shall burn incense upon it," etc. It is established that incense or thymiama expresses the power of prayer, as the Psalmist says: "Let my prayer be directed as incense in Your sight" (Psalm 140). And in the Apocalypse of John, he saw the saints holding golden bowls full of fragrant spices. Which he immediately explained by adding: "Which are the prayers of the saints" (Rev. 5). And since Aaron, as was said above, designates both the supreme high priest Himself, namely the Lord and Savior, and also the priests of our own order: Aaron burns sweet-smelling incense on this altar in the morning, either when the Lord Himself, having illuminated the hearts of the faithful, urges them to the sweetness of prayer with the new radiance of His grace, or when those who share in His priesthood rouse the faithful by diligent exhortation to entreat the face of their Creator.

Moreover the priest burns incense not only in the morning, but also in the evening. For incense is burned in the morning so that at the beginning of every good thing that we plan to do by God's inspiration, we may invoke His help to bring it to completion. But in the evening, so that when we complete what was well begun, we may render vows of thanksgiving to Him from whom we received it, for the things He has given. Or certainly, because in the morning when the sun has risen, we see everything around us clearly; but when evening comes upon us, we grow dim with uncertain sight. And therefore we need the light of a lamp so that we may see what we wish.

Those mysteries or sayings of our Redeemer that we are able to discern clearly, even according to the order of human reason and to our own measure, we behold as if in daylight. But in whatever matters human reason falls short, and only the authority of Scripture is to be followed by us, there the eye of our understanding grows dim as if in night. But the lamp of the word of God assists our feet, lest they stumble and stray from the way of truth. For hence Peter, speaking of the mystery of the Lord's faith, says: "And we have the more firm prophetical word, to which you do well to attend, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 Peter 1).

Well therefore it is said: "And Aaron shall burn sweet-smelling incense upon it; in the morning when he trims the lamps, he shall burn it, and when he sets them up in the evening." For in the morning Aaron burns incense upon the altar, when the Lord inflames the hearts of the faithful with the grace of compunction in those mysteries of truth that they are now able to understand. He shall burn it also in the evening, when he sets up the lamps, because even from those things which they cannot yet grasp, since they do not doubt that these too are holy and divine, He forms them to the love of heavenly things, where all secrets are laid open. And the incense smells sweetly when, touched with sudden compunction from God, they find it sweet to give themselves solely to tears and prayers. And it well follows:

"He shall burn perpetual incense before the Lord," etc. Because it is assuredly necessary that the mind, after prayer and weeping, should not turn aside to idle words or deeds, but should guard itself in the same vigor of devotion that it received in prayer, even after prayer is ended; according to the example of Hannah, of whom it was said when she was praying: "And her countenance was no more changed to different expressions" (1 Kings 1).

"You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition." In the following parts of this book, from which aromatics this incense was to be composed is designated by name: namely stacte and onyx, galbanum of good odor and the brightest frankincense, all of which are known to pertain to the signification of eternal goods, which are principally to be sought from the Lord. Therefore no incense of a different composition than what the Lord established is to be offered upon the golden altar; because we ought not to seek anything else from the Lord in prayer than what He Himself commanded and promised to give; nor should we believe anything else about Him than what He Himself taught.

"No victim is to be offered upon it," etc. For all these things pertain to the outer altar, which designates the life of beginners and of those still making progress. For so great is the sublimity of the life of the perfect and righteous that nothing carnal that they would need to sacrifice to the Lord can be found in it. And indeed the libations of wine are known sometimes to designate a great virtue of spiritual grace, that is, either the cup of doctrine, or the chalice of suffering, or the fervor of extraordinary love, or the very reception of the Holy Spirit, or something of this kind. But whenever the wine of libations is offered together with the flesh of victims, it assuredly designates, according to the tropological interpretation, the holiness of those who still have something of carnal concupiscences that opposes the purity of spirit and that must be burned by the fire of the Holy Spirit on the altar of the heart.

But the perfect and righteous, who can say: "My heart and my flesh have failed, God of my heart, and God is my portion forever"; as though the libations of victims, which pertain to that altar placed outside, have ceased, they offer within, on the golden altar, only the spices of heavenly desire to the Lord; because, having been made more secure regarding the forgiveness of sins, they mourn only for the delayed entrance into the everlasting kingdom, and water their couch every night with the sweet streams of their tears. Concerning this altar it is still well added:

"And Aaron shall pray upon its horns," etc. For our supreme high priest once in a year offered His own blood for the sin of the whole world. In that year, namely, of which He Himself says through Isaiah: "Because He has come to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Isa. 61); that is, in this entire time during which He deigned to join the Church to Himself. Once also He gave to each one of the faithful the washing of the sacred font, in the mystery of His blood, for the loosing of the bonds of sins, and with a beautiful distinction of figures in every way. For the pontiff is commanded once a year to pray upon the horns of the altar in the blood of the offering, but to burn sweet-smelling incense upon it daily; because our Lord and Savior, who daily kindles His faithful with the grace of interior compunction, once redeemed them by the sacrifice of His blood, conquering death. The faithful themselves, who are accustomed to wash away their daily sins with daily prayers and tears, rejoice that they have once been absolved from all sins through the sacrament of His passion. And He shall pray upon the horns of the altar, because He Himself not only prayed for men while living among men, but even now, sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven, He intercedes for us, and dwelling in the hearts of the elect through faith, while He stirs them to prayer, He Himself is rightly said to pray. And Aaron shall pray upon the horns of the altar, when the Lord commends His elect to the Father through the memory of the virtues they have performed. Finally, as if touching the horns of the golden altar, He speaks of the devotion of His disciples: "Those whom You gave Me out of the world were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You gave Me are from You" (John 17). For whom He also added in prayer: "I pray for these, not for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, because they are Yours" (Ibid.).

And because on account of the merits and intercessions of exalted men, the Lord frequently has mercy on our weakness, it is rightly added: "And he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations," etc. For Aaron makes atonement upon the altar of incense when, on account of the justice of the saints whom we seek as our intercessors and patrons, the Lord is propitiated. For example, when Hezekiah was besieged by enemies and invoked His help, He said: "And I will save this city, and I will protect it for My sake, and for the sake of David My servant" (4 Kings 19). So also Moses, interceding for the sinning people, made mention of the fathers, and as if praying upon the horns of the altar, sought to appease the Lord: "Let Your wrath cease," he said, "and be appeased regarding the wickedness of Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, saying: I will multiply your seed like the stars of heaven" (Exod. 32).

We can indeed also interpret these altars in this way: that the bronze altar, on which the flesh of victims was burned and their blood was poured out, represents the entire Church of this present age, in which no one is without sin, even if his life upon the earth has been but a single day. No one who has been born carnally from the sin of Adam's transgression can avoid the need to be reborn in Christ and be cleansed by the fire of His Spirit. But the golden altar signifies the Lord Himself, who by a wondrous and ineffable ordering drew true flesh from Adam, yet was truly immune from the sin of Adam's flesh; just as both altars were indeed made from wood of one and the same kind, but not both were covered with gold. Moreover, on this altar nothing carnal was offered, but only spices were burned; because the Lord, in pouring out prayers and tears, did this not for His own faults, which were none, but for our salvation.

For just as the ark placed within the veil signifies the God-man sitting at the right hand of majesty on high, so the altar placed outside the veil indeed, but near its entrance, can figuratively express the same Mediator between God and men, living among men in a human manner indeed, but penetrating the interior of the heavens by the power of His divinity. The altar of incense stood in the sanctuary, where also the lampstand and the table were; because "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1). The ark stood within the veil; because the same Lord Jesus, after His passion and resurrection, was taken up into heaven and sits at the right hand of God.

Upon the horns of this altar Aaron prays in the blood that was offered for sin, and he makes atonement upon it, because the priests, praying for the people of God or for their own ignorance, trust that they are to be helped through His only-begotten Son and saved through the sacrament of His passion, as the Apostle warns and says: "Through Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to God" (Heb. 13), that is, the fruit of lips confessing His name. Which can fittingly be understood also of all the elect, namely the members of the supreme priest, who worship the Father in spirit and truth. And to whom does the saying better apply than to this altar: "It shall be most holy to the Lord," of whom, about to be born into the world, the archangel said to His virgin mother: "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you," etc. (Luke 1). Having thus far described the making of the altar of incense, there still remains the description of the bronze laver, in which the priests about to enter the tabernacle would wash their hands and feet; but first one commandment of the Lord is set forth, which it is fitting for us also to touch upon briefly and to expound according to our measure.

Chapter XIII: On the Price for Individual Souls When the People Are Numbered

"When you take the sum of the children of Israel," etc. David forgot this precept when he numbered the people, and therefore by numbering them he brought a plague upon the same people. But in the spiritual sense, the sum of the children of Israel designates the sum of all the elect, whose names are written in heaven. And each one gives a price to the Lord for his soul, when he renders to Him the service of diligent devotion in good works. Otherwise there will be a plague upon them when they are counted; because assuredly perpetual vengeance awaits those who, associated with the number of the faithful in name only, refuse to offer perfect works of faith to the Lord.

And it is said of such persons: "They shall not give God their atonement, nor the price of the redemption of their soul" (Psalm 48). For the redemption of a man's soul is his riches (Prov. 13), as Solomon says: whether temporal, namely when he has distributed and given them to the poor, so that his justice may endure forever; or spiritual, that is, the very justice that he has done, either by showing mercy to the poor or by doing other good deeds. And everyone who passes to be numbered shall give half a shekel, that is, ten obols; which can most fittingly be understood by us as nothing other than the observance of the Decalogue of the law. For whoever knows how to understand this rightly has recognized that in it there is contained the fullness of both faith and works, and the promise of future recompense.

For in the first three commandments the love of God is comprehended, and in the following seven the love of neighbor; and as the Apostle testifies: "Love is the fulfillment of the law" (Rom. 13). But another mystery, by no means to be passed over, is also contained in that same number ten. For the name of Jesus among the Hebrews begins with the letter yod, and among the Greeks with iota; each of which in its own nation is the mark of the number ten. And those who, believing in Jesus Christ, bear the sign of His name, which begins with the number ten, on their forehead and in their profession, offer ten obols to the Lord as the price of their soul. And perhaps on account of the grace of this mystery the Lord testifies in the Gospel that not one iota can pass from the law (Matt. 5); because the virtue of the Decalogue, which is contained therein, and the faith of His own name, which is mystically signified therein, can never be corrupted by any disturbance of unbelievers.

"Whoever is numbered from twenty years old and above shall give the price." The number twenty signifies the conjunction of both Testaments, namely of the Law, which is written in five books, and of the Gospel, which is in four; for four times five makes twenty. From twenty years, therefore, each person is counted in the number of the people of God; because he alone is worthy of the company of the elect who both fulfills the decrees of the law spiritually understood, aided by the grace of the Gospel, according to his own measure and capacity, and expects eternal rewards in heaven from the promises of that same grace.

"The rich shall not add to the half shekel," etc. Because whether anyone is great in merits and perfect, or still tender and in the process of advancing in virtues, the same law of the Decalogue, by which he should love God and neighbor, is imposed upon all.

"And the money received, which was collected from the children of Israel," etc. The money received from the children of Israel is brought in as a memorial of them before the Lord, because whatever good we do is preserved in eternal memory with our Creator and Judge; so that from the fruits of good works that we have offered to Him, He may deign to be propitious to us. And the same money is kept for the use of the tabernacle, because from the good deeds of the righteous the conduct and actions of those who follow as the faithful in Christ are strengthened; and all the lesser ones strive to become such as they recognize those to have been whom they know to reign with the Lord.

It should be noted that the aforementioned money was to be given not according to the estimation of the common people, but according to the measure of the temple. For the measure of the temple is the disposition of divine law, which the Lord commands to be observed in His Church, and for whose observance alone He promises eternal rewards in the future. But if anyone strives to serve God according to the pleasure of human will, that person, who has not offered the money of his devotion according to the measure of the temple, with his offering rejected and cast aside, will be struck with the blow of ultimate punishment.

Chapter XIV: Description of the Bronze Laver

"And you shall make a laver," etc. In this laver, or basin as it is called in what follows, the water of baptism can principally be understood; by whose washing all who enter the doors of the Church must be purified. But since it was placed between the tabernacle of testimony and the altar of burnt offering, and since twice daily those same priests, that is in the morning and evening, when they were about to enter the altar to offer incense to the Lord, were commanded to wash in it, and yet we can be washed with the water of baptism only once; this laver more consistently commends to us the washing of compunction and tears, which we always need, but especially when we are about to approach to minister the heavenly mysteries.

For since the altar of burnt offering, on which the flesh of victims was burned for the Lord, designates the extinction of carnal concupiscences by the fire of the Holy Spirit; while the altar of incense signifies the purity of those who, having lulled all the enticements of the flesh and pacified the battle of vices, pour out tears of love solely in expectation and desire of entering heaven; rightly the laver is placed near the altar of burnt offering, in which the priests, having been washed, may enter the tabernacle and burn incense to the Lord. For the state of tears and compunction is distinguished in two ways; because first it is necessary that everyone who is converted to the Lord should pray with his tears for forgiveness of the sins he has committed.

But if he has persevered for a long time with worthy fruits of penance accompanying him, it remains that, having been made more secure about the acceptance of forgiveness of sins, already panting with desire, the time should come when he may deserve to see the face of his Creator among the most blessed choirs of angels. And whoever truly does this never bears without tears either the length of this present life or the delay of that future one, saying of this life: "Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Kedar" (Psalm 119); that is, with those who dwell in the darkness of errors and crimes; which is what the word Kedar means: he himself, now sighing for the joys of perpetual light, has led a very laborious life: who as much as he thirsts for the heavenly homeland, so much does he shudder at the neighborhood of the wicked, among whom he dwells as a sojourner.

Saying likewise of that future life: "My soul has thirsted for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?" (Psalm 41). That this thirst indeed he could not bear without tears, the following words declare: "My tears have been my bread day and night." As if he were openly saying: The longer I am kept from seeing the face of God, for whom I ardently thirst, the more sweetly am I refreshed by the bread of tears that I pour out in His memory. Therefore the altar of burnt offering suggests the tears of the penitent for the sins they have committed. The altar of incense expresses the weeping of those who rejoice over the good works they have accomplished with the Lord's help, and of those who desire the rewards they trust they will receive when the Lord recompenses them. Which weeping assuredly surpasses the former as much as gold surpasses bronze, as much as the holy of holies, where the ark of the Lord was, is known to have been set above the first tabernacle, in which the lampstand and the table of the Lord stood.

After the altar of burnt offering, however, the laver was placed, in which those who entered to the altar of incense would wash: because no one suddenly becomes perfect, but as one's merits advance, each person must first conquer the battles of vices, then as a suppliant with tears of compunction obtain from his Creator, that he who formerly shed bitter tears out of fear of punishments may be able to pour out sweet weeping for the entrance into the kingdom. But what can the base, on which the same laver was set, more fittingly be understood as than the very desire for the kingdom and for heavenly life? The cause of which is indeed so great that perfect and exalted men wash themselves daily in a fountain of tears; and what they are not yet able to enjoy perfectly by seeing the joy of interior rest, they at least taste by sighing for it. For that the tears of the perfect are figured by this washing, which was placed between the tabernacle and the altar, the very words by which it is said testify: "And when water has been put in, Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it."

For no one from the common people was commanded to wash there, but the pontiff himself and his sons, that is, priests of the lower rank, because the compunction of great men, just as their life is more perfect, so also tends to be more sublime. However, we do not say this as though only the ministers of the altar can or ought to have the virtue of such compunction; but remembering the words of blessed Peter the apostle, who, speaking to all the faithful about the cornerstone, which is Christ, says: "And you yourselves, as living stones, are built up into spiritual houses, a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices" (1 Peter 2). And what John says in the Apocalypse: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ" (Rev. 20). We admonish that all the faithful are reckoned under the mystical name of priests, as members of Christ, namely the eternal priest.

To whom also the blessed apostle Paul shows what sacrifices they ought to offer, saying: "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God" (Rom. 12). Therefore Moses established this washing not only for the ministers of the sacred altar, but also for all the perfect in whatever rank they are placed; because the law of God universally preached to all the faithful the grace of saving compunction. But if we wish to understand in the person of Aaron the great pontiff Himself, the Lord and Savior, it is established that He too was washed with the water of this laver before He entered to make His offering at the altar; because before He burned the incense of His own most sacred body on the altar of the cross for our salvation, He also shed tears out of love for us, which became most famously known in the raising of Lazarus. And it is well added:

"That they may offer incense upon it to the Lord," etc. For the death of the soul, spiritual and eternal, is to be feared, if anyone chosen for the ministry of the altar neglects to render the incense of prayers to God. Death is to be feared, if anyone presumes to enter upon the most sacred mysteries without the special washing of compunction, and to handle the holy things of the Lord with unwashed hands. Let them therefore wash their hands and feet in the water of the bronze laver, and so approach the altar. Let them therefore wash their deeds and their steps with tears, and then bring forth their hands to touch the mysteries of Christ, and set the steps of their feet in the courts of the Lord.

Which precept I consider equally applicable to those who are to be cleansed by the reception of those same sacraments, so that with more careful attention they should first examine, sift, and purge their deeds and thoughts, and so proceed to partake of the sacraments of faith, lest they deserve to hear that saying of the Apostle: "For whoever eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11); that is, by no means distinguishing with a careful and attentive mind the food of the living bread from the cheapness of common fare. These things about the laver and the entrance to the altar can also be understood very usefully in this way, although that altar principally signifies the interior vows of spiritual prayers. But what is added in conclusion must be examined more carefully:

"It shall be an everlasting statute for him," etc. For even if the laver or the altar that Moses made has been taken away, if the priesthood that he established has been changed by the new priesthood of the Church, nevertheless the everlasting statute of the washing and of spiritual incense remains in the life of the faithful; which was typologically signified by the incense of that altar and the water of that laver; just as many other things which the law commanded to be done, or foretold were to be performed or celebrated perpetually, have indeed ceased to be observed according to the letter; but according to the typical understanding they will never cease to be observed spiritually by the saints, as He who came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it testifies: "For not one iota or one tittle shall pass from the law, until all things are accomplished" (Matt. 5).

For our humility too pertains to that seed of which it was said: "Because it shall be an everlasting statute for him and for his seed through their successions"; not indeed by being born from the stock of Aaron, but by believing in Him in whom Aaron believed together with the saints of his age; of whom it was promised to Abraham: "Because in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 25). Making mention of which families, Isaiah says: "All who see them shall know them; because these are the seed whom the Lord has blessed" (Isa. 61).

Translated from Migne, Patrologia Latina, Vol. XCI.