1. The building of the tabernacle. 2, 3. Moses' writing and reading the book of the covenant. 4. Considerations of the particulars of the fabric and utensils of the tabernacle omitted. 5. One instance insisted on; the ark—The same in the tabernacle and temple—The glory of God, in what sense. 6. The principal sacred utensil. 7. The matter whereof it was made. 8, 9. The form of it. 10. The end and use of it. 11. The residence and motions of it. 12. The mercy-seat that was upon it. 13. The matter thereof. 14, 15. Of the cherubim—Their form and fashion. 16, 17. The visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel compared—Difference in them, and reason thereof. 18. Two other cherubim also in the temple. 19. The knowledge of God enjoyed under the gospel superior to the typical representations of him under the old dispensation.
1. THE people having received the law in the wilderness, and therein a foundation being laid of their future church-state and worship, which was to continue "until the time of reformation," Heb. 9:10, they had also, by God's direction, a place and building for the seat of that worship assigned unto them. This was the tabernacle erected in the wilderness, suited to their then moving state and condition; into the room whereof the temple built afterwards by Solomon succeeded, when they had attained a fixed station in the land of promise. Our apostle respecting the ordinances of that church as first instituted by Moses,—which the Hebrews boasted of as their privilege, and on the account whereof they obstinately adhered unto their observation,—insists only on the tabernacle, whereunto the temple and its services were referred and conformed. And this he doth principally, chap. 9:1–5, "Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shew-bread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat."
2. The preparation for the directions which God gave for the building of this tabernacle is declared, Exod. 24. The body of the people having heard the law,—that is, the ten words or commandments,—which was all they heard, Deut. 9:10 (what God spake to them was written in the two tables of stone), they removed unto a greater distance from the mount, Exod. 20:18. After their removal, Moses continued to receive from the Lord that summary of the whole law which is expressed, chap. 21, 22, 23. And all this, as it should seem, at the first hearing, he wrote in a book from the mouth of God: for it is said, chap. 24:4, that he "wrote all the words of the LORD;" and, verse 7, that "he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people."
3. The Jewish masters suppose that it was the book of Genesis that is there intended; for, say they, the rest of the law was not yet written, namely, before God himself had written or engraven the ten words on the two tables of stone. But this is a fond imagination, seeing the book which Moses read contained the form and tenor of the covenant made with that people at Horeb, and is expressly so called, and as such was then solemnly confirmed and ratified by sacrifice. It may therefore be supposed that there is a prolepsis used in the recording of this story, and that, indeed, the confirmation of the covenant by sacrifice, which was accompanied with the reading of the book, was not until after the third return of Moses from the mount with the renewed tables. But this also may well be doubted, seeing this sacrifice was prepared and offered by the "young men of the children of Israel," verse 5; that is, the first-born, whose office was superseded upon the separation of Aaron and his sons unto the priesthood, which God had designed before that last descent of Moses from the mount. We must therefore leave things in the order wherein they are set down and recorded. It appears, therefore, that Moses wrote the law as he received it from God. This being done, he came down and read it in the ears of the people; and he proposed it unto them, as containing the terms of the covenant that God would have them enter into. This they solemnly engaged to the performance of, and thereby had their admission into a new church-state. This being done, the whole was confirmed by sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood, to prefigure the great confirmation of the new covenant by the blood of Christ, as we shall see afterwards.
4. Things being thus settled, Moses goes up again into the mount, to receive directions for that worship of God which he appointed and enjoined unto them in that church-state whereinto they were newly admitted. And here, in the first place, the Lord instructs him in the frame and whole fabric of the tabernacle, as that which was an eminent type of the human nature of Christ, and so indispensably necessary unto the solemn worship then ordained as that no part of it could be rightly performed but with respect thereunto. This, therefore, with all the parts and utensils of it, should now come under consideration. But there are sundry reasons for which I shall omit it in this place; as,—(1.) The most material things belonging unto it must necessarily be considered in our exposition of those places in our apostle where they are expressly insisted on. (2.) Many things relating unto it, as the measures of it, some part of the matter whereof it was made, divers colours used about it, are very dubious, and some of them so absolutely uncertain that the Jews themselves can come to no agreement about them; and it is not meet to enter into the discussion of such things without more room and liberty than our present design will allow unto us. (3.) Many learned men have already travailed with great diligence and skill in the discovery of all the several concernments of the tabernacle and temple; from whom the reader may receive much satisfaction who hath a mind to inquire into these things. Add unto all this, that the writing of this part of these discourses is fallen upon such a season as affords me very little encouragement or assistance to enlarge upon it. Only, that the reader may not go away without a taste in one instance of what he might have expected in the whole, I shall choose out one particular utensil of the tabernacle, and give an account of it unto him; and this shall be the ark and its attendancies.
5. The ark was the only furniture of the most holy place, the most sacred and holy of all the utensils of the tabernacle and temple. And it was the same in them both, as is evident, 1 Kings 8:4–6. It was the repository of the covenant,—for so the law, written by the finger of God in tables of stone, is often called metonymically,—and being anointed, Exod. 40:10, became קָדָשִׁים קֹדֶשׁ, "holiness of holinesses," or most holy; a type of Him who was to fulfil the law and establish the covenant between God and man, being thereunto anointed as the Most Holy, Dan. 9:24. It was also the great pledge of the presence of God in the church; whence it is not only sometimes called his "glory," Ps. 78:61, "He gave תִפְאַרְתּוֹ," "his glory," beauty, majesty, "into the hand of the enemy," when the ark was taken,— whereon the wife of Phinehas cried, כָבוֹד אִי, "Where is the glory?" 1 Sam. 4:21, because therein the glory departed from Israel, verse 22,—but in its presence also glory was said to "dwell in the land," Ps. 85:10, כָּבוֹד לִשְׁכֹּן, because therein the Shechinah or Chabod, or glorious presence of God, dwelt and abode among his people; yea, it hath the name of God himself attributed to it, by reason of its representation of his majesty, Ps. 24:7, 9, 10.
We call it by the same name with the great vessel wherein Noah and the seed of all living creatures were preserved; but their names are far distant in the original, both in sound and signification. This was אָרוֹן, "aaron," a chest, it may be from אֹרֶן, a certain wood whereof such chests were made; that was תֵּבָה, "tebah," the name of any vessel in the water, great or small, though made with bulrushes, Exod. 2:3.
6. It was, as the principal, so the first utensil of the tabernacle that God appointed to be made, Exod. 25:10; and therein it was as the heart, from which, by a communication of sacred holiness from the presence of God, all other things belonging unto the worship of the whole were spirited and as it were enlivened. And immediately upon its entrance into the temple, the visible pledge of the presence of God therein appeared to all, and not before, 1 Kings 8:6, 10, 11.
7. The matter whereof it was made was שִׁטִּים עֲצֵי, Exod. 25:10, "shittim wood," or boards of the שִׁטָּה tree, mentioned Isa. 41:19. What wood it was is altogether uncertain, although it seems sure enough to have been none that grew in the wilderness, where the people were at the erection of the tabernacle: for these shittim boards were reckoned amongst the stores of silver and brass, and such other things as they had brought with them into the wilderness, Exod. 35:24; and that expression, אֲשֶׁר כֹל אִתּוֹ נִמְצָא, "Every one with whom was found shittim wood," intimates the rarity of it, and that, it may be, it had been preserved by them for sundry generations. There is, indeed, a place called Shittim, and Abelshittim, mentioned Num. 25:1, and chap. 33:49, but not probably from these trees. However, it was in the plains of Moab, whereunto the Israelites came not until forty years after the making of the ark. Further, then, we know nothing of the shittim tree, or of this wood; for whatever is discoursed of it, as it hath been discoursed by many, is mere conjecture, ending in professed uncertainty. Only, it seems to have been notable for firmness and duration, as continuing in the ark apparently nine hundred years, even from the making of it unto the destruction of the temple by the Chaldeans; and, it may be, it was returned to the second temple, not perishing absolutely until the covenant with that people expired six hundred years after the captivity. But herein it had the advantage of preservation from all external causes of putrefaction, by its enclosure on all parts in a covering of gold.
8. The form of the ark was of a long square chest, of small dimensions, two cubits and an half in length, one and an half in breadth, and so in height also, Exod. 25:10,—that is, according to the most approved estimation of these measures, near four feet long, and two feet and some inches broad and high; and further exactness or accuracy about these measures is of little certainty and less use. How the boards of it were joined is not mentioned. Overlaid it was with pure gold, beaten gold, pure and unmixed, וּמִחוּץ מִבָּ ת, "intus et extra, undequaque," on all the boards of it, both within and without, so that no part of the wood was anywhere to be seen or touched. Round about it,—that is, on the edge of the sides upwards,—it had (סָבִיב עָלָיו, "upon it," round about) זֵר, "a diadem," or a fringe of gold-work, such as encompassed diadems or crowns. And this זֵר, or "diadem," was put only on the ark, the table of shew-bread, and the altar of incense; intending expressions of rays of gold, as coming from זָרָה, "to scatter abroad" in the manner of rays and beams; which, Heb. 1:3, is called ἀπαύγασμα, the "brightness" of glory. And hence the rabbins speak of a threefold crown, of the ark, altar, and table;—of the last for the king; of the midst for the priest; of the first for they know not whom, as Rabbi Solomon expressly;—indeed, all representing the threefold office of Christ, for whom the crowns were laid up, Zech. 6:11, 14.
9. At the four corners, on the outside, were annexed unto it four rings of gold, on each side two. Through these rings went two staves or bars, wherewith the ark was to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites, Exod. 25:12–15; for the neglect of which service, strictly enjoined them, Num. 7:9, God made a breach on Uzzah in the days of David, 2 Sam. 6:6, 7.
10. The end wherefore God appointed the making of this ark, was to put therein הָעֵדֻת, "the testimony," Exod. 25:16; that is, the two tables of stone engraved on both sides with the ten commandments, pronounced by the ministry of angels, and written with the finger of God. Besides this there was in it nothing at all, as is expressly affirmed, 1 Kings 8:9; 2 Chron. 5:10; Deut. 10:2, 5. The appearance of a dissent from hence in an expression of our apostle, Heb. 9:4, shall be considered in its proper place.
11. This ark made at Horeb, 1 Kings 8:9,—that is, at the foot of the mountain where the people encamped,—was finished with the rest of the tabernacle on the first day of the first month of the second year of the coming of the Israelites out of Egypt, Exod. 40:1–3, being, as we have showed, the visible pledge of the presence of God amongst them, as it was placed with its tabernacle in the midst of the people whilst they were encamped in the wilderness,—the body of them being distributed into four hosts to the four quarters of heaven, Num. 2, that a blessing from thence might be equally communicated unto them all, and all might have an alike access to the worship of God,—so it was carried in their marching in the midst of their armies, with a pronunciation of a solemn benediction when it began to set forward, and when it returned unto its repository in the most holy place, Num. 10:35, 36. This was the ordinary course in the removals of the ark. In an extraordinary manner God appointed it to be carried before all the people when the waters of Jordan were divided by his power, whereor that was a pledge, Josh. 3:14–16; which the people on their own heads going afterwards to imitate, in their war with the Philistines, received a sad reward of their temerity and boldness, 1 Sam. 4.
From the wilderness the ark was carried to Gilgal, Josh. 5:10; and thence removed with the tabernacle to Shiloh, Josh 18:1. Some suppose that after this it was occasionally removed to Mizpeh, as Judges 11:11, 20:1, 21:1, 2; because it is said in those places that such things were done "before the LORD in Mizpeh." But that expression doth not necessarily infer the presence of the ark and sanctuary in that place; yea, the context seems to intimate that it was at another place distant from thence, as, chap. 20:26, 27, they went up from the place of the assembly in Mizpeh to the house of God, where the ark was. In Shechem also it is supposed to have been, from the assembly that Joshua made there, chap. 24:1; upon the close whereof he fixed a stone of memorial before the sanctuary, verse 26. But yet neither doth this evince the removal of the ark or sanctuary; for Shechem being not far from Shiloh, the people might meet in the town for convenience, and then go some of them with Joshua unto Shiloh, as is most probable that they did. From Shiloh it was carried into the field of Aphek, against the Philistines, 1 Sam. 4; and being taken by them, was carried first to Ashdod, then to Gath, then to Ekron, 1 Sam. 5; thence returned to Kirjath-jearim, 1 Sam. 6, to the house of Abinadab, 1 Sam. 7; thence to the house of Obed-edom, 2 Sam. 6; thence to Mount Zion in Jerusalem, into a place prepared for it by David, 2 Sam. 6; and from thence it was solemnly introduced into and enthroned in the most holy place of the temple built by Solomon, 1 Kings 8:6, 7. In the meantime, either occasionally or by advice, the tabernacle was removed from Shiloh, and that first place of the solemn worship of God altogether deserted, and made an example of what God would afterwards do unto the temple when his worship therein also was neglected and defiled, Jer. 7:12–14, 26:6, 9. In the temple of Solomon it continued either unto the captivity of Jehoiakim, when Nebuchadnezzar took away all "the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD," 2 Chron. 36:10, or unto the captivity of Zedekiah, when he carried away all the remaining vessels, "great and small," verse 18. Of the Talmudical fable concerning the hiding of it by Josiah or Jeremiah, with the addition of its supposed restoration at the last day, in the second book of Maccabees, I have spoken elsewhere. Whether it was returned again with the vessels of the house of the Lord, by Cyrus, is uncertain. If it was not, it was an intimation that the covenant made with that people was waxing old, and hasting unto an expiration.
12. The things that accompanied this ark in the most holy place were upon it the mercy-seat, on the ends of it two cherubim. The mercy-seat, as to its making, form, use, and disposition, is declared, Exod. 25:17. It is called כַּפֹּרֶת, "capporeth." כָּפַר signifies "to hide, to cover, to plaster over, to shut, to plaster with bitumen or pitch;" in Pihel, "to expiate sin," Exod. 30:10, Lev. 4:20. If the name "mercy-seat" be taken from the word in Kal, it signifies only "operimentum, tegumentum, tegmen," "a covering," and so ought to be rendered. If it be taken from the sense of the word in Pihel, it retains the signification of expiation, and consequently of pardon and mercy. So it is by our translators rendered "mercy-seat," and that with respect unto the rendering of it by the apostle, ἱλαστήριον, Heb. 9:5, as by the LXX. in this place, ἱλαστήριον ἐπίθετον, the "propitiatory placed on the ark;" wherein what respect was had to the Lord Christ the apostle declares, Rom. 3:25, and largely in our Epistle, chap. 9.
13. Its matter was of pure gold; and for its dimensions, it was just as broad and long as the ark whereon it was laid, Exod. 25:21. And this mercy-seat or covering of gold seems to have lain upon the ark within the verge of gold or crown that encompassed it, being itself plain, without any such verge or crown; for it was placed מִלְמָעְלָה, עַל־הָאָרֹן, "upon the ark," just over it, verse 21, and so was encompassed with its crown,—the glory both of justice and mercy, of law and gospel, being the same in Christ Jesus.
14. At the two ends of this mercy-seat were placed two cherubim, one at the one end, the other at the other, both of gold, and, as it should seem, of one continued work with the covering itself. The name of "cherubim" hath prevailed for these figures or images from the Hebrew; partly because it is retained by our apostle, who calls them "cherubim of glory," χερουβίμ δόξης, Heb. 9:5; and partly because the signification of the word being not well known, it cannot properly be otherwise expressed,— for which reason it was retained also by the LXX. They were of those things which our apostle, chap. 9:23, terms ὑποδείγματα τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, "examples,"—expressions, or similitudes, "of things in heaven;" whose framing and erection, in reference unto the worship of God, is forbidden under the name of בָּשַּׁמַ ם אֲשֶׁר כָל־תְּמוּנָה, Exod. 20:4, —"The likeness of any thing in heaven above." The first mention of cherubim is Gen. 3:24, "God placed cherubim;" which seems to intimate that the prototypes of these figures were heavenly ministers or angels, though Aben Ezra supposes that the word denotes any erected figures or appearances whatever. Others of the Jews, as Kimchi, think the word to be compounded of כ, "caph," a note of similitude, and רביא, "a child," to signify "like a child," being so called from their form or shape. But this answers not unto the description given afterwards of them in Ezekiel; much less with the same appellation given to the winds and clouds, Ps. 18:10. The word hath a great affinity with רְכוּב, "a chariot." So are the angels of God called his "chariots," Ps. 68:17; and David so calls expressly the cherubim that were to be made in Solomon's temple, 1 Chron. 28:18, "Gold for the pattern הַכְּרוּבִים הַמֶּרְכָּבָה," "hammercheba hacherubim," where the allusion is open, "the chariot of the cherubim;" and Ezekiel describes his cherubim as a triumphal chariot, chap. 10. It is not, therefore, unlikely that their name is derived from רָכַב, which signifies "to ride," or "to be carried," "to pass on swiftly," expressing the angelical ministry of the blessed spirits above; if they were not rather mere emblems of the power and speed of God in his works of grace and providence.
15. These cherubim are said to be מִקְשָׁה,—that is, not molten, but beaten even and smooth; and seem to have been one continued piece with the mercy-seat, beat out with it and from it. There is no more mention of their form, but only that they had faces and wings. Of what sort those faces were, or how many in number were their wings, is not expressed.
16. In Ezekiel's vision of the "living creatures,"—which he also calleth "cherubim," chap. 10:2,—there is the shape of a man ascribed unto them: "They had the likeness of a man," chap. 1:5; "faces," verse 6; "feet," verse 7; "hands," verse 8; "sides," or "bodies," verses 8, 11. Each of them also had four faces, of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle, verse 10; and each had four wings, verse 23. In John's vision in the Revelation, seeming to answer this of Ezekiel's cherubim, from the eyes that his living creatures were full of, and the appearance of their faces, they had each of them six wings, answering unto those of the seraphim in the vision of Isaiah, chap. 6:2.
17. The Jews generally affirm, that these visions of the glory of God by Isaiah and Ezekiel were the same, and that Ezekiel saw nothing but what Isaiah saw also; only, they say that Ezekiel saw the glory of God and his majesty, as a countryman who admires at all the splendour of the court of the king, Isaiah as a courtier who takes notice only of the person of the king himself. But there are many evident differences in their visions. Isaiah calls the glorious ministers of God שְׂרָפִים, "seraphim," from their nature, compared to fire and light; Ezekiel, כְּרֻבְים, "cherubim," from their speed in the accomplishment of their duty. Isaiah saw his vision as in the temple: for although from these words, "I saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple," Aben Ezra and Kimchi suppose that he saw the throne of God in heaven, and only his train of glory descending into the temple, yet it is more probable that he saw the throne itself in the temple, his train spreading abroad to the filling of the whole house; for He calls the temple, "the throne of his glory," Jer. 14:21, and "a glorious high throne," chap. 17:12,—that is, "a throne high and lifted up," as in this place. Ezekiel saw his vision abroad in the open field, by the river of Chebar, chap. 1:3. Isaiah first saw the Lord himself, and then his glorious attendants; Ezekiel first saw the chariot of his glory, and then God above it. Isaiah's seraphim had six wings, with two whereof they covered their faces, which Ezekiel's cherubim had not; and that because Isaiah's vision represented Christ, John 12:41, with the mystery of the calling of the Gentiles and rejection of the Jews, which the angels were not able to look into, Eph. 3:9, 10, and were therefore said to cover their faces with their wings, as not being able to look into the depths of those mysteries: but in Ezekiel's vision, when they attended the will of God in the works of his providence, they looked upon them with "open face." Wherefore, from the diversity in all these visions, it appears that nothing certain concerning the form or wings of the cherubim made by Moses can be collected. Most probably they had each of them only one face, directly looking one towards the other, and each two wings, which, being stretched out forward over the mercy-seat, met each other, and were mere emblems of the divine presence and care over his covenant, people, and worship.
18. And this was the whole furniture of the most holy place in the tabernacle of Moses. In that of the temple of Solomon, which was more august and spacious, there were, by God's direction, two other cherubim added. These were great and large, made of the wood of the olive-tree, overlaid with gold; and they stood on their feet behind the ark westward, with their backs towards the end of the oracle, their faces over the ark and mercy-seat eastward, toward the sanctuary; their wings extending twenty cubits long, even the whole breadth of the house, and meeting in the midst; their inward wings were over the ark, 1 Kings 6:23–28; 2 Chron. 3:10–13.
19. And this was that appearance of his glory which the Lord God of Israel granted unto his church of old; which though it was beautiful and excellent, as appointed by himself, yet was it but carnal and worldly in comparison of the heavenly and glorious mysteries of the gospel, especially of Him who, being obscurely shadowed out by all this preparation of glory, was in himself the real "brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person," as shall further be declared on Heb. 1:3.
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