VOL. XXIII. 13
‘H xpobeors TOY Lpray,
194 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. IX.
square, they appeared with many faces; that is, as many as they had sides, But they cannot evince this to have been the fashion of them, and it is absurd to imagine that they had such a name given unto them from their outward form.
This is all that the apostle observes to have been in the first part of the tabernacle. There was in it, moreover, the altar of incense. But this was not placed in the midst of it at any equal distances from the sides, but just at the west end, where the veil opened to give an entrance into the most holy place; wherefore by our apostle it is reckoned unto that part of the sanctuary, as we shall see on the next verse.
4, Concerning this part of the tabernacle, the apostle affirms that it
_ was called ayia, “holy.” This name of it was given and ryng, 7 stated, Exod, xxvi. 83, “The veil shall divide #PO 13
Dw Ip IP P3,—“ between the holy” (that is, that part of the sanctuary,) “and the most holy,” which our apostle describes | in the next place. And we may observe, that,—
Obs. I. Every part of God’s house, and the place wherein he will dwell, is filled and adorned with pledges of his presence, and means of communicating his grace. Such were all the parts of the furni- ture of this part of the tabernacle. And so doth God dwell in his church, which in some sense is his tabernacle with men.
But the principal inquiry about these things, is concerning their mystical signification and use. For by the apostle they are only proposed in general, under this notion, that they were all typical representations of things spiritual and evangelical. Without this he had no concernment in them. This, therefore, we shall inquire into.
We may in this matter be supplied by expositors with variety of conjectures. But none of them, so far as I have observed, have at all endeavoured to fix any certain rule for the trial and measure of such conjectures, nor to guide us in the interpretation of this mystery.
Some say, the candlestick, with its branches, represented the seven planets; the sun in the midst, as the scapus of the candle- stick was in the midst of the six branches, three on the one side, and three on the other. And the loaves of bread, say they, did re- present the fruits of the earth as influenced by the heavenly bodies. This is the interpretation of Philo, a Jew and Platonical philoso- pher; and it doth not unbecome his principles. But that any Chris- tian writer should approve of it I somewhat wonder, nor doth it deserve a confutation.
Some say that the altar of incense signified those that are of a contemplative life; the table of shew-bread, those that follow the active life; and the candlestick, those that follow both of them. The pretended reasons of this application of these things may be seen in the commentaries of Ribera and Tena on this place.
VER. 2.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 195
Some, with more sobriety and probability, affirm the candlestick to represent the ministry of the church, appointed for the illumina- tion of it; and the table with the shew-bread, the ordinances as ad- ministered by them: which things are declared succinctly by Gomarus on this place; and unto them they may have safely a secondary ap- plication.
But, as was said, a rule is to be fixed to guide us in the interpre- tation of the mystical signification of these things, and the applica- tion of them; without which we shall wander in uncertain and unapprovable conjectures. And it is plainly given us in the context. For therein are two things manifest: 1. That the tabernacle and all contained in it were typical of Christ. This is directly affirmed, chap. viii. 2, as hath been evinced in the exposition of that place. And it is the design of the apostle further to declare and ‘confirm it in what remains of this chapter. 2. That the Lord Christ, in this representation of him by the tabernacle, its utensils and ser- vices, is not considered absolutely, but as the church is in mystical union with him; for he is proposed, set forth, and described, in the discharge of his mediatory office. And these things give us an evident rule in the investigation of the original significancy of the tabernacle, with all the parts, furniture, and services of it, and the design of God therein. They were all representative of Christ in the discharge of his office, and by them did God instruct the church as unto their faith in him and expectation of him. _
This is excellently observed by Cyril. in Johan. lib. iv. cap. xxvii. :
“Christus licet unus sit, multifariam tamen a4 nobis intelligitur.
Ipse est tabernaculum propter carnis tegumentum; ipse est mensa, quia noster cibus est et vita; ipse est arca habens legem Dei recon- ditam, quia est verbum patris; ipse est candelabrum, quia est lux spiritualis; ipse est altare incensi, quia est odor suavitatis in sancti- ficationem ; ipse ést altare holocausti, quia est hostia pro totius mundi vita in cruce oblata.” And other instances he gives unto the same purpose. And although I cannot comply with all his parti- cular applications, yet the ground he builds upon and the rule he proceeds by are firm and stable. And by this rule we shall inquire into the signification of the things mentioned by the apostle in the first part of the tabernacle :—