V. The general Arrangement and Sym- metry OF THE Sanctuary. —TAe Covrt of the Dwelling (Ex 27»-'Hl'^] = 389-'»[P']; cf. Josephus, Ant. III. vi. 2). — Once again we must start from Ezekiel. For the realization of his great ideal, Ezekiel places his new temple in the centre of a square tract of country, 25,000 cubits in the side, ' a holy portion of the land ' (Ezk 45"'- 48'*). Within this area is a still more saced precinct, the property of the priests alone, who tints surround the temple on every side to guard it from i)0ssible profanation. The same idea of the unapproachable sanctity of the wilderness ' dwelling ' is emphasized by P through his well- known symmetrical arrangement of the camp of the Israelites. Around four sides of a huge square the tents are pitched, three tribes on each .side (Nu 2"^- lO""'-). Within this square is another, the sides of which are occupied by the priests and the three* divisions of the Levites, the sons of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari (Nu 3'^^-). In the centre of this second square, finally, we find the sacred enclosure (riiuvo^) which con- stitutes the wilderness sanctuary. This enclosure is the 'court of the dwelling' (l^yon isq 27', ai'Xi) TTis o-Kij^^s, atrium tabcrnaculi), a rectangular space, lying east and west, 100 cubits * in lengt?« by 50 in breadth (proportion 2 : 1) — in other woids, a space made up of two squares, each 50 cubits in the side. At this point it will help us to over- come subsequent dilliculties if we look more closely at the proportions of the sanctuary as a whole, as revealed by the accompanying diagram. Beginning with the eastern square we note as it« most prominent feature the altar of bumt-offerSng, lying 'four square ' (5 cubits by 5) presumably at the intersection of the diagonals. In the we item square stands ' the dwelling,' occupying thi je of the small plotted squares, of 10 cubits each way, its length being to its breadth in the proportion of 3: 1. Like the temples of Solomon and Eiekiel, it consists of two parts, the outer and inner sanctuary, in the proportion of 'i : 1 . Tho latter is the true sanctuary, the special abode of J", a ])erfect cube, as ve shall afterwards see, each dimen.sion one - half of the inner shrine of the Solomonic temple. It stands exactly in the centre of its square, while its own centre in tu;n is occupied by the most sacred of all the objects in the sanctuary, the ark, the throne of J", the dimensions of which, we shall find, are 5x3x3 half-cubits. These data are meanwhile sufficient to prove P's love for ' order, measure, number
* The length of Ps cubit is uncertain. For convenience of reckoning it may be taken as 18 inches.
TABERNACLE
TABERNACLE
657
and system,' which has lonfc been recognized as oue of his most prominent characteristics. From the first section of Genesis (l'-2') onwards, with its arrangement by 10 and 7 and 3 (see art. NfMiiKi:, vol. iii. p. 56o'), his genealogies, his chronologj-, his theory of the religious development of Israel,
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are all constructed on a definite system.* Nowhere is this fondness for symmetry and proportion .so evident as in the measurements of the tabernacle. Thrte, four, scvoi, ten, their parts and viultijiles, dominate the whole (see further, § xiii. ). The desire to preserve the proportion and ratio of certain parts and measurements has led to awkwardness and even incon.sistency in otlier parts — a fact which lies lit the root of not a few of tlie ditlii'ulties that beset the path of those that attempt to construct the tabernacle from the data of the priestly writers.
The court of the tabernacle is screened off from the rest of the encampment by five wliite curtains (D'y<P AtV«'j"m) of ' fine twined linen * of the uniform height of 5 cubits, but of varying length. Those on the N. and S. long sides measure each 100 cubits, that on the W. 50, while the two remaining cur- tains of 15 cubits eacli screen olF the E. side, one on either liand of the entrance to the court. The latter is a space of 20 cubits, which is closed by a lian''iiig or portiere (^PT) of the second grade of workmanshi]) explained above, i.e. embroidered in colours on a white ground. All six hangings are Rusjiended from pillars of the same height, standing on oases (pN, EV ' sockets') of bronze. The shape and size of these bases can only be conjectured. Klsewhere in OT (C.a 5", Job 38", and corrected text of Kzk 41") [ik is the b.a.se in the shape of a square plinth on whiili a pillar or an altar stands. So most i>robably in the case before us, the wooden pillar being .sunk well into the plinth (so the liariiitlui), which would tliiis be reckoned to the height of the pillar. The pillars were then kept in position by means of tlio usual ' cords * t or