without saw the goats' hair, and the rams' skin8, and sealR' skins, ancl perceived iu it no beauty that they should desire it. The be1rnty was revealed to those onl"' who were within. So now, the Churoh is despised and vilified by those witho, 1t valued as it deserves only by those who dwell in it. Again, the structure seem; weak, as does the structure of the Church to worldlings. A few boards, an awi,in" a curtain or two-what more frail and perishable I But, when all is "fitly joine~i together, and comp11eted by that which every joint supplieth" (Eph. iv. 16), when by a. machinery of rings and bars, and tenons and solid sockets, and pillar8 and hooks, the whole is welded into one, under Divine direction and contrivance, the fragility dis- appears. "God's strength is made perfect in weakness." A structure is produced which continues, which withstands decay, which defies assaults from without, which outlasts others seemingly far stronger, and bids fair to remain when all else is shattered aml destroyed. " Behold I I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." The tabernacle, frail as it was, lasted from the exodus until the time when Solomon expanded it into the temple. Our tabernacle, the Church, will endure until it shall please God to merge it in a new and wonderful creation-" the new Jerusalem" (Rev. xxi. 2, 10-27; xx.ii. 1-6). IV. THE CURTAIN AT THE ENTRANCE symbolises the fact, that there is a division between the Church and the world. The ourta.in may be lifted at times; but the world has only glimpses of the real inner life of the Church, does not fully see it, does not comprehend it. The life consists in worship-in contemplation, prayer, and praise. 'l'he world "cares for none of these things." It may glance curiously at the external fabric, and scoff a. little at the contra.at between the homely goats' hair that shows itself in one pa.rt, and the" blue and purple and scarlet, and fine twined linen wrought with needlework" that is seen in another; it may be angered at the sight of" pillars overlaid with gold," and ask scornfully, "\Vherefore this Wll.'!te?" But it does not ea.re to consider seriously the fitness of these things, or to weigh the reasons for them. The only interest whioh it feels is one arising from cupidity: the Church, it thinks, would be worth plundering; and it looks forward hopefully to the time when it will " divide the spoil." V. The support of the entire fabric upon TENONS and SOCKETS indicates that the Churoh is detached from earth, has here no resting-place, no continuing abode, a.waits removal to heaven. What is of the earth, is earthy. If the Church were of the earth, if it were a human institution, if it rested an human wisdom, or power, or affection, it would be swayed by human emotions; it would seek those things which are the ma.in objects of human desire; it would ceHSe to witness for God; it would be powerless to raise man above himself and fit him for the life which is to come. But the Church is not of man's building. Christ built it. It is his. He is its "chief comer-stone;" and there- fore, "while it touches earth, it belongs altogether to heaven."
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1--37.-Jehovah's dwelling. Instructions a.re now given for the making of the "dwelling-place," of that sacred house or tent which was ta be the special abode of Jehovah, and within which, when reared according to the fashion shown to Moses in the mount (ver. 30), the sacred articles described in the previous chapter were to be deposited. We need not encumber our homily with the minutia:, of construction. It will suffice to direct attention to the genera.I arrangement of parts, and to the costly and beautiful character of the erection as a whole. 1. General arrangement. The tabernacle may be described as a quadrangular enclosure of boards, sumptuously over- laid with gol<l, and fitted beneath into sockets of silver (vers. 15-30). Over this wern placed (1) the tabernacle-cloth proper-a. finely-woven double curtain of byssus, glowing all over with fiaures of cherubim, in blue, and purple, and scarlet (ver. 1). (2) A. tent cloth of goats' hair (ver. 7). (3) Exterior coverings. These c?nsisted of rams' _skins <lyed red, and of skins of seals (ver. 14). Loops and taches umted tt,e two d1v1s10ns of the tabernacle and tent-cloths. The clasps in the one case were of golci. (ver. 6), in the other of brass (ver. 11). Internally, f?ur pillars supported _a. w~ni~cent veil, also wrought in bluo, and purple, and scarlet with figures of cherub1ru (Yers. 31, 32). This :wr; TUE BOOK OF EXODUS. [ en. XX\'I. l-3i.