etanding _of the high priest of olcl, who once a year, with nnxiety and trembling, appeared m the holy of holies and performed the service of sprinkling the blood before the mercy-seat on the Day of Atonement. He prepared, as the Jews say, for this work with considerable 1101icitude, and returned to his own house at sunset in peace and rejoiced that the sohimn service had been legally performed. Our Lord is seated .;n the throne or an infinite majesty, and rejoices in the contrast between his past sorrows and his present glory. It was 11, blessed change for :Moses to leave the tending of hi& flock and going a.i'ter the lost anrl wandering sheep amid the solitudes of Sinai, and afterwards to commune with the "Father of lights," and catch the transient splendour which ],nnoured him as a servant 11nd betokened the Divine joy of his soul In the service of Jeho\·nh. Our Redeemer l,as risen to a glory so exalted that John, when in Patmoe, sank overpowered before the vision of his extraordinary resplendence. .;'ohn had seen him a sulforer upon the cross ; but then he saw him when all outcry against him had for eYer ceased. '!.'here was no crown of thorns upon his brow, and death had been swallowed up in victory. Now be receives the due and predicted reward of his work, 1rnd is made glad with the light of his Father's countenance. All things are put under him for his body's sake, which is the Church. On his head are many crowns, and he sits in the ineffable light and glory of the eternal throne. II. THE SUPERIOR PLACE IN WHICH BIS ENISTRY IS OARnIED ON. This is in the t:-,:.= :=.t-=Z"~-:l=, ;.;:,.:',_ ~. tts-,,f::-;:.;, -::.;:tl-:-a.~v c=icr to that reared in the wilderness which was made of wood, brass, gold, silve·r, goat's hair, scarlet and fine-twined linen'. '!.'his sacred tent was material, and the work of men's hands. It needed an annual ~urification because sinful men worshipped in it, and sinful priests served at its altar. l'hongh it was inferior to the sphere in which Christ ministers, it had a sacred meaning a:::.d typical significance, because it was made after a Divine pattern. The voice of G,id to Moses was, " See that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." It assumes that all merely human ideas and human additions were to be excluded from his fabric. The thoughts of God were to be expressed, and he was to he all in alL Moses was faithful to the Divine charge, and when Jehovah looked upon the tabernacle he blessed it, as he approved and blessed his own creation at the beginning. It was a shadow and outline of heavenly realities. Whether Moses was permitted to look into heaven itself, or to gaze upon some sensuous representation "·hich impressed itself in all its details upon his exact and capacious memory, we cannot determine. 'l'here are some points of resemblance which deserve attention. In heaven there are answering realities to the types of the earthly sanctuary. In both there is the Di1•ine presence, and God is seated on a throne of j!race. In both there is honour conferred upon the Law. It was customary, observes Ewald, for Egyptian priests to place their choicest treasures in the sacred chest in the temple, and God placed hie Law in the ark of the covenant. His Law is ever precious in his sight. In both there was the solemn truth of sacrifice and atonement, for on earth there was the bleeding victim, and in heaven "the Lamb as it had been slain." Worshippers approach through sacrifice; all adoration rises to God, and all blessings proceed from him through priestly service. It is the true tabernacle in which things in heaven and things in earth are reconciled through Christ. In a later part of the Epistle there is an impressive illustration of the all-encompassing e:xtent of this spiritual building, "Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, and to the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to . . . Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel" (eh. xii. 22-24). Ill. THE DIVINE PllE-E.MINENOE OF BIS SACRIFICE AND MINJSTBY, He must have something to offer; but as a Pnest he has the glory of offering to God every tear of penitence, every a.et of consecrating life to the Diviue will in conversion, every prayer and tbanhgiving, every noble surrender of wealth, labour, and life to the honour and service of Lis Father. IV. NoTE THE COHERENCE AND HARMONY OF THESE DIVINE ABllANGEMENT!I. God l,as exalte<l hi.s dear 8on and given him a Name above every name. Before him the 1,ames of patriarchs, lawgivers, captains, kings, psalmists, and prophets must yield as tlw stars are liwallowed in the light of the morning. 'fherc is a profound auitabilit,r CH. VIII, 1-13.] 'l'IIE EPISTLE TO TilE IIEBilEWS. ()')'> ,-,j ... ,J
and reason in his cxnltntion. Then follows tho snitahility of the sphero of his ministry. Tho narrow dimcmions nnrl material qnalitf of the old tabernacle wern fitted for Aaron and his descendants; but the dignity of the Redeemer rc-111ircs a lofricr an<l m(,ro spacious temple, in which ho shall exorcise the office of a. Priest, over the whole Church of tho living God. Tho former priests offered animal sacrificeH antl material "iftH · bnt ne prt.'l!l"nts the spiritual oblations of his redeemed fo!lowers.-B. " '