anyhow. There was ae mnch symbolism in the order and relation of these objects ae in the objects themselves. All worship and holy service had to be accordina to Divine regulati6ns. And as aU was 1totTµ11t'b, in the visible, symbolic, temporary ea~ctuary, so all must also be ,corrµ,d, in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle. I. WE MUST REC0<lNIZE CHRIST'S PLAOE IN THIB SANCTUARY. The new covenant has its sanctuary, even ae the old, and that sanctuary is to be found wherever Christ is manifesting himself to take away sin. H is the presence of Christ that makes th holiest place we know, and there is no making of a truly holy place without him. In the old covenant, everything we.a gathered round the tables of the Law as a centre. 'l'hey expressed the will of God. And so now the centre of our religious life, around which all is to be gathered in orderly relations, is to be found in Christ-at once a High Priest to enter into the true holy of holies, and One to show the Law of God in actual working, as something not too high for human attainment. We are to worship and serve God through Christ, and there is no other way whereby we may become faultless in the presence of his glory. II. WE ){UST BECO<lNIZE OUR OWN PLACE IN THE SANCTUARY. What are we doing in the way of orderly, well-considered daily service? Is the lamp of our life shining forLh every day? Do we help to spread a table for the varied necessities of men, remembering that whatsoever we do for them is done for Christ, and whatsoever is done for Christ is done for God? There is to be a measW'e of order in our own personal religious life-repentance lee.ding to faith, and faith opening up the way to a.II that is holy, pure, and Christ-like.-Y. Ver. 9.-The parabolic function of the tabernac1£services. The tabernacle, with its contents and its institutions, was one great parable embracing and uniting many subordinate pa.rabies. A parable looking towards the time of the new covenant-the "present time," as the writer calls it; or, as we might even more closely render it, the impending season. For in God's economy the new state of things is to be ever looked at as impending. So Christ would have us, who rejoice in his first advent, to be ever making ready for his second one. And in the same way the men of the old covenant ho.d to be on the look-out for the initiation of the new. Rejoicing in what Moses had given them, they looked eagerly for what Messiah had to give; and in the mean time Moses had given them parables through the eye, even as in after times Christ gave his disciples parables in words. Such mode was suitable for the time and the purpose. What parabolic teaching was there, then, in the tabernacle and the things connected with it? I. THE REALITY OF Goo's DWELLING WITH MEN. Each Israelite family had its tent, and Jehovah's tent was in the midst of all, a centre of unity, protection, and glory. Jehovah waa the Companion of his people in all their pilgrimage and vicissitudes. It is only as we recollect this that we get at the full significance of John's expression concerning the Word becoming flesh and tabernacling among us, full of grace and truth (John i. 14). The glory that belonged to the tabernacle was thns a parable of the Incarnation glory. II. THE POSSIBILITY OF SATISFACTORY INTERCOURSE BETWEEN Goo AND MAN. It was dangerous for a man to meddle in Divine things according to his own inclination and his own wisdom. Yet he could not stand aside and neglect Divine things altogether. Such a course was equally dangerous with the other. But if he would only submit to the way of Jehovah's appointment., attending to every detail, and striving to comprehend the undoubted purpose in it, then he was assuredly in the way of saf-ety. He was doing what God wanted him to do with the resources then within his reach. And thou"h an obedience of this kind, an obedience in certain external rites, could not take a~ay a.II trouble of conscience, yet when a man comprehended that Jehovah had even this in view, he would feel that what he enjoyed not now he would enjoy hereafter. Thongh the blood of bulls and goats could not put a~a~ s!n _an~ wash out the heart's deep defilement, yet the blood-shedding was not m vam, if it mtimatcd the coming of something that would take away sin. . III. 'l'Hl!: PObBIDILITY oF REAL SERVICE. In itself, the elaborate ntual of the taberr:.aclo was nothing. Save as it was parabolic and provocative of hope and aspiration, it could not be called other than a waste of time. "~hat mean ye by this service?" was a question which might well be put to every Lev1t1cal person every day. 260 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [ OH, IX, 1-28,
But "'hen the service of the high priest looked forward to the sacrificial cleansing service of Christ in perpetuity, and when the service of all the subordinate attendmts looked forward to the daily obedience of Christians, faithful in little things, then assuredly the service of the tabernacle gets lifted above a mechanical routine. UndeY" the old covenant, a whole tribe, separated for ritual observance, serving Jehovah in formal religious ordinances, was thereby serving, not only a nation, but all mankind. Serving God in appearance, the Levite served men in reality. Now, under the new covenant, we serve God in serving men. The Christian, because he is a Christian, hu most power of all men to serve his brother man.-Y.