because grace abounds;" a laver without an altar would be to inspire a vain confidence in an external and imperfect righteousness, to the neglect of that which is of God by faith, and which purifieth the heart. In conjunction, they represent man's happiest state, and highest glory, sin forgiven, and nature renewed. "The holy place," which was properly the tabernacle, presented itself at the upper end of the court. Its dimensions are not laid down by Moses. Those who take it for granted that the tabernacle was a miniature representation of the temple from the measurement of that great edifice as described in the first book of Kings, make the length of the holy place of the tabernacle to be twenty cubits, or thirty feet. It was separated from the court by a curtain, within which none but the priests were permitted to enter, and where they officiated at the altar of the Lord, in the order of their course. Josephus affirms, that when the priests ministered in the holy place, the separating veil was drawn up, so that they could be seen of the people. Philo, with greater appearance of truth, maintains the contrary opinion. It is clear from a passage in the gospel according to Luke, that the priest who officiated in the holy place of the second temple, was out of the sight of the people; for it is said of Zacharias, when he was offering incense in the holy place, "the whole multitude was praying without;" that they waited for him, and "marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple," and they discovered not the cause of it till he made it known to them by signs. Though we are not informed of the exact dimensions of the " holy place," we know that it was a covered tent, with one fold of various materials upon another. First, ten curtains of equal size, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen; embroidered with cherubims; and coupled together with loops of blue and taches of gold. Above these were extended eleven curtains of goats' hair, hung together by taches of brass. These again were covered with rams' skins dyed red; and over all there was a covering of badgers' skins, probably as a protection from the injuries of the air and weather. The intention and meaning of this multiplied and variegated ceiling we pretend not to explain. Was it intended to represent the impenetrable recesses of the Eternal Mind; to check the folly and sinfulness of an over curious inquiry into mysteries which are intentionally concealed; and to teach men to make a wise and temperate use of known and revealed truth? Was it not sufficient to every pious Israelite, that the altar of burnt-offering and the laver of purification were under the open canopy of heaven, seen of all, accessible to all? And by this circumstance, did not even Luke i. 10, 21. the law teach the open and unlimited extent Chain'd to his throne a volume lies, His Providence unfolds the book, Here he exalts neglected worms To sceptres and a crown; And treads the monarch down. Not Gabriel asks the reason why, The furniture of the holy place is minutely described, and its meaning and use are not obscurely pointed out in many places of the sacred writings. It consisted of three articles, the golden candlestick with seven lamps; the golden altar of incense; and the table of shew-bread. Each of which might easily furnish matter for a separate discourse; but we confine ourselves to general ideas, and practical observations. The first piece of furniture in the holy place was "the golden candlestick to give light;" all whose appurtenances were of pure beaten gold. It was placed on the south side, that is on the left hand as you enter the tabernacle, directly opposite to the table of shew-bread. It was a talent in weight; which is about one thousand five hundred ounces, or one hundred and twenty-five Roman pounds, whose value, according to the calculation of the learned bishop of Peterborough, was five thousand and seventy-five pounds fifteen shillings and a fraction, of our money. It is the most generally received opinion, that all, or some of these seven lamps in the candlestick, were kept continually burning: that they were extinguished in turn, to be cleansed and supplied with fresh oil; and that their parts were made to separate for this very purpose. As the priests alone could enter the holy place, to them of course was committed the whole charge of lighting, trimming, and cleaning the lamps. It is much easier to ask many questions on this subject than to answer one. Why the number of seven lamps in one candlestick; that number of perfec*Watts, Hore Lyricæ. tion, as some have called it, and under which the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." so many mysteries are supposed to be con- We are transported to that celestial city, cealed! Why should it burn in a place which "has no need of the sun, neither of where no eye was to see its light, or to re- the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God ceive benefit from it, except a solitary priest? doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light Wherefore this waste of treasure for no ap- thereof." parent equivalent use? To all such ques- Without encroaching on your time and tions it must be replied, "Thus the great patience, or running over the subjects with Lawgiver would have it." "We know in indecent and unprofitable haste, it were impart, and we prophesy in part. What he possible to convey any proper and useful doth we know not now, but we shall know idea of the remaining utensils of this venehereafter." rable structure, and the still more venerable From this created, confined, imperfect, recess inclosed within it, styled "the most self-consuming light, we are led to contem- holy place." The description of these, thereplate that pure, eternal, undecaying LIGHT fore, with the history of the august ceremo which communicates, of its own splendour, nies of setting up the tabernacle, and the whatever glory any creature possesses. "We relation of the whole to the "better things are led to Him who is the true light of the to come," of which they were the shadows, world." shall be postponed to another Lecture, which We silently turn from the tabernacle in will conclude the second book of this Sacred the wilderness to adore Him who in the be- History, and another annual revolution of our ginning said, "Let there be light: and there own frail, transitory life.-"Teach us,” ( was light." We are conducted in the vi- God, "so to number our days that we may sions of God, to contemplate the splendour apply our hearts unto wisdom."* Vouchsafe of the Christian churches, and behold "the to dwell with us in thy word and ordinances; Son of Man, walking in the midst of the let "Christ dwell in our hearts by faith," seven golden candlesticks." We are hur- and raise us one after another to dwell with ried forward to the last awful hour of dis- thee in the holiest of all, through Christ solving nature, when "the sun shall be Jesus our Lord. darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and Amen. *Psalm xc. 12. HISTORY OF MOSES. LECTURE LXII. And it came to pass in the first month, in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journies. But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not, till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of the house of Israel, throughout all their journies.-EXODUS xl. 17. 34-38. rials of which it was composed, the sacred purposes to which it was applied, nor the awful glory which once presided over and resided in it, have preserved from decay and loss, the tabernacle of the congregation, the work of divinely inspired Bezaleel and Aholiab. Of the magnificent structure on mount Zion, the wonder and glory of the whole earth, not one stone remaineth upon another. EVERY production of human power and skill bears this inscription, "I am made to perish." Man himself, the moment he begins to breathe begins to die, and his noblest, most durable, and most glorious works are no sooner completed, than they begin to fall to decay. In vain we look for the monunis of ancient grandeur and magnificence; They have either wholly vanished away, or present to the eye scattered fragments, or tottering ruins, ready to dash themselves All that was formal and instrumental in upon the ground. Where is now that city the ancient dispensation seems to have been, and tower which raised its proud head to by the special appointment of Providence, heaven, in defiance of the waters of a second destroyed and annihilated, that the spirit of deluge? Neither the solid and costly mate-it alv might remain. The tabernacle, and temple, and their service exist only in de- | first of these, we now proceed to recommend scription: and in those simpler and more spi- to your notice the other two. ritual ordinances to which they have given place. And the institutions which now remain, are only preparing the way for a more august, more splendid, and more durable manifestation of the divine glory. The legal economy introduced that of grace by the gospel and then passed away. The dispensation of grace, in like manner, is now performing its work, fulfilling its day, announcing, unfolding, introducing the kingdom of glory; and "when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." The "altar of incense," was made of shittim, or incorruptible wood, overlaid with pure gold, of a cubit square, and its height double that dimension, with a golden horn arising at each angle, and the top encompassed with a golden border or crown. It had two rings of gold immediately under the border, to which were fitted two staves of the same wood, also overlaid with gold, for the conveniency of transporting it from place to place, as occasion required. Its use was to burn, at stated times, a sacred perfume of a certain quality and composition, which it was unlawful to compound, or apply to any other use, or in any other place. It is clear from many parts of scripture, that the smoke of the sweet incense which ascended from this altar, was intended to represent prayer or intercession. "Let my prayer," says the Psalmist, "be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." * The satisfaction of Moses, when the whole work of the tabernacle and of its furniture was completed, is more easily to be conceived than expressed. To see the pattern showed him in the mount exactly copied, the design of the great Jehovah perfectly fulfilled, must have filled the good man's mind with delight ineffable. With a holy joy, similar to this, must every lover of the gospel observe the exact coincidence between "the While the priest, invisible to every eye, shadows of good things to come," and "the was employed in burning incense in the holy very image of the things;" between the pre-place, the multitude were praying without. diction concerning the Saviour of the world, This leads us directly to consider the great and their accomplishment between the pro- "Apostle and High Priest of our profession, mises made unto the fathers, and the bless-who has for us entered, not into the holy place ings enjoyed by their childrer. And what will it be, Christians, in that world of bliss, which is the end of our faith, and the grand object of our hope; what will it be, to find the entire coincidence between the descriptions contained in this book, of future and heavenly glory, and the things described; between the exceeding great and precious promises of the gospel, and the glorious realities of our Father's house above; between the spirit which christianity now teaches and inspires, in order to dignify and bless mankind, and the spirit which all the redeemed shall feel, enjoy, and express, when raised to the dignity of being kings and priests unto God? made with hands, which was the figure of the true, but into heaven itself, there to appear in the presence of God for us." Though the veil be let down that we cannot behold Him, the eye of faith penetrates it, sees Him who is invisible; sees Him lifting up holy and unwearied hands in our behalf; sees the Prince with God prevailing. The veil was drawn aside, and discovered to the ravished eyes of the beloved disciple, an angel coming, and standing "at the altar, having a golden censer: and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense which came with the In the preceding Lecture we endeavoured prayers of the saints, ascended up before to lead your attention to the form, use, and God, out of the angel's hands." The soliend of the tabernacle erected in the wilder-tary perfume of secret prayer, the combined ness, and of the several parts of its sacred furniture. The outward court, under the open canopy of heaven, containing "the brazen altar of burnt-offering," on which incessantly burnt the consecrated fire for offering up the daily sacrifice; and close by it the laver of brass for the priests to wash in." We conducted you with trembling feet into the "holy place," concealed in front from every profane eye, by a veil which it was death to draw aside; and from above, by covering upon covering which no eye could penetrate. In this sacred recess were placed "the golden candlestick to give light, the golden altar of incense, and the table of shew-bread." Having spoken briefly of the incense of family worship, the mingled odours of public devotion, the prayers of all saints derive an activity, a force, an elevation from the merit and mediation of the Redeemer, which raise them to the throne of God, where, being accepted through the Beloved, they descend again in showers of blessings on the believer's head. Behold the altar which sanctifies the gift, the ladder whose foundation is on the earth, but its summit reacheth heaven, along which the ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation convey the vows, the praises, the holy desires of the faithful, up to their Father and their God; and reconvey the gifts and graces *Psalm cxli. 2. † Rev. viii. 3, 4. of their heavenly Father to his children upon earth. The approach to the golden altar of incense was by way of the brazen altar of burnt-offering: the new and living way that conducts "into the holiest of all," is through the rent veil of the Redeemer's flesh. Jesus having suffered the things which were appointed, entered into his glory. As by the altar of burnt-offering, so by the laver of purification, the holy place was approachable; for "without holiness no man shall see God;" and "every one that nameth the name of Christ must depart from iniquity." The horns at the corners of the altar have been considered as emblematical of strength, and being tipped with the blood of the atoning victim, are conceived to represent the power of God, and the grace that is in Christ Jesus, united in the work of man's redemption. The quadrangular figure of the altar, and the equality of its sides, may point out the impartial regards of the great Father of all, under the dispensation to which that given by Moses conducted, to men of every nation under heaven, and they prefigure the day when, according to the words of the Saviour himself, "men should come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven."* The materials of the altar, shittim-wood overlaid with pure gold, by a bold imagination have been supposed a figure, of the twofold nature of Christ: the purity, solidity, impassableness of the one, encompassing, supporting, securing the fragility of the ther, defending it at all points, and bestowing upon it a value, strength, and duration which it possessed not before. Finally, the staves fitted to the rings, and perpetually in their place for the conveniency of motion, have been, with what propriety you will judge, construed into an emblem of the transitory nature of the whole dispensation, which looked continually forward to something better than itself; which for ever warned the comers thereunto of their pilgrimage state, saying, "Arise ye, and depart, for this is not your rest." And it is remarkable, that after Israel was come to his rest in the land of promise, and the holy furniture of the tabernacle was lodged for perpetuity in the temple at Jerusalem, this memorial of motion and change still offered itself to view the altar, the table, the ark, had the instrument of removing them always in its place, and, in concert with every part of the system of nature and providence, call upon men with a loud and distinct voice, saying, "Seek ye another country, that is an heavenly." But we proceed. The third and last piece of furniture in this solemn repository was "the table of shew-bread," of the same materials with the Matt. viii. 11. | altar, but of different dimensions, two cubits in length, by one of breadth, and one and a half in height: and, like it, furnished with staves fitted to four rings for the purpose of conveyance. Its use was to hold the shewbread, consisting of twelve cakes, according to the number of the twelve tribes, of the finest flour, prepared according to a special prescription, in two piles of six each, to be renewed every sabbath-day, and that which was removed to become the property of, and to be eaten in the holy place by the priests, the sons of Levi, who ministered at the altar. Now upon the very first sight of it, this ordinance, besides those circumstances which it possessed in common with others, seems designed to be a perpetual acknowledgment, on the part of man, of the care and kindness of a gracious Providence, which gives to men the rich enjoyment of the principal support of human life, bread, and with it, all the inferior accommodations and comforts which render it desirable. It was, on the other hand, the security and pledge which God vouchsafed to give to his church and people, that bread should continually be given them: that while Israel owned and acknowledged God in the way of piety and devotedness to his service, he would own and acknowledge them, by an unwearied and effectual attention to their necessary demands and reasonable wishes. A common table is the badge of familiarity and friendship, is the sweetest emblem of domestic union and happiness; of paternal concern, of filial tenderness, of brotherly love. The "shew-bread" was appropriated to persons of a sacred profession, to sacred seasons, and a holy place; unless when the greatness of the occasion superseded the strictness of the letter, and the law of mercy took precedence of the law of sacrifice. Ò how much more extended the grace of the gospel! David alone and his company, and that only once, on a necessitous occasion, was admitted to the privileges of a son of Levi, to a participation of the consecrated bread; but "behold," says the great head of the Christian church, "I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."* What an honour was it to these Levites to be received and treated as the guests of the great Jehovah! But it is not once to be compared with the unspeakable felicity and honour of receiving and entertaining the King of glory. And such felicity is the portion of the meanest of the saints: thus shall it be done to the man, however poor or despised among his equals, whom He by whom kings reign delighteth to honour: for "behold the tabernacle of God is with men." The twelve tribes, represented by so many cakes of bread, | looking down together towards the mercypresented without ceasing before God in the holy place, were without ceasing admonished of their common relation to one another, and their constant security under their heavenly Father's watchful eye, and the shelter of his expanded wings. "Can a woman forget her sucking-child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee."* The renewal of the cakes every returning sabbath, different yet the same, removed yet remaining, the old applied to one use, the new to another, may not unfitly represent that bread of life which our heavenly Father's love has provided for the fare of our Christian sabbaths-the very food which our forefathers lived upon; not another gospel, but that which was from the beginning; but served up for our use, by men possessed of different gifts, "according as God hath distributed to every man the proportion of faith" and it is the happiness and the praise of every scribe who "is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, to be like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.”† Once more, might not this table of the Lord, perpetually covered, perpetually furnished, be intended as a figure of that table, which the eternal wisdom of the Father has prepared and provided with "the bread which came down from heaven, to give life to the world?" And from t..ence, by an easy and natural transition, the eye ascends to our Father's house above, in which "there are many mansions," and where "there is bread enough and to spare;" and O how happy is that man who "shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." Such was the holy place and its furniture; the uses to which it was applied, and the spiritual objects which it presents to our view. With reverence we draw nigh to the last solemn recess of this venerable structure, alled "the ark," by way of eminence and distinction; sometimes, "the ark of the covenant;" the ark of the " testimony;" the ark of "his strength;" the ark "whose name is called by the name of the God of Israel." We shall pass by those circumstances which were in common to it, with the other implements of the worldly sanctuary, the holy places made with hands; and point out a few of those which were peculiar to itself. It was a close chest of two cubits and a half long, one and a half broad, and one and a half in height of the self-same materials with the rest. The covering was denominated the mercy-seat; from the two ends of which arose two figures of cherubims, of beaten or solid gold, with their faces turned, and their wings extended towards each other: † Matt. xiii. 52. * Isa. xlix. 15. seat and concealing it from the eye. For any one to touch this with so much as a finger, or to presume to look into it, except those who were divinely appointed for the purpose, was instant and certain death, as the dreadful punishment of Uzzah and of the men of Bethshemesh awfully evinced. Its contents were the two tables of testimony, the golden pot with manna, the memorial of Israel's miraculous supply in the wilderness, and Aaron's rod that budded. Its principal use was to point out a way in the pathless wilderness for Israel to march in. From between the cherubims the divine oracles were delivered, at first to Moses by a voice; for God conversed with him as a man with his friend; and afterwards to the high priest, who consulted by Urim and Thummim, which is supposed to have been a supernatural declaration of the divine will, by means of rays of glory darted from the most holy place, upon the breastplate which was studded with twelve gems. But the nature and manner of this consultation and response, now are, and likely to remain so, a secret to mankind. Besides marking out the way, and directing the several encampments in the wilderness, we shall meet in the course of this history with a special interposition of it in many noted particular cases. By it the waters of Jordan were divided asunder, and opened a passage for Israel into the promised land. Before it the proud walls of Jericho were levelled with the ground, after having been encompassed by it for seven days: its presence confounded Dagon, and plagued the Philistines. Treated with respect, or approached carelessly and presumptuously, it became a protection and a source of blessing to one family; a terror and a curse to another. The king of Israel reckoned it the glory of his house, and the protection of his kingdom; and had it conveyed with all suitable solemnity to the place prepared for it. finally, it completed the splendour and magnificence of the sacred edifice on mount Zion, the joy and wonder of the whole earth. And the divine presence, of which it was the symbol, constitutes the safety, strength, and happiness of every living temple which the Holy Ghost hath reared. Let my heart, O God, be an altar, from whence the sweet incense of gratitude, love, and praise may continually ascend. "Arise, O Lord, into this thy rest; thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; let me with all thy saints shout for joy. Turn not away the face of thine anointed." And, The conjectures of the learned on the subject of the cherubim, are various, many of them fanciful, and for the most part unsatisfactory. The most obvious and most gene |