THE PILLARS OF THE VAIL.

Exod. xxvi. 32.-" And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver."

Exod. xxxvi.36-"And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver."

THE pillars of the vail were four in number, Exod xxvi. 32; and xxxvi. 36. Unlike those, on which hung the curtain for the tabernacle-door, they had no capitals; thus they lacked the ordinary architectural completeness of a pillar. May not our thoughts be directed by this, to the contemplation of those Scriptures, which speak of the Lord as cut off? Isa. liii. 8. "Who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living." And Psa. cii. 23, 24, "He shortened my days: I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days." And And yet the very fact of this seemingly abrupt termination of the life of the Lord Jesus, in the days of His flesh, has made Him to be unto us "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption:" a fourfold perfection, meeting our fourfold need; to which possibly the number of the vail-pillars may allude.

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THE framework of the tabernacle was made of boards of shittim-wood, overlaid with gold, standing in sockets of silver. Over these boards which enclosed an area of 30 cubits by 10, were thrown two sets of curtains, and two coverings, forming what may be called the roof of the building, and hanging down over the back and two sides. The first and innermost set of curtains are emphatically called "The Tabernacle."

"Thou shalt make the tabernacle, ten curtains." Exod. xxvi. I. "The work of the tabernacle, ten curtains." Exod. xxxvi. 8. "And it shall be one tabernacle." Exod. xxvi. 6. Also xxxvi, 13. "curtains of goats' hair, a covering upon the tabernacle." "The tabernacle and the tent." Num. iii. 25.

Upon reference to these quotations, it will be found, that the word tabernacle is used to express the set of ten curtains, whilst the word tent has reference to the eleven curtains of goats' hair, which were thrown over this The Hebrew word, translated tabernacle, means a dwelling-place, and is exclusively confined to the thought of this structure being God's dwelling-place. In our translation, we find the words "tabernacle of the congregation" constantly occurring; but, in almost

every instance, the Hebrew has the words "tent of the congregation": for, this building was their tent of assembly; and God's tabernacle or dwelling-place.

Ten curtains were first made, each 28 cubits in length, and four cubits in breadth. Five of these were subsequently joined together; thereby forming one curtain, 28 cubits in length, and 20 in breadth. The other five were similarly joined together, forming a second curtain of like dimensions. The materials used in the manufacture of this fabric were precisely the same as those which formed the vail; a different arrangement, however, is adopted as to the fine linen. In the vail, the blue first meets the eye; and the fine linen is last in the series. In these curtains, the fine linen stands first, succeeded by the blue and the other colours. The vail, we know from Heb. x. 20, was a type of the Lord Jesus in the days of His flesh, and was rent when He yielded up the ghost. The curtains, fastened together by golden taches, seem to foreshadow Christ in resurrection. The same glorious display of God and man, wondrously united, meets the eye of faith, whether the blessed Lord be contemplated when sojourning on this earth, or raised to the right hand of the Majesty on high. Indeed, He cannot be known upon the throne of God, unless He has been first revealed to the soul as the Crucified One on earth. He that ascended, first descended. He is the unchanged and unchanging One. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Resurrection added to Him no new perfections; for He was, while on earth, the Resurrection and the Life. He was ever perfect. The blue, purple, and scarlet, were as bright and gorgeous in the vail, as in the IO curtains of the heavenly roof. The fine linen was as spotless in the one, as in the other. The Cherubim of Glory were manifest in the cunning work of both. The same blessed name of Jesus, bestowed on the Lord at His incarnation, is again the "name above every name" given to Him on His exaltation.

Even when His days, like the shadow declined, and when He was withered like grass, at the very moment of His death, the Father pronounced Him to be the same, the Jehovah who, of old, had laid the foundation of the earth. Compare Psa, cii. 25, with Heb. i. 10. “And Thou, Lord, &c.

Fine linen, which formed the groundwork, on which the beautiful tints of the vail were displayed, was also the material of the curtains, The Holy One, whose flesh saw no corruption, was unchanged by resurrection: for mortality was never attached to Him. He alone had, and has, incorruptibility and immortality, though crucified and slain. "I am the First and the Last, and the Living One who became dead, and behold, I am the Living One for evermore." Rev. i. 18. Wondrous mystery, to be received alone by faith and as the priests walked barefoot in the tabernacle, so must we, with reverent and worshipping hearts, tread on this holy ground.

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It has been already observed, that the fine linen is put first in the description of the curtains; whilst the blue is first in that of the vail.

Is not this the order, in which the Holy Spirit instructs as to Christ in humiliation and in glory? The eye of faith is first directed to that mystery, God manifest in the flesh; the Word made flesh. The heart is attracted by the blessed truth, that the Child born to us, and slain for us, is the Mighty God. The heavenly colour stands pre-eminent in the vail. The other marvel is, that there should be a Man upon the throne of God. So, the fine linen, which especially sets forth Christ as the righteous Man, is pre-eminent in the curtains.

The five curtains, which were joined together in their breadth, defined the extent of the holy place, 20 cubits: for, the vail, which separated the interior of the tabernacle into two parts, the holy and the most holy, was to be hung up under the taches. These taches being golden clasps fastened into loops of blue, and thereby

uniting the two curtains, each formed of five breadths, one curtain covering the holy place, 10 cubits of the other covering the most holy, and the remaining 10 cubits hanging over the boards of the west end of the tabernacle. It may be, that the explanation of the number five is found in Heb. vii. 26, “Such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." Under the shelter of this glorious Priest, we dwell, and have access, as priests to God, into the holy and most holy places; which, by reason of the vail being rent, now form but one undivided tabernacle. Of the two holy places, formerly separated one from the other by the vail, the holiest was especially the dwelling-place of God alone. None dared intrude thither; not even the priests themselves were allowed to pass within the vail. No worship was carried on there; no human voice was ever heard within its precincts. In fearful majesty the God of Israel dwelt between the Cherubim of glory. And though, once a year, the high priest was directed to enter, yet he could not draw nigh without blood. And the object, for which he was commanded to approach the mercy-seat, was in order to appease the wrath of God, offended by the sins of Israel. But the clasped curtains of the roof betokened that the tabernacle was one; and in due time, the rending of the vail proclaimed it. Christ crucified, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God, is like the golden tache in the loop of blue. He links heaven and earth together. He gives the worshipper entrance to the immediate presence of God. All distance and separation are gone. The sound of prayer and praise; the cry of distress, and the voice of melody, are presented and heard in the holiest of all.

The curtains, like the vail, were a mass of cherubim. In the latter, these emblematic figures of glory were marred and rent asunder; for, it pleased Jehovah to bruise His Son. "He made His glory to cease, and cast