On the Tabernacle and the Priestly Garments (Book I – Book II)

On the Tabernacle and the Priestly Garments

continued

Chapter 1.9

The Lamps of the Candlestick and the Snuffers. "You shall make seven lamps," etc. The lamps are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit; which always remained whole in our Lord and Redeemer, and were distributed among His members, that is, all the elect, according to His will. Thus, the seven lamps are placed on the candlestick because the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, rested upon our firstborn Redeemer from the root of Jesse, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord filled him (Isaiah XI). And as the same one speaks through the same prophet: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me" (Isaiah LXI). What is said, "That they may shine towards the front"; this is what the prophet subsequently added: "To proclaim good news to the humble, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God.

For the lamps of the candlestick shone towards the front and lighted up the Lord's tabernacle, when the Lord, being full of grace and truth, granted us all from His fullness, and grace for grace, when He entrusted the word of the Gospel to the meek and poor in spirit, when He granted the marrow of forgiveness to the penitent, when He declared that now is the time to please the Lord, but the future will be the day of universal judgment. This number and position of the lamps is in harmony with what John says in Revelation: "And I saw, and behold, in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth" (Revelation V). For if the seven horns there, or the seven eyes of the Lamb, can signify the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: why should not the same also be believed to be signified by the seven lamps of the candlestick by merit? Indeed, as it is rightly signified by the horns and eyes on account of the omnipotence of the power by which He governs all things, and the fullness of knowledge by which He sees all things;

so too the same septiform Spirit is aptly expressed through the figure of the lamps, on account of the light of grace by which He illuminates the darkness of our blindness in the night of this world. Hence it is aptly subjoined: Dust-cloths also, and where those things which are wiped off are extinguished, etc. For there are certain precepts in the divine Scriptures that must always be observed both in this life and in the future, by perpetual law: such as this, Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exod. XX): and, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Matth. XXII, Luc. X). There are others which are commanded to be observed throughout this entire life, but receive the eternal reward of their observance in the future life: such as the one from the Gospel, Make to yourself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that they may receive you into everlasting habitations (Luc. XVI). For here alms should be given for a time, there the fruit of those alms is to be received eternally. There are also others which were diligently commanded by the Lord to be observed in the time of the Old Testament:

now with the Gospel shining throughout the world, they are commanded to be observed in the Church not according to the letter, but according to the mystical sense, such as the observance of the Sabbath, the rites of sacrifices, and the blood of the Paschal lamb, and other things of this kind, which in their appropriate time were solemnly kept by the people of God, like wicks burning in the lamps of the candelabrum, filled with the oil of pious devotion and kindled by the fire of the heavenly word: but when it was preached by the apostles and apostolic men that an end was imposed by the Lord to these and the like observances, all these are to be kept more spiritually in the Church rather than according to the letter. As if the wicks of the candelabrum were being wiped so that they could shine brighter when renewed, because they provided the light of the saving doctrine to the Church, more sublimely understood through the Spirit. About this renewal of the lamps of the tabernacle, that is, the more sublime understanding of the divine Scriptures, the Lord promises His people in Leviticus, saying: You will multiply and I will establish my covenant with you. You will eat the old store long kept, and you will cast out the old to accommodate the new incoming. For with the children of Israel multiplied, the covenant of God was confirmed with them:

when also the Gentiles were called to the faith, the grace of the New Testament was planted in the hearts of the elect with a firm root. And we eat the most ancient of the old, when we retain in the sweet memory of the heart the old commandment, which from the beginning was given to the human race: loving the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength; and loving our neighbor as ourselves. And we cast away the old things with the coming of the new, when we cease to observe the typical statutes of the Mosaic Law according to the letter; but the same, more graciously understood through the spirit, we keep with a heart renewed in hope of the heavenly kingdom: according to that of the Apostle, "If therefore any be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new" (II Cor. V). And in the Apocalypse, "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new" (Apoc. XXI). Now the snuffers by which these things were done are the very words of sacred oratory, by which it is clearly designated that the letter of the law is to be dissolved in many respects, and to be kept only with a spiritual sense. Among these is that in the Acts of the Apostles, where the Gentile believers are prohibited from being circumcised and are commanded to obey evangelic grace without the ceremonies of legal sacrifices.

And what the Apostle, explaining a verse of the Psalm to the Hebrews, said, previously saying: "Sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law; then he said, "Behold, I come to do thy will, O God" (Heb. X). He takes away the first, that he may establish the second: in which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ Jesus. Therefore, the snuffers, and the vessels where those things that are snuffed out are extinguished, are made of the purest gold; because both the divine words, by which the cessation of legal ceremonies is preached, and the hearts of those, in whom the same figurative shadow of the law takes an end, are illuminated by the grace of God, that the succeeding truth of the Gospel might shine more clearly to the world. For it is well known that the first apostles loosened the Sabbath in the Gospel before the passion of the Lord, and after the ascension of the Lord and the coming of the Holy Spirit, they utterly put an end to the legal sacrifices, and changed many decrees of the letter of the law to the evangelical grace of liberty. Therefore, in these, the snuffers by which those things that were snuffed out extinguished: in which the literal observation being completed, exhibited the beginning of grace more clearly shining to the world.

Likewise, because the mortal life being finished, and immortal life succeeding, the greatest part of the works or gifts of light, which we now use, will cease, that the rewards of eternal light might follow in the presence of the divine vision. Those testimonies of the Scriptures, which testify that these things will be, are certainly golden snuffers, which by the hope of future brightness are excellent. The vessels also in which those things that are snuffed out are extinguished, are doubtless the bodies and hearts of all the righteous immortal. And therefore most rightly compared to gold, in which this most desirable change will be made, that after the temporal benefits of God, they may come to the eternal. Finally, the Apostle provides us golden snuffers of the lamps of God, and places where those which are snuffed out are extinguished, when he speaks of the difference between present and future goods, saying: "Whether prophecies, they shall fail; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. And a little later: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (I Cor. XIII).

All the weight of the candlestick... a talent of the purest gold. All the weight of the candlestick with all its vessels is the whole body of Christ, with the very head of our Mediator between God and men, and with all His chosen ones from the highest to the lowest, from those of whom no one is greater among those born of women down to those of whom He says: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones who believe in me" (Matthew 18). Indeed, all these, although in different ranks, ages, sexes, conditions, abilities, and times, cling with the fixed root of their mind to one and the same Author and Giver of perpetual light, each in their own time and place, as if to a golden candlestick, so that they may become participants in the same light. This candlestick, in fact, is properly said to have to be a talent of the purest gold, for a talent is a full and perfect weight: "Because the Lord is righteous in all his ways" (Psalm 145); and He who in this life grants His grace to the faithful to act well, in the next life renders the crown of justice to their good works. On the other hand, the prophet Zechariah describes iniquity sitting upon the talent of lead (Zechariah 5); because He will also render to the reprobates in the same just examination according to their deeds: "You will render to each one according to his works" (Psalm 62).

But it makes a difference whether someone brings gold or lead to the divine judgment. For those who, like gold, shine with good works advance to the Lord's candlestick, because they become participants in the glory of their Creator. But those who appear heavy with sins in the strict examination are submerged like lead in the very deep water; because by the merit of their crimes they fall into the abyss of grievous punishment. Yet, both lead and gold have the measure of a talent; because both in condemning the wicked and in saving and crowning the elect, the judgment of our Creator is just. Look, and make according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain. The mystery of this commandment is very easily evident from those things which were explained above. For an example of the lampstand that Moses would make was shown to him on the mountain; because in the height of intimate contemplation he clearly learned the manifold sacraments of Christ and the Church; however, he did not want to openly declare these to the people whom he was teaching, but rather typified them through the figure and work of the lampstand and its vessels, until the Lord and our Redeemer Himself would come in the flesh, who would reveal the inner sense of that figure to His Church by giving the grace of the Holy Spirit: so that by dying on the cross He tore the veil of the temple, and revealed the secrets of the holy places that had been covered; and after the resurrection, appearing to his disciples, He opened their minds, so that with the eyes of their minds spiritually revealed, they might perceive these and other secrets of the Scriptures. But every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is also commanded diligently to follow and to teach others those things which he has learned in the holy writings about the catholic faith or holy action, what else is he enjoined to do but to look and make according to the pattern that was shown to him on the mountain?

For he diligently looks at the shown pattern, and returning to the lower things, he makes it, when he carefully examines with a devoted heart those things which through the sublimity of the divine word he understands to be believed or acted upon within: and he always shows to his hearers the pattern of these things both by the execution of righteous work and by the word of salutary doctrine; who lives and reigns with the Father and the Son together with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Book II

Chapter 2.1

Description of the tabernacle and the temple. The tabernacle will indeed be made thus. The tabernacle made by Moses in the wilderness, just as the temple which Solomon made in Jerusalem, signifies the state of the holy universal Church, which partly already reigns with the Lord in the heavens, and partly, in this present life still, with its departing and succeeding members, is a pilgrim away from the Lord. Indeed, in the construction of each house, this is usually the principal distinction of the figures: that the tabernacle designates the present building of the Church, where daily it is exercised in labors, and the temple signifies the future rest, which is completed by the daily reception of souls departing hence after their labors. For Moses made the tabernacle with the people of God while they were still in the way, going to the promised land; Solomon, however, built the temple when he had gained possession of the promised land and the kingdom in it. Moses made the tabernacle in the wilderness, Solomon made the temple in Jerusalem, which means 'vision of peace'; for here indeed the Church is built in the labor and affliction of the passing life, in thirst and hunger for the perpetual kingdom; but there it is consummated in the vision and perception of true peace.

Hence it was well said in the construction of the temple that the hammer and axe and all iron tools were not heard in it when it was being built, with all the stones and woods prepared outside Jerusalem, and properly fitted into their positions: which there most easily and undoubtedly were each returned to its place, either with cement or nails; because in the peace of supreme blessedness there is no need for our faith to be tested by tribulations, or for our life to be proved, but what was chastened here in the present age and fitted regularly for the heavenly seats, there with the glue and bonds of mutual charity, so that it cannot be dissolved perpetually, must be joined together in the sight of its Creator and King. For when the heart and soul of the multitude of believers become one in this life, and all things are common to them, what are they but the living stones squared into the building of the future house of the Lord, which, being transferred from here and there, without any laborious delay, are inserted into their proper places, and joined to each other by the bond of divine and their own love? Moreover, the figure of each sanctuary can be generally distinguished thus. The work of the tabernacle signifies the time of the synagogue, that is, the ancient people of God: but the work of the temple signifies the Church, that is, that multitude of the elect, which came to life after the Lord's incarnation:

for Moses completed the tabernacle with only the Hebrew people, but Solomon perfected the temple with the gathered multitude of proselytes, also being assisted by the king of Tyre with his artisans, who were neither Jews by nature nor profession. For it is evident that in the former people of God, their teachers were presided over only from among their own race; but as for the Church, its first governors were indeed from the Hebrews: but soon, as it grew and expanded throughout the world, its builders rose also from the Gentiles, so that even the evangelist Luke, and Timothy and Titus, apostolic men from the calling of the Gentiles, came to its leadership. But if we inspect each detail more diligently, the construction of each house mystically describes the state of the entire present Church, which from the beginning of worldly condition to the last one who is to be born at the end of the age, always continues to be built: and it also wonderfully depicts the glory of future life, which it now partly enjoys, but after the end of this age, will enjoy eternally in all its members, with the truth of the figures marvelously represented.

Therefore, as we are about to say something about the tabernacle, with the Lord's help, invoking Him first with humble prayer, we beseech that the eyes of our heart may be revealed, so that we might be able to consider the wonders of His law, and understand that the adornment of pernicious metals and garments is recommended to us as the decoration of morals, shining with faith and devotion. For surely otherwise that apostolic word cannot apply to us, where he says: "For you are the temple of the living God" (II Cor. VI), as God says: "For I will dwell in them, and walk among them" (Levit. XXVI). And what John heard, a great voice from the throne saying: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them" (Apoc. XXI), unless we imitate the ornamentation of the material tabernacle or temple with the religious adornment of the cleanliness of heart and body of the world. But before we discuss the spiritual sense, let us first briefly look at the material text of the letter itself. The tabernacle was a house consecrated to the Lord, having thirty cubits in length, ten cubits in width, and equally ten cubits in height, having a roof level through the whole, as is the custom in Egypt and Palestine to build houses. Its three walls, southern, northern, and western, were compacted of wooden boards, gilded on both sides.

Furthermore, for the eastern part, there was one bar, where the entrance was, which extended through the middle of the boards from corner to corner, that is from the top end of one wall to the top of the other wall. On it rested the curtains of the tabernacle and the roof, where also a tent was suspended by five columns. The house, moreover, was covered all around and above with curtains woven in wonderful variety, which was properly called the tabernacle. This was also covered all around with curtains of goat's hair, reaching down to the ground. There was also another covering on the roof made of ram skins dyed red. Again, above this, there was another covering of hyacinth-dyed skins. There was also a veil embroidered with variegated work, hanging on four columns, which divided the sanctuary and the holy of holies: within which was placed the Ark of the Covenant, and in front of the Ark outside the veil was the altar of incense. Likewise, in the middle of the sanctuary itself was a lampstand on the south side. The table stood on the north side; the altar of burnt offering outside before the entrance of the sanctuary; the bronze basin between this altar and the tabernacle. And around all of this was the court of the tabernacle, having a length of one hundred cubits and a width of fifty cubits.

Therefore, for the sake of elucidation, we briefly introduce these matters, so that through these words of history we might be able to reach a deeper and clearer understanding of the allegorical sense. When the Lord had taken Moses to Himself on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights, and was delivering the ceremonies of the law and the manner of living, He said among other things:

Chapter 2.2

The Ten Curtains (Exodus XXVI). But you shall make the Tabernacle, etc. The Tabernacle of the Lord is made from curtains varied in different colors; because the holy universal Church is built from many chosen persons, from many Churches throughout the world, and from various flowers of virtues. All its perfection is contained in the number ten; because the Church throughout the world, spread among different nations, tribes, peoples, and languages, subsists wholly in the love of God and neighbor alone, which is encompassed by the Decalogue of the law. Nor can anyone otherwise truthfully reach the members of the Church unless he has learned to love with a whole heart both Him by whom the Church is built, and those in whom the Church is built; that is, God and His chosen ones. The various decorative colors with which these curtains are distinguished are the grace of various virtues, by which the holy Church, composed by marvelous and entirely heavenly craftsmanship, shines in the sight of its Creator: with this variety, and as it were with embroidered work, blessed Peter endeavored to build the Tabernacle of God when he said: "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4). Paul saw this present in the curtains of the Tabernacle, that is, in the minds of the faithful, when he says:

"To one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12), and the rest of that passage. And indeed the fine linen, which is mentioned first, because it designates the ornament of virtues, John testifies in the Apocalypse, saying: "For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready, and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright" (Revelation 19): for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Solomon speaks of the same wife of the Lamb, that is, the Church of Christ: "She makes coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple" (Proverbs 31). However, John, in expounding the figure of one color, suggests that the others also should be interpreted figuratively. Therefore, the fine linen, which indeed comes forth from the earth, but extracted from the earth, through long process of drying, beating, purifying, scalding, and spinning, is accustomed to lose its grassy hue and to take on a bright white color, represents bodies adorned with the beauty of chastity: who, born indeed of the allurements of the flesh, through great labor of continence, as it were, sweat out the native moisture, and attain to the decoration of purity worthy of God by diligent fasting and watchings, prayers and readings, patience and humility. About them, the apostolic words might rightly be said:

"Or do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you" (1 Corinthians 6)? This fine linen is twisted into the curtains of the Tabernacle; because we not only gird the loins of our flesh, but also, as Peter admonishes, the loins of our mind in sobriety (1 Peter 1), so that we may restrain both the flesh from lascivious movements and our heart from seductive thoughts. Hyacinth, because it imitates the appearance of the air and the sky, signifies the minds of the same chosen ones, seeking heavenly things with all hope and desire. The Apostle recommends to us the mystery of this color, saying: "If you have been raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God" (Colossians 3). Purple, because it shows the color of blood: and true purple is also dyed with the blood of sea snails, designates the devoted hearts of those who can say with the Apostle: "For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21). And with the prophet David: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered" (Psalm 44). Scarlet, because it has the appearance of fire, is rightly compared to the most fervent love of the saints. Hence, some of them, who had conceived this with the Lord present and accompanying them, said:

"Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us" (Luke 24)? To whom, in contrast, it is said of the reprobate: "And because iniquity will abound, the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24). This is dyed as if twice, when it flames with love for God and neighbor, when we love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves. Thus, in these four colors of curtains, the four justifications of the chosen are expressed. In twisted fine linen, the flesh maintaining chastity; in hyacinth, the mind desiring heavenly things; in purple, the flesh subjected to passions; in twice-dyed scarlet, the mind shining forth among passions with love for God and neighbor. The length of one curtain will be, etc. In the length of the curtains, is represented the longsuffering patience of the holy Church; in the width, the breadth of charity is expressed, which not only loves God and neighbor, but also usually receives the enemy who hates it with open arms of its sweetness, and commends its persecutors to the Lord on bended knees in prayer, saying: Lord, do not hold this sin against them (Acts VII). Four cubits aptly represent this breadth, because there are four books of the Gospels, in whose examples and words of our Lord Redeemer, we are taught how this charity is to be maintained. Four virtues, in the exercise of which the same charity is practiced, that is, temperance, fortitude, justice, prudence, so that charity, uncorrupted in God, and whole, may be preserved, which is of temperance; may not be broken by any hardships, which is of fortitude; may not serve any other, which is of justice; may be vigilant in discerning things, so that deceit or trickery may not gradually creep in, which is of prudence. But the length of the curtains was twenty-eight cubits, which is a number that is four times seven, and the number seven, because of the day of the sabbath, usually symbolizes the eternal rest of the saints. Therefore, the length of the curtains is extended in four sets of seven cubits;

because through faith and the keeping of the evangelical doctrine, and through the exercises of the spiritual virtues we have spoken of, the longsuffering patience of the holy Church tends to eternal rest. There is also another mystery in the number twenty-eight, equally pertaining to the number seven. For if you are willing to count all the numbers from one to seven in full order, you will complete twenty-eight; for one, and two, and three, and four, and five, and six, and seven, make twenty-eight. Because, therefore, in the parts of the number seven, the number twenty-eight is found, rightly the length of the curtains is contained therein, because the faith and patience of the saints, distinguished by the variety of virtues, in all things which it does or suffers, expects not the glory of human favor, but the happiness of heavenly rest. Hence it is that a psalm of this number is titled in the completion of the tabernacle, which is understood to be sung entirely about the perfection of the holy Church, especially in what is said in it: Worship the Lord in His holy court. And again: And in His temple, all shall say glory (Psalm XXVIII). For appropriately, psalm twenty-eight is inscribed about the completion of the tabernacle; because indeed in this is the perfection of the Church, which is a pilgrim in this world, that through faith and good works, it tends to the rest of the world to come. And properly it follows:

All the tents shall be made of one measure. For although the curtains differed from each other by varying embroidery, they were all of the same measure in length and breadth. This is because the chosen ones, though they possess differing gifts according to the grace given to them, have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Five curtains are to be joined to each other, etc. Josephus (Antiq. III, 6) narrates that the tablets of the Covenant were inscribed with the Decalogue so that each tablet contained five words. Therefore, it is fitting that the ten curtains, which when joined together completed the beauty of the tabernacle, were divided in due time so that five remained together on each side. By observing this, the ministers of the holy places and the people of God would be reminded of the law that must always be observed, which, though contained in ten words on two tablets, was divided into five on each tablet.

Indeed, concerning this interpretation, we can also speak of the number of the curtains as twice five, noting that the followers of God signified in either testament. The first five, which protected or constituted the front and foremost part of the tabernacle, represented the type of the ancient people of God, who fulfilled the precepts of the law in the sacrament of circumcision, sacrifices, and diverse observances of the ceremonies according to the letter. The latter five curtains, which covered or even constituted the rear of the tabernacle, designated us, who after the coming of the Lord in the flesh, keep the books and sacraments of the law spiritually, as He revealed and granted. And indeed all the curtains were of one workmanship, depicted with the same colors, yet five were mutually joined; because all the worshipers of both testaments believed in one and the same God, served with the works of one and the same piety and chastity, but each people performed their distinct parts in the celebration of the sacraments. For the sacrament of the Lord’s passion, by which we are both redeemed, was celebrated by them in the flesh and blood of the victims, and by us in the offering of bread and wine: they believed and confessed the future birth of the Lord in the flesh, His preaching, operation of miracles, temptation, passion, burial, resurrection, ascension, coming of the Holy Spirit, faith of the Gentiles, whereas we believe and confess all these things now accomplished and no longer to be done.

Nevertheless, at the time when the tabernacle was being erected, all the curtains were joined together; because the whole beauty of the Catholic Church extends from the beginning to the end of the age, surely the connection of the ten curtains, as one, adorns the tabernacle of the Lord. Loops of hyacinth on the sides and tops, etc. We have said that hyacinth, because it is of a sky-like color, is suitable to signify heavenly goods. Therefore, curtains are connected with each other by loops of hyacinth when the sole hope of heavenly beatitude unites all the hearts of the elect around the world in one and the same devotion. These loops are aptly called as such, because they were to be placed not only on the sides of the curtains, but also on the tops, that is, at the extreme ends of the corners. For the life and operation of the saints are directed towards perfection by the straight path of common intention, but also the very beginning of good conversation, which is carried out through the confession of faith and the reception of heavenly sacraments, is not diverse from one another, but all are equally and indissolubly connected by the grace of truth. Also, we all share the common certainty of the end of temporal life with the same hope, when we close our eyes in death in such a way that, having first received the viaticum of the heavenly mystery, we quickly trust that we will be found in true life and remain in it forever.

This passage fits what is commanded of the children of Israel in the Book of Numbers, that they should make fringes for themselves on the corners of their garments, placing on them ribbons of hyacinth. Indeed, the children of Israel have fringes and ribbons of hyacinth on the corners of their garments when the elect, and those who desire to see God, work to clothe themselves in acts of justice in such a way that they do not place the end of these actions in the praise of mortals, lest it should be said of them, "They have received their reward" (Matthew VI): but rather they seek in them the judgment and eternal rewards of the heavenly ruler. Hence, it is immediately added in the book by way of explanation: "When they see them, they shall remember all the commandments of the Lord, not following their own thoughts and eyes, which lead them to unchastity through various things." We should also use these words in the explanation of loops of hyacinth, so that we say that curtains are joined by such loops so that the children of Israel, having these things before their eyes, were reminded of heavenly commandments, and we, now reading these things, may remember that we, living this life as children of eternal promise, are separated from each other by times and places: but in heaven, there is a homeland that will unite its citizens, gathered from the four winds of heaven, in an indivisible society forever.

It will have fifty loops on each curtain, etc. We read in the law that the fiftieth year is called the jubilee (Leviticus 25), which means a time of release or initiation, in which all people were to rest from all the labor of the land, and all debts were to be forgiven. And in the New Testament, we know that the grace of the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles on Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth day after the resurrection of the Lord (Acts 2), and consecrated the beginning of the nascent Church by His coming. From this, it is evident that this number can rightly symbolize either the grace of the Holy Spirit or the joy of future blessedness, to which one is brought through the gift of the same Spirit, and in whose reception alone one truly rests and rejoices. And fittingly, the curtains had fifty loops by which they were fastened to one another; for it is only by the gift of the Holy Spirit that the elect are joined together in the bond of peace, which is the bond of perfection: not from any other hope but the future hope and memory of the society and peace which makes the servants of Christ, separated by times or places in this life, to be harmonized together with piety. It is also well said that the curtains had loops on each side, so that each curtain would embrace the curtains next to it on each side as if with outstretched arms embracing from here and there.

For it is indeed necessary that all the faithful, both those who preceded us in Christ and those who followed, be embraced with the outstretched arms of sincere piety; and those who taught us in Christ, and those whom we ourselves taught by Christ's granting, we should all venerate with one affect in Christ. For in this way, we must hasten to see the face of our Creator by living rightly, so that we do not abandon our fellow traveler but strive to reach together before the sight of the divine glory: for the individual curtains were so directed by the support of the boards towards the heights, so shined within the heights with the varied flowers of their own embroidery, that they did not abandon the curtains that were raised with them to the heights or shone while placed on high: just as we ought to help our fellow faithful progressing with us in the service of God, with admonishments and examples, and in whatever virtue we have been able to advance, we should similarly treat our companions in the same virtue with worthy veneration. Therefore, loop meets with loop so that one might be fit to the other when the just are bound to each other with a mutual and equal quality of virtues.

You shall make fifty golden rings, etc. This passage is explained more fully in the subsequent sections where it states: And he cast fifty golden rings to fasten the curtains’ loops, so that one tabernacle would be made. Therefore, the number fifty signifies the true governance in the Holy Spirit; and because a circle appears to have neither a beginning nor an end, and gold is more precious than other metals due to its brightness. What is expressed by the fifty golden circles, if not the perpetual brightness and shining eternity of the highest tranquility? And the rings grip the loops of the curtains so that one tabernacle is made from all, when the glory of the heavenly kingdom thus infuses pure minds of the faithful, that with such a glue of saving inspiration, one Church of Christ is made perfect from both peoples, rather from all the elect.

Chapter 2.3

Eleven Cloths of Goat Hair and Eleven Cloths of Cilicia, etc. This passage is repeated in the following: "And he made eleven cloths of goat hair to cover the roof of the tabernacle. Thus, the cloths by which the tabernacle is covered represent the leaders of the holy Church, through whose diligence and labor the dignity of the same Church is protected and continually fortified with care, lest, evidently, the life and faith of the elect be corrupted by heretical seduction, defiled by the wickedness of false Catholics, tainted by the filth of tempting vices, or drawn to sorrow by the lack of temporal supports. The more they diligently gird themselves to sustain or repel the assaults of incoming temptations, the greater freedom they grant the subjects in serving the Lord, and they provide the appearance of shining within, like curtains, while they endure the storms of afflictions outside, like cloths. It is right that these cloths are also mentioned as cilicia made from goat hairs, and that there are eleven of them; because indeed, holy preachers, the higher they are in merit, the humbler they ought to be in spirit, according to the wise man’s saying: "The greater you are, humble yourself in all things" (Eccle. III). Eleven, indeed, surpasses ten but does not reach twelve, that is, the apostolic number, and signifies transgression of the Decalogue law. And in the eleventh psalm, the prophet laments that the holy ones have failed and the sons of men have exchanged truths for vanities and deceits, saying:

"Save me, O Lord, for the holy one has failed," etc., subtly indicating with this number that such men of double tongue and heart neither keep the legal precepts of the Decalogue nor can receive the apostolic grace of the Gospel. Cilicia, furthermore, is the garb of penitents, as testified by the psalmist, who says: "But when they were troublesome to me, I clothed myself with cilicium" (Psal. XXXIV), that is, I assumed the habit of penance and humility, with which either I would calmly endure the wrath of my persecutors more lightly or even mitigate it. For if goats, or their hairs or skins, always represented the stench of sinners and not at times the humility of penitents, the animal itself would not be counted among the clean, nor would it be said in praise of the spouse: "Your hair is like a flock of goats" (Cant. IV). Thus, the cloths, which hint at holy preachers, are both cilicia and eleven; because the more earnestly they purify hearts by faith, the more they discover in which to blame themselves. Hence, they humbly confess: "For in many things, we all offend" (James III): and "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John II). However, the following words mystically declare the perfection of their hearts, by saying:

The length of one covering shall be, etc. Behold, here you have the number ten, not eleven, in length, and this multiplied by three: which plainly suggests the virtue of those who complete the decalogue of the law in the faith of the Holy Trinity, which operates through love: with which indeed in this life no higher perfection can be attained. You also have the width of four cubits, which signifies the breadth of sincere charity, that is, the one that is both commended and given to us in the Gospel through Jesus Christ. Therefore, the coverings of the tabernacle cover the roof, and these are made of the hair of goats, but having thirty cubits in length and four in width; because those highest preachers who protect the life of the faithful by their exhortations, intercessions, daily care, vigils, fasts, and their own nakedness, humbly admit themselves to be sinners in contemplation of the supreme purity. Nonetheless, as far as the measure of human perfection reaches, they appear pure and exalted among men of the world.

The measurement of all coverings will be equal, etc. There will be one measurement of all coverings because, undoubtedly, there is one faith in which the entire Church is saved, and one and the same eternal life to which it hastens. Hence, those who entered to work at different times in the vineyard of the Lord are all rewarded with one denarius. Thus, the division of coverings into five and six can be understood as we have explained above regarding the divisions of curtains; namely, that they designate the teachers of both Testaments. For five coverings are aptly compared to the ancient teachers of the people of God; either because they preached only the sacraments of the Mosaic law, although they also preached the mysteries of evangelical truth, or because they lived in the five ages of the world. The doctors of the New Testament can be taken from the six coverings without inconvenience; because they spiritually comprehend all that divine Scripture records as done or spoken in the six ages of the world to aid and exemplify their preaching; because they openly proclaim to their listeners that the Lord's passion, through which the world was redeemed on the sixth day, is to be believed and confessed, and they testify that they can be saved only through this sacrament. Therefore, it is rightly commanded that the sixth covering be doubled at the front of the roof, for the confession and imitation of the same Lord's passion.

For it is not enough for believers to be baptized and consecrated only in the confession of the Lord's death and resurrection if each baptized person does not also strive, as much as possible, to live continually in the likeness of the Lord's death, and by suffering for Him, to be assimilated to Him, so that they may also deserve to be partakers in His resurrection. According to the letter, he calls the front of the roof the entrance of the tabernacle: where, as we briefly said above, it is commanded to place not boards, but pillars and a beam stretched from the corner of the boards to the corner; and therefore, as far as the form of the work itself is concerned, a doubled covering was more necessary there, where the solid firmness of the wall was absent. But mystically, the sixth covering is doubled at the front of the roof when all who enter the holy Church are initiated in the faith and sacraments of the Lord's passion, understanding that they must always live by imitating it as well. For in the entrance of the sanctuary, the sixth covering is, as it were, doubled for us when we are consecrated by the sacraments of the Lord’s passion and instructed by His examples. Thus Peter speaks of the reception of the sacraments: "He has regenerated us into a living hope, according to His great mercy, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1). He speaks of the imitation of the passions:

"Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same resolve" (1 Peter 4). Make fifty loops along the edge of one curtain, etc. These, as we explained above concerning the curtains, can also be understood here; namely, that the remembrance of the heavenly rest, which is usually expressed by the number fifty, unites the hearts of the saints with the bond of peace. Or, if it pleases you to hear something new, since the coarse woolen cloths designate the humility of eminent men; because they desire more to remember their own sins than to boast of their virtues, they are more affected by the virtues they have not yet attained than by those they have already achieved. The number fifty of the loops or clasps can signify the humility of their compunction. For the fiftieth psalm is the psalm of repentance. And rightly so; because the gift of repentance is granted only by the generous giving of the Holy Spirit, the gift of forgiveness to the repentant is bestowed only by the action of that same grace of the Holy Spirit. And fittingly, the fifty loops or clasps join the curtains together; because no virtue bonds faithfully into the unity of charity more than humility. For the more one perceives oneself to be weak, the more earnestly one seeks the help of a neighbor to be strengthened. And rightly so, the clasps are made of bronze; because it is known that this metal is very vocal, for indeed the humble conscience of the just has a great voice before God. Hence, that Davidic poor man, when he was troubled, did not shout in the ears of men but poured out his prayer in the presence of the Lord: "Lord, hear my prayer," he says, "and let my cry come to you" (Psalm 101).

What remains in the coverings prepared for the roof, etc. In order that these things may be fully understood, it is necessary to discuss more broadly the entire arrangement of the tabernacle itself. We have said that the walls of the tabernacle, which consisted of boards and columns, had a length of thirty cubits, a width of ten, and a height similarly of ten. Therefore, if anyone wished to encircle the house in width with a cord, for example, from the base of one board on the southern side, to the base of the board opposite on the northern side, it is evident that the same cord would need to be thirty cubits in length, that is, having ten cubits of upward stretch on the southern wall, ten others straight across between the walls, and ten more of downward stretch on the northern wall. Similarly, if you wanted to extend the cord along the length of the house, from the bases of the columns upwards, and along the entire length of the house to the western wall, and then down to its bases, the cord will have fifty cubits in length, namely, ten cubits of upward stretch beside the columns, thirty cubits straight along the length of the house, and another ten cubits of downward stretch beside the boards of the western wall. Therefore, with these things considered, look at the measurements of the curtains with which the house was to be covered, and how they could match the aforementioned measurements.

There were ten curtains, each having a length of twenty-eight cubits and a width of four, which, when joined together and set as one, filled the tabernacle with forty cubits in its width. So, hang the curtains, each having a length of twenty-eight cubits, and place them in the house whose transverse measure is thirty cubits, and you will see that the curtains will have ten cubits in equivalence between the walls; however, in the ascent or descent beside the walls, they will have nine cubits. Thus, it happens that the tops of the curtains cannot touch the ground but will be one cubit higher than the ground. Likewise, you will see that the curtains have thirty cubits in equivalence along the length of the house; but in the ascent or descent beside the eastern and western sides of the house, they have five cubits. Therefore, the same lateral top of the curtains does not reach the ground, but is five cubits higher than the ground. Hence, it is necessary that those five cubits of the curtains, which remain with the ceased walls, be brought together on the eastern and western sides, and joined mutually, so that the curtains cover the house all around, except for one cubit near the ground. This about the curtains. Furthermore, the coverings had thirty cubits in length and four in width; and because they were eleven conjoined along their sides, they filled forty-four cubits. Therefore, place these also in the house:

and since the length of the coverings matches the cord by which you measure the house transversely, it happens that their tops reach the ground. For they will have ten cubits in equivalence between the walls, and also ten cubits in both ascent and descent on each side. And this is what the Scripture says, that one cubit would hang on one side and the other on the other, which is more and protects both sides of the tabernacle in the length of the coverings. For the tabernacle properly calls the very making or conjunction of the curtains, which the coverings extended by one cubit from the southern side of the house, and the other from the northern. Hence, they reached the ground, because these had thirty cubits in length, while those had two less. Again, the measure of the coverings along the length of the house was extended to forty-four cubits, having thirty cubits in equivalence, from the front of the house to the top of the boards on the western side, and seven cubits hanging from the front of the house, and similarly seven hanging on the western side. And so it was that the length of the goats' hair curtains on the western side exceeded the measurement of the inner curtains by two cubits; for indeed the curtains coming from above, as we have mentioned before, covered five cubits of that western wall, and left three cubits untouched. And this is what is now said:

"And the surplus that remaineth in the curtains prepared for the roof, that is, one curtain, with which thou shalt cover the back part of the tabernacle. For half of the curtain, in width it is two cubits, with which namely the back part of the tabernacle was covered, that is, the curtains which were properly called the tabernacle, because, as we have said, the last curtain extending two cubits downward passed beyond them. Similarly, the curtains coming from above covered only seven cubits of the western wall: however, the remaining three cubits, which were left bare, did not suffer the injuries of the weather to the ground; but the seven-cubit curtains drawn together from each side, which remained beyond the walls, firmly covered the back of the house down to the ground. Nor could these only reach each other and, like the curtains, touch in the middle of the wall; but because they were of seven cubits, they exceeded the middle of the wall by two cubits on each side and were joined together by overlapping each other: which we think should be understood in exactly the same way on the eastern part of the house, and therefore it was previously commanded that the sixth curtain be folded at the front of the roof. We have endeavored to explain this very difficult matter briefly, as we seemed to have understood it, being ready to learn more correct things about it, if anyone wills to teach us. In all these things, however, the clear sense of allegory is evident.

For the goats' hair curtains protected the linen curtains, both from above and below and on every side: and so that those within might shine freely with their beauty, these kept them immune from all external injuries of storms, rains, and heat: for indeed the perfect ones of the holy Church's purpose are diligent in circumspectly watching over the life of the faithful committed to them, so that they may lack neither the supports of the flesh nor the aids of the spiritual life. And let the doctrines of heretics and the bad examples of the immoral Catholics be kept away. Let the saving doctrine be present, by which strengthened, they may be able both wisely to repel the words of those who teach evil and patiently to endure the deeds of those who inflict evil upon them. Let their heavenly life be present, by which confirmed, they may use their tongues silently as if always by living reading. For the goats' hair curtains ward off rains, resist storms, prevent the heat of the sun, and strongly drive away all external adversities, so that the beauty of the curtains inside remains unblemished: when Augustine neutralizes all that could disturb the faith, the poison of heretics: when Gregory explains the temptations of the ancient enemy that attack good morals: when Cyprian strengthens the weak with pious exhortations lest they falter in martyrdom:

when other venerable bishops and teachers keep at bay the temptations that could disturb the Church, and with diligent investigation foresee whatever contributes to their salvation, so that everywhere the religious conduct of the faithful may be safe, freely studying virtues with a pure heart, and shining with outstanding deeds in the sight of their Creator, and may also be able to focus the eye of their mind on His contemplation. Truly, because among the holy preachers those are worthy of the greatest honor, who, besides serving in the office of preaching and governance of people, also shed their blood for Christ, it is rightly added:

Chapter 2.4

The third and fourth covering of skins. You shall make another covering for the tabernacle of rams' skins, etc. The holy doctors are sometimes accustomed to be referred to by the name of rams, because they are the leaders of the Lord's flocks. Hence beautifully the Psalmist says: Offer to the Lord, he says, sons of God, offer to the Lord the sons of rams (Psalm 127). Which is to say openly: Offer to the Lord, O angels of God, to whom the care of this office is delegated: offer to the Lord in heaven the spirits of the faithful, who by the imitation of life and faith have merited to become sons of the blessed apostles. Hence it is that the sixth station of the people of God, having set out from Egypt, is called Elim, which means rams, in which were twelve fountains of water and seventy palm trees: so that both by name and appearance it bore the figure of the apostles and apostolic men. The rams' skins are dyed red for covering the roof of the tabernacle, when the apostles, or apostolic men, do not cease to persist in the word of teaching even to the passion of martyrdom: so that they may more safely protect those subjected to the dangers of impending temptations, while they themselves do not flee from suffering persecution for righteousness even unto death.

The tabernacle of the Lord is covered with rams' skins dyed red, and defended from the injury of tempests, when holy preachers strengthen the hearts of the weak by the example of their passion and patience, lest they fail in the pressures of tribulations. And as among the chief members of Christ and the Church, sacred virginity holds a prominent place, it is fitting that after the varied beauty of the curtains, after the protections of the saints' covers, after the red-dyed rams' skins, there is still added another covering of hyacinth skins. For hyacinth is of heavenly color: and the skin of a dead animal is a portion and sign. And what is signified by the hyacinth skins, unless the virtue of those who, having mortified all the enticements of carnal lust, live a heavenly life on earth, and, placed among men, imitate angelic purity: and that which in the future time of immortality is promised to all the elect, because they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God (Matt. 22), they strive to anticipate even while retaining mortal flesh? Hence, rightly, such great virtue receives a great reward, for it is declared by the prophet: Thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, and choose what I delight in, and hold fast my covenant; I will give them in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters:

I will give them an everlasting name which shall not be cut off (Isa. 50). Of which place and name, the evangelist John, who was one of themselves, reports hearing them singing a new song before the throne of God (Rev. 14), which no one else could sing. And immediately he adds: These are those who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins: these are they who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Therefore, the hyacinth skins, rightly, hold the highest place in the house of God, and the heavenly color has chosen a seat closest to heaven, so that choirs of virgins, following the Lamb with special closeness of soul and body, and singing hymns of praise to Him, may be designated. Well, indeed, it is said of the curtains and coverings that even though placed high up, they would hang down to the ground, even though the curtains could not reach all the way to the ground. The columns and boards of the tabernacle, even though erected high, had bases placed on the ground on which they stood. But of the red-dyed and hyacinth skins, it is said that they cover the roof above, but it is not added that they would be turned down to the ground; because other types of virtue seem to have something in common with those who are still held on the earth:

but the contest of martyrdom, and the honor of virginity dedicated to God, as if suspended from the lowest and earthly things, are specially demonstrated to be connected with the citizens of heaven. For the martyr, placed in torments, intends nothing else with his whole mind than to quickly leave behind all things that are in this world, and the world itself, and, freed from all pains, to come to see the Creator of the world, and to possess the joys that are beyond the world. And celibates, while they transcend the common law of human kind, which said: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, with a view to a greater reward, rightly choose for themselves a seat higher than other faithful, indeed higher than the world itself, and thus live in the Church so that they surpass the social conversation of the Church by the honor of their more sublime merit. Hence rightly John writes of such: That these were purchased from among men, firstfruits to God and to the Lamb (Rev. 14). Rightly such are called in the Latin language either virgins, as distinguished by virtue; or celibates, as blessed with heavenly life, that is, imitating the life of the citizens of Heaven on earth.

Chapter 2.5

The boards of the tabernacle. You shall make standing boards for the tabernacle, etc. Shittim wood, from which the tabernacle was made, is of a nature exceptionally resistant to decay, of notable whiteness and lightness, and differing only in size from white thorn wood. Hence Jerome sometimes in the Book of Hebrew Names, but also in other works, interpreted shittim simply as thorns. For example, Abel shittim, mourning of thorns. However, this kind of wood is not easily found except in the deserts of Arabia, where the tabernacle was built. Therefore, Greek or Latin translators could not assign it any other name than the Hebrew one, since they had no knowledge of it; though some, trying to express its nature, translated it as incorruptible wood. The boards of the tabernacle thus designate the apostles and their successors, through whose preaching the Church was spread throughout the world. For the width of the boards represents the expansion of faith and sacraments, which before lay hidden in one Israelite people; but by their ministry, it reached the fullness of the entire world. Although, correctly, the width of the boards can also be understood to mean the widening of the hearts of the saints, by which they are elevated to despise the world and long for heavenly things, through which they joyfully love not only friends in God but also enemies for God's sake. Finally, let us see one of the boards of the tabernacle, namely the Apostle Paul, how he indicates that he is expanded in both ways.

He speaks of internal, that is, heart's widening: Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians, our heart is enlarged; you are not restrained in us, but you are restrained in your own bowels. As a response to this, widen yourselves also (2 Cor. 6). He also speaks of the expansion by which he used to serve the progress of the tabernacle, that is, the holy Church: So that from Jerusalem round about as far as Illyricum I have fulfilled the gospel of Christ (Rom. 15). Such boards were made from shittim wood, that is, of thorns. Indeed, thorns according to the Lord's word are the cares of this world, deceitful riches, and pleasures (Matt. 13, Mark 4). But the pricks of sins are also fittingly compared to thorns. Therefore, it is written: Thorns grow in the hands of the drunkard (Prov. 26), that is, sins are in the works of the foolish. Because holy preachers strove to purge themselves from the pricks of vices and to strip away all worldly cares and pleasures, so that they might be free-minded to expand in the love of God and neighbor, and to run to preach the word far and wide; it is rightly said that the boards of the tabernacle are made from wood of thorns: they are made from thorns, but from those which had entirely shed all prickly thorns and shone with pure whiteness.

For even the saints, shining with virtues, though they themselves are conceived and born in the sin of the first transgression, are also subject to that general condemnation said to Adam when he sinned: The earth shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you (Gen. 3); but by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, they are stripped of all pricks of sins and are apt for the construction of His house by a worthy exercise of virtues. The individual boards were ten cubits in length, etc. The length of the boards is height, which was ten cubits; because the holy teachers tend towards perfection through the observance of the Decalogue of the law; because they labor in Christ’s vineyard for the perception of the daily denarii, that is, they insist on the intention of the word of doctrine, so that they may restore the image of their Creator and King in themselves, which Adam lost by sinning, with His blessing, so that they may rightly receive His name again by living rightly, which they lost by sinning. For it was customary for the name and image of the king to be contained in the denarius. Also, the fact that the denarius got its name from being completed in ten coins appropriately fits the state of our future blessedness, which is perfected in the true love of God and neighbor. For God is often represented by the number three because of the Trinity, which He is, and man by the number seven; because the body is made up of the four well-known elements. The soul, that is, the substance of the inner man, is usually comprehended in Scripture by a threefold distinction. Hence, we are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength. Therefore, it is fitting that the boards, by which the entire tabernacle is held upright and standing, have ten cubits in height;

because the teachers and rulers of the holy Church serve God with the intention that they may be worthy to see Him immortal and blessed in eternity with both soul and body; constantly urging all their listeners to this end of life, both by word and work, and striving as it were to lift them up. The fact that these boards had a width of a cubit and a half, the full cubit represents the perfection of good works; the half cubit that remains signifies the beginning of divine knowledge: because the righteous indeed in this life can perfectly attend to almsgiving, devote themselves to prayers, discipline themselves with fasting, and endeavor in other religious acts of this kind. Meanwhile, we know God through faith, but we hope for full knowledge of Him in the future, as God Himself and our Lord Jesus Christ says: "If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth" (John VIII). Again, to the Father He says: "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John XVII). Hence, the Apostle also says: "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. Shall we labor in part for Christ, insist on the word of preaching in part, serve in good works in part" (I Cor. XIII)? Therefore, the elect have a full cubit of good works in this life;

but they have a cubit of blessed reward in part, insofar as they can anticipate with heavenly desires the joys of an eternal kingdom and the presence of their Creator. They will then be blessed by the completion of this cubit, when the word is fulfilled, which He promised to all His chosen people in the end, saying: "I will deliver him and glorify him, I will satisfy him with long life, and show him my salvation" (Psalm XC). On the sides of the boards two tenons shall be made, etc. The tenons on the sides of the boards signify the strength of humility in the minds of the just, through which they are joined together in brotherly charity. For as each of them with a contrite and humbled heart prepares a place in themselves for the love of their neighbors, and by the worthiness of piety and devotion they present themselves to their brothers to be loved, just as all the boards of the tabernacle are coupled together by the joint of the tenons. And indeed, when the tabernacle is erected and the regular arrangement of the boards is orderly placed, the figure of the tenon is not seen. However, the firmness of the stable wall shows how greatly the boards are united to each other; because certainly, the humility of the hearts of the saints, by which they are joined to each other, cannot be seen by men externally, but what it works inside is plainly evident to everyone from the very peaceful state of the holy Church. Through which a marvelous dispensation of divine grace is achieved, that we, upon whom the ends of the ages have come, also love with sincere affection those who were faithful at the beginning of the age, and we embrace them in the bosom of our love no less than those who live with us in the present, and we also believe that we should be received by them through the embrace of charity.

But that it is commanded that two tenons be made in each of the boards, that is, on both sides of them, this can be understood figuratively in two ways, so that we preserve the inviolate rights of charity towards our brothers both in prosperity and adversity, proceeding with the armor of righteousness, following the example of the Apostle, from the right and the left, and holding within our arms both the greater and the lesser, that is, those who have preceded us in Christ and those who have followed, all of one and the same love, we strive towards the heights of perfection. It follows:

Chapter 2.6

On the position of the boards of the tabernacle. There will be twenty boards on the south side, etc. The length of the tabernacle is not specifically stated; but it is implied by the fact that its walls were made of twenty boards, and these are said to have had a width of one cubit and a half each. For twenty cubits and twenty half-cubits will make up a total of thirty cubits, which Josephus also writes was the length of the tabernacle. And this number fittingly encompasses the length of the tabernacle because there are three virtues in which the perfection of the holy Church principally consists, namely faith, hope, and charity: which are multiplied by ten to complete the number thirty, when good works are joined to the virtues of the mind, which are contained in the Decalogue of the law, so that no one might think that faith, hope, and love of God could suffice without the execution of works. The fact that the number of boards is twenty also contains a great mystery of the saints' perfection; for four fives make twenty. And since the Mosaic Law is comprised in five books, and grace and truth of the New Testament in the four volumes of the holy Gospel, it is fitting that the holy doctors are expressed by the number twenty; for by a wonderful consensus of truth, they reveal and complete the secrets of the law manifested in the Gospel, and declare that the sacraments of the Gospel were prefigured in the law.

And while they teach that the Old Testament is elucidated in the New and made more manifest in broader sense, and that the New is foreshadowed in the Old and pre-signified by various revelations of types, they demonstrate that in the breadth of their discourse, both the number of four multiplied by five and five multiplied by four are indicated. The bases that supported the boards, however, are the words and books of the law and the prophets, by which the apostles and evangelists proved that the things they wrote and preached were true and divine. Hence it is often repeated in the Gospel: Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet (Matthew 1), and: But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled (Mark 14). And Peter, giving testimony about the Lord, added: And we have the more sure word of prophecy, to which you do well to take heed (2 Peter 1). Indeed, well are two bases placed under each board, to show the consensus of prophetic testimony in all that the apostles said. Or certainly, two bases are placed under each board at the two corners, so that, with the corners well supported, the entire board can rightly and steadfastly stand; because the beginning and end of all apostolic and evangelic discourse is prefigured in the prophetic writings.

The entire life of the apostles and their successors, from the beginning of faith to the end of the present life, is found to be included in the mystical pages of the Old Testament. Well too are these bases made of silver, on account of the brightness of the heavenly word: For the words of the Lord are pure words, silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times, etc. (Psalm 12). On the second side also... there will be twenty boards, etc. The southern side of the tabernacle, which faced the south, symbolizes that ancient people of God, who, having long since received the light of legal knowledge, used to burn with love for their Creator. But the second side, which faced the north, represents the multitude of nations, which did not cease to lie in the darkness and cold of unbelief until the time of the Lord’s incarnation. Of their calling, the Lord beautifully speaks through the prophet: "I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold." Which is plainly to say: "I will say to the people of the nations who have long been cold without faith, Give of your children, who will come to the faith of my confession and love. I will also say to the Israelite people, who already enjoyed the light of my knowledge, Do not withhold the nations from being received into the lot of election. I will say to Cornelius and his household, Receive the faith and baptism of Christ. I will say to the Jews, Do not compel the believers from the nations to be circumcised, for those dedicated by the font of baptism, faith and confession of truth suffice for salvation. Both sides had boards of the same number, measurements, and workmanship; because it is indeed the same faith, hope, and charity preached to both peoples by the apostles, both are called to the same promised kingdom of heaven, both receive the general precept of the Savior: "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark 16), that is, to both the circumcised and the uncircumcised. Where it is also added without any distinction: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved."

To the western side... six planks, etc. Josephus (Antiq. III, 7) writes about the tabernacle that it had ten cubits of width; he also writes that the planks were lifted four fingers from the ground. From this it seems to be understood that the bases of these planks were made of such a height. He again says about the chapter we proposed, and about the bars of the planks, thus: "Nine cubits of the posterior wall were made by six planks, to which two other planks are joined, made of half a cubit, which they placed as corners like the larger planks. Each plank had golden rings; prominent on the outer faces, fixed like certain roots in order, facing each other around, and through them, gilded bars were inserted, each having a size of five cubits, and they were for the joining of the planks, and the head of each bar entered into the head of another bar, like in the manner of a shell: and behind the walls positioned in length there was one row, going through all the planks, by which both sides of the wall were held together, in joints made and inserted together. This was so diligently done so that neither by winds it was moved, nor by another cause the tabernacle was disturbed, but it was kept immovable in secure quiet. This from the text of Josephus. But according to the sense of the allegory, the western side, which receiving both walls, completes the building of the tabernacle;

rightly designates the completion of the whole holy universal Church, which is perfected with the end of this world, up to which faith and correct operation of both peoples will persevere, as if the length of the twin walls reaches. For it is not credible either that before the time of the Lord's incarnation there were ever lacking those who believed from the nations, or now, although heavily condemned for their unbelief, the people of the Jews, there are some from them, though very few, who exiled among the Christians, come daily to salvation by believing. If anyone dares to deny this, we should say what cannot at all be denied, namely that spiritual teachers and interpreters of both Testaments, who, according to the word of the Lord, bring forth from their treasure new and old, will remain in the holy Church until the end of the age. And appropriately, the tabernacle is completed on the western side, where the sun closes the day and all the stars usually set; because of, namely, either the demise of each of the chosen, or the general end of the whole age. For it is as if the sun sets for him, who from this temporal light through the darkness of transitory death, migrates to the joys of light and eternal life.

Just as the sun of the entire Church sets in the west, so in truth it rises in the east with passing darkness, when the life of this present world is ended at the coming of the Lord, then the true morning of the world to come, the true day of eternity will appear to the righteous. And because then, while the righteous reign with the Lord, the reprobate perish forever; it is rightly said of this side of the tabernacle in the following, that it looked toward the sea. The Red Sea is in this way represented, in which Pharaoh with his army was submerged, and from which Israel was saved by the Lord, ascending to Mount Sinai, where he built the tabernacle. Therefore, the western side of the tabernacle looks to the sea, when the holy Church, crowned after the perfection of works, in Christ freely gazes upon the vices or punishments of the impious, which He helped them avoid, as Isaiah testifies, who says: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I am making, stand before me says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name stand. And shortly after: "And they shall go out, and see the corpses of men who have rebelled against me. Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched" (Isa. 66).

Indeed, the waves of the deep, bitter and turbulent sea, can also symbolize the sins by which the reprobate in this life are badly delighted and perish, and also the abyss of future perdition, when in the last judgment they will be thrown into eternal fire with the devil. Nor should it be overlooked that when the tabernacle was built on Mount Sinai, it had the Red Sea to the west; but when it was brought into the promised land by Joshua and placed in Shiloh, it had the Great Sea in the same direction. From this we can mystically understand that the saints, serving the Lord in this life and making a tabernacle for Him in their hearts, disdain with a fixed mind the haughty boast of the impious, just as something soon to set; and in the future country placed with the Lord, they gaze upon their perpetual punishment without any interruption of their own happiness; so that they give greater thanks to Him, not only because they enjoy the good things He granted, but also because they observe the evils from which He delivered them. However, well the western side of the tabernacle, or that which is said to look toward the sea, consisted of six boards; either because the number six often expresses the perfection of good work, since the Lord completed the adornment of the world in that number, created man in its beginning, and in its number restored humankind by His passion;

or because the six ages of this world are, in which we must perfect ourselves with good works, so that we can come to eternal rest in the future and the glory of the resurrection. For the fact that again another two boards, except for the first six, are commanded to be erected at the back corners of the tabernacle, to receive those coming from the eastern side and join the wall of the western side; this pertains to the reward of future life, which is secure after the labors and times of this world. Which is divided in two ways: into the Sabbath, that is the rest of the holy souls after the dissolution of bodies, and into the glory of the resurrection, the reception of incorruptible bodies. Both allocations of reward, common to both peoples, never end. For the rest of the souls, with the time of the resurrection coming, receives no diminution, but rather an increase, and this union of immortality, of our flesh and spirit in heaven, remains always inviolate. However, it is well said of the same boards:

And they shall be joined together from bottom to top, etc. Because, indeed, the whole life of the elect, with one and the same faith and charity, tends towards the heavenly; it arrives at one and the same end of divine vision, in one and the same voice of true doctrine all the speech of the holy preachers agrees. For indeed the joint of the boards would gape apart if what one prophet or apostle had said, another would deny. But because the harmonious speech of divine utterances erects the structure of the Church, indeed one joint fits together all the boards of the tabernacle and does not allow them to be separated from one another. To the two boards... a similar joint shall be preserved, etc. The corner boards are joined to the wall boards in every way, because the glory of the future rest and immortality is most firmly connected to our present conversation through faith, hope, and charity: in fact, the present state of our conversation endures stable and unshaken because it believes, hopes, and loves the rewards of the future compensation; because frequently by the assistance of the heavenly citizens, it is restrained lest it might fall by the turbulent blasts of impure spirits. And these boards, which either designate the perfection of our good action or the future rewards for good deeds, are supported each by two bases; because all these things also the holy prophets predicted with a harmonious voice would be for the confirmation of the evangelical and apostolic preaching.

Chapter 2.7

The bars and rings of the boards of the tabernacle. You shall make bars also of acacia wood, etc. The five bars, which hold the boards of the tabernacle together, are the five books of the Mosaic law, by whose protection the holy Church is marvelously safeguarded against every impulse of the evil spirits of those who tempt and lead into sin. And this is on either side, because not only did the letter of the law instruct the former people of God in faith and good works, but it also instructs us, serving God in the time of the new testament, spiritually understood by the same letter, with greater sweetness of grace, and in the present, it establishes us in faith and the exercise of virtues, and in the future, it kindles in us hope for perpetual reward. Bars of the same number are also on the western side, because the same completion of good work, when we depart from the flesh toward future rewards, is proclaimed to us by the law well understood. Hence, to the rich man asking and saying: Good Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life? the same Good Teacher replied: If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments (Matthew 19). And He did not adjoin to him anything other than the commandments of the law:

And you shall gild the boards themselves, etc. The gilded boards of the tabernacle gleam brightly when every life and every word of the holy preachers exhibit the light of heavenly wisdom, and nothing in them is seen but the honor of virtues. But the golden rings, through which the bars held the boards in place, signify the very beatitude of heavenly life; which, because of its glory of brightness, is rightly compared to gold, and because of its eternity, is rightly compared to a circle. Hence the Apostle speaks of it: “There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness” (II Tim. IV). However, each board had five rings; not because the distinction of the heavenly homeland is fivefold, but because the same perpetual brightness and clear eternality of that kingdom are contained in Genesis, in Exodus, in Leviticus, in the book of Numbers, and in Deuteronomy. And five golden rings were fixed into each board of the tabernacle, because the hearts of the just, greatly expanded through love, read in all the books of Mosaic law not only the correction of works, but also the perpetual light of heavenly retribution.

And you shall cast for them golden rings, etc. The bars hold the boards in place through the golden rings, when the words of sacred utterance, through the promise of the heavenly kingdom, confirm the state of the holy Church; so that the more it learns the certainty of perpetual remuneration, the less it fears the disturbances of the world. Furthermore, it is aptly added concerning these bars: Which you will cover with golden plates. The poles are covered with golden plates when the words of the divine law, which seem to be strong according to the literal sense and most suitable for confirming the life of the faithful, are shown to possess a higher understanding, that is, one shining with evangelical clarity. For example, to give a single testimony: when we read the history of Saint Noah, how he was miraculously preserved with his own in the ark from the flood that destroyed the wicked; it is clear to all in that God, loving justice and hating iniquity, knows how to rescue the pious from temptation, and to punish the wicked with just severity. Therefore, such reading is like the poles of the incorruptible tabernacle of the Lord, because the minds of the faithful, fixed on the words of true wisdom, are fortified against the incursions of temptations. But as if the wooden poles were covered with golden plates, when the same reading is shown to be full of more sacred mysteries through spiritual understanding, the ark is understood to signify the Catholic Church, the water of the flood to signify baptism: clean and unclean animals, to signify the spiritual and carnal members in the Church: the smoothed and pitch-covered wood of the ark, to signify teachers strengthened by the grace of faith: the raven going out of the ark and not returning, to signify those who fall into apostasy after baptism:

the olive branch brought into the ark by the dove, to signify those who, though baptized among heretics, because they have the fatness of chastity, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, deserve to be introduced into Catholic unity: the dove going out of the ark and not returning, to signify those who, freed from the flesh, fly to the free light of the heavenly fatherland, and will no longer return to the labors of earthly pilgrimage. Thus, the poles of setim wood are surrounded by gold, when the most firm testimonies of sacred Scripture prove to be clear through mystical interpretation, with these and similar heavenly and spiritual senses. And you shall erect the tabernacle according to the pattern, etc. The pattern of the tabernacle was shown to Moses on the mountain, because, dwelling in secret with the Lord, he saw the sublime life of angelic purity and immortality; in imitation of this he was commanded to establish human life on earth, to the extent that it is possible for mortals to imitate, so that with their example we might attend, on earth, to mutual love for God, divine praise, unanimous peace, sincere chastity, and other such virtues, and thereby deserve to be their companions in heaven, according to the promise of the Lord, saying: But those who are considered worthy of that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot die anymore; they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection (Luke 20:35-36). Moses indeed showed us an example of angelic life, which he saw in the mountain of contemplation, through legal precepts, by the observance of which, we, too, raised from the earth, might be able to reach the company of angels in heaven. The same example of a more perfect life and blessed reward was also presented to us through the figure of the tabernacle and the priestly and Levitical service which he describes. The tabernacle is erected according to the pattern shown to him on the mountain when the elect, to imitate the angelic purity, which he merited to contemplate in secret, compose their work and mind. Thus far it has been expounded concerning the south, north, and west walls of the temple, as the Lord has given; but in what follows, the pattern for the east side will also be shown. But first, the Scripture has judged it right to intimate the middle wall which separated the holy of holies from the former tabernacle.