returned to the Israelites, he proceeded at once to carry out the precepts he had received.

Let us picture to ourselves the holy edifice as it stood when completed.

The Tabernacle consisted of three distinct parts-the Holy of Holies, the Sanctuary or Holy, and the Court. The two former were the Tabernacle in the stricter sense. This was thirty cubits long, ten cubits broad, and ten cubits high, and formed therefore an oblong square, the longer sides being those extending from east to west. It was made of boards of acacia wood plated with gold, each of which was ten cubits long and one cubit and a half broad. The boards, in order to be fixed in the ground, were each provided at the end with two tenons, which fitted in sockets of silver. But only the northern, southern, and western sides were in this manner framed of wood. At the eastern side was the entrance, which was covered with a curtain of blue, red, and crimson, and twined byssus. This curtain, which formed a square of ten cubits, was supported by five pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold, fixed by means of golden hooks and five sockets of brass. The fifth side (or the ceiling) consisted of a costly covering, composed of carpets or curtains of twined byssus, and blue, red, and crimson, with figures of the Cherubim interwoven; over it was a covering of goats' hair made of eleven curtains; and over this a third covering of rams' skins dyed red, and a fourth of badgers' skins, both of which were not only spread over the ceiling, but hung down at the sides without, as a protection against the injurious influences of the weather.

The structure just described was divided into two parts of a different degree of sanctity by a splendid curtain adorned with the images of the Cherubim, and suspended immediately under the loops and hooks of the first covering, so that the western part was ten, and the eastern

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twenty cubits long. The former was the Holy of Holies, the latter the Sanctuary or the Holy. This curtain also hung, like that of the whole Tabernacle, on pillars of gilt acacia wood, but they were only four in number, fixed by means of hooks of gold and four sockets of silver. Golden nails were here likewise applied to fasten the curtain to the pillars.

Around the Tabernacle was a Court, one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits broad, and formed by pillars and curtains five cubits high: the pillars were of wood not plated with metal, twenty on each of the longer sides, ten on the shorter ones; the curtains were of fine twined linen. The entrance into the Court was from the east, so that when the sun rose, it might send its first rays upon it.' Exactly in the middle was a door, twenty cubits wide, overhung with a curtain of the same materials and workmanship as that before the Sanctuary. The Court had no covering above, but was exposed to the air; and from without it was, like the Tabernacle, fastened in the ground by pins and tent-ropes.

Within the Court stood two holy implements.

1. The Altar of Burnt-offering. It was formed of hollow boards of acacia wood covered with brass, and filled with earth. It was three cubits high, and five long and broad. At the four corners were four horns of the same wood, overlaid with brass. It had a border, and under it a grate or network of brass, probably in order to receive whatever might fall from the altar, especially wood and ashes. To the altar belonged various vessels of brass, as pots and basins, forks and fire-shovels.

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2. The Laver, in which the priests washed their hands and feet before they commenced their sacred duties. stood between the altar and the curtain of the Sanctuary. It was made of brass, chiefly of the looking-glasses of the women who served at the door of the Tabernacle.'

The chief implements of the Holy or Sanctuary were three in number-the Shew-bread Table, the Candlestick, and the Altar of Incense.

1. The Table was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, one cubit and a half high, two cubits long, and one broad. The top was encircled at the border with a golden wreath or crown. Four golden rings were fastened in the four corners of the feet, probably immediately under the border or enclosure, and two staves of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, were put into the rings, for the transport of the Table in the journeys of the Hebrews. Twelve unleavened cakes, in two equal rows, were placed upon this Table as a permanent cereal offering for the twelve tribes of Israel. On each row pure frankincense was burnt, as a symbol that the shew-bread was offered to God and sacred to Him. Every Sabbath they were taken from the Table and eaten by the priests, but at once replaced by new ones. The vessels belonging to the Table were all of gold-the dishes for the cakes, the bowls for the frankincense, the cans and cups for the wine used at the libations which were most probably connected with the burning of the incense.

2. Opposite the Table, and occupying the southern or south-western part of the Sanctuary, stood the Candlestick. It was made of pure gold, and consisted of seven arms; for it rested on a base from which rose a shaft that divided itself into three branches on each side. On each of the arms burnt a lamp filled with pure olive oil, six from evening till morning, but one from evening to evening. The arms themselves were ornamented with calyxes of almond flowers, pomegranates, and blossoms of the lily or some other flower. To the candelabrum belonged, as necessary utensils, golden snuffers and fireshovels.

3. Between the Shew-bread Table and the Candlestick,

and before the curtain that separated the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies, stood the Altar of Incense. It was square, made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, ornamented round the top with a golden wreath, and furnished with horns, on which the High-priest put the blood of atonement. On this altar no sacrifice of any kind was offered, but the priest burnt every morning and every evening a peculiar frankincense most carefully prepared.

When the High-priest passed from the Sanctuary, through the costly curtain, into the sacred and mysterious Holy of Holies, he found there the Ark, or the Ark of the Covenant or of the Testimony. It consisted of three distinct parts.

1. The Ark itself, having the form of an oblong chest, was made of acacia wood, plated with fine gold from within and from without. Round it was a border encircling it like a crown. It stood on four feet, each of which was provided with a ring, and through these rings were passed the two gilded staves of acacia wood, by which the Ark was carried. Into it were placed the two tablets of the Law, and nothing more; but before it an urn filled with manna, and the blooming staff of Aaron (see infra).

2. On the Ark was the Mercy-seat, made of pure gold, and thus marked as distinct from the Ark. It was one of the most important parts of the Tabernacle, and the place where the blood of atonement was sprinkled on the most solemn occasions of the year.

3. On the Mercy-seat, and forming one whole with it, were two golden figures of the Cherubim, with their wings expanded, and their faces turned to each other and looking down upon the Mercy-seat. All that we can infer with respect to their shape is, that they were probably not very large, winged, and of the human form.

They were intended to serve as symbols for the Presence of God which filled the Holy of Holies; and the Highpriest, as he entered the sanctified spot with awe and reverence, glanced from the type of the one infinite heavenly Being to the Ark wherein lay the words of the Lord as He had revealed them to His prophet Moses.

The glory of God was alone to illumine the Holy of Holies; neither the rays of the sun nor the light of lamps was allowed to penetrate into the mysterious dwellingplace of the Lord.

42. THE GARMENTS OF THE PRIESTS.

[EXOD. XXVIII. XXIX.]

After God had described to Moses the holy edifice and all its parts, He gave him His directions concerning the priests who were to perform the sacred offices in that Sanctuary. Israel had been chosen as a holy people from among all other nations; now the Levites were chosen from among the other tribes as specially consecrated; they constituted more particularly the kingdom of priests.' But among the Levites the family of Aaron was singled out to do God's service; Aaron himself was appointed the first High-priest, the spiritual king, the man who interceded between God and His people.

Now, the very garments were to denote the sacredness. and reveal the spiritual mission of the priests. They were symbolical, and therefore minutely prescribed.

The vestments of the common priests consisted of the tessellated tunic, the drawers, the girdle, and the turban.

1. The Tunic was a long close robe without folds, of white linen, with sleeves, covering the whole body down to the feet. It was woven in an entire piece, and formed one whole, with an aperture for the neck. It is described