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 VI. 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 VII. 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.
CHAPTER VIII. On the veil and columns of the tabernacle and the mercy seat above the ark. You will make a veil of blue, etc. This veil, by which the tabernacle was divided in the middle, is placed according to Josephus so that twenty cubits of its length extended to the first house, and ten pertained to the second. This is entirely in accordance with the measurements of the temple, which was later made by Solomon. Since it was sixty cubits in length and twenty in width, a third part of its length, that is, twenty cubits, was allocated to the inner house, that is, the Holy of Holies, so that the length and width of the inner house were one. Thus, the inner part of the tabernacle had a similar length and width, that is, ten cubits. But what the same veil symbolically represents, the Apostle to the Hebrews clearly declares, where he also expounds this in an allegorical sense: why the priests indeed always entered the first tabernacle, performing the services of sacrifices, but in the second, only the high priest once a year, not without blood, which he offered for his own and the people's ignorance. This veil is interpreted as the sky. But the fact that the priests entered the first tabernacle daily throughout the year with sacrifices speaks of the state of this life: where the saints serve the Lord without interruption, daily atoning for the errors of their fragility, without which they can by no means exist in this life, with daily sacrifices of good works, with daily libations of their tears, as true priests of God and Christ. The high priest, who entered the Holy of Holies once a year with the blood of the victims, is understood to be the great high priest to whom it was said: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110). Who, having been offered once for our sins, himself as both the priest and the offering, through his own blood entered into heaven itself, to appear now before the face of God for us. But that the same veil was woven of blue and purple and double-dyed scarlet and fine twisted linen, with beautiful variety, who cannot see, even according to the letter, how it corresponds to the beauty of the heavenly vision? For if you consider the beauty and flames of the stars, the various forms of the clouds, the very iris drawing a thousand various colors in the opposing sun, do you not seem to note paintings of colors in the sky far more numerous and beautiful than those woven into the veil of the tabernacle? Moreover, the four columns before which this veil was hung are the celestial powers of the hosts, illustrious with four distinguished virtues, which we have also mentioned above, that is, fortitude, temperance, prudence, and justice. These virtues are indeed preserved differently by us in the labors and toils of this life, and differently in heaven by angels and holy souls. For there, the present rule appears to be subject to justice. And this is truly immortal justice; to prefer or equal no good to God, prudence: to adhere most firmly to God, fortitude: to take no delight in harmful defect, temperance. Here indeed, what is called justice in helping the wretched, what is called prudence in guarding against snares, what is called fortitude in enduring troubles, what is called temperance in restraining wicked delights, will not be there where there will be no evil at all. But these columns are well made of shittim wood, either because angelic spirits are by nature incorruptible and immortal, or because being created without sin, they always preserve the unblemished purity of their condition. Regarding which it is aptly continued:
Those same (columns) indeed will be gilded, etc. For the columns are gilded, before which the veil will be hung; because placed within the veil of the heavens are the virtues of the angels, clothed with the grace of the highest brightness. They have golden capitals, because the mind by which they are ruled is illuminated by the presence of divine knowledge and vision. And they have silver bases; because their entire nature specially subsists on this, as if on a foundation, to chant hymns of praise to their Creator, to declare the will of the same Creator to us still wandering on earth, as if placed outside the veil, to their fellow citizens. Whence also, rejoicing with their praises from the earth, we are accustomed to say diligently, as if in a voice of exhortation: Bless the Lord, all his angels, powerful in strength, who do his will (Psalm 103). For in the Scriptures, the splendor of wisdom is often shown by gold, and the brightness of words by silver.
The veil shall be hung on the rings, etc. Rings, which appear to have neither beginning nor end, are sometimes used in sacred Scripture to symbolize eternity. Fittingly, the veil, which represents the heavens, is said to be hung by rings; either because it was in the eternal counsel of Divinity when the world was created, in which the heavenly nature holds the first and foremost place; or because the firmament of the heavens was made in such a way that its creation would never be undone. For when the Lord said, “Heaven and earth will pass away” (Matthew 24), it is to be understood of the ethereal heaven. About this Jeremiah says, “The stork in the heaven knows her appointed times” (Jeremiah 8). For that heaven will perish by fire in judgement, which was destroyed by the flood, as attested by Peter, who said, “The heavens were of old and the earth, standing out of water and in the water, by the word of God, by which the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth that are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgement” (2 Peter 3). Within this veil of the temple was placed the ark of the covenant; because the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who alone is privy to the secrets of the Father, after his passion and resurrection from the dead, ascending above the heavens of the heavens, sits at the right hand of the Father. By this veil, the sanctuary and the holy of holies are divided; because the Church, consisting of holy angels and men, partly still sojourns in the lower places, partly reigns in the eternal homeland on high, with the veil of heaven still dividing and separating its citizens from each other.
And you shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony, etc. Fittingly, the mercy seat is said to be placed above the ark; because the mediator between God and men is particularly given by God the Father to be the atonement for our sins. Hence Paul also says, “Jesus Christ, who died, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
The table outside the veil, and opposite the table, the lampstand, etc. The table and the lampstand of the tabernacle symbolize the temporary benefits of God, by which we are presently refreshed and illuminated, so that, being comforted and assisted by these in the meantime, with the increasing grace of merits, we may be able to enter to eat the bread of angels in the heavens and to see the true light of the world. These are both outside the veil; because in this life only, we have need of either the holy Scriptures and doctors or the other sacraments of our redemption: but in the future age, where the Lord will openly declare the Father to us, that is, will openly show the Father to us, and where, as John says, we will see Him as He is (1 John 3); there will no longer be a need for an external aid of salvation, with God Almighty dwelling inwardly in His elect, illuminating like the light of life, and satisfying like the bread of life, whom He exalts with eternal happiness, introducing them into the joy of His kingdom. We have said above that the southern side of the tabernacle signified the ancient people of God, who first received the light of divine knowledge and the fervor of divine love: but the northern part of the same tabernacle indicated the Church gathered from the Gentiles, who had remained longer in the darkness and the shadow of death. Hence, by a proper distinction, the lampstand, which is placed in the southern part, can insinuate the grace given to the former people; while the table which stood in the northern part signifies the benefits of God granted to us. It is rightly said that the lampstand is placed opposite the table, because in truth the Scriptures of the law and the prophets in all respects look towards the grace of the gospel; namely bearing witness to it, and signifying that they are to be revealed by it in spiritual sense.
CHAPTER IX. Description of the curtain at the entrance of the tabernacle and its columns. You shall make a curtain at the entrance of the tabernacle, etc. Having completed the narration about the veil that divided the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies, he returns to explain about the eastern side of the sanctuary, which seemed to have been omitted for a time when he described the other sides, namely the southern, northern, and western sides. Therefore, the curtain at the entrance of the tabernacle, woven with beautiful variety of colors, is the adornment of the primitive Church, glorious with different flowers of virtues: about which Luke writes: Because the multitude of believers were of one heart and soul, and there was no separation among them; nor did anyone say that anything he possessed was his own, etc. (Acts IV). For it had blue, because it used to think of heavenly things and lead a heavenly life on earth. It had purple, because it was ready to die for Christ. It had scarlet twice-dyed; because it burned with love for God and neighbor. It also had twisted linen; because it rejoiced in bodily continence and chastity.
And you shall gild five columns of acacia wood, etc. The columns by which the tent was suspended are the holy teachers, of whom Luke subsequently adds: And with great power the apostles gave testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord (Acts 4:33). The stronger their minds are raised to the heavens, the more firmly they suffice, by teaching, to lift others to the love of heavenly things. Just as the apostles and apostolic men can rightly be depicted by the boards, due to the breadth or doctrine with which they go into the whole world to preach the Gospel to all creation; or the love which they extend not only to friends but also to loving even their enemies, and to pursuing with prayers and benefits those who hate them: so too, because of the invincible strength of their hearts, and their ever-raised intention to the heavenly, they are not inconveniently figured by the name and craftsmanship of the columns, as the apostle attests, who says: James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars (Galatians 2:9). These columns, truly, are well made fivefold because of the same number of the books of the law, with which it is necessary that the holy teachers unite their word of preaching, and especially those who established the primitive Church, which, gathered from the people of the Hebrews, knew only to be established by the authority of the Mosaic law, when as yet the evangelical and apostolic Scriptures did not shine throughout the world. But these same columns are rightly ordered to be made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold, to signify that the holy preachers must be inwardly entire in the weakness of heart, and failing in no way, and must be visibly conspicuous in the brightness of deeds. Or certainly, the columns of acacia wood are gilded when the same teachers always teach that the strength of their actions must be protected by divine aid, when in all that they do they seek the glory of the Father who is in heaven; when in all that they speak, they rejoice to sound Christ, saying: For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ our Lord (2 Corinthians 4:5). Of whom it is aptly added:
Of which the capitals will be golden, and the bases bronze. The golden capitals indeed signify Him, of whom the Apostle says: And all things hold together in Him, and He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead (Col. I). Nor should it seem inappropriate for the one head of the Church, Christ, to be represented by the five capitals of columns; for there were as many capitals as there were columns: because indeed the same Lord Christ is the head of all the saints, remaining whole in Himself, always equal and indivisible, but distributing the grace of His Spirit to each of the elect according to their capacity to receive. Whence not only to the whole Church generally, but also to each of its members individually, it can be appropriately declared with confidence: Now therefore my head is exalted above my enemies around me (Psalm XXVI). It is fittingly in conformity with the significance of this head that the same column capitals are commanded to be made of gold, and not gilded like the columns and boards, because all the saints have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit and heavenly grace, but He Himself was full of grace and truth: and as His forerunner said of Him: For God does not give the Spirit by measure. For the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand (John III). The bronze bases, however, are the prophets, whose testimony confirms the word of the apostles. And it is fitting that they are bronze, either because of the unsurpassable confidence of the prophetic mind or because their word, even as the world grows old or passes away, can never be consumed by any age. For the Lord did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. For the columns of the tabernacle have bronze bases; they have golden capitals, because the apostles and apostolic men were confirmed in faith by the words of the prophets, and were elevated by the desire to see the face of their Creator among the heavenly ones. Again, golden capitals but bronze bases; because whatever they received from the Lord by His heavenly authority, they learned that all these holy mysteries had been foretold by prophetic utterance. Indeed, since we are speaking of the eastern side, it seems opportune to recall some exposition about that unique bar, which we have said was stretched from the angle of the boards to the angle of the other wall and held all the stability of the walls, lest it be shaken by force and impulse of storms and be bent here and there. It is written in the following sacred history where it is told that Moses completed all that the Lord had commanded.
CHAPTER X. The bar that reached from one corner to the other. (Exod. XXXVI.) ... Another bar that went through the middle of the boards, etc. This bar, therefore, is to be believed to have stretched from the top of the first board to the top of the board on the other side, over the ten cubits of the width of the tabernacle, firmly set upon the boards at either end so that even the part of the tabernacle that consisted not of boards but of columns would be no less fixed than the others, even if driven by the wind. If you also desire to know the sacrament of this bar, it clearly signifies our Redeemer, who reached from corner to corner; because, having first chosen the Jewish people, He extended himself to save the multitude of the nations. Hence, just as in the prophets He is rightly called the cornerstone, so also in the law He can rightly be called the corner bar (Isa. XXVIII). He is indeed the cornerstone, for the temple that is built for God with living stones; He is the corner bar, for the tabernacle that is built for Him from incorruptible woods, that is, from the souls of the chosen free from the stain of corruption.
CHAPTER XI. The description of the altar of burnt offering and its vessels. (Exod. XXVII.) You shall make the altar of acacia wood, etc. This altar, which was specifically called the altar of burnt offering, signifies the hearts of the chosen, which are consecrated by His gift to offer to God sacrifices of good works. It is fittingly commanded to be made of acacia wood; because it is proper for the hearts and bodies in which the Spirit of God dwells to be clean and incorrupt. It has five cubits in length and as many in width, for when anyone faithfully exercises all the senses of their body in the length of patience and in the width of charity; that in all their seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching, they should always remember to be devoted to the divine service, according to the Apostle's words, Whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. It also has three cubits in height, for these same hearts of the chosen tend towards the heavenly by faith, hope, and charity.
The horns, however, on the four corners, etc. The altar of burnt offerings has four corners, because the holy Church is extended across the four regions of the world, which, because of the one heart and one soul of the entire multitude of believers, is rightly designated by the figure of a single altar: from which altar, indeed, four horns are made, when the hearts of the just are fortified with the four virtues often mentioned before. About which, in the praise of wisdom, it is said: "For it teaches sobriety and prudence, and justice and virtue; than which nothing is more useful in the life of man" (Wisdom VIII). These horns are produced from the altar itself, when the defenses of virtues are not superficially displayed and shown to the faces of men by the faithful, but are generated from the innermost root of their hearts for God as witness. There are four horns at the four corners of the altar, when, in all the ends of the world, the Church, with spiritual virtue potency, stands inviolable against all the snares of the enemies, indeed becoming stronger against all those attacking it. The altar is covered with bronze, when the virtue begun by the faithful is held firmly with perseverance to the end; for, because the metal of bronze usually endures incorruptible for a long time, virtue of perseverance is rightly designated by this. If anyone is troubled, literally, how the wood of the altar could remain unburnt so close to the fire, let him accept the response of the blessed Jerome to this question. He said, the wood of the altar, which is from the woods of paradise, is not burned by nearby fire, but is made purer. And it is not surprising to believe this about the sanctuary and the inner parts of the temple and the incense altar, since even asbestos, which is a kind of wood or has the appearance of wood, becomes cleaner the more it burns.
And you shall make pots for his use, to receive the ashes, etc. The various vessels of the altar, or the different persons of the faithful, or certainly we should understand the diverse actions or thoughts of the same people disposed for the service of their Creator. And indeed, first, it is prescribed to make the pots to receive the ashes. The ash of the sacrifices, which must be taken in great mystery, is attested to by the ash of the red heifer sprinkled; which also, according to the witness of the Apostle, sanctified those who were defiled for the purification of the flesh (Hebrews IX); in which he himself understands the prefigured sacrament of the Lord's passion. Moreover, the time and acceptance of Christ's passion are designated by the burnt ashes, which, purifying us perpetually, save us. Therefore, the burning of the red heifer intimates the mystery of the already completed passion, by which we are cleansed daily from our sins, having been preserved for the purification of the impure. Because therefore all the sacrifices and victims which were burned on the altar figuratively announce either the Lord's passion or the devotion of his saints burning with the flame of charity; the ashes of the holocausts rightly express either the completion of the Lord's passion or certainly the perfection of the virtue of the just; since they, offered whole in the service of God through the fire of the Holy Spirit, have deserved to finish good works and to be taken into eternal life to receive the rewards of those works. To make this clearer, let us see what Moses says about the ashes of the holocaust: This is, he says, the law of the holocaust: it shall be burned on the altar all night until morning. The fire shall burn from the same altar. The priest shall be clothed with a linen robe and linen breeches. And taking up the ashes, which the consuming fire has burned up, and placing them next to the altar, he shall change his garments, putting on others, and carry them outside the camp; and in a very clean place, he shall let them be consumed down to the embers. Moreover, the fire on the altar shall always burn (Leviticus VI). Therefore, the holocaust shall be burned on the altar, when in the heart of any elect person, who has vowed himself whole, namely in flesh and heart, to God, a good work is performed by the fervent fire of charity. This continues through the whole night until morning, when someone, throughout the span of this life, up until he is taken from the body and deserves to see the morning of the future age, does not cease to insist on good works. The fire shall burn from the same altar; because we should only burn with that charity which the Lord bestows upon his Church through the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Aaron's sons, because they wanted to offer strange fire to the Lord, not that which had once been given from heaven, were immediately killed by celestial fire; because anyone who performs heavenly works not with the intention of heavenly reward, but out of a desire for temporal favor or gain, is struck by the sentence of heavenly wrath. The priest shall be clothed with a linen robe and linen breeches: the priest who offers the holocaust is the Lord; because in us he customarily kindles the fire of his charity and through this makes the sacrifices of our good actions acceptable to him. And doing these things, he is clothed in linen garments; because to excite us to works of virtue, he proposes to us the examples of his incarnation, passion, and death, which have often been said to be signified by linen. And the same priest takes up the ashes, which the consuming fire has burned up, and places them next to the altar, when the Lord puts an end to labored works, neither allowing the righteous taken from this life to strive further for eternal life, but commands them to receive the crown of righteousness in eternal life. For placing the ashes next to the altar, he shall change his garments, when recalling to the righteous the good they have done, he no longer shows them the need to imitate his passion; but he puts on other garments, those of which he himself speaks in the Gospel: Truly I tell you, he will gird himself and have them recline (Luke XII); that is, he will prepare himself for eternal reward, and make them rest in eternal peace. Clothed in other garments, he will carry the ashes outside the camp, when ready to reward the labor of his elect, the Lord makes whatever good they had done in this life already visible in that life. Nor is it out of place to understand the entry into eternal life by means of the location outside the camp, since the Lord also says: Whoever enters through me will be saved; and will come in and go out and will find pasture (John X). And the Psalmist: The Lord will guard your coming in and your going out (Psalm CX): namely the entry, into the life of the Church; and the going out, into that where the pastures of eternal satisfaction are found. Therefore, it is not inappropriate to understand the position outside the camp in the sense of that life, especially since it is said to be a very clean place, which in this life it is clearly impossible to be. Therefore, the very clean place outside the camp is the state of the righteous souls taken from this life and rejoicing in another life. In which place certainly the ash of the holocaust is consumed down to the embers, when where the merit of good works is repaid, all labor is wholly and perfectly consummated; according to that of the Apocalypse of Saint John, who, after speaking of the reward of the saints, said: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with mankind, and he will live with them, and they will be his people, and the Lord himself will be with them as their God (Apocalypse XXI); immediately he mentioned the removal of all labor and added: And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away (Ibid.). And because the labor of good works ceasing, the very charity through which they were performed will never cease, but indeed will burn more fervently, when he himself, whom we love, will be seen forever: it is rightly added, The fire on the altar shall burn perpetually. And shortly after, It is a perpetual fire, which shall never fail from the altar. Therefore, with the holocaust consumed down to the embers, the fire shall never fail from the altar; because, with every kind of labor perfectly consumed, only charity will perpetually and never extinguishably burn. We have said these things more extensively on the law of the holocaust because of the pots of the altar, which were ordered to be made to receive the ashes of the sacrifices.