shew-bread, consisting of twelve loaves, and the great candlestick of pure gold, containing seven branches: none of the people were allowed to go into the holy place, but only the priests. The Holy of Holies (so called because it was the most sacred place of the tabernacle, into which none went but the high priest,) contained in it the ark, called the ark of the testimony (Exod. xxv. 22.) or the ark of the covenant. (Josh. iv. 7.) This was a small chest or coffer made of shittim wood, overlaid with gold, into which were put the two tables of the law, (as well the broken ones, say the Jews, as the whole,) with the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. (Heb. ix. 4.)

The lid or covering of this ark was wholly of solid gold, and called the mercy-seat; at the two ends of it were two cherubim (or hieroglyphic figures, the form of which it is impossible now to ascertain,) looking inwards towards each other, with wings expanded, which, embracing the whole circumference of the mercy-seat, met on each side in the middle. Here the Shechinah or Divine Presence rested, both in the tabernacle and temple, and was visibly seen in the appearance of a cloud over it. (Lev. xvi. 2.) From this the divine oracles were given out by an audible voice, as often as Jehovah was consulted on behalf of his people. (Exod. xxv. 22. Numb. vii. 89.) And hence it is that God is so often said in Scripture, to dwell between the Cherubim. (2 Kings xix. 15. Psal. lxxx. 1.)

2. The Tabernacle was surrounded by an oblong court, separated by curtains from the camp of Israel. The priests and other sacred ministers alone were permitted to enter it; the people, who came to offer sacrifices, stopped at the entrance, opposite to which stood the brazen altar for burnt offerings; and nearly in the centre of the court stood a capacious brazen vessel, called the brazen laver, in which the priests washed their

hands and feet previously to performing any of their sacred functions.

progresses, until There it was set Shiloh : on being

The tabernacle being so constructed as to be taken to pieces and put together as occasion required, it accompanied the Israelites in all their they arrived in the land of Canaan. up, first at Gilgal, and afterwards at restored by the Philistines, who had taken it and deposited in the temple of one of their idols, as related in 1 Sam. iv. 10, 11. v. vi.; it remained for twenty years in the custody of Abinadab, of Gibeah, and afterwards (for three months) in the house of Obed-edom, whence David brought it with great solemnity into that part of Jerusalem which was called the city of David. (2 Sam. vi. 17. 1 Chron. xv. 25. xvi. 1.) Here it remained until it was deposited in the temple of Solomon, where (having been subsequently removed) it was again replaced by order of the pious King Josiah. (2 Chron. xxxv. 3.) It is supposed to have been consumed in the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.

Representation of the GOLDEN CANDLESTICK, from the Triumphal Arch of Titus.

Two Temples are mentioned in the Scriptures: 1. That of Solomon; and, 2. That erected after the captivity.

I. The FIRST TEMPLE is that which usually bears the name of Solomon; the materials for which were provided by David before his death, though the edifice was raised by his son. It stood on Mount Moriah, an eminence of the mountainous ridge in the Scriptures termed

Mount Sion (Psal. cxxxii. 13, 14.), which had been purchased of Araunah or Ornan, the Jebusite. (2 Sam. xxiv. 23, 24. 1 Chron. xxi. 25.) The plan and whole model of this superb structure were formed after that of the tabernacle, but of much larger dimensions. It was dedicated by Solomon with great solemnity. Various attempts have been made to describe the proportions and several parts of this structure; but as no two writers scarcely agree on this subject, a minute description of it is designedly omitted. It retained its pristine splendour only thirty-three or thirty-four years, when Shishak king of Egypt took Jerusalem, and carried away the treasures of the temple; and, after undergoing subsequent profanations and pillages, this stupendous building was finally plundered and burnt by the Chaldæans under Nebuchadnezzar in the year of the world 3416, or before Christ 584. (2 Kings xxv. 13–15. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17—20.)

II. After the captivity the temple emerged from its ruins: it was erected by Zerubbabel, but with vastly inferior and diminished glory, as appears from the tears of the aged men who had beheld the former structure in all its grandeur. (Ezra iii. 12.) The SECOND TEMPLE was profaned by order of Antiochus Epiphanes (A. M. 3837. B. C. 163.); who caused the daily sacrifice to be discontinued, and erected the image of Jupiter Olympus on the altar of burnt-offering. In this condition it continued three years (1 Macc. i. 62.), when Judas Maccabeus purified and repaired it, and restored the sacrifices and true worship of Jehovah. (A. M. 3840. b. c. 160.)

Some years before the birth of our Saviour, the repairing, or rather gradual rebuilding, of this second temple, which had become decayed in the lapse of five centuries, was undertaken by Herod the Great, who for nine years employed eighteen thousand workmen upon it, and spared no expense to render it equal, if not superior, in magnitude, splendour, and beauty, to any thing among mankind. But though Herod accomplished his

original design in the time above specified, yet the Jews continued to ornament and enlarge it, expending the sacred treasure in annexing additional buildings to it; so that they might with great propriety assert that their temple had been forty and six years in building. (John ii. 20.)

The second temple, originally built by Zerubbabel after the captivity, and repaired by Herod, differed in several respects from that erected by Solomon, although they agreed in others.

The temple erected by Solomon was more splendid and magnificent than the second temple, which was deficient in five remarkable things that constituted the chief glory of the first these were, the ark and mercy seat, — the shechinah or manifestation of the divine presence in the holy of holies, the sacred fire on the altar, which had been first kindled from heaven, the urim and thummim, and the spirit of prophecy. The second temple, however, surpassed the first in glory, being honoured by the frequent presence of our divine Saviour, agreeably to the prediction of Haggai. (ii. 9.) Both, however, were erected upon the same site, a very hard rock, encompassed by a very frightful precipice; and the foundation was laid with incredible expense and labour. The superstructure was not inferior to this great work: the height of the temple wall, especially on the south side, was stupendous. In the lowest places it was three hundred cubits, or four hundred and fifty feet, and in some places even greater. This most magnificent pile was constructed with hard white stones of prodigious magnitude. Of its general disposition some idea may be formed from the plan annexed to the Map which faces page 223.

The temple itself, strictly so called, (which comprised the portico, the sanctuary, and the holy of holies,) formed only a small part of the sacred edifice on Mount Moriah; being surrounded by spacious courts, making a square of half a mile in circumference. It was entered through