Cyril. Exactly. I also said recently that in the correct election of those who were descended from the blood of Levi for the priesthood there was again the image of those who were called in the faith to a holy and blameless life, that is, life in Christ.

P. Do you wish, then, to say a little about the holy tabernacle and about the lawful priesthood, so that our word may examine what is sacredly ordained on both subjects?

K. This is not an easy matter, because, I think, we will need a long work and podvig in order to be able to understand it and expound it. But if you wish, let us approach, with God's help; For thou hast heard Him plainly saying, Who hath given mouth to man? Who makes dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Am I not the Lord? therefore go, and I will be at your mouth" (Exodus 4:11-12).

P. Come then, having the Giver of wisdom as your companion in this case.

K. I truly come, and will speak, carefully summarizing the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures: for God the Creator of all came down in the form of fire on Mount Sinai, and gave the laws by which it became possible to direct each of the actions to be right and pure. Then, leading them (the Jews) away from their former error and placing them as far as possible from the false Egyptian ministry, He said to Moses, who was then intermediate: "Thus say," He said, "to the children of Israel, 'You have seen how I spoke to you from heaven; do not make before Me gods of silver, or gods of gold, do not make yourselves" (Exodus 20:22-23): for He did not allow false gods to serve; and commands us to be attached to the One, Who comes from above and from heaven, and who rules over all things in essence, who has glory not in material splendor, but in that which heaven has shown to belong to Him. In some way it was necessary that those who had received the command to depart from ancient impiety and vile service should go directly to another custom, and as if they had taken upon themselves a yoke, the service of Him Who is God by nature: for the unbridled mind is unrestrained, and is very capable of deviating into the most inappropriate things; but when fear and anxiety threaten, he passes without any difficulty to the straight path and inclines to what is useful. Inasmuch as through the Son we come to the Father, for "no one comes to the Father," He says, "except through Me" (John 14:6), it was necessary that He should determine both the very access through the Son and the types of fruitfulness in Him by law, saying: "Make Me an altar of the earth, and offer upon it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings; thy sheep and thy oxen; in every place where I put the remembrance of my name, I will come to you and bless you; but if thou shalt make Me an altar of stones, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones, for as soon as thou hast put thy adze upon them, thou shalt defile them" (Exodus 20:24-25). He calls Immanuel the earthen altar; for "the Word was made flesh" (John 1:14). But the earth is of the earth the nature of the flesh (cf. Gen. 2:7; 3:19). Thus in Christ is accomplished every offering of fruit and every bringing to God: for He Himself says: "Without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5): for just as "through Him both have access" (Ephesians 2:18), so every "sacrifice" of those who have received faith through Him is "pleasant" (Phil. 4:18). And He promises His coming and blessing to those who have set up an altar from the earth, saying: "I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee": for to us, who have received the images of truth through the all-wise Moses, the Truth Itself has shone forth in due time, that is, Christ, through Whom and in Whom we have been enriched with a blessing from above and from the Father, sealed to sonship in the Holy Spirit; but this also is done again in Christ (Ephesians 1:5). "But if thou shalt make Me an altar of stones," he says, "thou shalt not build it of hewn stones." He does not allow the stones consecrated to God to be swept with iron, because Christ was the chosen stone, the cornerstone, the honorable one (1 Pet. 2:4 and 6), not wounded by sins, unable to suffer blows from the devil, not divided between God and the world; and although He became flesh, He was wholly holy, undivided, after an ineffable union or communion with the flesh, into God separately and into man in particular, but one and the same God and man remained, for He was by no means "divided," as the all-wise Paul writes (1 Corinthians 1:13).

P. And so, the altar made of earth, as well as the unhewn stones, signify, in the sense you have indicated, Christ?

K. Exactly, for "the law is spiritual," according to the Scriptures (Romans 7:14). When God divinatively foreshadowed the mystery of Christ and access through Him (to the Father), then, and only then, did He intend to foreshadow the image of the Church as well. He called Moses and Jesus with him to Mount Sinai. And understand from this that even the holy prophets themselves are accessible to the Father through the Son; for Moses and Jesus ascend together: for it is written: "And the Lord said to Moses, saying, Tell the children of Israel to make offerings to me; And from every man that hath diligence, receive offerings unto me. These are the offerings which ye shall receive from them: gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goat's, and red ram's skins, and blue skins, and shittim wood... Onyx stone, and set stones for the ephod and for the breastplate. And they shall build me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in their midst; all things as I show you, and the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the vessels thereof; do so" (Exodus 25:1-5 and 7-9). Do you see how He encourages the people willingly, to the best of their ability and disposition, to bring what is useful and very necessary for the organization of the Church? For He did not demand only gold, or that which may be difficult for many to obtain, but also goat's hair and rams' skins, showing that both small and cheap, if he who dares to make an offering has nothing more expensive, is not rejected by God, but is either valued on a par with the most precious, or even more praised; as is well known, Christ did not overlook the widow in Jerusalem, who contributed to the treasure of something small and easily obtained, but perhaps great for those in extreme poverty, to whom, of course, it is a burden to donate even a very cheap thing. And when they have received the firstfruits, "they shall build me a sanctuary," he says, "and I will dwell in the midst of them": for Christ appears in the Church and shines to those who abide in it, according to what is written in the Psalms: "God is the Lord, and He hath appeared unto us" (Psalm 117:27). Consider, then, how He, having descended into the mountain in the form of fire, and appearing to all the people, for it is written, nevertheless, as having not yet appeared, says, "I will dwell in the midst of them," when the sanctuary is erected: for it seems that he almost cries out clearly that these visions were the sepia of the true vision of God. The true testimony is Christ, in whom we have seen the Father Himself. In the same way, the Jews, who thought that they had truly seen on Mount Sinai all kinds of God, foolishly convinced of this, He rebuked, saying: "You have never heard His voice, nor seen His face; and ye have not His word that abides in you, because ye believe not Him whom He hath sent" (John 5:37-38). So, "I will dwell," he says, "in the midst of them," when the sanctuary is erected. And it was a type of the Church, which came in the likeness of the highest, for He says: "All things as I show you, and the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the vessels thereof; so do ye" (Exodus 25:9): for the blessed Moses was shown an image, as I have said, of the holy churches and of Him Himself, in many ways, as if depicted in the shadow, Who was made man for our sake. And about each of the images the discourse could be long and lengthy and full of subtlety. Inasmuch as some things are proper and proper to the arrangement of what was, and others tend to the use of contemplation, let us speak of what is useful for this, omitting the other.

P. I don't understand what you're saying.

K. Then pay attention to what I am going to say: for you will understand, and I think very easily. He commanded that the kivot should be made of nondecaying wood, and inside and outside it should be covered with pure gold, and contain the so-called "testimonies" (revelation) (Exodus 25:16), that is, the law (written) on boards (tablets). And this is not the end of what concerns its structure; for He commands that she should wear again of undecaying wood, equally gilded, golden, and rings and outlines all around. And the length, and breadth, and height He determined for this work of art. But if anyone wishes to investigate the mysterious meaning of such things very carefully, he may find out what the kivot and the "witnesses" contained in it are and what was the need for undecaying trees. If, however, he inquires what the gold on the kivot means, and also the things made for its benefit and adornment, I mean twisted contours, rings, and wears, he will find it difficult. Not knowing how to apply a mysterious meaning to these things, he may begin to say superfluous things and burden the ears of the most inquisitive with a multitude of thoughtless words. What we have said is true not only with regard to the nod, but, I would add, also with regard to other things which He commanded to be done.

P. It seems to me that you reason and speak without doubt. Therefore, having omitted what pertains, as you say, to the proportion, use, or adornment of what has been done, hasten to pass on to what is necessary for contemplation, that is, explain without delay how Christ Himself is signified to us through what is shown or arranged.

K. So, I will try to understand and explain as far as possible; but if I deviate from the truth and reach the height of the conceivable less than I should, then be indulgent: for contemplation in "mirror and divination" (1 Corinthians 13:12) sometimes leads even a thorough and wise mind astray.

P. You speak well.

For us, Palladius, the Kivot is the image and likeness of Christ, because, considering the image of the incarnation of the Only-begotten, we will see the Word begotten of the Father dwelling as it were in a nod, in the temple received from the Virgin: for "in Him dwelleth every bodily fulfillment of the Godhead," according to the Scriptures (Col. 2:9). The Word of God was the "witnesses" contained in the nod. The trees of the nod were not rotting, but it was adorned with pure and tested gold within and without: for the Body of Christ is incorruptible, by the power and brightness of the Word that dwells in it, and by the life-giving nature and action of the Holy Spirit, as if by some kind of gold, it is held in incorruption. That is why it is said of Christ that He gives life (John 5:21), for the Word, born of God the Father, being life by nature (John 1:4; 5:26), by the power of His spirit Himself gave life to His temple, placing it above corruption: for His flesh "saw no corruption," according to the words of St. Paul (Acts 13:37; cf. 2:31). He Himself cried out to the Jews for His Body: "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days" (John 2:19). Likewise, Peter says that He "was put to death according to the flesh, but was made alive in the Spirit" (1 Pet. 3:18). Thus, gold is a symbol of the most radiant Divinity, as if anointing the holy body and ineffably imparting into it His own brightness and incorruption, so that the majestic nature that surpasses the mind is known as one and in itself: for if the righteous in time "the righteous shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matt. 13:43), then what will be the glory of Christ Himself? Will not this radiance be above all reason and word? And the gold ones were those who supported the kivot, the gold ones and the rings, and everything in it: for all those around Him (that is, Christ) are partakers of this glory and are as it were attached to Him in love and sanctification, and serve Him for His benefit. Such were the blessed disciples, who received from Him the divine power and through participation in it were enriched by the brightness of the highest superiority, and therefore performed Divine signs.

P. You said it right.