K. Seeing something extraordinary in the candlestick (for it contained olive branches), the prophet asked again, saying: "Then I answered and said to him, What are the meaning of those two olive trees on the right side of the candlestick and on the left side of it? A second time," he said, "I began to speak, and said to him, What is the meaning of the two olive branches, which pour out gold through two golden tubes? And he said to me, Do you not know what these are? I answered, I do not know, my lord. And he said, These are two anointed with oil, standing before the Lord of all the earth" (Zech. 4:11-14).

P. What need was there for the blessed prophet to ask again? For "For the second time," he says, "I began to speak."

K. Do you not think, Palladius, wise for those who have decided to think quite rightly, to make precise and deliberate questions about anything necessary?

P. I think so.

K. So, looking at the olive branches, which are adorned with a delicate and barely blossoming sprout, the prophet called them olives, and not branches of olives. After this, the divine Angel was silent, waiting for a more prudent and true question; but when the awakened prophet had already named the two olive branches and insistently asked to be taught what this symbol was, he was immediately taught by the words of the Angel: "These are the two sons of fatness, who stand before the Lord of all the earth." And the two sons of fatness were called the people who came from Israel and from the Gentiles, of whom he also says that they "stand before the Lord of all the earth," clearly and evidently placing in the image of Christ the arrangement of a lamp, in which olive branches, placed to the right and to the left, and as it were in a circle, are fattened with oil, and this oil is an image of the Holy Spirit, watering the minds of believers, according to what is written: "anointed my head with oil" (Psalm 22:5).

P. But why did he call them not olives, but olive branches?

K. Because, my friend, believers, like thin shoots and barely blossoming branches from olive trees, are taken down and transplanted, as it were, by faith in godliness, some taken from the synagogue of the Jews, and others from the crowd of the Gentiles: for not all who are of Israel have believed, and not all the multitude of the Gentiles have entered into the Church. Thus the olive branches are those which, as it were from the trees, are separated from the multitude of the Jews, as well as of the Hellenes, and are brought to the light of God, and are already in some way abundant in the most abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit: for this, I think, means that in the nostrils (tongs) of the lamps lie olive branches, of which the blessed Psalmist also mentioned somewhere, singing the song of all to the Saviour Christ, and speaking of the bride betrothed to Him, that is, the Church, and of her children in the faith: "Thy wife is like a fruitful vine in thy house; thy sons are like olive branches round about thy table" (Psalm 127:3-4): for we are quickened by the communion of the Spirit and the holy table of Christ, having received faith in Him.

P. Yes, you speak correctly: for "I," He says, "am the living bread, which came down from heaven, and givest life to the world" (John 6:51 and 33).

K. But about the lamp and what is on it, this time what has been said will be enough for us. Let our word now pass to the brass altar, which is very common in the service according to the law; For it is said, "And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide, so that it shall be quadrangular, and three cubits high. And thou shalt make horns at the four corners thereof, so that the horns may come out of it; and you shall overlay it with brass. And thou shalt make pots for them to pour ashes into them, and spatulas, and bowls, and forks, and coals; all utensils thou shalt make of brass" (Exodus 27:1-3). Therefore the altar was five cubits wide and long: for it was very necessary for it to be in size, and very extensive: for it was supposed to cut into pieces and offer up the severed parts of oxen, and burnt offerings, and offerings of sheep and goats consecrated to God. Wherefore the grate, and the brazier, and the forks, and the vials, and all the vessels thereof, are of brass, so that, while benefiting the rightful sacrifices, they may not be corrupted by the admixture of the all-consuming fire. And the crown and the horns at the corners we attribute to the beauty of the appearance: for there is nothing unattractive in the all-wise God. However, directing diligent attention to what is commanded about each object, let us also say that He commanded that the altar should be made befitting and befitting the lawful sacrifices, but there was nothing golden in it, as, for example, it was seen in the kivot, the lampstand, and the table and its utensils.

P. So why is that?

K. Have we not said, Palladius, that gold very well signifies the superiority over everything and the incomparable brightness, I mean mentally, of the Divine and immortal nature?

P. Yes.

K. See, then, that the altar of ministry was utterly devoid of gold by the law, God divinatively but very plainly points out to us, that the law was the least able to communicate the Holy Ghost to us, and that the power of the transformative ministry was not honored by such grace, for there was a spirit of bondage in Israel; but this gift was communicated to us through Christ after His Resurrection from the dead: for He breathed, saying: "Receive ye the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). For this reason Paul also declared to those who believed: "You have not received the spirit of bondage, [that] you may again [live] in fear, but have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Romans 8:15). And that the power of ministry according to the law did not possess the communion of the Holy Spirit, but He is given to those who are justified by faith, this is affirmed by the all-wise John, saying: "For the Holy Spirit was not yet upon them, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:39); — for Christ has not yet come to life: for only then is man's nature gilded by the Spirit and communion with Him. For this reason, I think, He commanded that the altar should be without gold. But to omit the explanation of the copper of which it was made does not seem to be harmless to the inquisitive: for the investigation may perhaps produce something useful, according to the wise saying, "In all that is troublesome there is profit."

P. So what else have you to say about this?