K. Listen: The Holy Scriptures say that by a decision from above the divine Aaron was chosen to be priest and leader. But Korah and Dathan and a wild crowd of like-minded people, very brazenly resisting the decision from above and rebelling against the Divine laws, brought censers, uninvited and willfully going to this and admiring the honor not intended for them, opposing, and very fervently, their madness and audacity to the highest and chosen priest of all others (Num. 16). And through this future folly of the Jews against Christ was written: for He is our Bishop, introduced into this rank by the decision of the Father. But they were punished for such shameful enterprises; and after them will also be borne the Jews, who have been made guilty of the same crimes. God then said to Saint Moses, and also to Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest: "Let him gather up the censers of those who have been burned, and cast the fire out; For the censers of these sinners have been sanctified by their death, and they shall break them into sheets to cover the altar, for they have offered them before the Lord, and they have been made sanctified. and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel" (Num. 16:37-38). God said it then. In the book of Exodus it is written about Bezalel, who was of the father of Uriah, and of the tribe of Dan and the leader of all the order: "This altar of brass was made of censers of brass, which was a man who was disheveled with the assembly of Korah" (Exodus 38).

P. So what is it?

K. This will be of great benefit, if we consider that the kivot, which was a type of Christ, and also the other, I mean the lamp, and the purgatory, and the golden table, were all made of what the people offered, and each one dedicated to God from what was in his hands: for they that bear fruit unto Christ, and bring spiritual gifts, are very pleasing to the glory of God and the Father; of which they were images and dreams. The altar of service according to the law mysteriously and prudently signifies, as it were, a reminder and a foreshadowing of irritation and reproach and, so to speak, of a conspiracy against the high priest. Is the image clear to you? For Aaron is the image of Christ. The Jews also disputed the glory of Christ, and the lawful altar serves as the cause of their dispute: for the service has ceased as in the canopy, and in Christ we already burn to the Father a mental fragrance. And this He again foreshadowed to us, as it were in the vestibule, saying: "And thou shalt make an altar for the offering of incense, and of shittim wood thou shalt make it: a cubit shall be long, and a cubit shall be broad; it must be quadrangular; and his height is two cubits; His horns shall come out of it; thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and its sides round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make a crown of gold round about it" (Exodus 30:1-3). And having put to it the poles, the rings, and the like, he said: "And set him before the veil that is before the ark of the testimony, against the mercy seat that is on the [ark] of the testimony, where I will reveal myself to you. On it Aaron will smoke incense; every morning, when he prepares lamps, he will smoke with them; and when Aaron lights the lamps in the evening, he shall burn them: [this] is the everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations. You shall not offer any other incense on it, nor burnt offerings, nor bread offerings, nor shall you pour drink offerings on it. And Aaron shall make atonement for his horns once a year; With the blood of the cleansing [sacrifice] for sin, he will make atonement for it once a year in your generations. This is a great holiness with the Lord" (30:6-10).

P. So shall we take this also into the image of Christ?

To.. Quite so, Palladius; that this is truly, His most glorious and profound mystery can very easily show it to those who have decided to investigate such subjects accurately and ingeniously; namely, the incense altar was made of wood that did not rot and was all covered with gold: for the Body of Christ is incorruptible and in itself abounds in the Divine nature, because "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). And our firstfruits and the root of our race, which is recreated to incorruption through union with God, is Christ, although in Him this is thought of predominantly. The horns at the altar, spread like arms, foreshadow the appearance of the honorable cross. And if anyone says that there were four horns, then this does not in the least prevent the inquisitive from understanding the matter correctly: for the altar is quadrangular and everywhere equilateral, and the appearance of the horns is equal everywhere. What's the point of that? — He that in every place Christ is known, and moreover He is crucified: and this is a bright praise for those who believe in Him. In the same way, the divine Paul says: "I do not wish to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14). A twisted crown is added to a work of art, which relates to adornment: for Immanuel is truly "more beautiful than the sons of men" (Psalm 44:3). And the things that serve for his benefit were added: she also wore the rest: for the Divine altar had to be properly carried at the time of departing. The Divine disciples also did this, decently and in order carrying Christ through preaching, as "ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1). "And set him," it is said, "before the veil that is before the ark of revelation, against the mercy seat that is on [the ark] of revelation, where I will be revealed to you" (Exodus 30:6).

P. But what was the necessity, I think, that his very place was determined?

K. How profound and very obscure is the meaning of this! However, I will say as much as possible, trusting in God, who makes even the blind wise. The kivot was made, it is said, of undecaying wood and pure gold (Exodus 25:10-11), and in it was the law, that is, the Divine word, or "witnesses" (25:16): for this was an image of the Word born of God, who dwelt in us and was "in the likeness of flesh," according to the Scriptures (John 1:14 and Romans 8:3). Then He commanded that the kivot be covered with a certain curtain, spread out on four pillars (Exodus 26:31-34). And the name of the veil is purgatory. And this means Christ: for He is "the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:2) and "cleansing through faith": this is what Paul called Him (Romans 3:25). And the Cherubim were depicted as if around the purgatory, and by their nearness and service presence, they very well signified the slavish submission of the highest powers to God ("and the Word was God" — John 1:1). Then God said to Moses: "There I will reveal myself to you, and speak to you over the mercy seat, in the midst of the two cherubim that are over the ark of revelation" (Exodus 25:22). And the kivot was, as I said, Christ, as in an incorruptible body, God the Word; but only the nobility was set on the ground: but the Only-begotten was in humility and humiliation like us, for He took upon Himself a servile image, and exhausted Himself (Phil. 2:7). And He is again also a purgatory, lying on high and lance-bearing (guarded) by the powers above: for it is not only from the kinds of exhaustion that the Son is known to us, but also from that which is God and Lord of all: for although He "humbled Himself" through human things, having prudently descended to our state, yet "God exalted Him, and gave Him a name that is above every name" (Fl. 2, 8-9). And this was the way in which the purgatory was placed on top, with the Cherubim depicted on the right and to the left: for where there is a service befitting the one God, there, of course, there is also the glory of the Godhead and the superiority of the virtues that surpass the word. "From above" the Cherubim "I will be known unto thee," says the Lord of all (Exodus 25:22), commanding that the ineffable nature be sought not where the creature is, but much higher than that which is called into existence: for the most befitting relation and place for the nature of God is to be beyond and above all that is produced. Thus, the place above the Cherubim in the holy tabernacle is almost shown to us by the sensual nature of the Divine. For this reason he commanded that the golden altar, which was the image of Christ, be placed against Him Who gave revelation and thought above the cherubim, thus indicating our bringing in Christ to the sight of God and the eyes of the Father: for Christ who was far off (disgusted) and offended God through the transgression and many sins of man, Christ in Himself and first again placed before the face of the Father: for He "entered into heaven for us as a forerunner, that he may now stand before the face of God for us," as the wise Paul writes to us (Hebrews 6:20; 9:24); for, being always with His Father, "now," it is said, appears as in Himself, and first placing before the eyes of the Father man and removing that ancient aversion: "For He is our peace," according to the Scriptures (Ephesians 2:14).

P. Thus it is affirmed that the golden altar is also the image of Christ.

K. Moreover, in justice, He is also understood by "incense folded and fragrant" (Exodus 30:7): for He Himself is the Bishop; for it is said: "Let Aaron burn incense over him with incense folded fragrant" (ibid.). And the incense is "composed": for the Word, being God, was made flesh, and Immanuel is as it were composed from the Divine nature and humanity into a unity that transcends the mind, inexpressibly composed. "Fragrant," because He has no coarseness of service according to the law, for it is said: "Sacrifices and offerings Thou didst not desire; Thou hast opened my ears; Thou didst not demand burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said, Behold, I am coming; in the scroll of the book it is written of me, I desire to do Thy will" (Psalm 39:7-9; cf. Heb. 10:5-7). And what is this will of the Father, concerning this He Himself secretly guided us in the Gospels, saying: "For I came down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me. But the will of the Father who sent Me is that of all that He has given Me I should not destroy anything, but raise it all up at the last day" (John 6:38-39): for He offered Himself for us "as a sweet aroma" (Ephesians 5:2), and for this He was proclaimed a Bishop. Thus, He Himself is the Bishop, Himself and incense "folded and fragrant"; Paul also testifies to this, saying: "But thanks be to God, who always gives us to triumph in Christ, and spreads by us the fragrance of the knowledge of himself in every place. For we are the fragrance of Christ to God in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing: to some a smell of death unto death, and to others a smell of life to life" (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). He also calls upon us: "Therefore imitate God, as beloved children, and live in love, just as Christ also loved us, and gave Himself for us as an offering and sacrifice to God, as a sweet aroma" (Ephesians 5:1-2). He also clearly establishes the time of incense, decreeing that everything should be done in order and adornment, and in such a way that the power of inner contemplation should be maintained in us, for He says: "early" and "in the evening," when the lamps are lit and prepared (Exodus 30:7), since the words "evening" and "early" indicate continuity and constancy, while smoking during the lighting of lamps may be It means very well that it is only when we are illumined by the Divine light that we are abundantly filled with the fragrance of Christ, and thus we come to perceive (feel) the blessings of the inner tabernacle, or the sharing of Divine gifts, which Christ gives to the worthy, so that if anyone is not yet in the light through faith, he certainly does not partake of the mental fragrance, having not yet tasted the mysteries of Christ: "If you do not believe, because you are not verified," it is said (Isaiah 7:9): because faith is, as it were, an entrance that leads to understanding and opens the mind to the reception of the light of God. He calls incense "always" because there is no time in which Christ does not smell fragrant in the holy tabernacle, that is, in the Church. And He forbids to make a drink offering on it, that is, on the altar of Christ, and to offer an offering (Exodus 30:9), for in Christ that which was in the law has been abolished, and shadows come to an end: this, I think, is a drink offering and an offering. And the prophet testifies, saying: "The meal offering and the drink-offering have ceased in the house of the Lord" (Joel 1:9): for when worship and service in spirit and truth have already been declared, then in some way shadows are superfluous, images are vain and utterly useless: for in Christ is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; cf. Gal. 6:15); and after the manifestation of the truth, those who were justified in the law fell away from grace. "Do not offer," he says, "on the altar of "another incense" (Exodus 30:9): for we will receive absolutely no one else in Christ (as Christ), and we will not say to anyone else: "Teacher! one of you is our Teacher, Christ" (Matt. 23:7-8 and 10), and to Him alone we will be attached, saying: "Of the incense of thy ointments thy name is like poured ointment; therefore the maidens love you. Draw me, we will run after you" (Song of Songs 1:2-3). Or this does not mean the saying: "Do not bring ... other smoking"? — for Christ alone is sufficient in the Church for the truly intelligent, who do not seek any other stench, like the unfortunate Jews, who, in their madness, desecrated "incense folded and fragrant," that is, Christ, and remained unpartakers of this sacred and truly Divine fragrance; but another will be received in His place, the son of iniquity, "resisting and exalting himself above all that is called God or holiness, so that in the temple of God he shall sit as God, pretending to be God" (2 Thessalonians 2:4), who also defiles the Divine tabernacle, being a strange smoke and, so to speak, a stench of the devil: for "whose coming," it is said, "is by the work of Satan" (2:9).

P. I understand what you are saying; for thy speech is clear.

K. God commands Aaron to make atonement over the altar of incense once a year, so that he may anoint the edges of the horns with the blood of the atonement of sins; for the holy of holies is, saith He (Exodus 30:10). And this is clearly presented to you by the divine Paul, who says: "But Christ, the High Priest of good things to come, having come with a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of such a dispensation, and not with the blood of goats and bulls, but with His own blood, entered once into the sanctuary, and obtained eternal redemption" (Heb. 9:11-12): for, as he again says, having died once, Christ "rose from the dead, no longer dies: death no longer has power over Him. For because He died, He died once to sin; but what lives, lives for God" (Romans 6:9-10). Thus, the divine Aaron entered the holy of holies once a year through the blood of the cleansing of sins. And in this again see Christ with His Blood, as it were, sprinkling His cross for the life and salvation of all: for the image of the cross is the horns, like hands, stretching straight on both sides. Therefore, understand Christ, who died once, but is holy of holies by nature, as God; for John is true when he says, "And of His fullness we have all received" (John 1:16): for all visible and invisible creation partakes of Christ, the Angels and Archangels, and even higher beings, the Cherubim themselves, who are holy only through Christ alone, in the Holy Spirit. Thus, truly He is the altar, He is also the incense and the Bishop; in the same way, He is also the blood of the cleansing of sins.

P. Yes, you are right. Just what the blood of the cleansing of sins is, I cannot clearly understand.

K. Foreshadowing the cleansing by blood and the sacred sacrifice, I mean Christ, through whom we are also saved, avoiding the defilement that has come upon us through sin, the law says in the book of Leviticus: "But if all," he says, "the congregation of Israel sin by mistake, and the matter is hidden from the eyes of the congregation, and does anything contrary to the commandments of the Lord, which ought not to have been done, and is guilty, then, when the sin with which they have sinned is known, they shall present a bull of the herd of the cattle as a sin offering, and bring it before the Tabernacle of Meeting. And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the calf before the Lord, and shall kill the calf before the Lord. And the priest who is anointed shall bring the blood of the bull into the tabernacle of meeting, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord before the veil. and he shall put the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the tabernacle of meeting, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the foot of the altar of burnt offerings, which is at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting" (Lev. 4:13-18). We will talk about this more extensively in time. Behold, then, as it were, in a calf again Immanuel, who was slain for us, who delivered us from sin, who took us away from judgment and opened us from punishment, who entered into the tabernacle "greater and more perfect," not with the help of bulls and goats, "but with His own blood" (Heb. 9:11 and 12), and who once tasted death: for high on the tree, pierced by a spear in the side, He poured out blood and water. The image of the cross can be, as we said above, the extremities of the horns.

P. You said it well.