Emblems of the Jewish Temple

(See Exod. xxv. 30-32; Rev. i. 12-20.)

Golden candlestick.

The Church. Its seven lights, the seven spirits of God. (Rev. iv. 6.) The shewbread. The twelve loaves the twelve tribes of Israel. Represented in the Gospel by the twelve apostles.

The incense of sweet spices. Prayer, which rises to heaven as incense. (Rev. viii. 3, 4.) The Holy of Holies. The nation of the Jews as God's peculiar people. When the veil which separated it from the temple was “rent in twain,” it signified that thenceforth Jews and Gentiles all formed one people of God.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

Embryo

Emblem