“Was it not an Altar of burnt-offering that Elijah made on Mount
Carmel,” asked Dora, “when he cut the dead bullock in pieces and prayed
to the Lord till fire was sent down from heaven?”
“Yes,” answered her mother, “but that altar was not like the one in the
picture. Elijah built his up quickly; it was merely formed of twelve
stones. The altar made by the Israelites in the desert was framed of
wood, and covered with brass. It was nearly eight feet square, and
was reached, not by steps, but by a sloping bank of earth.”
“And what is that very large vase farther on in the picture?” asked Amy.
“That is meant for the Brazen Laver, to hold water for the priests
to wash in. This laver was made of brass which the women of Israel
offered. Do any of my girls remember what articles had been made before
of that brass?”
The party were silent for a few seconds, and then Amy said, with a
blush on her cheek, “The mirrors of the women, mamma.” The little girl
was inclined to be vain of her looks, and her mother, who had noticed
how much of her Amy’s time was foolishly spent before a glass, had
drawn her attention, some days before that of which I write, to a fact
which has been thought worthy of mention in the Bible. The women of
Israel had the self-denial to give up the brazen mirrors—which were to
them what glass mirrors, are to us—to form a laver for the use of the
priests when engaged in the service of God.
Mrs. Temple smiled pleasantly to see that the example of the women in
the desert had not been forgotten by her child.
“Is not that kind of large tent which is standing in the court, the
Tabernacle itself?” inquired Dora.
“It is the Tabernacle,” was the reply.
“Why is all that smoke coming out of it?” asked little Elsie.
“That smoke in the picture represents the pillar of cloud which guided
the Israelites in their wanderings,” said Mrs. Temple. “For it is
written in the book of Exodus (xl. 38), ‘_The cloud of the Lord was
upon the Tabernacle by day, and fire was upon it by night, in the sight
of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys_.’”
“What a very holy place that Tabernacle must have been!” said Amy, in a
low tone of voice.
“There was not only the pillar of cloud as a visible sign of God’s
presence resting upon it,” observed Mrs. Temple, “but when Moses had
finished making the Tabernacle, a miraculous light, called by the Jews,
‘Shekinah,’ and, in the Bible, ‘_the glory of the Lord_,’ filled the
most holy place.”
“I wish that it were so with holy places now!” exclaimed Agnes. “If a
cloud always rested on the roofs of our churches, and a glorious light
shone inside, people would not be so careless about religion as they
are now.”
“I fear that no outward sign of God’s presence would long prevent
carelessness and sin,” replied Mrs. Temple.
“What, mamma, not even a shining glory in church!” cried Amy.
“Remember, my child, all the wonders and terrors of Mount Sinai—the
thunders and lightnings, the smoke that rose like the smoke of a
furnace, the trembling of the earth, and the sound of the trumpet
exceeding loud! The Israelites quaked with fear; they felt how awful
is the presence of God; they implored that the Lord might only address
them through Moses—‘But let not God speak with us lest we die!’ cried
the terrified people. And yet, in sight of that very Mount Sinai, in
sight of the thick cloud resting above it, those Israelites openly
broke God’s commandments, and fell into grievous sin! Oh, my beloved
children, the only thing to save us from sinning greatly against God is
for our hearts to be the tabernacle in which He vouchsafes to dwell,
and to have his Holy Spirit shining as the bright light within! Can any
one of you repeat that most beautiful verse from Isaiah (lvii. 15),
which shows us that the Lord deigns to dwell with the lowly in heart?”
Of all Mrs. Temple’s family, Agnes had the best memory; though she had
neither the quick intelligence of her twin-sister Dora, nor so much of
the love of her Heavenly Master which made Amy, though younger than
herself, more advanced in religious knowledge. Dora had often admired
the verse mentioned by her mother, and to the humble-minded little
Amy it had brought a feeling of thankful joy; but it was Agnes who
remembered it best by heart, so as to be able now to repeat it without
making a single mistake. “_Thus saith the high and lofty One that
inhabiteth eternity; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the
humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones._”
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