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The separate parts of the Tabernacle had each a symbolical significance, for to all that
is above there is something corresponding below. There are stars above, but likewise
below, where "a star shall come out of Jacob;" God has His hosts above, and
likewise below, His people Israel, "the hosts of the Lord;" above there are
Ofannim, and on earth likewise there is an Ofan; above, God has Cherubim, and likewise
below in the sanctuary of Israel; God hath His dwelling above, but likewise below; and,
lastly, God hath stretched out the heavens above like a curtain, and below, in the
sanctuary, were curtains of goats' hair. 346
The number of curtains, also, corresponds to those in heaven, for just as there are eleven
upper heavens, so also were there eleven curtains of goats' hair. 347 The size of the
Tabernacle was seventy cubits, corresponding to the seventy holy days celebrated annually
by the Jews, to wit: fifty-two Sabbaths, seven days of Passover, eight of Tabernacles, and
a day each for Pentecost, the Day of Atonement, and New Year's Day. The number of vessels
amounted to seventy also; as likewise God, Israel, and Jerusalem bear seventy names; and
as, correspondingly, in the time between the building of the first and of the second
Temple, there were seventy consecutive Sanhedrin. 348
Like the Tabernacle, so the altar, too had its symbolical significance. Its length and its
breadth were five cubits each, corresponding respectively to the five Commandments on the
two tables of the law. Its height was three cubits, corresponding to the three deliverers
God sent to deliver Israel from Egypt, - Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. It had four horns in
the corners thereof, to atone for the sins of the people that on Sinai receive four horns,
"the horn of the Torah," "the horn of the Shekinah," "the horn of
Priesthood," and "the horn of the Kingdom." 349
In the Tabernacle, as later in the Temple, gold, silver, and brass were employed, but not
iron. God meant to indicate by the exclusion of iron that "in the future time,"
"the golden Babylon, the silver Media, and the brazen Greece," would be
permitted to bestow the gifts on the new Temple, but not "the iron Rome." It is
true that Babylon also destroyed the sanctuary of God, like Rome, but not with such fury
and such thorough-going wrath as Rome, whose sons cried: "Raze it, raze it, even to
the foundations thereof," and for this reason Rome may not contribute to the
Messianic Temple. And as God will reject the gifts of Rome, so also will the Messiah, to
whom all the nations of the earth will have to offer gifts. Egypt will come with her
gifts, and although the Messiah will at first refuse to accept anything from the former
taskmaster of Israel, God will say to him: "The Egyptians granted My children an
abode in their land, do not repulse them." Then the Messiah will accept their gift.
After Egypt will follow her neighbor, Ethiopia, with her gifts, thinking that if the
Messiah accepted gifts from the former taskmaster of Israel, he will also accept gifts
from her. Then the Messiah will also accept Ethiopia's gifts. After these two kingdoms
will follow all others with their gifts, and all will be accepted save those from Rome.
This kingdom will be sorely disappointed, for, depending upon their kinship with Israel,
they will expect kind treatment from the Messiah, who had graciously received the other
nations not connected with Israel. But God will call out to the Messiah: "Roar at
this monster that devours the fat of nations, that justifies its claims for recognition
through being a descendant of Abraham by his grandson Esau, the nation that forgives all
for the sake of money, that kept Israel back from the study of the Torah, and tempted them
to deeps that are in accord with the wishes of Satan." 350
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