Among the numerous sects and churches of the present day, the Latter-day Saints are distinguished as builders of Temples. In this respect they resemble Israel of olden time. It is not surprising that great and widespread interest is manifest respecting this peculiarity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nor that questions are continually arising as to the purpose and motive behind this great labor, and the nature of the ordinances administered in these modern Houses of the Lord. To answer some of these questions, and to place within the reach of earnest inquirers authentic information concerning the doctrine and practise of Temple ministration, this book has been written.
By way of affording means of easy comparison between the Temple-building achievements of past and those of current time, a brief treatment of the sanctuaries of earlier dispensations has been included. While detailed information pertaining to ancient Temples and related sanctuaries is accessible to all, through cyclopedias, Bible dictionaries and works of more special scope, but little concerning the Temples of today and the sacred service therein rendered has been published in separate form. The official "History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" contains abundant data on the subject; but the information is distributed through many tomes, and is of access to comparatively few.
Among the special publications in this field, most of which are primarily devoted to the history and description of the Temple at Salt Lake City, are the following:
"Temples: Descriptive and historical sketches of ancient and modern sacred edifices," a pamphlet of 28 pages, by J. M. Sjodahl, Salt Lake City, 1892. This covers the history of the Salt Lake City Temple to the time of the laying of the capstone, April, 1892. The pamphlet contains outline drawings.
"The Salt Lake Temple," an article by James H. Anderson, published in "The Contributor," Vol. XIV, No. 6, April, 1893, 60 pages with numerous illustrations of the Temple at different stages, together with details of construction, and portraits of Church officials and others connected with the erection of the great structure.
"Historical and descriptive sketch of the Salt Lake Temple," an illustrated pamphlet of 36 pages published by the Deseret News, Salt Lake City, April, 1893.
"A Description of the Great Temple, Salt Lake City, and a statement concerning the purposes for which it has been built," a pamphlet of 40 pages, by D. M. McAllister, Salt Lake City, 1912. This contains half-tone engravings of both exterior and interior views.
In the present undertaking the author has been the recipient of many courtesies and much assistance from the officials of the several Temples, the Church Historian and his assistants, the general authorities of the Church, and many others. To all who have assisted in the pleasing labor his obligations are respectfully acknowledged.
The photographs showing interior views of the Salt Lake City Temple are the work of the C. R. Savage Company, to whom thanks are tendered for liberal, courteous, and efficient service.
James E. Talmage
Salt Lake City, Utah, September 21, 1912.
Both by derivation and common usage the term "temple," in its literal application, is of restricted and specific meaning. The essential idea of a temple is and ever has been that of a place specially set apart for service regarded as sacred, and of real or assumed sanctity; in a more restricted sense, a temple is a building constructed for and exclusively devoted to sacred rites and ceremonies.
The Latin Templum was the equivalent of the Hebrew Beth Elohim, and signified the abode of Deity; hence, as associated with Divine worship, it meant literally the HOUSE OF THE LORD.[1]
Structures regarded in their entirety as sanctuaries, or enclosing apartments so designated, have been reared in many different ages, both by worshippers of idols and by the followers of the true and living God. Heathen temples of antiquity were regarded as abiding places of the mythical gods and goddesses whose names they bore, and to whose service the structures were dedicated. While the purlieus of such temples were used as places of general assembly and public ceremony, there were always inner precincts, into which only the consecrated priests might enter, and wherein, it was claimed, the presence of the deity was manifest. As evidence of the exclusiveness of ancient temples, even those of heathen origin, we find that the altar of pagan worship stood not within the temple proper, but in front of the entrance. Temples have never been regarded as places of ordinary public assembly, but as sacred enclosures consecrated to the most solemn ceremonials of that particular system of worship, idolatrous or Divine, of which the temple stood as visible symbol and material type.
In olden times the people of Israel were distinguished among nations as the builders of sanctuaries to the name of the living God. This service was specifically required of them by Jehovah, whom they professed to serve. The history of Israel as a nation dates from the exodus. During the two centuries of their enslavement in Egypt, the children of Jacob had grown to be a numerous and powerful people; nevertheless they were in bondage. In due time, however, their sorrows and supplications came up before the Lord, and He led them forth by the outstretched arm of power. No sooner had they escaped from the environment of Egyptian idolatry, than they were required to prepare a sanctuary, wherein Jehovah would manifest His presence and make known His will as their accepted Lord and King.
The Tabernacle, which from the time of its construction in the wilderness and thence onward throughout the period of wandering and for centuries thereafter, was sacred to Israel as the sanctuary of Jehovah, had been built according to revealed plan and specifications. It was a compact and portable structure as the exigencies of migration required. Though the Tabernacle was but a tent, it was made of the best, the most prized, and the costliest materials the people possessed. This condition of excellence was appropriate and fitting, for the finished structure was a nation's offering unto the Lord. Its construction was prescribed in minutest detail, both as to design and material; it was in every respect the best the people could give, and Jehovah sanctified the proffered gift by His divine acceptance. In passing, let us be mindful of the fact that whether it be the gift of a man or a nation, the best, if offered willingly and with pure intent, is always excellent in the sight of God, however poor by other comparison that best may be.
To the call for material wherewith to build the Tabernacle, there was such willing and liberal response that the need was more than met: "For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much."[2] Proclamation was made accordingly, and the people were restrained from bringing more. The artificers and workmen engaged in the making of the Tabernacle were designated by direct revelation, or chosen by divinely appointed authority with special reference to their skill and devotion. The completed Tabernacle, viewed in relation to its surroundings and considered in connection with the circumstances of its creation, was an imposing structure. Its frames were of rare wood, its inner hangings of fine linen and elaborate embroideries with prescribed designs in blue, purple, and scarlet; its middle and outer curtains of choice skins; its metal parts of brass, silver, and gold.
Outside the Tabernacle, but within its enclosing court, stood the altar of sacrifice and the laver or font. The first apartment of the Tabernacle proper was an outer room, or Holy Place; and beyond this, screened from observation by the second veil, was the inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place, specifically known as the Holy of Holies. In the appointed order, only the priests were permitted to enter the outer apartment; while to the inner place, the "holiest of all," none but the high priest might be admitted, and he but once a year, and then only after a long course of purification and sanctification.[3]
Among the most sacred appurtenances of the Tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant. This was a casket or chest, made of the best wood obtainable, lined and overlaid with pure gold, and provided with four rings of gold to receive the rods or poles used in carrying the Ark during travel. The Ark contained certain objects of sacred import, such as the golden pot of manna, preserved as a remembrance; and to this were afterward added Aaron's rod that had budded, and the tablets of stone inscribed by the hand of God. When the Tabernacle was set up in the camp of Israel, the Ark was placed within the inner veil, in the Holy of Holies. Resting upon the Ark was the Mercy Seat, surmounted by a pair of cherubim made of beaten gold. From this seat did the Lord manifest His presence, even as promised before either Ark or Tabernacle had been made: "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."[4]
No detailed description of the Tabernacle, its appurtenances or furniture, will be attempted at this place; it is sufficient for our present purpose to know that the camp of Israel had such a sanctuary; that it was constructed according to revealed plan; that it was the embodiment of the best the people could give both as to material and workmanship; that it was the offering of the people to their God, and was duly accepted by Him.[5] As shall yet be shown, the Tabernacle was a prototype of the more stable and magnificent Temple by which in course of time it was superseded.
After Israel had become established in the land of promise, when, after four decades of wandering in the wilderness, the covenant people possessed at last a Canaan of their own, the Tabernacle with its sacred contents was given a resting place in Shiloh; and thither came the tribes to learn the will and word of God.[6] Afterward it was removed to Gibeon[7] and yet later to the City of David, or Zion.[8]
David, the second king of Israel, desired and planned to build a house unto the Lord, declaring that it was unfit that he, the king, should dwell in a palace of cedar, while the sanctuary of God was but a tent.[9] But the Lord spake by the mouth of Nathan the prophet, declining the proposed offering, and making plain the fact that to be acceptable unto Him it was not enough that the gift be appropriate, but that the giver must also be worthy. David, king of Israel, though in many respects a man after God's own heart, had sinned; and his sin had not yet found atonement. Thus spake the king: "I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood."[10] Nevertheless, David was permitted to gather material for the House of the Lord, which edifice not he, but Solomon, his son, should build.
Soon after Solomon's accession to the throne he set about the labor, which, as heritage and honor, had come to him with his crown. He laid the foundation in the fourth year of his reign, and the building was completed within seven years and a half. With the great wealth accumulated by his kingly father and specifically reserved for the building of the Temple, Solomon was able to put the known world under tribute, and to enlist the co-operation of nations in his great undertaking. The temple workmen numbered scores of thousands, and every department was in charge of master craftsmen. To serve on the great structure in any capacity was an honor; and labor acquired a dignity never before recognized. Masonry became a profession, and the graded orders therein established have endured until this day. The erection of the Temple of Solomon was an epoch-making event, not alone in the history of Israel, but in that of the world.
According to commonly accepted chronology, the Temple was finished about 1005 BC In architecture and construction, in design and costliness, it is known as one of the most remarkable buildings in history. The dedicatory services lasted seven days—a week of holy rejoicing in Israel. With fitting ceremony, the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the sacred Ark of the Covenant were brought into the Temple; and the Ark was deposited in the inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. The Lord's gracious acceptance was manifest in the cloud that filled the sacred chambers as the priests withdrew: "So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God."[11] Thus did the Temple supersede and include the Tabernacle, of which, indeed, it was the gorgeous successor.
A comparison of the plan of Solomon's Temple with that of the earlier Tabernacle shows that in all essentials of arrangement and proportion the two were so nearly alike as to be practically identical. True, the Tabernacle had but one enclosure, while the Temple was surrounded by courts, but the inner structure itself, the Temple proper, closely followed the earlier design. The dimensions of the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the Porch, were in the Temple exactly double those of the corresponding parts in the Tabernacle.
The glorious pre-eminence of this splendid structure was of brief duration. Thirty-four years after its dedication, and but five years subsequent to the death of Solomon, its decline began; and this decline was soon to develop into general spoliation, and finally to become an actual desecration. Solomon the king, the man of wisdom, the master-builder, had been led astray by the wiles of idolatrous women, and his wayward ways had fostered iniquity in Israel. The nation was no longer a unit; there were factions and sects, parties and creeds, some worshipping on the hill-tops, others under green trees, each party claiming excellence for its own particular shrine. The Temple soon lost its sanctity. The gift became depreciated by the perfidy of the giver, and Jehovah withdrew His protecting presence from the place no longer holy.
The Egyptians, from whose bondage the people had been delivered, were again permitted to oppress Israel. Shishak, king of Egypt, captured Jerusalem—the city of David and the site of the Temple—"and he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord."[12] Part of the aforetime sacred furniture left by the Egyptians was taken by others, and bestowed upon idols.[13] The work of desecration continued through centuries. Two hundred and sixteen years after the Egyptian spoliation, Ahaz, king of Judah, robbed the Temple of some remaining treasures, and sent part of its remnant of gold and silver as a present to a pagan king whose favor he sought to gain. Furthermore, he removed the altar and the font, and left but a house where once had stood a Temple.[14] Later, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, completed the despoiling of the Temple, and carried away its few remaining treasures. He then destroyed the building itself by fire.[15]
Thus, about six hundred years before the earthly advent of our Lord, Israel was left without a Temple. The people had divided; there were two kingdoms—Israel and Judah—each at enmity with the other; they had become idolatrous and altogether wicked; the Lord had rejected them and their sanctuary. The Kingdom of Israel, comprising approximately ten of the twelve tribes, had been made subject to Assyria about 721 BC, and a century later the Kingdom of Judah was subdued by the Babylonians. For seventy years the people of Judah—thereafter known as Jews—remained in captivity, even as had been predicted.[16] Then, under the friendly rule of Cyrus[17] and Darius[18] they were permitted to return to Jerusalem, and once more to rear a Temple in accordance with their faith. In remembrance of the director of the work, the restored Temple is known in history as the Temple of Zerubbabel. The foundations were laid with solemn ceremony; and on that occasion living veterans who remembered the earlier Temple, wept with joy.[19] In spite of legal technicalities[20] and other obstructions, the work continued, and within twenty years after their return from captivity the Jews had a Temple ready for dedication. The Temple of Zerubbabel was finished 515 BC, specifically on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. The dedicatory services followed immediately.[21] While this Temple was greatly inferior in richness of finish and furniture as compared with the splendid Temple of Solomon, it was nevertheless the best the people could build, and the Lord accepted it as an offering typifying the love and devotion of His covenant children. In proof of this Divine acceptance, witness the ministrations of such prophets as Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi, within its walls.
About sixteen years before the birth of Christ, Herod I, king of Judea, commenced the reconstruction of the then decayed and generally ruinous Temple of Zerubbabel. For five centuries that structure had stood, and doubtless it had become largely a wreck of time. Many incidents in the earthly life of the Savior are associated with the Temple of Herod. It is evident from scripture that while opposed to the degraded and commercial uses to which the Temple had been betrayed, Christ recognized and acknowledged the sanctity of the temple precincts. The Temple of Herod was a sacred structure; by whatsoever name it might have been known, it was to Him the House of the Lord. And then, when the sable curtain descended upon the great tragedy of Calvary, when at last the agonizing cry, "It is finished," ascended from the cross, the veil of the Temple was rent, and the one-time Holy of Holies was bared. The absolute destruction of the Temple had been foretold by our Lord, while yet He lived in the flesh.[22] In the year 70 A.D. the Temple was utterly destroyed by fire in connection with the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus.
The Temple of Herod was the last temple reared on the eastern hemisphere. From the destruction of that great edifice onward to the time of the re-establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ in the nineteenth century, our only record of temple building is such mention as is found in Nephite chronicles. Book of Mormon scriptures affirm that temples were erected by the Nephite colonists on what is now known as the American continent; but we have few details of construction and fewer facts as to administrative ordinances pertaining to these western temples. The people constructed a Temple about 570 BC and this we learn was patterned after the Temple of Solomon, though greatly inferior to that gorgeous structure in grandeur and costliness.[23] It is of interest to read that when the resurrected Lord manifested Himself to the Nephites on the western continent, He found them assembled about the Temple.[24] The Book of Mormon, however, makes no mention of temples even as late as the time of the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem; and moreover the Nephite nation came to an end within about four centuries after Christ. It is evident, therefore, that on both hemispheres temples ceased to exist in the early period of the apostasy and the very conception of a Temple in the distinctive sense perished amongst mankind.
For many centuries no offer of a sanctuary was made unto the Lord; indeed, it appears that no need of such was recognized. The apostate church declared that direct communication from God had ceased; and in place of Divine administration a self-constituted government claimed supreme power. It is evident that, as far as the Church was concerned, the voice of the Lord had been silenced; that the people were no longer willing to listen to the word of revelation, and that the government of the Church had been abrogated by human agencies.[25]
When, in the reign of Constantine, a perverted Christianity had become the religion of state, the need of a place wherein God would reveal Himself was still utterly unseen or ignored. True, many edifices, most of them costly and grand, were erected. Of these some were dedicated to Peter and Paul, to James and John; others to the Magdalene and the Virgin; but not one was raised by authority and name to the honor of Jesus, the Christ. Among the multitude of chapels and shrines, of churches and cathedrals, the Son of Man had not a place to call His own. It was declared that the pope, sitting in Rome, was the vicegerent of Christ, and that without revelation he was empowered to declare the will of God.[26]
Not until the Gospel was restored in the nineteenth century, with its ancient powers and privileges, was the Holy Priesthood manifest again among men. And be it remembered that the authority to speak and act in the name of God is essential to a Temple, and a Temple is void without the sacred authority of the Holy Priesthood. In the year of our Lord 1820, Joseph Smith, the prophet of the latest dispensation, then a lad in his fifteenth year, received a Divine manifestation,[27] in which both the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared and instructed the youthful suppliant. Through Joseph Smith, the Gospel of old was restored to earth, and the ancient law was re-established. In course of time, through the ministry of the prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, and its establishment was marked by manifestations of Divine power.[28]
It is a significant fact that this Church, true to the distinction it affirms—that of being the Church of the living God as its name proclaims—began in the very early days of its history to provide for the erection of a temple.[29] The Church was organized as an earthly body-corporate on the sixth of April, AD 1830; and, in July of the year following, a revelation was received designating the site of a future temple near Independence, Missouri. The construction of a temple on this chosen spot is yet delayed, as is also the case with another temple-site in Far West Missouri,[30] on which the corner-stones were laid in 1838. The Church holds as a sacred trust the commission to build the temples so located, but as yet the way has not been opened for the consummation of the plan. In the meantime temples in other places have been reared, and already the modern dispensation is marked by the erection of six such sacred edifices.
On the first day of June, 1833, in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord directed the immediate building of a holy house, in which He promised to endow His chosen servants with power and authority.[31] The people responded to the call with willingness and devotion. In spite of dire poverty and in the face of unrelenting persecution, the work was carried to completion, and in March, 1836, the first Temple of modern times was dedicated at Kirtland, Ohio.[32] The dedicatory services were marked by Divine manifestations comparable to those attending the offering of the first Temple of olden times; and on later occasions heavenly beings appeared within the sacred precincts with revelations of the Divine will to man. In that place the Lord Jesus was again seen and heard.[33] Within two years from the time of its dedication the Kirtland Temple was abandoned by the people who built it; they were forced to flee because of persecution, and with their departure the sacred Temple became an ordinary house, disowned of the Lord to whose name it had been reared. The building still stands and is used as a meeting-house by a small and comparatively unknown sect.
The migration of the Latter-day Saints was to the west; and they established themselves first in Missouri, and later in Illinois with Nauvoo as the central seat of the Church. Scarcely had they become settled in their new abode when the voice of revelation was heard calling upon the people to again build a house sacred to the name of God.
The corner-stones of the Nauvoo Temple were laid April 6, 1841, and the capstone was placed in position May 24, 1845; each event was celebrated by a solemn assembly and sacred service. Though it was evident that the people would be forced to flee again, and though they knew that the Temple would have to be abandoned soon after completion, they labored with might and diligence to finish and properly furnish the structure. It was dedicated April 30, 1846, though certain portions, such as the baptistry, had been previously dedicated and used in ordinance work. Many of the Saints received their blessings and holy endowments in the Nauvoo Temple, though, even before the completion of the building, the exodus of the people had begun. The Temple was abandoned by those who in poverty and by sacrifice had reared it. In November, 1848, it became a prey to incendiary flames, and in May, 1850, a tornado demolished what remained of the blackened walls.
On the 24th of July, 1847, the "Mormon" pioneers entered the valleys of Utah, while yet the region was Mexican territory, and established a settlement where now stands Salt Lake City. Four days later Brigham Young, prophet and leader, indicated a site in the sage-brush wastes, and, striking the arid ground with his staff, proclaimed, "Here will be the Temple of our God." That site is now the beautiful Temple Block, around which the city has grown. In February, 1853, the area was dedicated with sacred service, and on the 6th of April following, the corner stones of the building were laid to the accompaniment of solemn and imposing ceremony. The Salt Lake City Temple was forty years in building; the capstone was laid on the 6th of April, 1892, and the completed Temple was dedicated one year later.
Of the four Temples already erected in Utah, the one in Salt Lake City was the first begun and the last finished. During its course of construction three other Temples were built by the Latter-day Saints, one at St. George, one at Logan, and one at Manti, Utah. Add to these the two earlier Temples—at Kirtland, Ohio, and at Nauvoo, Illinois—and we have six of these sacred structures already erected in the present and last dispensation of the Priesthood—the dispensation of the fulness of times.
It is not the purpose of the present chapter to consider in detail any particular Temple, either ancient or modern; but rather to show the essential and distinguishing features of Temples, and to make plain the fact that in both ancient and modern times the covenant people have regarded the building of Temples as a labor specifically required at their hands. From what has been said it is plain that a Temple is more than chapel or church, more than synagogue or cathedral; it is a structure erected as the House of the Lord, sacred to the closest communion between the Lord Himself and the Holy Priesthood, and devoted to the highest and most sacred ordinances characteristic of the age or dispensation to which the particular Temple belongs. Moreover, to be indeed a holy Temple—accepted of God, and by Him acknowledged as His House—the offering must have been called for, and both gift and giver must be worthy.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that it is the possessor of the Holy Priesthood again restored to earth, and that it is invested with Divine commission to erect and maintain Temples dedicated to the name and service of the true and living God, and to administer within those sacred structures the ordinances of the Priesthood, the effect of which shall be binding both on earth and beyond the grave.
1. In this connection it is interesting and instructive to consider the significance of the name Bethel, a contraction of Beth Elohim, as applied by Jacob to the place where the presence of the Lord was manifest unto him. Said he, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el." (Genesis 28:16–19; read verses 10–22.)
2. Exodus 36:7.
3. Hebrews 9:1–7; Leviticus chap. 16.
4. Exodus 25:22.
5. Exodus 40:34–38.
6. Joshua 18:1; see also 19:51; 21:2; Judges 18:31; I Samuel 1:3, 24; 4:3, 4.
7. I Chron. 21:29; II Chron. 1:3.
8. II Samuel 6:12; II Chron. 5:2.
9. II Samuel 7:2.
10. I Chron. 28:2, 3; compare II Samuel 7:1–13.
11. II Chron. 5:14; see also 7:1, 2, and compare Exodus 40:35.
12. I Kings 14:25, 26.
13. II Chron. 24:7.
14. II Kings 16:7–9, 17 and 18; see also II Chron. 28:24, 25.
15. II Chron. 36:18, 19; see also II Kings 24:13; 25:9.
16. Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10.
17. Ezra, chaps. 1 and 2.
18. Ezra, chap. 6.
19. Ezra 3:12, 13.
20. Ezra 4:4–24.
21. Ezra 6:15–22.
22. Matt. 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6.
23. See Book of Mormon, II Nephi 5:16.
24. See Book of Mormon, III Nephi 11:1.
25. See the author's "The Great Apostasy," chap. IX.
26. See the author's "The Great Apostasy," chap. X.
27. See the author's "The Articles of Faith," Lecture I, and references thereto.
28. See the author's "The Articles of Faith," specifically Lecture I, and notes thereon.
29. See Doctrine and Covenants 36:8; 42:36; 133:2.
30. See Doctrine and Covenants 115:7–16.
31. See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 95.
32. See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 109.
33. See Doctrine and Covenants, 110:1–10.
As understood and applied herein, the designation "temple" is restricted to mean an actual structure, reared by man, hallowed and sanctified for the special service of Deity, such service including the authoritative administration of ordinances pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and not merely a place, however sacred the spot may have become. If sacred places were to be classed with sacred buildings as essentially temples, the category would include many a holy Bethel rarely considered as such. In the more extended application of the term, the Garden in Eden was the first sanctuary of earth, for therein did the Lord first speak unto man and make known the Divine law. So too, Sinai became a sanctuary, for the mount was consecrated as the special abode of the Lord while He communed with the prophet, and issued His decrees. The sanctity of such places was as that of Horeb, where God spake unto Moses from the midst of the flame; and where, as the man approached he was halted by the command: "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."[1] A temple, however, is characterized not alone as the place where God reveals Himself to man, but also as the House wherein prescribed ordinances of the Priesthood are solemnized.
Prior to the construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and indeed during the early stages of the memorable journey from Egypt, the people of Israel had a certain depository for sacred things, known as the Testimony. This is definitely mentioned in connection with the following incident. Under Divine direction a vessel of manna was to be preserved, lest the people forget the power and goodness of God, by which they had been fed:
"And Moses said. This is the thing which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
"And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.
"As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept."[2]
There appears little room for doubt that the Testimony here referred to was a material structure, and that its name is suggestive of Divine witness as to its sacred character. Inasmuch as the account of the exodus contains no mention of the making of such a structure, and moreover as its existence and use were definitely affirmed before the people had had time or opportunity to shape it in the wilderness, it would seem that they must have brought the sacred Testimony with them from Egypt. This incident is of interest and importance as indicating the existence of a holy sanctuary during the formative stages of Israel's growth as a nation, and while the people were in subjection to idolatrous rulers. This application of the term Testimony must not be confused with later usage by which the tables of stone bearing the divinely inscribed Decalogue are so designated.[3] It is to be noted further that the Tabernacle, wherein was housed the Ark of the Covenant containing the sacred tables of stone, is distinctively called the Tabernacle of Testimony. These several uses of the term lead to no ambiguity if the context be duly considered in each case.
While Moses communed with the Lord on Sinai, the people, left for a time to themselves, set up a golden calf in imitation of Apis, an Egyptian idol; and in consequence of their idolatrous orgies, the Lord's anger was kindled against them. During the period of their consequent estrangement, before a reconciliation had been effected between Jehovah and His people, Divine manifestations ceased within the camp and only afar off could the Lord be found. In connection with this condition we read of the establishment of a temporary place of meeting—possibly the dwelling tent of Moses, which became sanctified by the Divine Presence. Thus runs the record:
"And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went out into the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
"And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.
"And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
"And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle."[4]
That the tent here called the Tabernacle of the Congregation[5] is not the elaborate and costly structure specially built as the Lord directed, is evident from the fact that the greater and more enduring Tabernacle had not been constructed at the time referred to in the scripture last cited. Unlike the later Tabernacle, which was set up in the center of the camp with the tribes massed about it in specified order, this Provisional Tabernacle was pitched outside the camp—afar off—perhaps as an indication of the Lord's withdrawal following Israel's idolatrous turning away from Him. That the Provisional Tabernacle was, however, a holy sanctuary is attested by the personal communion therein between Jehovah and His servant Moses.
From amidst the clouds, and to the accompaniments of thunders and lightnings on Sinai, the Lord gave unto Moses the law and the testimony. Not alone did Moses there talk with the Lord in person, but by Divine command, Aaron and his sons Nadab and Abihu, together with seventy of the elders of Israel, went up upon the mountain and did see God, even the God of Israel. Over Sinai the glory of the Lord abode for many days: "And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount; and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights."[6]
When he descended Moses bore with him the commission to call upon the children of Israel for contributions and offerings of their substance and all their precious things, such as would be suitable for the construction of a sanctuary for service in the wilderness.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
"Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
"And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
"And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
"And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
"Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
"Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.
"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
"According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it."[7]
The response of the people was so liberal and prompt that a surplus of material was soon amassed.
"And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make.
"And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.
"For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much."[8]
Divine direction was manifest in the appointment of men who should be in charge of the labor. Bezaleel, the son of Uri, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, were designated by revelation as the master craftsmen under whose direction the other workers should labor until all had been finished in direct accord with the revealed pattern and plan. And when so finished it was the embodiment of the best in material and workmanship.
The Tabernacle stood in an outer enclosure or court, walled in by canvas screens with entrance curtains finely embroidered. The curtains that formed the walls of the court were suspended from pillars, which stood at intervals along the sides of an oblong. The longer walls ran east and west, with the main entrance to the enclosure on the eastern side. Of the two squares within the curtains, the easterly was reserved for assemblies of the people, while the square to the west constituted the more sacred area pertaining to the Tabernacle itself.
The entire space so enclosed covered one hundred cubits east and west and fifty cubits north and south, or approximately one hundred and fifty feet by seventy-five feet.[9] In the easterly section, and therefore removed from the Tabernacle, stood the altar of burnt-offerings. Between the altar and the Tabernacle stood the laver; this was a large vessel of brass standing upon a pedestal and containing water for the ceremonial cleansing of the hands and feet of the priests. It is interesting to note that the laver and its supporting pedestal were made by special contribution of the women, who gave their brazen mirrors for this purpose. The Tabernacle stood with its longer axis east and west, and with its entrance on the easterly side. The structure was but thirty cubits long by ten cubits broad, or forty-five by fifteen feet; these are the dimensions given by Josephus, and they are practically in accord with the description in Exodus, which states that the walls comprised twenty boards on a side, each board one and a half cubits wide; at the west end there were six boards, each one and a half cubits wide or nine cubits in all; these with the angle posts would make the entire breadth equal to that given by Josephus, ten cubits. The boards of the walls were held together by tenon-joints having sockets of silver, two to each board; the boards themselves were overlaid with gold and were provided with rings of the same metal to receive the bars, which also were overlaid with gold.
It will be seen that the Tabernacle was but a small structure, entirely unsuited to the accommodation of large assemblies, but it is to be remembered that for such it was never intended. Within the Tabernacle, only the appointed bearers of the Priesthood officiated; and of these none but the few actually engaged in the service of the day could be admitted.
The Tabernacle was divided by a curtain, specifically called the Veil, into two compartments, the outer of which was known as the Holy Place, and the inner as the Most Holy Place or Holy of Holies. Josephus and some others state that the Tabernacle comprised three parts; the third division, however, was really outside the main tent and appeared as a porch at the east end, five cubits deep, and extending across the entire front. The Veil, which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, was of fine workmanship, "of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work," and was embroidered with cherubim. It was hung upon four pillars of wood overlaid with gold; the hooks were of gold and the sockets of silver. The wood used for these pillars, as indeed that used in other parts of the structure, was the rare, costly, and durable shittim or acacia, sometimes known as thorn-wood. Beyond the Veil the enclosure was most holy, and therein was placed the Ark of the Covenant with its Mercy Seat bearing the sacred cherubim, the description of which appears in the record as follows:
"And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it:
"And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.
"And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it.
"And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.
"And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.
"And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and half the breadth thereof.
"And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat:
"One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
"And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims."[10]
Outside the Veil, yet within the Tabernacle, was the Holy Place; in this were placed the table of shewbread, the altar of incense, and the golden seven-branched candlestick.[11]
Ohel Moed