Commentaria in Exodum
WHICH THOU SHALT PUT AT THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE ARK.—For corners the Hebrew has paamotav, which properly signifies steps and feet; whence it seems that the ark was not on the ground, but had four feet, that is, globes and little balls, on which it stood, and which had the appearance of little wheels: for the ark was the chariot of the glory of God, as I shall say on verse 18.
16. AND THOU SHALT PUT INTO THE ARK THE TESTIMONY,—that is, the law, or the tables of the law: for the law is often called testimony, or testification, because it contains the attestation of the divine will, and by it God left testified what He wills to be done by men.
Hence it was called “the ark of the testimony,” that is, of the law, and “the ark of the testament,” that is, of the covenant: for it contained the law, which was the condition of the covenant entered into between God and the Hebrews; and consequently the tabernacle, by reason of the ark which it contained, was called “the tabernacle of the covenant” and “the tabernacle of the testimony;” nay hence the ark itself is called “the testimony,” chap. 30:6; Num. 17:4; Lev. 24:3, and this by metonymy, because the ark contained in itself the testimony, that is, the tables of the law. Further, that only the tables of the law were in that ark, of which the Hebrews held so great religion, and not the urn with manna or the rod of Aaron, Scripture expressly teaches, 3 Kings 8:9, and 2 Paralip. 5:10, and Josephus, book 8 Antiq. chap. 2. Hence both the urn with manna and the rod of Aaron are narrated in the Pentateuch to have been laid up not in the ark but in the tabernacle before the Lord, that is, before the ark, as appears Exodus 16:33; Num. 17:4. See what I said on Hebr. 9:4.
17. THOU SHALT MAKE ALSO A PROPITIATORY OF THE PUREST GOLD.—Note first: The propitiatory was the cover of the ark, or a table covering and shutting in the ark, as appears from verse 20; hence it was of equal length and breadth with the ark: hence it is also called by the Septuagint epithema, that is, laid upon, namely upon the ark, that is, the cover of the ark, which was joined to the ark by golden hinges, as Josephus teaches, book 3 Antiq. chap. 6: “The ark,” he says, “had a cover fitted with golden hinges, projecting from it in no part.”
Secondly, the propitiatory was a table made not of setim wood overlaid with gold, as the ark was, but of pure gold.
Thirdly, the propitiatory is called in Hebrew kapporeth, which signifies both propitiatory and the cover of the ark. Hence the Septuagint render hilasterion epithema, that is, a placatory, or propitiatory cover.
Fourthly, it was called the propitiatory, as being the place of propitiation, because there God, appearing to Moses and speaking with him, was appeased and made propitious to the people; in the propitiatory, therefore, was the oracle of God, as appears from verse 18, and chap. 37:6, and Num. 7, last verse: “And when Moses entered into the tabernacle of the covenant to consult the oracle, he heard the voice of one speaking to him from the propitiatory, that was over the ark of the testimony between the two cherubims;” and therefore God was said to sit upon the Cherubim: for these covered the propitiatory. Hence that part of the temple, or the Holy of Holies, in which was the propitiatory, was called the oracle, because from it God gave oracles.
Fifthly, the propitiatory with the two Cherubim was as it were the seat and throne of God; but the ark was the footstool of His feet, as appears from Psalm 98, where it is said: “Adore his footstool,” that is, adore the ark, fall down before the ark. Hence some, as St. Thomas, Cajetan, Delrio and A Castro on Lam. 1:1, probably judge that the propitiatory was raised, and lifted up high by the Cherubim above the ark: for otherwise it could not have been the seat of God, so that the ark should be the footstool of His feet. The reason also and dignity of the propitiatory seems to demand this position: for it was wholly of gold, as the throne of God, and therefore was far nobler than the wooden ark itself, and represented a far nobler thing.
Truer, however, is the opinion of Abulensis, Alcazar, Ribera and others, that the propitiatory was laid immediately and closely upon the ark, touched and covered the ark itself: both because Josephus teaches it, book 3 Antiq. chap. 6; and because Scripture, verse 20, expressly calls the propitiatory the cover and covering of the ark; and because otherwise the ark would have been open and gaping: now it was not fitting that it should lie open, and show itself and what was in it naked, especially since our own arks and chests are wont to be shut, lest they be filled with dust; and because otherwise the propitiatory above the ark must have been held up by props, for example by columns or long hinges, and joined by them to the ark (for the other small and slender ones of the Cherubim were not sufficient for this): but of these props Scripture nowhere makes mention, though it describes the ark with the propitiatory exactly. These props and hinges are therefore fictitious.
Thou wilt say: How then is the ark called the footstool of God sitting on the propitiatory?
I answer, it is so called inasmuch as the propitiatory included the Cherubim, on whose wings God sat: for otherwise the propitiatory precisely was not the throne, but the footstool of the throne of God. Of which more below.
Allegorically, the propitiatory signifies Christ, “whom God hath proposed to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,” Rom. 3:25, where for propitiation others read propitiator. Both are signified by the Greek hilasterion, by which name the Septuagint always call the propitiatory here: whence there is no doubt that Paul, who is wont to follow the Septuagint, alluded to this. First, then, the propitiatory was above the ark, because Christ surpasses all the Blessed in grace and glory; yet the ark is joined to it by hinges, because all the grace and glory of the Saints descends from Christ, and the merits of Christ. Secondly, it was all of gold, because the humanity of Christ subsists not of itself, but in the Godhead, namely in the Word; and therefore in it “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally.” And, as St. John says: “We saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Thirdly, Christ is the cover of the ark, because He is encircled with the glory and crowns of the Saints, says Origen, and the Saints themselves cast down and offer their crowns to Christ, just as the ark as it were offered its own crown to the propitiatory. Fourthly, Christ is the oracle of the Father, declaring what He saw hidden in the bosom of the Father from the foundation of the world. Fifthly, the humanity of Christ was as the seat and throne, nay the footstool, of the divinity of the Word. “Christ,” says St. Bernard, serm. 22, “is made to us wisdom in preaching, justice in the absolution of sinners, sanctification in conversation, redemption in His passion.” And St. Gregory, hom. 4 on Ezech.: “Our Redeemer,” he says, “was made man by being born, a calf by dying, a lion by rising again, an eagle by ascending into heaven.” These are the four emblems of Christ which are borne before Him. Christ is all things in us. “If thou desirest to be healed of a wound, He is the physician; if thou burnest with fevers, He is the fountain; if thou art burdened with iniquity, He is justice; if thou needest help, He is strength; if thou fearest death, He is life; if thou fleest darkness, He is light; if thou desirest heaven, He is the way; if thou seekest food, He is nourishment.” Hence also Claudian:
O Christ, mighty ruler of things, founder of the returning age, voice and thought of the most high God, whom the Father poured forth from His lofty mind, and gave the fellowship of so great a kingdom, thou hast subdued the impious crimes of our life.
For Christ was the true Noe, who made us rest from our labours and burdens.
Rightly therefore St. Bernard, serm. 90 on the Canticle: “Above all things, O good Jesus,” he says, “the cup which thou hast drunk, the work of our redemption, makes thee lovable to me: for this claims our love for itself. This, I say, more sweetly allures our devotion, more justly demands it, more closely binds it and more vehemently moves it.” Our propitiatory, then, to which in every difficulty we ought to flee, is Christ suffering and crucified. “The Passion of Christ upholds heaven, rules the world, pierces hell; in it angels are confirmed, peoples are redeemed, enemies are crushed, things that subsist are established, living things are animated, sentient things consent, intelligences are illumined,” says Rabanus, On the Praise of the Cross.
Therefore let our hope, our love, our refuge be Christ always and everywhere. So Theodorus the Martyr, when Publius asked: “Wouldst thou rather be with thy Christ, or with us?” answered: “With my Christ I am, and was, and shall be: and therefore I fear not thy torments.” So Charles V reversed that saying of Julius Caesar, “I came, I saw, I conquered,” saying: “I came and saw, but Christ conquered.” So Paul: “To me,” he says, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
18. THOU SHALT MAKE ALSO TWO CHERUBIMS OF BEATEN GOLD, ON THE TWO SIDES OF THE ORACLE.
It is asked here first, what were these two Cherubim? Note: Moses scarcely expresses or signifies the form of these Cherubim, and this lest the Jews, prone to idols, should make an idol of them and worship it.