Commentaria in Exodum
33. AND THE VEIL SHALL BE HUNG UP, etc., WHEREBY THE SANCTUARY AND THE HOLY OF HOLIES SHALL BE DIVIDED,—As if to say: This veil shall divide the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, whose vessels he next describes. The Holy of Holies was an express symbol of the empyrean heaven and of eternal life, which Vigilantius beautifully describes in the Life of the priest Epictetus and of the monk Astion, Martyrs, to Astion’s mother, who was still a Gentile. For when the mother said: “What is that region called, whither my sweetest and only Astion has gone?” Vigilantius answered: “The region of the strong, or brave men.” And the mother: “Are there men dwelling there?” Vigilantius answered: “There are many, and very noble, whose possession is called paradise, whose tabernacles are built of light, whose life is God, and whose manner of living is immortal; whose garments are sprinkled with blood, and on their heads they wear crowns made of the purest gold with various gems. But there is also in that same region a King exceedingly mighty and to be feared, whose name is called God of gods and Lord of lords; whose messengers are called Angels of justice, whose garment is one for all, and whose touch is like a burning fire. The senate also of this Emperor is very illustrious; and one half is called Prophets, the others are styled Apostles.” Then he describes the city itself thus: “The city of this King is very glorious, and its name is spoken by the worshippers of Christ; its wall is built of the purest gold, having twelve gates, and on each hang pearls, and each of the senators sits unceasingly at each gate. The first gate is called Peter’s, the second Paul’s, the third Andrew’s, the fourth John’s, the fifth James’s, the sixth Philip’s, the seventh Bartholomew’s, the eighth Thomas’s, the ninth Matthew’s, the tenth Thaddeus’s, the eleventh Simon’s, the twelfth Matthias’s.” Finally, he depicts its temple and Holy of Holies thus: “There is also in it a wondrous temple, having the Holy of Holies and a golden altar, before whose sight a certain wondrous man stands holding a psaltery of ten strings, and exhorts those who dwell there continually to the praise of that King, saying: Praise ye the Lord from the heavens, praise ye Him, all His angels; praise ye Him, all His hosts. His name is pronounced David, the son of Jesse. The streets also of this city are paved with the purest gold; its river flows with eternal life; its fruit-bearing trees yield their fruits every month, and their leaves serve for the healing of souls; its light is unspeakable, and its gates are never shut, because there will never be night there; nor is there any darkness; but joy always, and perpetual gladness dwell there continually.”
Wherefore St. Anthony rightly exhorted his disciples, saying: “Let this be the first commandment for all in common, that none grow weary in the vigour of the purpose he has taken up, but that each ought always, as a beginner, to increase what he has begun, especially since the spans of human life, compared with eternity, are very brief and small.” Having so begun, he was silent a little, and wondering at the exceeding bounty of God, he added again: “In this present life, exchanges are equal in value to the things exchanged, and the seller receives no more from the buyer; but the promise of everlasting life is bought at a low price. For it is written: The days of our years are threescore and ten years; but if in the strong they be fourscore years, what is more is labour and sorrow. When, therefore, we shall have lived eighty or, at most, a hundred years, labouring in the work of God, we shall not reign for an equal time in the future; but for the aforesaid years the kingdoms of all the ages shall be given to us. We shall not inherit the earth, but heaven: leaving also the corruptible body, we shall receive the same with incorruption. Therefore, little children, let not weariness tire you, nor the ambition of vainglory delight you. For the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.”
St. Mary of Oignies, as Cardinal Vitry witnesses in her Life, when she had lived an angelic life, received a revelation of her salvation and glory in these words: “Thou shalt go into the Holy of Holies.” And since she understood the matter, not the words, being Latin, she said continually, rejoicing, to her handmaid: “We shall go into the Holy of Holies, sweetest Clemency (this was the handmaid’s name). And what is the Holy of Holies?” and she could say nothing else, drunk with joy, night and day, neither eating nor drinking.
Hence the monasteries of old, in which monks lived, withdrawn from earthly things, a heavenly life, were called Sanctuaries, as is plain from the Life of St. Euphrasia. So St. Arsenius kept a cloth in his bosom to wipe away the constant tears, which flowed from his eyes out of desire for eternal life.
Hence St. Jerome, speaking of St. Paula, founder of five monasteries in Palestine, indeed a nun and leader of nuns, after recounting her wonderful and heavenly virtues, follows her thus even to heaven: “For the rest, she has finished her course, she has kept the faith, and now enjoys the crown of justice, and follows the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. She is filled, because she hungered, and glad she sings: As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. O blessed exchange of things! She wept that she might ever laugh. She despised the broken cisterns that she might find the Lord the fountain. She was clothed in haircloth that she might now wear white garments, and say: Thou hast cut my sackcloth, and hast girded me with gladness. She ate ashes as bread, and mingled her drink with weeping, saying: My tears have been my bread day and night, that she might feed for ever on the bread of angels, and sing: O taste and see that the Lord is sweet,” and: “My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my works to the king.”
So St. Euphrasia, in the time of the Emperor Theodosius, born of imperial blood, despised the world and embraced the monastic life, and when she had lived in it with wonderful humility, obedience and holiness, was called at the age of thirty to these Holy of Holies. For the Abbess saw two men saying to her: “Taking Euphrasia with thee, lead her before the Lord; and I, taking her at once,” she says, “made haste with them. And when we had come to a certain gate, whose glory I cannot describe, it opened of its own accord to us. And we entered, and saw there an unspeakable heavenly palace, in which is a nuptial throne not made by hand. I indeed could not draw near within; but they took Euphrasia and offered her to the Lord, and falling down she kissed His immaculate feet. I saw there tens of thousands of angels, and an innumerable multitude of Saints, and all stood looking on: and I saw, and behold the mother of the Lord took Euphrasia and led her to the nuptial chamber, where she was preparing a crown of beauty; and I heard a voice saying to Euphrasia: Behold thy reward. Now therefore go, and coming after ten days, enjoy these things for infinite ages; and therefore, because it is the ninth day today since I saw the vision, tomorrow Euphrasia will die.” On the following day, therefore, Euphrasia departed this life with the Abbess, and went into the Holy of Holies. So her Life has it.
Hither by the cross Christ went before and preceded us, who “by His own blood entered once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption,” that
36. THOU SHALT MAKE ALSO A HANGING AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE TABERNACLE.—Here is described the second veil, which was spread before the Holy Place, as before, in verse 31, the other was spread before the Holy of Holies. This veil is called a hanging, because it was stretched like a curtain and a military tent for the fourth, that is the eastern, side of the tabernacle, or for its entrance, and was as it were the door of the tabernacle, marked out by five pillars, so that four passages, taken between the five pillars, lay open for entrance. For as the eight boards, verse 22, closed the opposite, western side of the tabernacle, so the five pillars here with this veil of theirs closed the eastern side, where the entrance lay open.
Note first: This veil was made, as the former, verse 36, of fine linen, scarlet, purple and hyacinth, and was hung upon five pillars made of gilded settim wood.
Secondly, this veil, which was at the entrance of the tabernacle, as also the veil that was at the entrance of the court, of which chap. xxvii, verse 16, was movable, whereas the other hangings of the court itself were immovable, and were of fine linen only, but these at the entrance of the tabernacle and of the court were of many colours, as I have already said.
Thirdly, Josephus asserts that this veil at the entrance of the tabernacle hung from the top not down to the ground, but only to the middle of the pillars, and was there supported and held by rings, and that to give access and entrance to the priests, who went in through it into the tabernacle, and that the light of the sun might be admitted into the tabernacle through this empty and open part; for in the tabernacle there were no windows: for it was covered on every side, both with the ten curtains and with the goats’ hair cloth.
Fourthly, the same Josephus adds that almost contiguous to this veil was another veil, equal in size, but woven of linen, hanging crosswise by rings from a cord, which was sometimes drawn across and sometimes, especially on feast days, drawn back, that the people might look into the tabernacle; for then, the veil being drawn back, the gilded boards of the tabernacle lay open to view, says Lipomanus on chap. xxxvi. On the other days, however, and especially when it rained, snowed or hailed, this outermost linen veil, by being thrown before it, protected the other, inner and embroidered veil from the storms and the injuries of the weather.
37. AND FIVE PILLARS THOU SHALT OVERLAY WITH GOLD.—That is, thou shalt adorn them with golden, not plates, but rings, as is plain from chap. xxxvi, the last verse, in the Hebrew.