10. The Bar That Reached From Corner To Corner
BOOKTWO
they understood that all these things were sacraments that had been predicted in prophetic utterance a long time ago.
10. THE BAR THAT REACHED FROM CORNER TO CORNER
Since we are spealung of the eastern side, it certainly seems appropriate to relate some other things about the description of that particular bar which we have already referred to as having been extended from the comer of the boards all the way to the comer of the other wall, and as holding all the walls firmly together lest they should be liable to be shaken and bent to and fro by the force and pressure of violent winds. Further on in the sacred history, where Moses is related to have carried out everything that the Lord had commanded, it is written that he also made another bar topass through the middle of the boardsfrom corner to corner. Here, therefore, we must assume that a bar was stretched across the ten cubits of the width of the tabernacle, from the top of the boards in front to the top on the other side, and firmly positioned with a head on the boards on each side in such a way that by means of it that side of the tabernacle which rested not on boards but on pillars might also remain immoveable, no less firmly fixed than the other [side], even when the wind was blowing against it.
If you should also wish to understand the sacrament of this bar, in a figurative manner it unambiguously sigrufies our Redeemer himself, who passed through from comer to comer, as it were, because he reached out from the Jewish people, which he had previously chosen for himself, to make atonement also for the sake of the salvation of the multitude of the Gentiles. Hence, just as in the prophets he can for good reason be called the 'comer-stone',2 so also in the law can he be called the 'comerbar';
'corner-stone', evidently, in relation to the temple which is constructed for God out of living stone^,^ and 'comer-bar' in relation to the tabernacle which is built for him out of imperishable wood, that is, out of the souls of the elect, which are free from the stain of corruption.
1 1. THE ALTAR OF HOLOCAUST AND ITS VESSELS
27: 1 You shall also make an altar of acacia wood, which shall be five cubits long and as many wide (that is, a square), and three cubits high.
1 Exod. 36:33
2 Isa. 28: 16
3 1 Pet. 2:4-8
BEDE: ON THE TABERNACLE
r77/ By this altar, which was properly called [the altar] of holocaust, he designates the hearts of the elect, which are consecrated as an offering for the sake of presenting the sacrifices of their good works to God. Aptly is it commandcd to be made from acacia wood, because it is fitting for the hearts and bodies in which the Spirit of God dwells to be pure and incormpt. It is five cubits long and as many wide when all the faithful are zealous to exercise all the senses of their bodies in length of patience and in breadth of charity, so that in their every act of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touchin they will always remember that it is to be handed over into God's service, in accordance with that [saying] of the Apostle: Whether you eat or drink, or whatever else you do, do everything to the glory of God.' It is three cubits high when the same hearts of the elect stretch out toward heavenly things through faith, hope, and charity.
27:2 And there shall be horns at the four corncrs of [the altar] itself, and you shall cover it with bronze. The altar of holocaust has four comers because the Holy Church (which is rightly designated by the making of one altar on account of the single heart and soul among the whole multitude of believers3) has spread throughout the four regions of the world. Surely four horns are made [to come forth] from this altar when the hearts of the righteous are fortified with the four oftenmentioned virtues, concerning which it is said in praise of Wisdom: She teaches sobriep, andprudence, andjustice, and valour; nothing in lrfe is inore proJtablefor humans than these.4 The horns are brought forth from the altar itself when the faithful do not exhibit the fortifications of virtues only in appearance and before other people, but instead bring them forth from the innermost root of their hearts, with God as their witness. The four horns are at the four comers of the altar when through the spiritual power of its virtues the Church in all ends of the world remains inviolable against all the snares of its enemies, or is even made stronger by all those h n g s that fight against it.
Surely this altar is covered with bronze when a virtue undcrtaken by the faithful is persistently held firmly to the end; for since bronze is a metal that is accustomed to remain incorruptible for a long time, it is rightly able to designate the virtue of perseverance. And with respect to the literal sense, if anyone is troubled about how the wood of the altar was able to remain
1 The image is that of a legal transaction in which a slave is handcd over to become the property of a new master.
2 1 Cor. 10:31
3 Acts 4:32
4 Wisd. 8:7: the terms for the virtues in Bede's quotation from the Vulgate are the accusative singular forms ofsobrretas,prudenria,/usfrria, and virfus; he equates the first and last ofthese with fernperantla andforfitudo, which are usually found in lists of the four cardinal virtues.
BOOK TWO
unburnt in the presence of so much fire, let that person hear blessed Jerome's reply to this question: The woods ofthe altar he says, which are from the trees of Paradise, are not burned by contact with $re but are renderedmorepure; nor is it an.y wonder to i m a p e that this applies to the sanctualy and the interior parts of the temple and the altar ofincense, since also with &p.icuvrou (which is a kind of wood that is somewhat similar to pa), the hotter it is, the cleaner is it found to be.
27:3 And for its use you shall make pots to receive the asirrs, and tongs and forks and firepans; you shall make all the vessels of bronze.
We should understand the diverse vessels of the altar as the different characters of the faithful, or perhaps as their various actions or thoughts which are placed in the service of their Creator
/78/ First it is commanded that pots should be made to receive the ashes. Now [Moses] declares that the ashes of the victims (which ought to be taken as a great mystery) are the sprinkled ashes of a red heifer,2 which (as the Apostle also bears witness) sanctified those who have been dejiled, so that [theirlpesh is made clean.3 He also understands that the sacrament of the Lord's passion, which saves us by purifying us forever, is prefigured in these ashes. Thus, the burning of a red heifer designates the actual time and event of Chnst's passion, and the burnt ashes which were kept for the cleansing of those who were unclean suggest the mystery of that same passion which has already been completed, by which we are daily purged from our sins.
Therefore, all the sacrifices and victims that were burnt on the altar indicated figuratively either the passion of the Lord or the devotion of his saints, which was burning with the flame of charity. Rightly, then, do the ashes of the holocausts express either the consummation of the Lord's passion, or else the perfection in virtue that will come to all the righteous when, having been offered to God's service through the fire of the Holy
Spirit, they have now deserved to have done with the good works themselves and to be taken up to claim possession of the rewards for those works in eternal life.
So that th~s might be even more evident, let us consider what Moses says concerning the ashes of the holocaust: This, he says, is the law ofthe holocaust: it shall be burnt upon the altar a11 night until the morning, while thejre shall be on the same altar; the priest shall be vested with the tunic and the linen undergarments; and he shall take up the ashes o f that which 1 Jerome, InEzech. 12, 41, 13-22(CCSL 75: 601, 1554-9)
2 Nurn. 19:2
3 Heb. 9:13
BEDE: ON THE TABERNACLE
the devouringJre h m burnt, andputting them beside the altar, shall take of his firmer vestments, and being clothed with others, shall carry [the ashes] out to be consumed to dust in a very clean place outside the camp; and theJre on the altar shall always be burning.'
Consequently, a holocaust is burned on the altar when a good work is performed with the burning fire of chanty in the heart of any elect p r s o n who is devoted to God completely (that is, with both body and soul ). Th s is done all night until the morning when one does not cease to persevere in good works throughout all the time of this life, until one is taken from the body and is merits seeing the morning of the world to come. The fire will be on the same altar, because we ought to be burning with that chanty alone which the Lord gives to his Church through the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, when the sons of Aaron dared to offer an illicit fire before the Lord and not that which had once been iven from heaven, they were immediately annihilated by heavenly fire; for those who do heavenly works not with the aim of heavenly reward but with a view toward temporal favour or advantage are doubtless stricken with the judgement of heavenly wrath.
[79] The priest shall be vested with the tunic and the linen undergarment^.^ The priest who offers the holocaust is the Lord who is hmself accustomed to kindle in us the fire of his chanty, and through it to make the sacrifices of our good actions acceptable to himself. And he is clothed in linen garments when he does these things because, in order that he may excite us to works of virtue, he sets before us the examples of his own incarnation, passion, and death, which can be signified by linen, as we have frequently said.
The same priest takes up the ashes of that which the devouring fire has burnt and puts them beside the altar when the Lord imposes an end to laborious works and orders that the righteous who are taken away from this life shall no longer strive for life eternal, but shall receive in life eternal the crown of righteousness. And putting the ashes beside the altar he shall indeed take off his former vestments when he displays the good deeds of the righteous for thcm to remember and brings back the aspects' of his passion which they need imitate no longer. But he puts on other vestments, namely, those of which he himself speaks in the gos 1, 'Truly I tell you that he will gird himselfand make them to sit down (that is, he prepares
1 Lev. 6:9-12 2 et carne . . . et corde: literally, 'with both flesh and heart'
3 Lev. 1O:l-2 4 Lev. 6: 10
5 'aspects' = habrtus, which can mean both 'character' and 'attire'.
6 Luke 12:37
BOOK TWO
himself to bestow an eternal reward and makes them to be refreshed in eternal repose). And being clothed with other vestments he shall carry the ashes outside the camp when the Lord, being prepared to reward the labour of hs elect, makes it appear that whatever good they have everdone is taken away from here into that other life.
Nor is it unrealistic that the entrance into life everlasting is figured by the place situated outside the camp. For the Lord says, 'Whoever enters by me shall be saved, and will go in and go out andfind pasture, J and the psalmist says, 'May the Lord keep your coming in and your going out, 12coming in, evidently, to the Church in this life, and going out into that life where pastures of e t e d plenty are to be found. It is not improper, then, for us to understand that the place outside the camp is situated in that life, especially since there [in Leviticus] it is said to be a 'very clean place', which is evidently impossible to find in this life. The very clean place outside the camp, then, is the souls of the righteous who have been carried away from this life and are rejoicing in the other life.
Surely the ashes of the holcaust are consumed to dust in h s place when the reward for good works is rendered there in such a way that every labour is entirely consumed, in accordance with what [is said] in the Apocalypse of Saint John. For after he had spoken of the distribution of rewards, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with humankind, and he will dwell with them, and they will be hispeople, andthe Lordhimselfwill be with them m their he immediately goes on to speak of the taking away of all labours: And God will wipe away every tearporn their eyes, and death will be no tnore, nor will mourning or crying, or sorrow be any more, for the former things have passed away.
[SO]
Even when the labour of good works shall cease, however, that charity by which they were effected will by no means come to an end; instead, it will be inflamed all the more ardently when the one whom we love will himself be seen forever. Therefore it is rightly added: And the fire on the altar shall always be burning; and a little later: This is the perpetualfire on the altar, which shall never go out.' The fire on the altar will never go out even though the holocaust is consumed to ashes, because even when labouring of every kind is completely absent, charity alone will bum forever, never to be extinguished.
1 John 10:9
2 Ps. 121:8 (120%) 3 Rev. 21:3
4 Rev. 21:4
5 Lev. 6:12-13
BEDE: ON THE TABERNACLE
We have spoken rather expansively about these things concerning the law of the holocaust in relation to the pots of the altar, which were ordered to be made to receive the ashes of the sacritices. Therefore the pots receive the holy ashes when all the faithful devoutly recollect and keep in mind the examples and the sacraments contained in the Lord's passion, or else when they diligently ponder the end of the righteous who have gone before, those who have striven for the Lord in great contests and have now completed their course, who rejoice without end for the sake of the prize that has now been obtained. By thus considering the virtues of those who are greater, [the faithful] are able to become great also, in accordance with the precept of the Apostle who says: Remember your leaders who have spoken the word of God to you; contemplate the end of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
Now after the pots, the= were tongs and forks and firepans that were ordered to be made. We must assume that the tongs were made to tend the fire of the altar, hence, they rightly designate the holy preachers, who by their exhortations are accustomed to kindle in us the fire of chanty, as if on the altar of God. For just like the teeth of a pair of tongs they arrange firebrands on the altar for the kindling of this fire when they instruct us in the concordant pages of the two testaments and assemble in our hearts the eloquent words of truth, by which we are inflamed all the more with a desire for eternal things. Or perhaps the priests tend the fire on the altar with a pair of iron tongs when, in everything that they teach, the holy preachers instil in us the virtue of a twofold love [of God and neighbour] and command us both to burn and to shine for its sake.
The forks, which in Greek are called 'fleshhooks'? were employed for this purpose in the ministry of the altar, that by them the cooked flesh of the victims might be taken out of the pots and brought to be eaten by those who were to be refreshed by it. Their function likewise corresponds to the figure of the holy preachers, whose ministry it is to refresh the souls of the faithful with the word of faith. In accordance with the apostolic principle of discretion, to disciples who are still ignorant they supply elementary doctrine, which is the rational milk without guile; but they provide the solid food of more sublime doctrine for those who are more nearly perfe~t.~
For all those who have learned to investigate the greatest sacraments of Chnst 1 Heb. 13:7
2 'fleshhooks' = creagrae; Bede gives the Greek word in Latin transliteration, as it appears in the Vulgate at 2 Chr. 4 1 1 and elsewhere.
3 1 Pet. 2:2
4 Heb. 5:14