And this denotes,
III. I proceed to shew what the putting the tables into the ark signified
And this denotes,
1 st, The being of the law in the heart of Christ, of which he himself says to his God and father, Thy law is within my heart; (Psalm 40:8) where it was in a much higher sense than it was in the hearts of the Gentiles, who by nature do the things in it; or than it was in heart of Adam in his innocent state or than it is in the heart of a regenerate man. And its being in his heart, is expressive of the perfect knowledge he has of it: as a divine person, he is omniscient and knows all things, as mediator; the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in him; and the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and knowledge rest upon him; as man, he was filled with wisdom, and increased in it; and as he spoke such words of wisdom and grace as never man did, being full of doctrines of grace and truth, so he had such knowledge of the law as never man had. This appears from his ready answer to the scribe, which he delivered in so full and concise a manner, when he questioned him about which was the greatest commandment in the law, before observed. It denotes also his strong and cordial affection for it. David describes a good man, and some think the Messiah, as one whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night: (Psalm 1:2) and of himself, and from his own experience, he could say, O how love I thy law, it is my meditation all the day; (31:97) in which, as in other things, he was a type of Christ: and if every man that is born again delights in the law of God after the inward man, and takes pleasure in obedience to it, much more must Christ, whose meat and drink it was to do the will of him that sent him; (John 4:34) one part of which was to obey and fulfill the law of God. Yea this includes and supposes complete conformity of heart and nature, of life and conversation in Christ unto it. There is a most perfect agreement between him and that. Is that holy? so was he in heart and life, Is that just? he is Jesus Christ the righteous. Is that good? he is good, and did good, and went about constantly doing good. Does the law require a holy nature perfectly free from sin? It is to be found in Christ, who is holy, harmless, and undefiled, and separate from sinners; free from the spot of original sin, and from any blemish of actual transgression. Does it demand and insist on sinless obedience? This is to he met with in none of Adam's race, only in Christ, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.
2dly, The putting the two tables of the law into the ark, signifies Christ's subjection to the law, which was not only in him, but he was under that. As a Jew, he was under the civil law: a Jew he was by birth; the Shiloh that was to come, and did come from the tribe of Judah; from which tribe the whole body of the nation were denominated Jews. He was of the family of David, which was of that tribe. He was born at Bethlehem Ephratah, or Bethlehem of Judah: so that as the apostle says, it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; (Hebrews 7:14) and was a native of that land, and strictly and properly a Jew; and as such was subject to the laws of his country; and even when it was reduced to a Roman province, and obliged to pay tribute to the Roman governors, and which he did not refuse to do; for as he taught men to give to Cæ'dipussar the things which were Cæ'dipussar's, he did the same himself, and even wrought a miracle to perform it: for when the receivers of tribute came to Peter for it, he ordered him to cast his hook into the sea, and out of the first fish that came up, to take a piece of money, and pay the tribute for him and himself; so far was he from being chargeable with the imputation laid upon him, that he was an enemy to Cæ'dipussar, a stirrer up of sedition, a perverter of the nation, and forbad the people to give tribute to Cæ'dipussar. As he was a son of Abraham, he was under the ceremonial law, and subject to that; so he was throughout the whole course of his life: he was circumcised the eighth day, presented by his parents to the Lord in the temple at the proper time, and went up to Jerusalem with them to keep the pass-over, when but twelve years of age; we often hear of him at the Jewish festivals in their synagogues and temple, attending the service of them; and one of the last actions of his life was keeping the pass-over with his disciples before he suffered. The ceremonies of the law were shadows of him, of which he was the body and substance, and had their accomplishment in him. As a creature, as a man, he was under the moral law, and subject to that, as every man is and ought to be: being made of a woman, or born of one, he was in course made under the law; and being found in fashion as a man, he was in the form of a servant, and under obligation to do duty and service, to fear God and keep his commandments, which is the whole duty of man, (Ecclesiastes 7:13) or the duty of every man: especially he was under this law, and obliged to obey it, as he was the surety of his people. That he became their surety is certain; hence he is called the surety of a better testament: (Hebrews 7:22) he engaged in the covenant of grace, which is the better testament, to be the bondsman of his people, to pay their debts for them, to satisfy divine justice, to redeem and save them, to bring them back, and restore them, and set them before his divine Father; all which could not he done without fulfilling the law. This was a principal part of the will of God, which he agreed to do, saying, Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, such as were of a ceremonial kind, they being insufficient to atone for sin, and take it away; but the sacrifice of himself, body and soul, he did desire, which was typified by the sin-offerings and burnt-offerings under the law; Then said I, Lo I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me; I delight to do thy will, O my God; (8) which was to offer himself a victim to divine justice, and be subject both to the precepts and penalty of the law, which as a surety for sinners he was obliged to be, and was: he was subject to the precepts of the law, and strictly observed them; he did always the things which pleased his Father, and all things that were pleasing to him, even his whole will and pleasure, and omitted nothing which he commanded and required; by which means he was fit to be a sacrifice for sin, since in him was no sin: he was not guilty of any breach of the law, in thought, word, or deed, and hereby became a proper pattern and example for his people to copy after; for though they are not able perfectly to conform to him as such, yet he is worthy of their imitation in all they can and it becomes them to walk even as he walked, (1 John 2:6) though they can only do it in an imperfect manner: and besides the precepts of the law, as the sinner's surety, he was subject to the penalty of. it; for though, as a mere creature, and a sinless man, he was only bound to keep the commands of the law; yet as a surety for sinners he was obliged to bear the penalty of it in their room and stead, which they through disobedience to the law were liable to, which penalty is death, In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die; (Genesis 2:17) which is not only true of the first sin of man, but of every other, for the wages of sin is death; (Romans 7:23) not death corporal only, but death eternal, or the wrath of God, which comes upon the children of disobedience, even on every one that has no share in the suretiship of Christ; but for whomsoever he became a surety, for them he became obedient unto death, and bore the curse of the law and wrath of God, and thereby delivered them from it.
3dly, The putting the tables into the ark, signified Christ's fulfillment of the law in the room and instead of his people. He not only had it in him, and was made under it, but he perfectly fulfilled it. This it became him to do as a surety; it became him indeed to fulfill all righteousness, civil, ceremonial, and moral, but especially the latter; since his work and business was, as a surety, to bring in everlasting righteousness for the justification of his people, and thereby justly and truly merit and claim the character of the Lord our righteousness. He came into the world in our nature, to fulfill the moral law and righteousness of it: Think not, says he, that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17) Some of the Jews thought that Christ was an Antinomian, as these words plainly shew; just as some ignorant persons now reckon the faithful ministers of the gospel to be: and if our Lord himself was so ill thought of, it need not seem strange that his faithful followers should have each a brand of infamy fastened upon them: but certain it is, that Christ came not with such an intent, nor did he do anything in doctrine or practice which tended to destroy the law, but every thing which served to fulfill it; being sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, (Romans 8:3, 4) as represented by him. And this is done, and effectually done; he is become the end of the law, the fulfilling end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4) This is completely done; it is finished, and was finished when he died the death of the cross: and hereby the law is magnified, and made honourable; (Isaiah 42:21) more so by the obedience and sufferings of the Son of God, than by the obedience of angels in heaven, or of Adam in paradise, or by the sufferings of the damned in hell to all eternity; the obedience and sufferings of these being that of creatures, whereas the righteousness that Christ has brought in and yielded to the law, is the righteousness of God; not only what is approved of by God, and accepted with him, and imputed by him to his people, but is what was wrought by him, who is God as well as man: and though his suffering the penalty of the law was in the human nature, yet in that nature as in union with the Son of God: whence the law has had such a glory put upon it, and an honour done it, it never otherwise could have had; wherefore we should look not to our own righteousness as justifying, which is but filthy rags, but to the righteousness of Christ, which he is the author of, and is in him; and who was made sin for his people, that they might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)