Moses built an altar at the foot of the mount, and offered victims upon it; and he took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half he poured upon the altar. And when he had read the words of the covenant to the people, and they had agreed to observe it, he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words." Thus was the first covenant completed on Mount Sinai, and solemnly sealed with blood, to remain good until the new and better covenant, sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ on Mount Calvary, should take its place.

§ 17. Israel becomes the Church of God.

Although the people held the covenant of circumcision, by inheritance from their great forefather Abraham, and though they had just concluded a still more solemn covenant sealed wth blood, in the sight of Mount Sinai, yet for want of a Priesthood, an Altar, and a Sacrifice, they were not as yet the Church of God. He was now about to raise them to the dignity of being His Church, and for this purpose He commanded Moses to set about forming and erecting the sacred Tabernacle, together with its outer court and altar of holocausts or whole burnt offerings.

§ 18. The presence of God among His people.

Before we come to describe the building of this sacred Tabernacle, let us stop to reflect, what a change was about to take place, from their misery and oppression in Egypt, where no worship of God was per

J. Powell.

GENERAL VIEW OF THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS,

Dalziel, so

Showing the relative position of the twelve tribes in their encampment round the Tabernacle, as they were divided into companies, under their respective banners, the Lion, the Man, the Bull, and the Eagle, which are the same with the Christian Symbols of the four Evangelists.

mitted by the king of the country, to the splendour of the Holy Sanctuary that was about to be built, and to the beauty and solemnity of its public worship. Our Divine Lord is so good as to say, that notwithstanding all the faithlessness and perverse contradiction of His people, still "His delight is to be with the sons of men"; and the description of the Holy Tabernacle which we are about to read, will show us, how He vouchsafed to Moses and his people the Shadow of His Divine Presence. The fulness of this Divine Presence, we must never forget, He has reserved for us, among whom He is now present, not in shadow, but in the truth and substance of His own Divine Person, in the Holy Eucharist.* Now if even the shadow was so glorious, that Moses had to veil his face when speaking to the people, what must be the depth of those riches, which we now enjoy in their very truth and substance?

§ 19. Moses is commanded to build the Tabernacle.

As God was about to confer upon His people the highest honour and blessing that they could receive at His hands, by establishing His Sanctuary amongst them, it was fitting that they should show their sense of the blessing, by offering of their own accord, of every thing they had which was beautiful and precious, and which could serve for building and adorning it.

(1.) The Catechism of the Council of Trent, speaking of the presence of God among his people, in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, bids us remember that we can never sufficiently admire the perfection and the height of glory to which our Lord has now raised His Church, "which stands midway between the Synagogue and the Heavenly Jerusalem, and is but one step removed from the Glory of Heaven."

God commanded Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring their offerings to Me: from every man that offereth of his own accord

you shall take them." The people obeyed the call with such joy, and the offerings of gold, silver and

DESCRIPTION OF THE TABERNACLE.

outer Court of the Tabernacle was an enclosure fifty-eight yards long by the breadth. The height of the enclosing fence was about nine feet. It