Where each holy vessel stands: the veil, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies
Cyril: ‘And you shall set the ark of the testimony in place, and you shall cover the ark with the veil. And you shall bring in the table, and set out its bread of presentation. And you shall bring in the lampstand, and put its lamps on it. And you shall set the golden altar for burning incense before the ark. And you shall put the covering curtain on the door of the tent of testimony, and you shall set the altar of whole burnt offerings beside the doors of the tent of testimony. And you shall enclose the tent, and set all that belongs to it round about’ (Exodus 40:3–8). In these words one can see the sacred vessels brought into the holy tent, but not yet clearly the place that suits each one and was assigned to it. Would you like us, then, to gather from the commands about the tent a detailed and exact knowledge of these matters?
Palladius: Most gladly.
Cyril: God, then, said to the holy Moses: ‘And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and twisted scarlet and spun fine linen; you shall make it a woven work with cherubim. And you shall hang it on four pillars that cannot rot, overlaid with gold; their capitals shall be gold, and their four bases silver. And you shall put the veil on the pillars, and there, inside the veil, you shall bring in the ark of the testimony; and the veil shall divide for you between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. You shall cover the ark of the testimony with the veil in the Holy of Holies. And you shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the tent; and you shall put the table on the north side of the tent. And you shall make a screen for the door of the tent, of blue and purple and twisted scarlet and twisted fine linen, the work of an embroiderer. And you shall make five pillars for the curtain and overlay them with gold; their capitals shall be gold, and you shall cast five bronze bases for them’ (Exodus 26:31–37). So much for these things. About the laver he says something like this: ‘Make a bronze laver, and a bronze base for it, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of testimony and the altar’ (Exodus 30:18). Is the meaning of each point clear to you?
Palladius: Not at all. I am quite at a loss, I assure you, and I cannot say what it means.
Cyril: Then for each of the passages before us I will take hold of what bears on their spiritual meaning, and give an account as clear and distinct as I am able. The holy tent, Palladius, was set up in the wilderness with a twofold arrangement and form, as it were. One part was the innermost, and its name was the Holy of Holies. Around it, like a kind of entrance hall, was the first part, called the Holy Place (Hebrews 9:2–3). In the innermost tent the ark had been placed, and it had a curtain about it, hung on four golden pillars and skillfully made of blue and purple and twisted scarlet and spun fine linen.
Greek
«Καὶ θήσεις τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ σκεπάσεις τὴν κιβωτὸν τῷ καταπετάσματι. Καὶ εἰσοίσεις τὴν τράπεζαν, καὶ προθήσεις τὴν πρόθεσιν αὐτῆς. Καὶ εἰσοίσεις τὴν λυχνίαν, καὶ ἐπιθήσεις τοὺς λύχνους αὐτῆς. Καὶ θήσεις τὸ θυσιαστήριον τὸ χρυσοῦν, εἰς τὸ θυμιᾷν ἐναντίον τῆς κιβωτοῦ. Καὶ ἐπιθήσεις κάλυμμα καταπετάσματος ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τῶν καρπωμάτων θήσεις παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου. Καὶ περιθήσεις τὴν σκηνὴν, καὶ πάντα τὰ αὐτῆς περιθήσεις κύκλῳ.» Ἀλλ' ἔνεστι μὲν ἐν τούτοις εἰσκεκομισμένα ἰδεῖν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ σκηνῇ τὰ σκεύη τὰ ἱερά· οὐ μὴν ἔτι καὶ σαφῶς τὸν ἑκάστῳ πρέποντά τε καὶ ἐκνεμηθέντα τόπον. Βούλει δὴ οὖν τῶν ἐπὶ τῇ σκηνῇ προσταγμάτων λεπτήν τε καὶ ἀκριβῆ τῶν τοιῶνδε τὴν γνῶσιν ἐρανιζώμεθα;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ὡς ἥδιστά γε.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἔφη τοίνυν πρὸς τὸν ἱερὸν Μωσέα Θεός· «Καὶ ποιήσεις καταπέτασμα ἐξ ὑακίνθου καὶ πορφύρας, καὶ κοκκίνου κεκλωσμένου, καὶ βύσσου νενησμένης· ἔργον ὑφαντὸν ποιήσεις αὐτὸ Χερουβίμ. Καὶ ἐπιθήσεις αὐτὸ ἐπὶ τεσσάρων στύλων ἀσήπτων κεχρυσωμένων χρυσίῳ. Καὶ αἱ κεφαλίδες αὐτῶν χρυσαῖ, καὶ αἱ βάσεις αὐτῶν τέσσαρες ἀργυραῖ. Καὶ θήσεις τὸ καταπέτασμα ἐπὶ τῶν στύλων, καὶ εἰσοίσεις ἐκεῖ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ μαρτυρίου. Καὶ διοριεῖ τὸ καταπέτασμα ὑμῖν ἀναμέσον τοῦ Ἁγίου, καὶ ἀναμέσον τοῦ Ἁγίου τῶν ἁγίων. Κατακαλύψεις τῷ καταπετάσματι τὴν κιβωτὸν τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἐν τῷ Ἁγίῳ τῶν ἁγίων. Καὶ ἐπιθήσεις τὴν τράπεζαν ἔξωθεν τοῦ καταπετάσματος, καὶ τὴν λυχνίαν ἀπέναντι τῆς τραπέζης ἐπὶ μέρους τῆς σκηνῆς τὸ πρὸς νότον. Καὶ τὴν τράπεζαν θήσεις ἐπὶ μέρους τῆς σκηνῆς τὸ πρὸς βοῤῥᾶν. Καὶ ποιήσεις ἐπίσπαστρον τῇ θύρᾳ τῆς σκηνῆς ἐξ ὑακίνθου καὶ πορφύρας, καὶ κοκκίνου κεκλωσμένου, καὶ βύσσου κεκλωσμένης, ἔργον ποικιλτοῦ. Καὶ ποιήσεις τῷ καταπετάσματι πέντε στύλους, καὶ χρυσώσεις αὐτοὺς χρυσίῳ· καὶ αἱ κεφαλίδες αὐτῶν χρυσαῖ, καὶ χωνεύσεις αὐτοῖς πέντε βάσεις χαλκᾶς.» Καὶ ταυτὶ μὲν περὶ τούτων. Περὶ δέ γε τοῦ λουτῆρος ὧδέ πή φησι· «Ποίησον λουτῆρα χαλκοῦν, καὶ βάσιν αὐτῷ χαλκῆν ὥστε νίπτεσθαι, καὶ θήσεις αὐτὸν ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου.» Ἆρά σοι σαφὴς ὁ ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ λόγος;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὐ μὲν οὖν· διηπόρηκα γὰρ, ἴσθι· καὶ τί τὸ χρῆμα, εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἔχω.
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὐκοῦν ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ τῶν προκειμένων ῥητῶν, εἰς θεωρίαν τὴν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς τὸ τελοῦν ἁρπάσας, σαφῆ καὶ εὐκρινεστάτην, ὡς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ, ποιήσομαι τὴν ἀφήγησιν. Ἐγήγερται μὲν γὰρ, ὦ Παλλάδιε, κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον ἡ ἁγία σκηνὴ, ὡς ἐν θέσει τε καὶ ἐν εἴδει διπλῷ. Καὶ μία μὲν ἦν ἡ ἐσωτάτη· ὄνομα δὲ αὐτῇ, τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων. Προεισβολὴ δὲ ὥσπερ τις καὶ περὶ αὐτὴν ἡ πρώτη, τὰ ἐπίκλην Ἅγια. Καὶ εἰς μὲν τὴν ἐσωτάτω σκηνὴν, ἡ κιβωτὸς ἀπετέθειτο, ἐπὶ τεσσάρων στύλων χρυσῶν ἔχουσα περιπέτασμα πεποιημένον ἐντέχνως ἐξ ὑακίνθου καὶ πορφύρας, καὶ κοκκίνου κεκλωσμένου, καὶ βύσσου νενησμένης. Εἰ