The veil is Christ's flesh; the four pillars are the evangelists; the Word hidden until the resurrection
Cyril: We have already spoken, and sufficiently, I think, about the linen and the purple, the twisted scarlet, and the blue as well, so we will set repetition aside. But this much we will say for the present: the veil on four golden pillars with silver bases was then a hint of the mystery of Christ. Why so? Did not the wise Paul also name the body of Christ a veil for us, when he said: ‘the new and living way which he opened for us through the veil, that is, his flesh’ (Hebrews 10:20)?
Palladius: You are right.
Cyril: See, then, as in shadows and riddles, how the Word, who is God and from God the Father by nature, came to be as in a golden and incorruptible ark, that is, in the temple taken from the Virgin; for the body of Christ is incorruptible and precious. And by taking the flesh he was all but hidden, as though behind a veil. We say that the Word from God was hidden, not as though he were confined within a small body, for the Son is everywhere and in all things, but because he remained unnoticed, in keeping with the plan of salvation, and waited for the time of his showing forth. And the time of his showing forth to all was his return to life from the dead. For before the precious cross he ordered the holy disciples not to make him known (Matthew 16:20); so it is written. But after he had suffered death and come back to life, he says: ‘Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 28:19). So the veil hung on the pillars, covering the ark within; and it would be a type of Christ, who is lifted up on high by the preaching of the holy evangelists and is seen in the glory of the Godhead by those in the holy tent, that is, in the Church. The pillars are four, golden and set in silver; and the evangelists are equal to them in number, bright and precious. So the ark lay there, and the veil of linen and purple and the rest, reaching from top to bottom, kept it out of sight. Above the veil and above the cherubim on the right and on the left, God uttered his oracles, showing that he is above all creation. Even the highest of all rational beings, that is, the Seraphim, are seated beneath the divine glory beyond words, and they attend the Son himself as his guard of honor, even though he became flesh (John 1:14) and, insofar as he is man, came perhaps into a kind of lowering of his equality with the Father. That is why he himself said: ‘My Father is greater than I’ (John 14:28). Yet being equal by nature to the One who begot him, he says that he came into a lesser state, and this only because of his humanity. For this reason, in the holy tent too, the cherubim were around the veil, they too attending the Son as God. And above the veil itself, which stood as a type of Christ, God is understood to be. For he says: ‘And I will make myself known from there, and I will speak with you’ (Exodus 25:22). For the Father is beyond all creation, and beyond Emmanuel himself, not insofar as Emmanuel is understood to be God and is God, for he is equal to God in all things, but insofar as
Greek
ρηκότες δὲ ἤδη, καὶ, καθάπερ ἐγᾦμαι, διαρκῶς τὰ ἐπί τε τῇ βύσσῳ καὶ τῇ πορφύρᾳ, καὶ τῷ κεκλωσμένῳ κοκκίνῳ, καὶ μέν τοι καὶ ὑακίνθῳ, παρωσόμεθα μὲν τὸ ταυτοεπές· ἐκεῖνό γε μὴν ἐροῦμεν εἰς τὸ παρόν· Τὸ καταπέτασμα τὸ ἐπὶ τεσσάρων στύλων χρυσῶν, ὧν αἱ βάσεις ἀργυραῖ, τὸ Χριστοῦ μυστήριον ὑπεδήλου τότε. Τί γάρ; οὐχὶ καταπέτασμα τὸ σῶμα Χριστοῦ καὶ σοφὸς ἡμῖν ὠνόμασε Παῦλος, οὕτω λέγων, «Ἣν ἐνεκαίνισεν ἡμῖν ὁδὸν πρόσφατον καὶ ζῶσαν διὰ τοῦ καταπετάσματος, τουτέστι, τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ;»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ὀρθῶς ἔφης.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἄθρει δὴ οὖν ὡς ἐν σκιαῖς καὶ αἰνίγμασιν, ὅτι Θεὸς ὢν καὶ ἐκ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς κατὰ φύσιν ὁ Λόγος, ὡς ἐν χρυσῇ καὶ ἀσήπτῳ γέγονε κιβωτῷ, τῷ ἐκ Παρθένου ναῷ· ἄσηπτον γὰρ καὶ τίμιον τὸ σῶμα Χριστοῦ· μονονουχὶ δὲ καὶ ἐκρύπτετο καθάπερ ἐν τάξει καταπετάσματος, τὴν σάρκα λαβών· κρύπτεσθαι δέ φαμεν τὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ Λόγον, οὐχ ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ περιορισθέντα σώματι· πανταχῆ γὰρ καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν ὁ Υἱός· ἀλλὰ τῷ λανθάνειν οἰκονομικῶς, καὶ τὸν τῆς ἀναδείξεως ὑπομένειν καιρόν. Ἀναδείξεως δὲ τῆς εἰς ἅπαντας ὁ καιρὸς, ἡ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναβίωσις. Πρὸ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ τιμίου σταυροῦ, τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐπέταττε μαθηταῖς, ἵνα μὴ φανερὸν αὐτὸν ποιῶσι. Γέγραπται γὰρ ὡδί. Μετὰ δέ γε τὸ ἀναβιῶναι παθόντα τὸν θάνατον, «Πορευθέντες, φησὶ, μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος.» Οὐκοῦν ἐπεκρέματο μὲν τοῖς στύλοις τὸ καταπέτασμα, κατακαλύπτον ἔσω τὴν κιβωτὸν, τύπος δ' ἂν εἴη Χριστοῦ, τοῖς τῶν ἁγίων εὐαγγελιστῶν κηρύγμασιν αἰρομένου τε ὑψοῦ, καὶ ἐν δόξῃ θεότητος ὁρωμένου τοῖς ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ σκηνῇ, τουτέστι, τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ. Τέσσαρες δὲ οἱ στύλοι, χρυσοῖ καὶ περιάργυροι· ἰσάριθμοι δὲ αὐτοῖς οἱ εὐαγγελισταὶ, λαμπροί τε καὶ τίμιοι. Οὐκοῦν ἔκειτο μὲν ἡ κιβωτὸς, ἄνωθεν δὲ κάτω διῆκον τὸ καταπέτασμα, τὸ ἐκ βύσσου καὶ πορφύρας καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, οὐχ ὁρατὴν ἐτίθει. Ἄνωθεν δὲ τοῦ καταπετάσματος καὶ τῶν εἰς δεξιά τε καὶ εὐώνυμα Χερουβὶμ, ἐχρημάτιζε Θεὸς, δεικνὺς ὅτι καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν κτίσιν ἐστί· καὶ αὐτὰ δὲ πάντα τὰ τῶν λογικῶν ἀνωτάτω, τουτέστι τὰ Σεραφὶμ, τὴν θείαν τε καὶ ἄῤῥητον ὑποκάθηται δόξαν, καὶ αὐτὸν δορυφοροῦντα τὸν Υἱὸν, εἰ καὶ γέγονε σὰρξ, καὶ ὡς ἐν ὑφέσει τυχὸν τῆς πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα ἰσότητος, καθὸ πέφυκεν ἄνθρωπος. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ ἔφασκεν αὐτός· «Ὁ Πατήρ μου μείζων μού ἐστιν.» Ἶσος δὲ ὢν κατὰ φύσιν τῷ γεγεννηκότι, τὸ ἐν μείοσι γενέσθαι φησὶ διὰ μόνον τὸ ἀνθρώπινον. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ σκηνῇ, κύκλῳ μὲν τοῦ καταπετάσματος, τὰ Χερουβὶμ, καὶ αὐτὰ ὡς Θεὸν δορυφοροῦντα τὸν Υἱόν. Καὶ μὴν καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ καταπετάσματος ἄνωθεν, ὃ ἦν εἰς τύπον Χριστοῦ, νοεῖται Θεός. «Καὶ γνωσθήσομαι» γὰρ, φησὶν, «ἐκεῖθεν, καὶ λαλήσω σοι.» Ἐπέκεινα γὰρ πάσης κτίσεως ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ, οὐ καθ' ὃ νοεῖται καὶ ἔστι Θεός· ἶσος γάρ ἐστι κατὰ πάντα Θεῷ· ἀλλ' ὅσον