The oracle joins earth to heaven; Manifestation and Truth
Cyril: …the oracle would signify, I think, that the things below are joined to the things above, with Christ as mediator. ‘For he himself is our peace, who has made both one’ (Ephesians 2:14), as the Scriptures say; and he has bound humankind to the multitude of the holy angels by the bond of love. It should be known, too, that the blessed Ezekiel says that the ruler of Tyre was clothed with every precious stone (Ezekiel 28:13); and he lists the very stones which the inspired Moses says were set in the oracle of judgment. They were these: sardius, topaz, emerald, carbuncle, sapphire and jasper, ligure, agate, amethyst, chrysolite, beryl and onyx (Exodus 28:17–20). They were arranged in threes, in four rows in all, and this arrangement sketches for us the firmness in faith of those who are in the heart and memory of Christ. For the setting in threes is a symbol of faith, as in the Trinity; and the arrangement as in a square figure with equal sides is a symbol of firmness. For the oracle on which the twelve stones were set was made in this way (Exodus 28:16).
Palladius: I am persuaded.
Cyril: Besides these, he also orders something else to be joined with the twelve stones, saying: ‘And you shall put on the oracle of judgment the Manifestation and the Truth, and it shall be on Aaron’s breast whenever he goes into the holy place before the Lord; and Aaron shall bring the judgments of the sons of Israel on the breast before the Lord continually’ (Exodus 28:30). He names them Manifestation and Truth, but he does not go on to state clearly whether he ordered them to be stones, or writing as on a small tablet. But I will call to mind the prophet who says, ‘For the sons of Israel shall sit many days with no king and no ruler, with no sacrifice and no altar, with neither priesthood nor manifestations’ (Hosea 3:4). But whether these too were stones, or the names were written in gold as on a tablet, our discussion will not inquire into it too closely. We shall recognize, however, that they were set there as a type of Christ’s presence with the saints. ‘For behold,’ he says, ‘I am with you always, to the end of the age’ (Matthew 28:20). And Christ is the Truth and the Manifestation. For in him we have come to know the Father, and he has made known to us his good will, perfect and pleasing, as the Scriptures say (Romans 12:2). For Christ said somewhere, ‘I no longer call you servants; you are my friends, because everything that I heard from my Father I have declared to you’ (John 15:14–15). Emmanuel is the Truth in another sense as well: because he alone is Son by nature, and, as God from God, he alone is holy, he alone is Lord; while creation is, by participation and by imitation, whatever he himself is understood to be. So Christ, understood as Manifestation and Truth, is with the saints; and he brings our affairs before the face of the Father (Hebrews 9:24), since he always lives to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25). For this, I think, is the meaning of ‘And Aaron shall bring the judgments of the sons of Israel…’ (Exodus 28:30)
Greek
τὸ λόγιον κατασημήνειεν ἂν, οἶμαι, τὸ τοῖς ἄνω συνῆφθαι τὰ κάτω, μεσιτεύοντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. «Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν, ὁ ποιήσας τὰ ἀμφότερα ἒν,» κατὰ τὰς Γραφὰς, καὶ τῆς τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων πληθύος τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς ἀγάπης ἀπαρτήσας τὰ ἀνθρώπινα. Ἰστέον δὲ ὅτι καὶ ὁ μακάριος Ἰεζεκιὴλ τὸν ἄρχοντα Τύρου πάντα μὲν τίμιον λίθον ἐνδεδύσθαι φησίν· ἀπαριθμεῖται δὲ τούτους, οὓς καὶ ἐν τῷ λογίῳ τῶν κρίσεων τεθεῖσθαί φησιν ὁ θεσπέσιος Μωσῆς. Ἦσαν δὲ οὗτοι, σάρδιον, τοπάζιον, σμάραγδος, ἄνθραξ, σάπφειρος, καὶ ἰάσπις, λιγύριον, ἀχάτης, ἀμέθυστος, χρυσόλιθος, βηρύλλιον, ὀνύχιον. Τετάχατο δὲ ἀνὰ τρεῖς, καὶ ἐν ὅλοις τέσσαρσι στίχοις, τὸ ἑδραῖον ἐν πίστει τῶν ἐν καρδίᾳ καὶ μνήμῃ Χριστοῦ σκιαγραφούσης ἡμῖν τῆς τοιᾶσδε θέσεως. Πίστεως μὲν γὰρ τὸ ἀνὰ τρεῖς, καὶ ὡς ἐν Τριάδι σύμβολον· ἑδραιότητος δὲ τὸ ὡς ἐν τετραγώνῳ τε καὶ ἰσοπλεύρῳ σχήματι. Πεποίητο γὰρ οὕτω τὸ λόγιον, ἐφ' ᾧ καὶ αἱ λίθοι δυοκαίδεκα.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πείθομαι.
{ΚΥΡ.} Καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτοις συναναπλέκεσθαί τι καὶ ἕτερον ταῖς δυοκαίδεκα λίθοις προσεπιτάττει, λέγων· «Καὶ ἐπιθήσεις ἐπὶ τὸ λόγιον τῆς κρίσεως τὴν δήλωσιν καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ ἔσται ἐπὶ τοῦ στήθους Ἀαρὼν, ὅταν εἰσπορεύηται εἰς τὸ Ἅγιον ἔναντι Κυρίου, καὶ εἰσοίσει Ἀαρὼν τὰς κρίσεις τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἐπὶ τοῦ στήθους ἔναντι Κυρίου διὰ παντός.» Δήλωσιν μὲν οὖν ὀνομάζει καὶ ἀλήθειαν, οὐ μὴν ἔτι καὶ διαμεμήνυκεν ἐναργῶς πότερα δὴ λίθους, ἢ ὡς ἐν μικρῷ πινακίῳ γραφὴν γενέσθαι προστέταχεν. Μεμνήσομαι δὲ προφήτου λέγοντος, «Διότι ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ, οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως, οὐδὲ ἄρχοντος, οὐκ οὔσης θυσίας, οὐδὲ ὄντος θυσιαστηρίου, οὔτε ἱερατείας, οὔτε δήλων.» Ἀλλ' εἴτ' οὖν εἶεν καὶ ταῦτα λίθοι, εἴτ' οὖν ὡς ἐν πίνακι χρυσῇ τῶν ὀνομάτων γραφῇ, πολυπραγμονήσει μὲν οὐ λίαν ὁ λόγος, γνωσόμεθα δὲ εἰς τύπον αὐτὰ τεθεῖσθαι, Χριστοῦ συνόντος ἁγίοις. «Ἰδοὺ γὰρ, φησὶ, μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, καὶ ἕως συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος.» Ἀλήθεια δὲ καὶ δήλωσις ὁ Χριστός. Ἔγνωμεν γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ δεδήλωκεν ἡμῖν τὸ ἀγαθὸν αὐτοῦ θέλημα τὸ τέλειον καὶ εὐάρεστον, κατὰ τὰς Γραφάς. Ἔφη γάρ που Χριστός· «Οὐκέτι λέγω ὑμᾶς δούλους, ὑμεῖς φίλοι μού ἐστε, ὅτι πάντα ἂ ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ Πατρός μου ἀπήγγειλα ὑμῖν.» Ἀλήθεια δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως Ἐμμανουὴλ, ὅτι μόνος αὐτὸς κατὰ φύσιν Υἱὸς, καὶ ὡς ἐκ Θεοῦ Θεὸς, μόνος ἅγιος, μόνος Κύριος· μεθεκτῶς δὲ ἡ κτίσις, καὶ κατὰ μίμησιν, ὅσα καὶ αὐτὸς εἶναι νοεῖται. Σύνεστι δὴ οὖν τοῖς ἁγίοις ὡς ἐν δήλῳ τε καὶ ἀληθείᾳ νοούμενος ὁ Χριστὸς, ὃς καὶ ἐν προσώπῳ τοῦ Πατρὸς εἰσφέρει τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς, πάντοτε ζῶν εἰς τὸ ἐντυγχάνειν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. Τοῦτο γὰρ, οἶμαι, ἔστι τὸ, Καὶ εἰσοίσει Ἀαρὼν τὰς κρίσεις τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ