What the blue, purple and scarlet coverings mean, and the wagons for Gershon and Merari
Cyril: …the blue signifying for us what is from above and from heaven. For that is the color of the upper air, high and deep above us. That the sacred vessels are types of Christ, who is from above and from heaven, we have already shown at length. The table, besides its blue wrappings, also has a cloth of pure purple; the altar of burnt offerings has a scarlet cloth; and the laver too has a cloth of pure purple over its blue coverings. The table, on which the loaves are set out, signifies the bloodless sacrifice, through which we are blessed as we eat the bread from heaven (John 6:51), that is, Christ. He became as we are, yet even so he was and is God, coming from above and from the Father, and above all things (John 3:31), as King and Lord of the universe. And the royal purple cloth spread over the table, that is, the purple wrapping, would be, as it seems to me, a sign of Christ’s kingship. The altar of burnt offerings was clothed in a scarlet cloth, and we shall take the cloth dyed scarlet as a type of blood. For Christ was sacrificed for our sake and on our behalf (1 Corinthians 5:7), and like a lamb he went up onto the divine altar, as a fragrant offering to God the Father (Ephesians 5:2). The laver’s covering, besides the blue, is a cloth of pure purple. The laver bears in itself the type of holy baptism, which washes us in holy waters for the putting away of sin and carries us into the kingdom of heaven. Holy baptism is from above and from heaven, and the blue color hints at this. Or do I not seem to you to have explained these things very well, given how hard such insights are to grasp?
Palladius: Very well indeed.
Cyril: Such, then, was the service of those from Kohath. The Gershonites, and the Merarites as well, were enrolled in the same way, from twenty-five years old up to fifty, by name, by households and families (Numbers 4:22–23, 29–30). The service of the clan of Gershon was the hide curtains of the tent, the coverings, the screens of the doors, the hangings of the court, and the extra things (Numbers 4:24–26). So it is written. To the clan of Merari (this too is a Levitical clan) belonged the pillars of the tent, the bases, the capitals, the pegs and bars, the veil of the outer tent, and certain other things besides (Numbers 4:31–32). Those from Gershon and Merari carried the things entrusted to them from place to place with the help of wagons, but the Kohathites went with the most holy things on their shoulders. For it is written in Numbers: ‘The rulers of Israel brought offerings, twelve rulers of their fathers’ houses. These were the rulers of the tribes; these were the men who stood over the census. They brought their gifts before the Lord, six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon from every two rulers…’ (Numbers 7:2–3)
Greek
σοῦν θυμιατήριον, λυχνία τε αὖ καὶ τὰ σκεύη τὰ λειτουργικὰ, τὸ ἄνωθεν ἡμῖν καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ σημαίνοντος τοῦ ὑακινθίνου. Τοιουτόχρως γὰρ ὁ ἄνωθεν καὶ εἰς βάθος αἰθήρ. Ὅτι δὲ τύποι Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τὰ σκεύη τὰ ἱερὰ, διὰ μακρῶν ἡμῖν ἤδη προαποδέδεικται λόγων. Ἡ δὲ τράπεζα, καὶ ἱμάτιον ὁλοπόρφυρον πρὸς τοῖς ὑακινθίνοις περιβλήμασιν ἔχει· τὸ δέ γε τῶν καρπωμάτων θυσιαστήριον, ἱμάτιον κόκκινον, καὶ μέντοι καὶ ὁ λουτὴρ, ἱμάτιον ὁλοπόρφυρον ἐπὶ πυκάσμασι τοῖς ὑακινθίνοις. Καὶ σημαίνει μὲν ἡ τράπεζα, τὴν πρόθεσιν ἔχουσα τῶν ἄρτων, τὴν ἀναίμακτον θυσίαν, δι' ἧς εὐλογούμεθα τὸν ἄρτον ἐσθίοντες τὸν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, τοῦτ' ἔστι Χριστὸν, ὃς καὶ γέγονε καθ' ἡμᾶς, ἀλλ' ἦν τε καὶ ἔστι καὶ οὕτως Θεὸς ἄνωθέν τε καὶ ἐκ Πατρὸς ἐρχόμενος, καὶ ἐπάνω πάντων ὡς τῶν ὅλων βασιλεὺς καὶ Κύριος. Αἴνιγμα δὲ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ βασιλείας εἴη ἂν, ὡς ἔμοιγε φαίνεται, τὸ ἐπιτετανύσθαι τῇ τραπέζῃ τὸ ἁλουργὲς ἱμάτιον, ἤτοι τὸ περίβλημα τὸ πορφυροῦν. Κατημφίεστο δὲ τόδε τῶν καρπωμάτων θυσιαστήριον ἱματίῳ κοκκίνῳ· ἱμάτιον δὲ τὸ κοκκινοβαφὲς, αἵματος τύπον παραδεξόμεθα. Τέθυται γὰρ δι' ἡμᾶς καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὁ Χριστὸς, καὶ ἀμνὸς οἷά τις ἐπὶ τὸ θεῖον ἀνέβη θυσιαστήριον, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρί. Πρὸς δὲ τοῖς ὑακινθίνοις, ἱμάτιον ὁλοπόρφυρον τῷ λουτῆρι τὸ πέτασμα. Γράφει δὲ ὁ λουτὴρ ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ τὸν τύπον τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος, ὕδασιν ἡμᾶς ἁγίοις ἀπολούοντος εἰς ἀπόθεσιν ἁμαρτίας, καὶ εἰς τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείαν ἀποκομίζοντος. Ἄνωθεν δὲ καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τὸ ἅγιον βάπτισμα· αἴνιγμα δὲ τούτου, τὸ χρῶμα τὸ ὑακίνθινον. Ἢ οὐκ ἄριστά σοι ταυτὶ δὴ φάναι δοκῶ, ὡς ἔν γε τοιαύτῃ δυσκαταληψίᾳ θεωρημάτων;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Καὶ μάλα.
{ΚΥΡ.} Λειτουργία μὲν οὖν ἡ τοιάδε τοῖς ἀπὸ Καάθ· Γεδσωνῖται δὲ αὖ καὶ μέν τοι καὶ Μεραρῖται, κατὰ τὸν ἴσον τρόπον, ἀπεγράφοντο μὲν ἀπὸ εἴκοσι καὶ πέντε ἐτῶν καὶ μέχρι πεντήκοντα, ὀνομαστὶ δὲ κατ' οἴκους καὶ πατριάς· καὶ λειτουργία μὲν τῷ δήμῳ Γεδσὼν, αἱ δέῤῥεις τῆς σκηνῆς, τὰ καλύμματα, τὰ περιτανύσματα τῶν θυρῶν, καὶ τὰ ἱστία τῆς αὐλῆς καὶ τὰ περισσά· γέγραπται δὲ ὡδί. Τό γε μὴν ἐκ Μεραρὶ (δῆμος δὲ καὶ οὗτος Λευϊτικὸς), οἱ στύλοι τῆς σκηνῆς, αἱ βάσεις, αἱ κεφαλίδες, πάσσαλοί τε καὶ μοχλοὶ, καὶ τὸ καταπέτασμα τῆς σκηνῆς τῆς ἔξω, καὶ ἅττα τινὰ πρὸς τούτοις ἕτερα. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀπὸ Γεδσών τε καὶ Μεραρὶ, ταῖς δι' ἁμαξῶν ὑπουργίαις τὰ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἐγκεχειρισμένα διεκόμιζον πανταχῆ. Κααθῖταί γε μὴν, τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων εἰς ὤμους ἔχοντες ᾔεσαν. Γέγραπται γὰρ οὕτως ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς· «Καὶ προσήνεγκαν οἱ ἄρχοντες Ἰσραὴλ δώδεκα ἄρχοντες οἴκων πατριῶν αὐτῶν· οὗτοι οἱ ἄρχοντες φυλῶν, οὗτοι οἱ παρεστηκότες ἐπὶ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς, καὶ ἤνεγκαν τὰ δῶρα αὐτῶν ἔναντι Κυρίου, ἓξ ἁμάξας λαμπηνίκας καὶ δώδεκα βόας. Ἅμαξαν παρὰ δύο ἀρχόντων,