Korah's firepans and the bronze altar; the altar of incense
Cyril: …rising up against the divine laws, brought firepans uninvited, going to this of their own accord and seizing an honor not assigned to them; and out of madness and audacity they drew up their ranks with great heat against the priest who stood first and had been chosen out from all the others (Numbers 16:1–18). Through these events the madness that the Jews would later show against Christ was sketched in outline. For he himself is our High Priest, brought to this by the decision of the Father. Those men paid the penalty for such shameful attempts, and after them the Jews too will pay it, since they have become liable to the same charges. Then God said to holy Moses, and also to Eleazar the priest, the son of Aaron: ‘Take up the bronze firepans from among those who were burned, and scatter this strange fire there, for the firepans of these sinners have become holy at the cost of their lives. And they made them into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, because they had been offered before the Lord and were made holy. And they became a sign to the sons of Israel.’ (Numbers 16:37–38) This is what God said at that time. And in Exodus it is written about Bezalel, whose father was Uri and whose tribe was Dan, and who led in every kind of skilled craft: ‘He made the bronze altar from the bronze firepans that belonged to the men who rebelled with the company of Korah’ (Exodus 38:22, Septuagint).
Palladius: What, then, does this mean?
Cyril: It would be of great benefit if one considered that the ark was made as a type of Christ, and so too were the other things, I mean the lampstand and the mercy seat and the table of gold, when the people brought their offerings and each one dedicated what he had in hand. For those who bear fruit for Christ and bring spiritual offerings are very acceptable, to the glory of God the Father; and those people of old were types and shadows of them. But the altar of the worship under the law is shown, mystically and by God’s design, to be a kind of memorial and proclamation in advance, lying in its very construction, of the provocation and defiance, and, if I may now put it so, the revolt, that arose against the great priest. Is the riddle clear to you? For Aaron stands as a type of Christ; and the Jews too contended against the glory of Christ, and for this reason the altar under the law is spoken against. For the worship as in shadows has ceased, and in Christ instead we give forth to the Father a spiritual fragrance. And this too he sketched for us beforehand, again as in shadows, when he said: ‘And you shall make for me an altar of incense of wood that does not rot; you shall make it a cubit long and a cubit wide. It shall be square, and two cubits high. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay it with pure gold: its grate, and its walls all around, and its horns.’ (Exodus 30:1–3) Then, after adding poles and rings and carrying bars for it, and other such things (Exodus 30:4–5), ‘you shall set it,’ he says, ‘before the…
Greek
τῶν θείων κατεξανιστάμενοι νόμων, πυρεῖα προσῆγον ἄκλητοι καὶ αὐτόμολοι πρὸς τοῦτο ἰόντες, καὶ τιμὴν ἁρπάζοντες, οὐ νεμηθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς, ἀντιπαρεξάγοντες καὶ μάλα θερμῶς, τὰ ἐξ ἀπονοίας καὶ θράσους, ἱερεῖ τῷ προὔχοντι, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἀπολέγδην ἐξῃρημένῳ. Ἐσκιαγραφεῖτο δὲ διὰ τούτων ἡ ἐσομένη κατὰ Χριστοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀπόνοια. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἀρχιερεὺς, ψήφῳ πρὸς τοῦτο ἠγμένος τῇ παρὰ Πατρὸς, καὶ οἱ μὲν τῶν οὕτως αἰσχρῶν ἐπιχειρημάτων ἐκτετίκασι δίκας· ἀποτίσουσι δὲ καὶ μετ' αὐτοὺς Ἰουδαῖοι τοῖς ἴσοις ἐγκλήμασι γεγονότες ἔνοχοι. Θεὸς δὲ δὴ τότε πρὸς Μωσέα τε τὸν ἱερὸν, καὶ μὴν καὶ πρὸς Ἐλεάζαρ ἔφη, τὸν ἐξ Ἀαρὼν τὸν ἱερέα· «Ἀνέλεσθε τὰ πυρεῖα τὰ χαλκᾶ ἐκ μέσου τῶν κεκαυμένων, καὶ τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἀλλότριον τοῦτο σπεῖρον ἐκεῖ, ὅτι ἡγίασε τὰ πυρεῖα τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν τούτων ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἐποίησαν αὐτὰ λεπίδας ἐλατὰς, περίθεμα τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ, ὅτι προσηνέχθησαν ἔναντι Κυρίου, καὶ ἡγιάσθησαν. Καὶ ἐγένοντο εἰς σημεῖον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ. «Ταύτῃ μὲν οὖν ἔφη τὸ τηνικάδε Θεός. Ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ δὲ γέγραπται περὶ τοῦ Βεσελεὴλ, ὃς ἦν ἐκ πατρὸς μὲν Οὐρίου, φυλῆς δὲ τῆς Δὰν, καὶ πάσης εὐτεχνίας ἡγούμενος· «Οὗτος ἐποίησε τὸ θυσιαστήριον τὸ χαλκοῦν ἐκ τῶν πυρείων τῶν χαλκῶν, ἃ ἦν τοῖς ἀνδράσι τοῖς καταστασιάσασι μετὰ τῆς Κορὲ συναγωγῆς.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τί οὖν τοῦτό γε;
{ΚΥΡ.} Πολλὴν ἂν ἔχοι τὴν ὄνησιν, εἰ ἐννοοῖτο ὅτι πεποίηται μὲν ἡ κιβωτὸς εἰς τύπον Χριστοῦ, καὶ μέν τοι καὶ τὰ ἕτερα, λυχνία, φημὶ, καὶ τὸ ἱλαστήριον, καὶ ἐκ χρυσίου τράπεζα, προσκομίσαντος τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ ἀναθέντος ἑκάστου τὸ ἐν χερσί. Δεκτοὶ γὰρ λίαν εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, οἱ καρποφοροῦντες Χριστῷ, καὶ δωροφορίας προσάγοντες τὰς πνευματικὰς, ὧν ἦσαν ἐκεῖνοι τύποι καὶ σκιαί. Τῆς δὲ κατὰ νόμον λατρείας τὸ θυσιαστήριον, παροξυσμοῦ καὶ ἀντιλογίας, καὶ ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω λοιπὸν, ἀντάρσεως τῆς καθ' ἱερέως τοῦ μεγάλου γεγενημένης, οἱονεί πως ὑπόμνημα καὶ προαναφώνησις, ἐν αὐτῇ κειμένη τῇ κατασκευῇ, μυστικῶς τε καὶ οἰκονομικῶς σημαίνεται. Ἆρά σοι σαφὲς τὸ αἴνιγμα; Χριστοῦ γὰρ εἰς τύπον ὁ Ἀαρών· πεφιλονεικήκασι δὲ τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ δόξῃ καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι, καὶ ἀντιλέγεται διὰ τοῦτο τὸ κατὰ νόμον θυσιαστήριον. Πέπαυται γὰρ ἡ ὡς ἐν σκιαῖς λατρεία· καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ δὴ μᾶλλον εὐωδιάζομεν τῷ Πατρὶ τὴν νοητὴν εὐοσμίαν· καὶ τοῦτο ἡμῖν ὡς ἐν σκιαῖς πάλιν ὑπετύπου, λέγων· «Καὶ ποιήσεις μοι θυσιαστήριον θυμιάματος ἐκ ξύλων ἀσήπτων, καὶ ποιήσεις αὐτὸ πήχεως τὸ μῆκος, καὶ πήχεως τὸ εὖρος· τετράγωνον ἔσται, καὶ δύο πήχεων τὸ ὕψος. Ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἔσται τὰ κέρατα αὐτοῦ, καὶ καταχρυσώσεις αὐτὸ χρυσίῳ καθαρῷ, τὴν ἐσχάραν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς τοίχους αὐτοῦ κύκλῳ, καὶ τὰ κέρατα αὐτοῦ.» Σκυτάλας δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ κρίκους, καὶ ἀναφορέας, ἕτερά τε τοιαῦτα προστεθεικὼς, καὶ θήσεις αὐτὸ, φησὶν, «Ἔναντι τοῦ καταπε