22 



THE OLIVE LEAF. CHAP. 



use. The world was only a larger tabernacle, with the 

 same symbols, only darker and more mysterious ; prov- 

 ing that they emanated from the same Being. Many of 

 the most thoughtful minds among the covenant people 

 were impressed with this wonderful unity. They saw in 

 the darkness of night the pavilion of God ; they spoke 

 of His having made a tabernacle for the sun, spread 

 out His heavens as a curtain, and laid the beams of His 

 chambers in the mighty waters. In God's creation the 

 wise and good are guarded by the cherubim, and dwell 

 in the secret place of the Most High, under the feathers 

 of His wings. The psalms and hymns of Israel bear 

 constant reference to this beautiful resemblance. And, 

 as a crowning proof that this was no mere accident, 

 discovered only by a poetical mind, but an intention of 

 the Almighty, we find that the work of creation is de- 

 scribed in precisely the same way as the construction of 

 the tabernacle. We see the work of creation in plan 

 and in progress, in design and execution. The first 

 chapter of Genesis gives us the antecedent plan the 

 pattern shown on the Mount, as it were of the making 

 of the heavens and the earth, and of every plant of the 

 field, before it was in the earth^ and of every herb of the 

 field before it grew ; and in the narrative that follows we 

 have the actual execution and unfolding of this ante- 

 cedent plan of creation by the common operations of 

 nature, by continuous physical action. 



If the creation be thus a greater tabernacle, in which 

 all the objects are meant to show forth the praise of 

 God, and to symbolize His work of grace, we should 



