can impress on a created nature, most probably by some actually visible and sensible combination of cloudy obscurity and outflashing splendour, like that olden cloud of excellent glory,-he presents himself to the view of his adorers,-he concentrates into a stationary orb the effulgence of those transcendent attributes, the radiance of which, streaming through creation, is the light, and life, and element of being to every thing that lives, and moves, and is, he makes a certain local position in the universe, as it were, the throne of his All-ruling and Eternal Majesty, as when of old he thundered out of Zion, throned between the cherubim. In regard to the actual position of this, the palace and the throne of " the King Eternal, Immortal, and Invisible," we can say nothing more with certainty than this, that it lies in that spot of this magnificent creation where Jesus Christ, -"the man Christ Jesus,"-in his human soul and human body, is at this actual moment placed, and that spot, we are assured, is the very loftiest and sublimest in the universe. For he hath been "exalted, and extolled, and made very high."-" He hath ascended up far above all heavens." In that, the Holiest of all, the innermost shrine in the universal temple, -all those angelic hosts, of which the cherubic supporters of God's dwelling-place at Zion were the symbols and representatives,-cherub and seraph,spirits of light and spirits of flame,-wait perpetually upon "the throne and equipage of his Almightiness."

There they" behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in his holy temple." There they contemplate with ever-growing rapture the similitude of his glory, now unfolding itself upon their view from under its veil of shadowing darkness, and blazing forth with intense and yet intenser radiance, till, lest they should be blasted by the splendour, the sun-eyed seraphim themselves cover their faces with their wings, and, prostrate on the sapphire pavement, cry one unto another, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Hosts ;" and now, again retiring behind the cloud, when the Sovereign Presence chooses to exchange the sublimity of brightness for the sublimity of gloom," and with the majesty of darkness round covers his throne," and "out of the throne proceed lightnings, and thunderings, and voices." For it can scarcely be thought an unwarranted fancy of the poet exclaiming,—

"How oft amidst

Thick clouds and dark doth Heaven's all-ruling Sire
Choose to reside, his glory unobscured,

And with the majesty of darkness round

Covers his throne; from whence deep thunders roar,
Mustering their rage !"-

not such, indeed, as to appal the pure and blessed inhabitants of that unsuffering world with personal and servile dread, yet such as to awaken all that profound and delicious awe which mingles in the thrilling sensation of sublimity and grandeur,—such

as to make them for ever feel that "great fear is due unto the Lord in the assembly of his saints, and he is to be had in reverence of all them that are about him." By such vicissitudes of glorious grandeur and glorious gloom passing successively over the face of Jehovah's throne in the celestial sanctuary, the revelations vouchsafed to him to whose view the temple of God was opened in heaven, and who saw in his temple the ark of his testimony, are our warrant for supposing that they who dwell within view of it are reminded that all majesty is his-the majesty at once of serener and of more terrible perfection,and the impression is eternally maintained upon their spirits which the mingled brightness and obscurity enthroned of old between the cherubim was fitted and intended to produce. While, finally to complete the parallel, as we saw that in the ancient oracle, the only light which illumined the enclosed and sacred space, unvisited by any sunbeam or lamp of human kindling, was that which flowed from the luminous cloud above the mercy-seat; so, in the true Holiest, no narrow limited space like that to which of old the light of Jehovah's countenance was confined, but ample regions stretching far and wide in glorious perspective around the everlasting throne, "there is no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it,—for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."

But, secondly, we remark that the Holy of Holies

resembled the Heaven of Heavens, in that, as the former was the most magnificent part of the temple, the latter is the most magnificent region of the universe.

That in the erection of the tabernacle and the temple, the utmost resources of that wealth, and power, and skill, which were employed to render the structure as worthy as possible for grandeur and for beauty of that Eternal Majesty for whose residence it was prepared, would be employed in carrying up to the very last degree of gorgeous and elaborate splendour that innermost and holiest shrine which was to be his more immediate abode,-where his footstool was prepared, and his throne erected, we may readily conjecture. There would be accumulated the costliest profusion of precious materials, and embroidered textures, and workmanship of cunning device. There sat Jehovah throned "in the beauty of holiness."— "Honour and majesty were before him; strength and beauty were within his sanctuary." But how feeble an image, how faint a shadow, think you, did all this afford of the unparalleled magnificence of the sanctuary not made with hands," the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man." The revelations of the Bible afford us the most ample reason for concluding, that in that supra-celestial orb which contains in it the most glorious object in the universe, the throne of the Living God, every thing around is on a scale and in a style of corresponding

majesty; that all that is great, and bright, and fair, in this visible scene of things,-in yonder heavens, so radiant with Jehovah's glory,-in this lower world, defaced, indeed, and wrecked, but yet so beautiful in ruin, that all "the pomp of groves and garniture of fields,”—the majesty of mountains,—the pellucid coolness of fountains and of streams," the pride of towered cities," and holy shrines, and royal palaces, gorgeous with gold, and silver, and blazing gems, and "all the dread magnificence of heaven,' emblazed with living sapphires, flaming with a million suns; that all that eye hath seen, or ear hath heard, or it hath entered into the heart of man to conceive, of overpowering splendour and transporting loveliness, is but a faint reflection of the glories of the better land, the brightness of the eternal city,—the sacred splendour of the heavenly temple. Majesty,

"Power, Glory, Strength, and Beauty, all are aisled
In that eternal ark of worship undefiled."

Of the surpassing glory of that masterpiece of the Creator's workmanship, the Bible gives us a most elevating and impressive idea, when it represents it as, so to speak, the elaborate production of the all-wise Omnipotence. In the ordinary works of creation, God speaks, and it is done; he commands, and it standeth fast. The glorious landscapes, however, and the august abodes which encircle the eternal throne, and harmoniously fill up the scene of which