Irenaeus of Lyons
As therefore seventy
tongues are indicated by number, and from dispersion the tongues are gathered
into one by means of their interpretation; so is that ark declared a type of
the body of Christ, which is both pure and immaculate. For as that ark was gilded
with pure gold both within and without, so also is the body of Christ pure and
resplendent, being adorned within by the Word, and shielded on the outside by
the Spirit, in order that from both [materials] the splendour of the natures
might be exhibited together. (Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, 48
[ANF 1:576]))
Clement of Alexandria
Again, there is the
veil of the entrance into the holy of holies. Four pillars there are, the sign
of the sacred tetrad of the ancient covenants. Further, the mystic name of four
letters which was affixed to those alone to whom the adytum was accessible, is
called Jave, which is interpreted, "Who is and shall be." The name of
God, too, among the Greeks contains four letters.
Now the Lord, having
come alone into the intellectual world, enters by His sufferings, introduced
into the knowledge of the Ineffable, ascending above every name which is known
by sound. The lamp, too, was placed to the south of the altar of incense; and
by it were shown the motions of the seven planets, that perform their
revolutions towards the south. For three branches rose on either side of the
lamp, and lights on them; since also the sun, like the lamp, set in the midst
of all the planets, dispenses with a kind of divine music the light to those
above and to those below.
The golden lamp
conveys another enigma as a symbol of Christ, not in respect of form alone, but
in his casting light, "at sundry times and divers manners," on those
who believe on Him and hope, and who see by means of the ministry of the
First-born. And they say that the seven eyes of the Lord "are the seven
spirits resting on the rod that springs from the root of Jesse." (The
Stromata, Book V, Chapter VI [ANF 2:452])
Tertullian
In short, what
patriarch, what prophet, what Levite, or priest, or ruler, or at a later period
what apostle, or preacher of the gospel, or bishop, do you ever find the wearer
of a crown? I think not even the temple of God itself was crowned; as neither
was the ark of the testament, nor the tabernacle of witness, nor the altar, nor
the candlestick crowned though certainly, both on that first solemnity of the
dedication, and in that second rejoicing for the restoration, crowning would
have been most suitable if it were worthy of God. But if these things were
figures of us (for we are temples of God, and altars, and lights, and sacred
vessels), this too they in figure set forth, that the people of God ought not
to be crowned. The reality must always correspond with the image. If, perhaps,
you object that Christ Himself was crowned, to that you will get the brief
reply: Be you too crowned, as He was; you have full permission. Yet even that
crown of insolent ungodliness was not of any decree of the Jewish people. It
was a device of the Roman soldiers, taken from the practice of the world,—a
practice which the people of God never allowed either on the occasion of public
rejoicing or to gratify innate luxury: so they returned from the Babylonish
captivity with timbrels, and flutes, and psalteries, more suitably than with
crowns; and after eating and drinking, uncrowned, they rose up to play. Neither
would the account of the rejoicing nor the exposure of the luxury have been
silent touching the honour or dishonour of the crown. Thus too Isaiah, as he
says, “With timbrels, and psalteries, and flutes they drink wine,” would have
added “with crowns,” if this practice had ever had place in the things of God.
(The Chaplet, 9 [ANF 3:98])
Hippolytus
5. In mentioning the
other, moreover, he specifies the seventh, in which there is rest. But some one
may be ready to say, How will you prove to me that the Saviour was born in the
year 5500? Learn that easily, O man; for the things that took place of old in
the wilderness, under Moses, in the case of the tabernacle, were constituted
types and emblems of spiritual mysteries, in order that, when the truth came in
Christ in these last days, you might be able to perceive that these things were
fulfilled. For He says to him, And you shall make the ark of imperishable wood,
and shall overlay it with pure gold within and without; and you shall make the
length of it two cubits and a half, and the breadth thereof one cubit and a
half, and a cubit and a half the height; which measures, when summed up
together, make five cubits and a half, so that the 5500 years might be
signified thereby.
6. At that time,
then, the Saviour appeared and showed His own body to the world, (born) of the
Virgin, who was the ark overlaid with pure gold, with the Word within and the
Holy Spirit without; so that the truth is demonstrated, and the ark made
manifest. From the birth of Christ, then, we must reckon the 500 years that
remain to make up the 6000, and thus the end shall be. And that the Saviour
appeared in the world, bearing the imperishable ark, His own body, at a time
which was the fifth and half, John declares: Now it was the sixth hour, he
says, intimating by that, one-half of the day. But a day with the Lord is 10000
years; and the half of that, therefore, is 500 years. For it was not meet that
He should appear earlier, for the burden of the law still endured, nor yet when
the sixth day was fulfilled (for the baptism is changed), but on the fifth and
half, in order that in the remaining half time the gospel might be preached to
the whole world, and that when the sixth day was completed He might end the
present life. (On Daniel, 2:5-6, URL: https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home/daniel/st-hippolytus-on-daniel)
Victorinus
19. "And the
temple of God was opened which is in heaven."] The temple opened is a
manifestation of our Lord. For the temple of God is the Son, as He Himself
says: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
And when the Jews said, "Forty and six years was this temple in building,"
the evangelist says, "He spake of the temple of His body."
"And there was
seen in His temple the ark of the Lord's testament."] The preaching of the
Gospel and the forgiveness of sins, and all the gifts whatever that came with
Him, he says, appeared therein. (Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed
John, 11:19 [ANF 7:355])
