the
pilgrimage from the base of the mountain where the desolation was
unrelieved by a trace of vegetation, to the upper country or
wilderness, called more particularly, "the Desert of Sinai," where
narrow intersecting valleys, not destitute of verdure, cherished
perhaps the lofty and refreshing palm. Here in the ravines, in the
valleys, and amid the clefts of the rocks, clustered the hosts of
Israel, while around them on every side arose lofty summits and
towering precipices, where the eye that sought to scan their fearful
heights was lost in the far-off dimness. Far, far around, spread this
savage wilderness, so frowning, and dreary, and desolate, that any
curious explorer beyond the precincts of the camp would quickly return
to the _home_ which its vicinity afforded even there.

Clustered closely as bees in a hive were the tents of the wandering
race, yet with an order and a uniformity which even the unpropitious
nature of the locality was not permitted to break; for, separated into
tribes, each one, though sufficiently connected for any object of
kindness or brotherhood, for public worship, or social intercourse,
was inalienably distinct.

And in the midst, extending from east to west, a length of fifty-five
feet, was reared the splendid Tabernacle. For God had said, "Let them
make me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell among them;" and behold, "they
came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought
bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold;
and every man that offered, offered an offering of gold unto the Lord.
And every man with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and
fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers'
skins, brought them. Every one that did offer an offering of silver
and brass brought the Lord's offering: and every man with whom was
found shittim-wood for any work of the service brought it. And all the
women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought
that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet,
and of fine linen. And all the women whose hearts stirred them up in
wisdom spun goats' hair. And the rulers brought onyx-stones, and
stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; and spice,
and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet
incense."

And all these materials, which the "willing-hearted" offered in such
abundance that proclamation was obliged to be ma