on of
spirit, wherein the inhabiter of eternity delighteth to dwell; we may
refer the _porch_ to the mouth of a saint, wherein every holy Jacob erects
the _pillars_ of God's praise, calling upon and blessing his name for
received mercies; when songs of deliverance are uttered from the _doors_
of his lips. The _holy place_ is the renewed mind, and the _windows_
therein may denote divine illumination from above, cautioning a saint lest
they be darkened with the smoke of anger, the mist of grief, the dust of
vain-glory, or the filthy mire of worldly cares. The _golden
candlesticks,_ the infused habits of divine knowledge resting within the
soul. The _shew-bread,_ the word of grace exhibited in the promises for
the preservation of a Christian's life and glory. The _golden altar_ of
odors, the breathings, sufferings, and groanings after God, ready to break
forth into Abba, Father. The _veiles_, the righteousness of Christ. The
_holy of holies_ may relate to the conscience purified from dead works and
brought into a heavenly frame." [204] And thus he proceeds, symbolizing
every part and utensil of the temple as alluding to some emotion or
affection of man, but in language too tedious for quotation.

In a similar vein has the celebrated John Bunyan, the author of the
"_Pilgrim's Progress_" proceeded in his "_Temple of Solomon
Spiritualized_" to refer every part of that building to a symbolic
meaning, selecting, however, the church, or congregation of good men,
rather than the individual man, as the object of the symbolism.

In the middle ages the Hermetic philosophers seem to have given the same
interpretation of the temple, and Swedenborg, in his mystical writings,
adopts the idea.

Hitchcock, who has written an admirable little work on Swedenborg
considered as a Hermetic Philosopher, thus alludes to this subject, and
his language, as that of a learned and shrewd investigator, is well worthy
of quotation:--

"With, perhaps, the majority of readers, the Tabernacle of Moses and the
Temple of Solomon were mere buildings; very magnificent indeed, but still
mere buildings for the worship of God. But some are struck with many
portions of the account of their erection, admitting a moral
interpretation; and while the buildings are allowed to stand (or to have
stood once) visible objects, these interpreters are delighted to meet with
indications that Moses and Solomon, in building the temples, were wise in
the knowledge of God and