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The Story of Redemption
“And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the
congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle,
even those did the priests and Levites bring up. And king Solomon,
and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him,
were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could
not be told nor numbered for multitude.”
Solomon followed the example of his father David. Every six
paces he sacrificed. With singing and with music and great ceremony,
“the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto His
place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under
the wings of the cherubims. For the cherubims spread forth their
two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the
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ark and the staves thereof above.”
A most splendid sanctuary had been made, according to the
pattern showed to Moses in the mount and afterward presented by
the Lord to David. The earthly sanctuary was made like the heavenly.
In addition to the cherubim on the top of the ark, Solomon made
two other angels of larger size, standing at each end of the ark,
representing the heavenly angels always guarding the law of God. It
is impossible to describe the beauty and splendor of this tabernacle.
There, as in the tabernacle, the sacred ark was borne in solemn,
reverential order, and set in its place beneath the wings of the two
stately cherubim that stood upon the floor.
The sacred choir united their voices with all kinds of musical
instruments, in praise to God. And while the voices, in harmony
with instruments of music, resounded through the temple and were
borne upon the air through Jerusalem, the cloud of God’s glory took
possession of the house, as it had formerly filled the tabernacle.
“And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy
place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests
could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the
Lord had filled the house of the Lord.”
King Solomon stood upon a brazen scaffold before the altar
and blessed the people. He then knelt down and, with his hands
raised upward, poured forth earnest and solemn prayer to God while
the congregation were bowed with their faces to the ground. After
Solomon had ended his prayer, a miraculous fire came from heaven
and consumed the sacrifice.