I have said that the high priest, in transferring sin to the victim, pressed his hands on its head. This act, besides indicating the full identification of the offerer with the offering, showed that sin was a weight, a heavy load. This is confirmed by many passages of Scripture. "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all;" "He bare our sicknesses, and carried our sorrows ;" "Reproach hath broken my heart, I am full of heaviness;" "I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing;" "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me;""My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?".

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Reader, in concluding my thoughts on the brazen altar, I would offer three remarks:

First, this altar stood exactly opposite the entrance in the court. It was the first object the eye fell upon when entering. So must Christ be the first in everything. First in salvation; first in all duties; first in every pleasure; first in all worship; first on earth, as He is in heaven. He must stand before the soul in everything, as the altar stood first before every one who entered the court of the tabernacle.

Secondly, the doors of the court and the tabernacle were never closed. Day and night, summer and winter, they were always open. Whatever other door was shut, these never were. So Christ is always waiting, always ready, always full of grace. The door of the church may be shut, the door of religion closed, the door of humanity barred, but Jesus is never closed against you. Come to Him, and find a gracious welcome when every door on earth is closed.

Lastly, this altar was made of brass and wood

brass, the divine nature; wood, the human. Not the wood without the brass-the fire would quickly have burned that up. Not the brass without the wood—that would have been too heavy to carry on the march. No; the value of this altar lay in the blessed and inseparable union. So now, it is not Christ as man alone. Had He not been God He could have worked out no salvation for me, a sinner. I should be consumed by the fire of God's wrath against sin. Nor yet had Christ been God only. As such, He could not have met me in my nature. His sacrifice would have been equally unavailing. You need a God-man. In Jesus both meet-" Perfect God and perfect Man.” This is God's highest glory. This is man's chief joy. Have you found Jesus this perfect Saviour for your soul?

CHAPTER V.

THE VESSELS OF THE BRAZEN ALTAR.

TH HESE were five in number, namely, pans, shovels, basins, flesh-hooks, and firepans "all of brass." They were all attached to the brazen altar. Their uses were as follow:-

The pans, to receive the ashes; the shovels, to remove the fire from the altar into the censers; the basins, to receive the blood from the victims offered on the altar; the flesh-hooks, for placing the pieces of the offering in order on the wood, and arranging them so as to be consumed; the firepans, or censers, to hold burning coals from off the altar and to carry them, when incense was burned either in the holy place or in the holiest of all.

And, first, as to the pans or cauldrons for removing the ashes. The spiritual truths shadowed forth by this vessel in connection with the brazen altar are of a most instructive character. These will be best explained by referring to Lev. vi. 10, II: "And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall be put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them

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beside the altar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place." The dress which the priest was to wear on this occasion was linen, the same as that worn on the great day of atonement. The carrying away of the ashes corresponded with the great work transacted on that day. The ashes in the pan testified that the sacrifice had been offered on 'the altar, and that it had been accepted by God on behalf of the offerer. They showed that the entire work of pardon and acceptance was complete. They spoke in the ears of the offerer the same truth as that uttered from the cross of Christ "It is finished." As, therefore, the priest in his linen garment held in his hand the pan of ashes, he presented the evidence of atonement fully accomplished. Thus this transaction corresponded with the work of the great day of atonement, and required the same garment to mark that correspondence.

We have a striking allusion to this in Ps. xx. 3: "The Lord remember all thy offerings, and accept (or 'turn to ashes:' see margin) "thy burnt sacrifice." The Lord "turn to ashes," or show thee thy pardon sealed, thy transgression forgiven, thy sin covered, and thyself "accepted in the beloved." May the Lord show every reader of these lines this blessed truth!

But let us notice further points of instruction connected with these ashes in the pan. When the ashes were removed, they were placed on the east side of the altar. (Lev. vi. 10; i. 16.) Here they remained till the priest had changed his garments. After he

had changed his garments he could then, but not till then, carry the ashes out of the camp to a clean place. (Lev. vi. 11.) These two actions were most significant. The ashes, laid by the priest for a while on the east side of the altar, shadow forth to our view Christ still hanging on the cross after the work of redemption had been finished. The ashes carried outside the camp to a clean place, bring before us Christ buried outside of Ferusalem in a clean place-in other words, in a "new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid." (John xix. 41.) While carrying these ashes outside, the priest had not on him his linen or sacrificial garment. The sacrificial work was over when the ashes had been laid on the east side of the altar. In other words, the work of redemption was over when Jesus died on the cross. The dead body of the Lord, hanging on the cross in the sight of God, corresponded with the ashes laid at the east side of the altar. The sacrificial work was over. Love's redeeming work was done. The burial could add nothing to it; and therefore the linen garment was put off the priest before carrying the ashes to the clean place.

The next of the holy vessels calling for special attention is the third, namely, "the basins." These were to hold the blood of the victims which had been offered on the altar. The blood in these basins was sprinkled round about upon the altar. The design of the blood being sprinkled all round the altar was to bear witness in every direction that full atonement had been made. From this we learn that the principal design of the blood was "atonement." This word is used in several senses in