The Holy Tabernacle

6Who is this who comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all spices of the merchant? 7Behold, it is Solomon’s carriage! Sixty mighty men are around it, of the mighty men of Israel. 8They all handle the sword, and are expert in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh, because of fear in the night. 9King Solomon made himself a carriage of the wood of Lebanon. 10He made its pillars of silver, its bottom of gold, its seat of purple, the middle of it being paved with love, from the daughters of Jerusalem. 11Go out, you daughters of Zion, and see king Solomon, with the crown with which his mother has crowned him, in the day of his weddings, in the day of the gladness of his heart.

Some people still marry in the traditional way, but in the past the procession of a bride carried to her wedding in a palanquin was far grander than anything we see today. On that day of all days, a bride on her way to the husband she will lean on for life would want to look lovelier to him than anyone in the world. With dots of red rouge on her cheeks and brow and sweet-smelling powders on her skin, she would feel happiness and fear side by side on the road toward the one she loves.

Esther, who became the wife of King Ahasuerus, likewise spent twelve months preparing herself to win the king’s favor: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet fragrances and other preparations to purify her body. To become the king’s wife meant this kind of effort, erasing her own scent and taking on the fragrance the king loved. Whatever life a woman lived before, from the moment the king chooses her she must begin the discipline of setting herself aside.

If the woman riding in the palanquin to her husband has wisdom, he has received a blessing greater than finding a priceless pearl, for a wise wife will run the household without strife and raise her children whole in the faith.

Times have changed, and because many couples now both work, husbands and wives alike share the housework. But in Solomon’s day a wise woman kept the home. She diligently built up virtue in the household and managed its people wisely, so that her husband could attend to his work outside with an easy mind. Back then, husbands worked outside to support the family and so paid little attention to the household. The roles of husband and wife, in other words, were clearly drawn.

A wife’s wisdom cannot be learned from the knowledge of the world. This wisdom must come from God. If the woman in the palanquin has wisdom and understanding, that home will know peace for generations. A wise and discerning woman protects her home by faith, and so her children, growing up with their mother’s wisdom before them, will learn from watching how she weighed matters and made her decisions. As they grow and come to see that her judgment was right, they will thank her and live full lives of their own, so that they too may grow into wise parents. And her husband will be grateful to his wise wife and praise her: “You are finer than many women.”

Proverbs 31:30

30Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.

Once a husband has found a wife who fears God and prays, he must protect her so that she can keep her faith and live in greater ease. He has a duty to help her live in the world with more boldness and confidence. A husband ought to be a hedge around his wife, so that through him she may know happiness and give off, more than anyone, the fragrance of peace, rest, and joy.

When does a wife come to see her husband as a safe hedge? When he bears his responsibilities well as head of the household and leads the family in love. She leans on such a husband and finds rest in him. So when the wife cares well for the home and the children, and the husband capably handles the work outside, that home is at peace, with a safe hedge around it.

Solomon raised the Shulammite up with what was his own. She had called herself as lowly as ‘the tents of Kedar,’ and so that she could hold her head high before everyone, he seated her in his own splendidly made carriage.

Song of Solomon 3:6

6Who is this who comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all spices of the merchant?

Seeing the Shulammite’s procession approaching from afar, the daughters of Jerusalem whispered among themselves, asking who this was, coming up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense and all the spices of the merchant. That is how magnificent her procession was.

When the women saw the Shulammite, once a lowly keeper of vineyards, now loved by Solomon and riding in a splendid carriage, they envied her, because they knew how great a blessing she was about to enjoy. Satan, too, torments us out of jealousy, because he knows we are loved by Christ, the King of kings, and saved to enjoy eternal life. For Satan knows what an astonishing blessing the life of heaven is.

Afraid there might be little foxes jealous enough to harm her, Solomon set sixty mighty men, skilled with the sword and valiant, to escort her. As a husband, he is doing everything he can to protect his wife. This is the sure hedge the Shulammite finds in her husband.

Song of Solomon 3:9-10

9King Solomon made himself a carriage of the wood of Lebanon. 10He made its pillars of silver, its bottom of gold, its seat of purple, the middle of it being paved with love, from the daughters of Jerusalem.

The carriage was made of the fine wood of Lebanon. Its pillars were overlaid with silver, its bottom was covered with gold, and its seat was spread with purple. Inside, the daughters of Jerusalem had adorned it beautifully, which made it more splendid still.

Can you imagine the happiness in the Shulammite’s heart as she saw a husband who had taken such care for her? There were any number of daughters from fine families, yet Solomon had chosen to love her, a mere keeper of vineyards, and her heart could only have overflowed with gratitude toward him. Riding with Solomon in the king’s carriage toward the palace, before so many watching eyes, she would have been overjoyed. And the thought that she could now live at his side forever must have deepened her thanks all the more.

Many women today still dream of becoming Cinderella. Perhaps this is why plastic surgery clinics keep springing up like mushrooms after rain. Yet when we see even celebrities, envied for their striking beauty, getting divorced, it is clear proof that a marriage never lives on looks.

As Proverbs says, unless a woman tends her home with wisdom, quarrels will soon break out. To mature the inner self before looks, education, or wealth is the shortest road to a happy life, and the way to grow into a big-hearted person who can embrace another.

Look at the carriage the Shulammite is riding in. Something like a pillar of smoke rises before it, mighty men stand around it, it is overlaid with silver and gold, and it holds a seat of purple. The whole scene calls to mind the people of Israel after the Exodus, camped around the tent of meeting.

The pillar of smoke recalls the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud that stood over the tabernacle, watching over Israel. The carriage, like the tabernacle, was made with silver and gold. The purple seat seems to picture the ark of the covenant, where the sin offering was made and the blood was sprinkled. And the mighty men around it look like the people of Israel in their ordered ranks.

The word for ‘pillar of smoke’ comes from the word for ‘palm tree.’ It took that name from its shape, rising like a palm and then spreading out, much as the cloud of a nuclear explosion climbs and then spreads wide. Those who saw the pillar of smoke rising high enough to be seen from far away must have made ready with joy to welcome Solomon and the Shulammite. When the people of Israel moved with the tent of meeting, the first thing the surrounding nations saw was likely the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. Seeing those pillars towering before Israel, the nations must have been afraid and could hardly have dared to attack them lightly. God’s absolute protection, which kept his people safe at every turn, appeared in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire.

Inside the Most Holy Place, a mercy seat of pure gold was made, with two cherubim facing each other, and it was set on top of the ark. Atonement came through the blood of the animal sacrificed for sin, sprinkled on that mercy seat.

Only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, once a year, and a veil hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. But when Jesus bore the cross and breathed his last, the veil that had divided the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place was torn in two from top to bottom. Until then, forgiveness of sins came through the blood of animals; but because Jesus became the atoning sacrifice in his own body, the veil that stood between God and us is gone. Christ’s atonement has accomplished a wonderful work: we now come to God directly.

Then who is the pillar of cloud leading you now, as you run toward Jesus Christ, your bridegroom?

Acts 2:3

3Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them.

The pillar of cloud that leads us must be the Holy Spirit, who came upon everyone who was praying, appearing like tongues of fire distributed among them. At Pentecost, while the hundred and twenty disciples were praying with one heart in the upper room of Mark’s house, suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and fire came down upon the disciples. He is the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, whom Jesus promised to send to his children in faith after he ascended. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, and he is God. Because the Holy Spirit walks with us, you are able to live by faith in this world under Satan’s rule.

Even after driving Adam out of Eden, God has never once abandoned his people. He has shown his children that he is always with them. Though he drove them out of Eden because of sin, he clothed them with garments of skins as a sign; he protected them with the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud; and through the cross and the resurrection, and through the Holy Spirit who walks with us, he has made us able to overcome the world. And now he will lead us all the way to the wedding feast.

You are the bride of Christ. You are riding now in the carriage of atonement that Christ has sent, led by the Holy Spirit, giving off the fragrance of faith, and escorted by angels toward the heavenly city. Among the daughters of Jerusalem standing along the road, there were likely some who envied Solomon’s carriage and others who resented it.

So it is with you. As you ride in the carriage of atonement Christ has sent, some will admire your faith and praise it, and others will mock it as empty. People of the world may urge you to give up the meaningless fragrance of the cross and try a perfume that smells of what the world loves: pleasure, lust, fame, and human righteousness. Perhaps, as they say, the world’s perfumes may even smell sweeter than the fragrance of Christ. But if you are deceived by such words and put on the world’s perfumes, God will find the smell repugnant and will not embrace you.

Only when God’s children wear the perfume that carries the fragrance of Christ can they come to the feast, waited on by angels. When Solomon delighted in the scent of myrrh and frankincense with which the Shulammite had adorned herself and said, ‘This woman is the one I love most,’ she would have been content as his bride. The woman who is not swayed by what others say and who satisfies her husband’s heart is a wise woman, and a believer who truly understands.

How well do you know Jesus, your bridegroom? How much do you love him, and how much are you prepared to sacrifice for him? What fragrance does the Christ you love delight in? If you truly love Christ, I am sure you already know what fragrance pleases him. Just as the Shulammite gave off the fragrance Solomon loved, you must carry the fragrance Christ desires.

Hebrews 2:7

7You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor.

Jesus took on flesh, made lower than the angels, bore the suffering of the cross, and overcame death, and for that he was crowned with glory and honor. God the Son, the King of heaven, atoned for our sin through his death on the cross, and that grace is something we can never repay, whatever we do. All we can do is to live out our lives according to his will, doing what Christ desires.

Every one of you is the bride of Christ.

When the wedding feast is held on that day, all of us, like the Shulammite, will go to the feast escorted by the angels Christ has sent. Until the day we arrive there, the Holy Spirit will always protect us and help us not to stray from the path of faith. No one in this world receives a greater love than the tender love God gives his own. Only those who know how deep and wide that love is will live for Christ their bridegroom, and adorn themselves with the fragrance of a life of faith to please him.

The daughters of Zion rejoiced and welcomed Solomon as they saw him wearing his crown.

Song of Solomon 3:11

11Go out, you daughters of Zion, and see king Solomon, with the crown with which his mother has crowned him, in the day of his weddings, in the day of the gladness of his heart.

You too will share the joy the Shulammite felt in that place where the women welcomed her so warmly. You will be glad as she was glad, and the dance she danced for joy you will dance with Christ in the glory of God.

The Shulammite will now live with Solomon in the palace, with nothing left to envy. Under his protection she will enjoy all she had longed for. You who have kept the faith will now look upon the throne of God, full of glory, and live forever. Angels will wait upon you, and you will enjoy everything, lacking nothing. Such is the astonishing blessing that the small faith you kept in this world brings.

May you always watch over yourselves so that the fragrance of Christ never runs dry in you. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.