469
TAB-TAL
the East, tl1il'ty cubits or forty-five feet in length, and~en cubi~ :>r fifteen feet in height and breadth. The inside ~as divided by It richly eZllbroiderecl vail of fine linen into two parts, the holy plaee and the holy of holies, in the latter of which was placed the ark of the covenant. Besides this vail of fin~ linen which separate!!l the lllost holy place, the tabernacle wa,s furnished with other vails of divers colors: namely, of blue and purple, and searle. nnd fine twined linen, fronl which are derived the emblematic JOlours of the several degrees of tnasonry. The room in which ~ Chapter of Royal .A.reh l\tlasons meets, is called the tabernacle, and is a representation of that temporary tabernacle which was erected by Zerubbabel near the ruins of old temple while the Jews, under his direction, were constructing the new one.
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TABERNACLE, CHIEF OF THE. Tabernacle.
See CJh'ief
01
eM
TABERNAOLE, PRINCE OF THE. Tabernacle.
See Prince
01
t:Iu!
T AL1\'IUD. As many of the traditions of masonry are to be found in the Tahnud, some acquaintance with the character of that work is essential to the masonic student. The Talmud, which is a I-Iebrew word, signifying doctrine, is a collection of treatises written by the rabbins and wise men Ind embodying the civil and canonical law of the Jews. Moses .is believed to have received two kinds of law on Mount Sinai, the
"oSn,
• Acoording to Josephus (Ardiq. Jlld. lib. iii. c. 7.) the tabernaclo wa.sa sym'bolof the universe. The 12 loaves placed on the tn.bIe were emblematic of the 12 months of the year; the 70 brn.nches of thecandlestieks represe:ctt!d the ''10 dec(Jt~i or di~isionsof the plnnets; and the 7 lamps, the '1 planets. The Tails of the tabernacle composed of four different colours, wereernblematie of the four elements; the tine linen, made of flax, the produce of" theoarth, repre.ented the earth; the purple rt;proscnted the sea, because it was stained by the .blood of' a marine shell-fish, the IUurex; the blue represenled the air.. it bein,r ··.heoolour of the sky; and the scarlet represented fire.