knowledge of the science of symbolism, as it was taught by the priests of
Isis and Osiris, and applied it to the ceremonies with which he invested
the purer religion of the people for whom he had been appointed to
legislate.[47]

Hence we learn, from the great Jewish historian, that, in the construction
of the tabernacle, which gave the first model for the temple at Jerusalem,
and afterwards for every masonic lodge, this principle of symbolism was
applied to every part of it. Thus it was divided into three parts, to
represent the three great elementary divisions of the universe--the land,
the sea, and the air. The first two, or exterior portions, which were
accessible to the priests and the people, were symbolic of the land and
the sea, which all men might inhabit; while the third, or interior
division,--the holy of holies,--whose threshold no mortal dared to cross,
and which was peculiarly consecrated to GOD, was emblematic of heaven, his
dwelling-place. The veils, too, according to Josephus, were intended for
symbolic instruction in their color and their materials. Collectively,
they represented the four elements of the universe; and, in passing, it
may be observed that this notion of symbolizing the universe characterized
all the ancient systems, both the true and the false, and that the remains
of the principle are to be found everywhere, even at this day, pervading
Masonry, which is but a development of these systems. In the four veils of
the tabernacle, the white or fine linen signified the earth, from which
flax was produced; the scarlet signified fire, appropriately represented
by its flaming color; the purple typified the sea, in allusion to the
shell-fish murex, from which the tint was obtained; and the blue, the
color of the firmament, was emblematic of air.[48]

It is not necessary to enter into a detail of the whole system of
religious symbolism, as developed in the Mosaic ritual. It was but an