[Illustration: Map of Mediterranean Sea and surrounding area.]

A masonic lodge is, therefore, a symbol of the world.

This symbol is sometimes, by a very usual figure of speech, extended, in
its application, and the world and the universe are made synonymous, when
the lodge becomes, of course, a symbol of the universe. But in this case
the definition of the symbol is extended, and to the ideas of length and
breadth are added those of height and depth, and the lodge is said to
assume the form of a double cube.[68] The solid contents of the earth
below and the expanse of the heavens above will then give the outlines of
the cube, and the whole created universe[69] will be included within the
symbolic limits of a mason's lodge.

By always remembering that the lodge is the symbol, in its form and
extent, of the world, we are enabled, readily and rationally, to explain
many other symbols, attached principally to the first degree; and we are
enabled to collate and compare them with similar symbols of other kindred
institutions of antiquity, for it should be observed that this symbolism
of the world, represented by a place of initiation, widely pervaded all
the ancient rites and mysteries.

It will, no doubt, be interesting to extend our investigations on this
subject, with a particular view to the method in which this symbolism of
the world or the universe was developed, in some of its most prominent
details; and for this purpose I shall select the mystical explanation of
the _officers_ of a lodge, its _covering_, and a portion of its
_ornaments_.