Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies 6

To go through every prophetic and legal passage spoken in riddles, which we call allegories, would be a long task; for nearly all Scripture is ordained in this way. I think, however, that a few examples will suffice to show one who has a mind what is at hand. The covering of the old Hebrew temple, with its seven surrounding courts, immediately confesses the symbol of the covenant stretching from heaven to earth through various symbols of the visible world. The veil and the curtain, embroidered with hyacinth, purple, scarlet, and fine linen, signified that the nature of the elements contains the revelation of God. Purple comes from water, fine linen from the earth; hyacinth, being dark, resembles the air, just as scarlet resembles fire. In the space between the veil and the curtain, where priests were allowed to enter, stood an altar of incense — a symbol of the earth placed in the middle of this world, from which the offerings of incense arise. That place is also midway between the inner sanctuary, where only the high priest could enter on appointed days, and the outer court open to all Hebrews; therefore they say it symbolizes what lies between heaven and earth, while others say it represents the intelligible and the sensible worlds. The veil served as a barrier to the people's unbelief, stretched across five pillars that kept those in the courtyard out. In this very way, the five loaves are mystically broken by the Savior and multiplied for the crowd of listeners. For many attend only to sensible things as if they alone existed. "Gather, then, and examine carefully," says Plato, "lest any of the uninitiated hear." These are the people who think nothing exists except what they can grasp with their hands, refusing to accept actions, generations, and all invisible realities as part of true being; for they incline only to the five senses. The understanding of God is inaccessible to hearing and to those of like kind. From this the Son is called the face of the Father, having become flesh endowed with five senses, the Word who interprets the Father's distinctive character. "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. We walk by faith, not by sight," the good Apostle says (2 Corinthians 5:7). Inside the veil, then, a priestly ministry is hidden, and it holds those who labor in it far more strictly than those outside. Again, the curtain at the entrance to the holy of holies rests on four pillars — a holy sign of the four ancient covenants — and also of the mystical four-letter name that was guarded by those alone to whom the inner sanctuary was accessible. It is called Iaoue, which translates as "He who is" and "He who will be." And indeed, even among the Greeks the name "God" contains a tetrad of letters. But into the intelligible world only the Lord enters, having become high priest; passing through the passions into the knowledge of the ineffable, he goes beyond every name known by voice.