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The Church's Victorious Progress
v. 6. Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness, ascending from the lower level of a wilderness to the city set on a mountain, like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? The cavalcade of Shulamith is preceded and followed by clouds of perfumed smoke, which mark her progress.
v. 7. Behold His bed, the traveling litter, howdah, or palanquin, such as are used in the Orient for long journeys, which is Solomon's, which the Bridegroom has placed at the disposal of His bride; threescore valiant men are about it, as a protecting body-guard, of the valiant of Israel.
v. 8. They all hold swords, being expert in war, skillful in the use of their weapons; every man hath his sword upon his thigh, ready for immediate use, because of fear in the night, lest any danger come near enough to the bride to disturb her rest.
v. 9. King Solomon made himself a chariot, a bridal wagon or sedan-chair, of the wood of Lebanon, of the finest cedar-wood.
v. 10. He made the pillars thereof of silver, designed chiefly as ornaments, but supporting the canopy, the bottom thereof, that is, the floor, of gold, the covering of it, fine hangings or tapestries, of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem, that is, its interior, the sides and the top of the finest material, being embroidered by the women of Jerusalem, as a labor of love.
v. 11. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him In the day of his espousals and in the day of the gladness of his heart.
Here the Church is pictured, not as she usually appears to the casual beholder, but as she is in reality in the sight of the Lord. She is moving forward and upward through the wilderness of this world to the eternal City above, a great multitude from all nations and tongues and peoples. She is surrounded by a cloud of prayers, expressing her steadfast confession of faith, her patience in suffering, and her work in love, a sweet savor in the nostrils of the Lord. And the Lord has provided an appropriate conveyance for her, a bridal wagon of singular beauty, surrounded by His mighty, ministering heroes, the angels of His power. Yea, more; for every one who belongs to the army of the bride He has a special chariot, in which He has the soul of His believers carried into the eternal home of heaven. There each believer serves as a jewel, enhancing the beauty of the King, and all the believers together will be a diadem, a crown of beauty, when the marriage of the Lamb is celebrated and we behold His glory, world without end.