General Ahiman Rezon, by Daniel Sickels, [1868], at sacred-texts.com
General Ahiman Rezon, by Daniel Sickels, [1868], at sacred-texts.com
The Lodge is situated due East and West. *
* * * * * * *
Dr. OLIVER assigns the following reasons why the Tabernacle is considered as the type of a Freemason's Lodge: "It was an oblong square, and, with its courts and appendages, it represented the whole habitable globe. Such is also the extent of our Lodges. The former was supported by pillars, and the latter is also sustained by those of Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty. They were equally situated due east and west. The sacred roll of GOD'S revealed will and law was deposited in the Ark of the Covenant; the same Holy Record is placed in a conspicuous part of our Lodges. The altar of incense was a double cube, and so is our pedestal and stone of foundation. The covering of the Tabernacle was composed of three colors, as a representation of the celestial hemisphere; such, also, is the covering of a Freemason's Lodge. The floor of the Tabernacle was so holy, that the priest's were forbidden to tread upon it without taking off their shoes; the floor of the Lodge is holy ground."
CALCOTT says that MOSES, "foreseeing the difficulties which he would have to encounter before he should arrive in the promised land, and having already experienced the instability of the Israelites, caused the Tabernacle to be erected east and west, to excite in them a firm reliance on the omnipotence of that GOD who had then lately wrought so great a miracle in their favor, by causing a wind
to blow first east, and then west, whereby they safely escaped from the Egyptians upon dry land, even through the midst of a sea, which, nevertheless, overwhelmed and totally destroyed their pursuers. And as they were liable to meet with many distresses in their sojournment in the wilderness, so, as oft as they should behold the situation of the Tabernacle, their faith might be strengthened, and, by a firm reliance on ALMIGHTY GOD, they might be enabled to proceed with resolution and cheerfulness. And as the Tabernacle was at that time to be a constant exhortation to them, from that great instance of omnipotence, to confide in GOD under all their embarrassments, so the Temple, afterwards built by SOLOMON, in the same form and situation, was to be a lasting monument to their posterity of the mighty works the LORD had performed in conducting their forefathers out of their captivity into the promised land. And this, also, may be deemed a very sufficient reason why places for Christian worship, after the pattern of the said Tabernacle and Temple, have ever been, and still are, generally erected in the same manner; for, as human creatures, we, as well as our forefathers, stand in need to be continually reminded of our weakness, and a necessary constant dependence on an Omnipotent and All-gracious Being."
85:* Our Lodges are situated due East and West, because all places of Divine worship, as well as all well-formed and regularly-constituted Lodges, are, or ought to be, so situated; for which we assign three Masonic reasons:—1. The sun, the glory of the LORD, rises in the East and sets in the West; 2. Learning originated in the East, and from thence extended its benign influence to the West; 3. The last and grand reason, refers to the situation of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. The nature of the Lodge—its form, dimensions, and supports—its ground, situation, and covering—its ornaments, furniture, and jewels—all unite their aid to form a perfect code of moral and theological philosophy; which, while it fascinates the understanding, improves the mind, until it becomes polished like the Perfect Ashlar, and can only be tried by the Square of GOD'S word and the unerring Compass of conscience.