Before the Ark

WHEN Solomon, great King of Israel,

Builded the Temple of old,

He fashioned the “Ark of the Cov’nant”

Within and without of gold.

He moulded two Cherubim splendid

(At God, the Eternal’s command)

Whose pinions the Holy of Holies

Like a luminous symbol spanned.

The wings of these wonderful angels

He welded together where

The Lord from His high seat of Mercy

Re-echoed the voice divine.

And thus when the people lay prostrate

Before the shimmering shrine,

From betwixt the horns of the Altar

Re-echoed the voice divine.

We, also, dear children of Israel,

Are bending before the Ark,

And our spirits’ gold wings are shining

Bright in the mystical dark.

As they touch, we whisper devoutly

The great ineffable name,

And His voice, like music celestial,

Chimes from the Ner Tamid’s flame.

The words we can clearly distinguish—

Their meaning is solemn and grand;

“O, Children of Israel, remember!

Know ye before Whom you stand!”