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anointed cherub that covereth, till iniquity was found in him. This iniquity is explained
as a trafficking and a defiling. It rendered this glorious one profane. Its origin was pride.
His heart was lifted up because of his beauty, and his wisdom he corrupted by reason of
his brightness. Thirteen times do we read the word "thou" in reference to Satan. Seven
times we have the pronoun "I" in reference to God. Once "I have" in reference to God's
appointment of Satan as the anointed cherub. Six "I wills" in reference to God's
pronouncement in reference to Satan's destruction. We can now return to some of the
more detailed statements with less liability of missing the essential features:--
"Every precious stone was thy covering:
The sardius, topaz and the diamond,
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper,
The sapphire, the emerald and the carbuncle,
And gold" (Ezek. 28: 13).
Spurrell's translation reads: "Thy covering veil was adorned with every precious
stones."
Nine precious stones, in groups of threes, are the covering of this "shining one". It is
impossible to avoid the implied connection with Aaron's breastplate, or with the
foundations of the new Jerusalem. Further, precious stones figure in the descriptions of
the appearances of the Lord Himself. Ezekiel speaks of beryl, amber, crystal and
sapphire stone in describing the vision of chapter 1:, and John says in Rev. 4: 3-6:--
"And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone, and there was a
rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald . . . . . and before the
throne was a sea of glass like unto crystal."
The nine precious stones detailed above are said to be for a "covering". The Hebrew
word mesukah does not occur elsewhere. The masculine form, masak, however, occurs
twenty-five times, and twenty-two of these occurrences are found in Exodus and
Numbers variously translated "hanging" (Ex. 26: 36), "covering" (Ex. 35: 12), and
"curtain" (Num. 3: 26).
In the tabernacle were three "coverings" or "hangings". There was the "hanging" of
the gate of the court, the "hanging" of the door of the tabernacle, and the vail of the
"covering" that divided off the Most Holy Place from the rest of the tabernacle. In each
case, whether at gate, or door, or Holiest of All, there is the underlying thought of access
or approach, and this illuminates Satan's office.
In addition to this "covering" of marvelous beauty, we find reference to tabrets or
timbrels and pipes made of gold:--
"In the day thou wast created were they prepared" (Ezek. 28: 13).