"If anyone outside Noah's ark could find safety, then also one outside the Church find salvation." (St. Cyprian)
"Bethel [the place where Jacob rested when he saw the ladder] is a figure of the Church, where Jesus Christ Himself dwells, and in which the angels, more effectually than by this mysterious ladder, carry our prayers to God and bring again His graces to us." (page 28)
"The contest of the angel with Jacob is a lively figure of the Church. Pagan emperors, heresiarchs, and, above all, hell, have made constant war against her; but as Jacob was not overcome by the angel, neither has the Church been overcome, nor shall she be to the end of time." (page 29)
"As when Core, Dathan, and Biron revolted against Moses and Aaron, "in modern times we often see similar revolts against the priests of God. Ambitious and wicked men wish to rule the Church; but, like Core and his companions [the earth opened under the feet of the three leaders and swallowed them down, with their tents and all their substance], they will ever receive a just punishment for their pride and presumption." (pages 61-62)
"The Ark was a figure of the tabernacle in Catholic churches; the Holy of Holies, of the altar on which is offered the sacrifice of the New Law; the Sanctuary corresponded to the place the priests occupy; and the portico represented the body of the church, where the people now worship." (pages 58-59)
"The sinful separation of the ten tribes from their harsh yet lawful king is a figure of so many who by heresy and sin, separate themselves from the Catholic Church, God's true representative upon earth. Jerusalem represented truth; Samaria, heresy. At the former was the Temple, where alone sacrifice pleasing to God could be offered. There was the Ark of the Covenant, and there alone was the priesthood that God had established. The separated tribes, from which was formed the kingdom of Israel, were by far more numerous than the two [Juda and Benjamin] that remained faithful. This mattered not. As with heresy, so with them; in a few years they entirely disappeared from history, leaving but a name behind them. To the two tribes God showed mercy, for from them came the Saviour of the world. So shall it be with the Catholic Church: she has seen the rise and fall of all forms of heresies, many of which for a time, seemed to threaten her existence; but they have passed away, while she remains, as she will remain to the end." (page 86)
"Jesus chose Peter's ship from which to teach. In the Roman Catholic Church, of which Peter's ship was a figure, Jesus Christ continues to teach through the Popes, who are the lawful successors of Peter. The miraculous draught of fishes was also symbolic. The sea is the world, the net the Church. The fishers are the bishops and priests; the fish are the faithful who voluntarily enter the Church, that thereby they may be saved." (page 150)
"The blessing which Our Lord gave by His doctrines was spread through His apostles, as the blessing given to Abraham long before descended to the sons of Jacob. As Gideon with his little band vanquished his enemies, so did the apostles with their staff change the face of society and subdue the world to the yoke of Christ." (page 165)
"Peter was thus the first of the apostles who made a public profession of the divinity of Jesus Christ, and, for his faith, Jesus made him the chief among the apostles, and the future visible head of the Church. For eighteen hundred years, the Popes, who are the legitimate successors of St. Peter, have been placed at the head of the Christian world." (pages 169-170)
CALL TO ACTION: Seek to be a member of Christ's Body, the Holy Catholic Church!
Source: Quotes above from "Bible History" by Right Rev. Richard Gilmour, D.D.; Benzinger Brothers (copyright 1881, 1894, 1904, 1919); His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII's comment: "We have received with thanks the copy of The Bible History, together with the expressions of devotion, which Benzinger Brothers, Publishers, have sent us through the Bishop of Basel, and we give our Apostolic Benediction to them and to their labors, that these may always tend to the good of Religion."
Photo by Lucas Dial