The lover also gains her Beloved as her Husband, implied in the couch. In verse 16 the lover says, “Indeed, our couch is green.” The lover and the Beloved stay together on the grass-green couch. Green signifies the Spirit of life. The Spirit of life is the very place for us to enjoy Christ as our Husband. The couch is a bed for the lover and her Husband. So now she gains Christ not only as a bundle of myrrh and as a cluster of henna flowers but also as a Husband.
We gain and enjoy Christ as our Husband in the divine life as the couch, in Christ in His resurrection as the beams, and in Christ in His death as the rafters for our shelter. Verse 17 says, “The beams of our house are cedars; / Our rafters are cypresses.” The cedar from Lebanon signifies Christ in His resurrection. Cypress in typology signifies death. The Jewish people planted cypress beside their graves. The couple’s bed signifies the life-giving Spirit, the cedar beams of their house signify Christ’s resurrection, and the cypress rafters signify His death. Again we see Christ’s death, Christ’s resurrection, and Christ’s Spirit. All of this is in our spirit.
Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” He is with us in our spirit, and with Him is the life-giving Spirit, the refreshing resurrection, and the terminating death. As long as you have Christ, you have the life-giving Spirit, the refreshing resurrection, and the terminating death. The way to gain Christ is to experience Him in His death and in His resurrection and to stay in His Spirit. His Spirit is the place for us to stay.
The lover also gains and enjoys Christ as an apple tree, rich in fruit and shade (S.S. 2:3). As the apple tree, Christ is the bountiful supply of life to her with shade overshadowing her (2 Cor. 12:9). Christ is both our overshadowing grace and our supplying grace.
In the banqueting house Christ sustains His lover with raisin cakes for nourishment and apples for supply of life (S.S. 2:5). The raisin cakes signify Christ in His death. The grape in the New Testament is related to Christ’s death because the juice of the grape signifies His shed blood. The dried grapes are raisins for our nourishment. Christ in His death is signified by the raisin, and Christ in His resurrection is signified by the fresh apples. We can be nourished by experiencing Christ as the crucified One, as the raisin. We can be refreshed by experiencing Christ in His resurrection, as the refreshing apples. Both raisin cakes and apples are for the healing of the lover’s sickness of love in longing after her Beloved.
Christ gains His lover as a companion in love (1:12), as the wife (2:6), and as a lily, signifying one who lives by His life in trusting in God (2:2). He enjoys the fragrance of His companion in love spreading forth as spikenard (1:12b). He also enjoys His lover as His wife in His embracing (2:6) and as a lily expressing Him in the filthy and unbelieving world (2:2). When we live the lily life, trusting Him and looking unto God with a single eye, the dove’s eyes, that is a joy to Christ and His boast.