Ultimately, the lover becomes a terrible army with banners and the Shulammite (6:4b, 10b, 13). At this point the lover of Christ has reached the stage of living not only in Christ’s ascension but also within the veil. The veil is the separation in God’s dwelling place, His sanctuary. God’s sanctuary is one, but it is separated by a veil. At one end is the Holy Place, and at the other end is the Holy of Holies where God Himself dwells in His Divine Trinity.
We know this because within the ark in the Holy of Holies there were three items: the hidden manna, the budding rod, and the tablets of the law (Heb. 9:4). The hidden manna in the golden pot refers to God the Father as the divine source of all supply, and the budding rod signifies Christ as the resurrection. Among the three of the Divine Trinity, the Second is the resurrection. Jesus told us that He is the resurrection (John 11:25), the reality of the budding rod of Aaron. The tablets of the law refer to the Spirit of life as the inner law (Rom. 8:2). Thus, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are dwelling in the Holy of Holies. When we enter into the Holy of Holies, we enter into God and meet the Father as the source of supply, the Son as the resurrection, and the Spirit as the law of life.
As to Christ, the veil in the temple has been split in two, but as to us, God allows the veil to remain in order that we would be one with Him. The Holy of Holies is God Himself to be the overcomers’ dwelling place, so these two should be one. In the figure of the lover as the bed in the night at wartime, the overcomer is Christ’s resting place. Christ sleeps in that bed, so they two are one. Similarly, the lover as the palanquin and the Lord as the rider become one. In both figures Christ’s lover becomes the dwelling place for Christ. However, when we enter within the veil, God becomes our dwelling place and we become the dweller. These illustrations indicate that we are in union with the Triune God.
At this point the lover is described as being as beautiful as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, and as terrible as an army with banners (S.S. 6:4). This indicates that when we become one with God to be God’s dwelling place, we are as beautiful as Tirzah and as lovely as Jerusalem in the eyes of God. However, to the enemy this lover, this overcomer, is as terrible as an army with banners. Banners indicate a readiness to fight and also mean that the victory is won. An army without banners must be a defeated army. When she becomes as beautiful as the moon and as clear as the sun, she is also as terrible as an army with banners (v. 10).
When she becomes the garden, she is nothing more than a garden, but when she becomes Tirzah and Jerusalem, something is built up to show God’s beauty and God’s loveliness. At that time, God’s enemy trembles because this little country girl has become an army with banners. A terrible army signifies that these overcomers of the Lord terrify God’s enemy, Satan, and become terrible in the eyes of God’s people. An army fights the battle for God’s kingdom in the degradation of God’s people to be the overcomers answering the Lord’s call (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21).