Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria vigorously extended them.
Typical of Justin's method is his finding, in a very simple
reference by Isaiah to Damascus, Samaria, and Assyria, a clear
prophecy of the three wise men of the East who brought gifts to the
infant Saviour; and in the bells on the priest's robe a
prefiguration of the twelve apostles. Any difficulty arising from
the fact that the number of bells is not specified in Scripture,
Justin overcame by insisting that David referred to this
prefiguration in the nineteenth Psalm: "Their sound is gone out
through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world."
Working in this vein, Clement of Alexandria found in the form,
dimensions, and colour of the Jewish tabernacle a whole wealth of
interpretation--the altar of incense representing the earth placed
at the centre of the universe; the high priest's robe the visible
world; the jewels on the priest's robe the zodiac; and Abraham's
three days' journey to Mount Moriah the three stages of the soul in
its progress toward the knowledge of God.
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