De columna in medio arcae hujus erecta.
The Column of Life in the Midst of the Church
Christ is the living wood set at the center of the Church, sustaining all things as both foundation and goal, reigning in majesty above and in compassion below.
A column stands in the middle of the ark, rising to a height of thirty cubits, on which the entire structure rests; its top is squared off, measuring one cubit on each side. It is the wood of life, planted in the middle of paradise — that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, set in the middle of his Church, offered as it were the reward of labor, as it were the recompense of work, as it were the goal of the journey, as it were the crown of the struggle, set before all the faithful alike: he who rose from the earth and pierced the heavens, who came to the lowest depths and did not abandon the heights, who is himself above and below — above in majesty, below in compassion.✦✦
Drawing Upward, Holding From Below
The column reaches both upward to lift desire and downward to bear us up, indwelling within and overshadowing from above, taking on our weakness while setting before us the goal of ascent.
Upward, so that it may draw our desire; downward, so that it may furnish support. Below, within us; above, over us. Downward, what he took from us; upward, what he set before us.
All Nations to the Mountain of the Lord
The ark's four corners prefigure the gathering of all nations to the mountain of the Lord's house, prepared on the summit of the mountains.
This is the mountain of the house of the Lord, prepared on the summit of the mountains, to which all nations flow; and from the four corners of the ark, as it were from the four quarters of the world, they shall ascend.✦✦
Read the original Latin
Columna in medio arcae erecta in altitudinem triginta cubitorum, cui universa fabrica innititur, cujus praecisio sursum per quadrum in singulis lateribus unius cubiti mensuram habet, ipsa est lignum vitae, quod plantatum est in medio paradisi, id est Dominus Jesus Christus in medio Ecclesiae suae, quasi praemium laboris, quasi merces operis, quasi meta itineris, quasi corona certaminis in communi omnibus fidelibus propositus, qui de terra ortus est, et coelos penetravit, qui ad ima venit et summa non deseruit, qui sursum ipse est et deorsum, sursum majestate, deorsum compassione. Sursum ut trahat desiderium, deorsum ut praestet subsidium. Deorsum intra nos, sursum supra nos. Deorsum quod a nobis sumpsit, sursum quod nobis proposuit. Iste est mons domus Domini praeparatus in vertice montium, ad quem fluunt omnes gentes, et de quatuor angulis arcae quasi de quatuor mundi partibus ascendut.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Eph.4.9-Eph.4.10 — Now "he ascended"—what does it mean except that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth? Eph.4.10 — The one who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.
- ↩Gen.2.9 — And the LORD God made to grow from the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
- ↩Isa.2.2 — And it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established at the top of the mountains, and lifted up above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.
- ↩Mic.4.1 — And in the latter days, the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the chief of the mountains; it shall be raised above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it.
De Arca Noe Morali et Mystica (On the Moral and Mystical Ark of Noah) companion
Keep the ark under construction
Hugh's method only works with daily practice — the Chosen Portion app gives you a short, structured devotional every morning, free.
Hugh's daily discipline of ordered meditation continues in Chosen Portion, which serves one structured devotional portion each day so the mind returns to the same interior work Hugh prescribed.
- A 10-minute structured meditation delivered each morning
- Progress through classic texts like Hugh's in small daily portions
- Build a 30-day streak of ordered prayer instead of improvised moments