Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,.... Until the day of grace breaks on every elect sinner, and the shadows of darkness, ignorance, and unbelief, are in a great measure fled and gone; or until the everlasting day breaks, and there will be no more night, nor any darkness of affliction, nor any more desertion, doubts, and fears; see So 2:17.
They are the words of Christ, declaring whither he would go till that time came, as follows:I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense: the allusion may be to the mountains and hills where these odoriferous plants grew.
It is said of Pompey the great, that when he passed over Lebanon (later mentioned, So 4:8) and by Damascus, he went through sweet smelling groves and woods of frankincense and balsam ; and Lebanon is thought, by some , to have its name from the frankincense that grew upon it; though rather from the whiteness of the snow continually on it.
By this "mountain" and "hill" may be meant the church of Christ, gathered together in Gospel order, so called for its visibility and immovableness, Isa 2:2; and for the trees of righteousness which are planted and flourish there, the saints; and for the fragrancy of their graces; and for the sweet smelling odour of their sacrifices of prayer and praise; and because of the delight and pleasure Christ takes in his people, and they in him here; where they have mutual communion, so that it is to them both a mountain of myrrh and a hill of frankincense: particularly, here Christ delights to be, and here he resolves to dwell until his second coming.
Florus de Gest. Roman. l. 3. c. 5. Vid. Gabr. Sionita de Orient. Urb. c. 6. p.